Dark Witch (The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy #1)(73)

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“SHE’LL STUDY AND THINK AND WORK,” IONA SAID QUIETLY to Boyle as they cleared the table. “And worry. I wonder sometimes if there’d be less work and worry all around if I hadn’t come.”

“It’s been an axe dangling over their heads long before that. And you did come. I don’t think much about what’s meant, but it seems you were meant to come. It needs to end sometime, doesn’t it? Why not now? And with us?”

“I’m not a big fan of procrastination.” She thought it over as she wiped the table clean, kept her voice down under the clatter of dishes being loaded into the washer. “I just like plowing through to whatever’s next. But I think I could happily push all this into a box in a corner for a couple hundred years.”

“Someone’s got to shovel the shit.”

“And we’ve got the shovels. Yeah,” Iona conceded. “Might as well put our backs into it. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, and not just to get out and see the world beyond a two-mile radius of Ashford.”

“It’s kilometers here.”

“I’ve a feeling I’ll master Irish easier than the metric system. I think getting a better sense of the area beyond our little core of it might be helpful. Plus, I have an exceptional guide.”

“We’ll be seeing about that.”

Take the moments, she thought. Every moment of normal, of happiness and ease. “I want ruins and old cemeteries and green hills. And sheep.”

“You don’t have to ramble far for any of that.”

“But I’ll be rambling with you.” Turning, she wrapped her arms around his waist.

She felt him shift, that subtle move of embarrassment, though the clatter and chatter continued around them. And because she found it endearing, she added to it by raising to her toes and giving him a quick kiss. “I could drive for a while. Practice the on-the-left thing before I buy a car.”

“I think no, most firmly.”

“I know how to drive a truck.”

“You know how to drive a truck on the right when you’re counting the miles. But you don’t know how to drive a lorry on the left when you’re clicking off kilometers.”

He had her there. “That’s the point. You could teach me.”

“Best you try that with someone less . . . volatile,” Branna suggested.

“She means someone less likely to shout blue murder if you clip a hedgerow or veer off the wrong direction on a roundabout,” Meara explained. “You’re better off with Connor, as he’s long on patience.”

“I’d need be no longer than a thumbnail to have more patience than Boyle. I’ll take you out on the road, cousin, first chance we have for it.”

“Thanks.”

“And if you’re after buying a car, I’ve a friend in Hollymount in the trade who’d make you a fair deal.”

“Connor’s friends everywhere.”

He merely smiled at Meara. “Sure I’m a friendly sort.”

“And all the girls attest to it. I should be off. You’ll text me if you devise some grand scheme,” she said to Branna.

“I’ve some thoughts to put together. I’ll let you know when I have them sorted out.”

“Have a care.” Meara added a hug.

“I could use a care as well.”

Lifting her eyebrows at Connor, Meara tapped his cheek. “Enjoy your rambling, Iona, and you and Boyle have a care as well. And you, Fin.”

“I’ll walk out with you. I’ve some thoughts of my own to put together,” he said to Branna. “We might consider Litha.”

She nodded. “I am.”

“Isn’t that—yes, that’s the summer solstice,” Iona remembered. “Not till June?”

“A bit of time yet. Light smothers dark—and it’s the longest day, which we may use to our advantage. I’ve to think about it.”

“Would you rather I stay here tomorrow? Work with you?”

“No, go rambling. You’re right that it’s good for you to have a better sense of the world around this core of it. And I need that time to think.”

“Why don’t we give you some peace then,” Boyle suggested. “I’ll come fetch you, Iona, about nine.”

“You could. Or I could go with you now, and we can leave from your place whenever you’re ready.” She smiled at him. He didn’t shift, but she sensed he wanted to. “They all know we’re sleeping together.”

“Is that a fact?” Connor feigned surprise. “And here I thought you’ve been having a chess tournament and discussing world events.”

“You’re a rare one,” Boyle muttered. “We can leave from my house if you’d rather. Just don’t take half the night getting together what you need, as we’ll just be tramping around rubble and gravestones.”

“I packed a bag already, just in case. Call me,” she told Branna, “if you need me for anything.”

“Just have a good time of it.” She moved them along, friends and family, up to waving them away from the front door of the cottage.

And stood there a moment longer in the chilly dark.

“All right then, it’s just you and me as you wanted.” Connor laid a hand on her shoulder. “What is it?”