This Love (Cowboys & Angels 6)

“I told you I would never cheat on Maebh. She’s my life. My everything. I broke things off with Kylie because she was cheating on her boyfriend years ago.”

“I was only gone for thirty minutes, at the most,” Marge said. “When I walked back in, Kylie was walking down with Cord’s phone in her hands. She was flustered and acted like I had just caught her doing something. I thought it was strange. I asked her why she had Cord’s phone. She said it had been going off, and she didn’t want it to wake Cord up. She must have erased the calls and texts from Maebh, that evil little witch.”

Sickness rolled over her face and she let a sob out. “Oh, my goodness. If I hadn’t left her here, she wouldn’t have been able to pull that stunt. I never thought in a million years…she must have seen Maebh texting Cord and quickly put her little plan in play.”

Paxton let out a groan. “It all makes sense. Maebh said she lost it when she saw Kylie crawling into bed with Cord. She said her mind raced with everything Kylie had said, especially the part when she said they weren’t expecting her to come back so early. At the time it seemed like Cord might have cheated on her. She said she ran back to her place, called the pilot and went back to Ireland.”

“Wait, the pilot?” Amelia asked.

Paxton nodded. “Yeah, apparently her father has a private plane.”

I stood and swayed on my feet. “I’m leaving. I need to get to Maebh.”

“You’re not going anywhere. Cord, you’re still sick. You can simply call her,” my mother declared.

Looking into my mother’s gray eyes, I felt my tears building. “Mom, she thinks I cheated on her. I promised her I would never hurt her. She probably hates me right now. She was so upset she left the damn country after flying back to come take care of me!”

“You can call her and tell her everything, Cord.”

“No, he can’t,” Paxton said. “He needs to go after her.”

“Paxton’s right, Mom,” Amelia said. “Cord needs to go to Maebh.”

My mother looked sick at the thought of me traveling overseas with the flu.

“I will not let you go until you are fever free for twenty-four hours.” The back of her hand landed on my forehead.

“His fever broke in the middle of the night,” Marge said. “And he’s been taking the prescription the doctor wrote for him.”

“Mom, I’m going to Maebh.”

She sighed. “Fine, but you’re not going alone.”

I wanted to argue, but all of this was making me exhausted. Not only emotionally, but physically.

Glancing to Paxton, I asked, “Do you think she’ll change her mind and come back to the States? I’d hate for me to fly to her only to find out she’s on her way back.”

“She already has plans to come back in a few days. She said she needed time to think before she came back.”

“Don’t call her again, okay? I don’t want her to know I’m coming. She might run if she’s gotten too deep into her head.”

“She won’t run, Cord,” all four women said at once. But I knew Maebh. She’d be so pissed and hurt. She would run from me if she thought I had cheated on her. And I sure as hell wasn’t about to let that happen.

As I boarded the private plane my father had chartered, I glanced back and rolled my eyes.

“I don’t need a damn babysitter.”

“Apparently you do, and I was voted the best person to do that,” Aunt Vi stated as she strolled past me and sat in one of the large leather chairs. “And I haven’t been to Ireland in a few years.”

Her smile made my head hurt.

“What, no boy-toy?” I asked, sitting next to her.

Aunt Vi chuckled. “Not this trip. I promised my brother and sister-in-law I’d watch over you, and that’s what I intend on doing. Now, if I happen to meet an Irish lad who wants to shag a time or two, that will be a bonus.”

She winked at me, and I stared back at her, my lip slowly lifting into a snarl.

“Gross, Aunt Vi. I just got a visual, and I’m already not feeling good. Don’t make it worse.”

Waving me off like she couldn’t be bothered, she asked, “Did you take your medicine today?”

“Yes.”

“Still no fever?”

“No fever,” I replied with a groan.

“Now, tell me what your game plan is to win your little Irish beauty back.”

My eyes met hers. “Game plan?”

With a hard roll of her eyes, she sighed. “Christ Almighty, Cord Parker. You need a game plan. You think you’re going to roll up to her front door, and she’s going to jump into your arms? The girl was led to believe you messed around on her. She’s hurting, she’s angry, and her knee-jerk reaction will be to hit you in the balls—or, how do they say it in Ireland? Bollocks.”