Wild Chance (Wild Irish Universe)(30)

Aedan looked up from the box he’d been holding like a newborn. “I don’t want her to see me like this.”

“But Aedan, you can’t keep hiding your pain from her. She’s not dumb. We both know she will find out and then she’ll kick my ass for not telling her.”

“No. Just take me to Pat’s and I’ll sit in a booth and read them.”

“You shouldn’t be alone.”

“I won’t be. I’ll be in a place where I’ve always felt like someone.”

But when Killian brought him back to Pat’s, he couldn’t get himself to open any of the letters. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Frustrated, he took a cab to Mona’s then waited impatiently until she opened the door.

“Aedan!”

He brushed by her into the house.

“Sweetie?”

Her footsteps quickly followed him into her office and he flopped into one of the chairs. She sat on the desk and crossed her legs before him.

“What’s in the box?”

He handed it to her. Aedan merely shoved the box toward her, like a child being forced to hand over his favorite toy.

“These are old—from your mother?”

“Yes. And I don’t know what to do. I tried opening them, but my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.” He shoved from the in frustration and dragged his hand over his head. “Why would Bronagh do this to me? I wasn’t a bad kid. I stayed out of her way. If she thought my mother abandoned me, and she didn’t want me, why didn’t she just carry me down to the local church and drop me off? Why torture me like this? Why—break me like this?”

Mona eased from the desk and set the box down. She then pulled Aedan into her arms and held onto him. He pressed his face into her neck, unafraid of showing her just how hurt his soul was in that moment in time.

“Do you want me to read the letters to you?” Mona asked. “I could put them in the order of their postmark—read them in order.”

“Please.”

“Okay. Let me grab us something to drink and we can sit in bed and read.”

“I’ll grab the drinks while you put them in order, deal?”

She kissed him to seal their pact and left the room with the brown box under her arm.

-Aedan Callahan, if you’ve learned nothing else from me, you must learn this. One day, you’ll be old enough to know what you want from a girl. You’ll be old enough to desire women and the wonderful things they can do for you and to you. You’ll also be old enough to realize the headache and the heartache they can cause.

-Has aunty caused you heartache?

-More than you’ll ever understand. But, we were wed in a different age—a different day. Leaving her was out of the question—it has always been out of the question.

-I see.

-Here’s what I wanted you to learn. Never let someone who knows nothing of your heart chose your match. But most importantly, don’t look for things other guys are looking for in a woman. Vanity never makes for true love. Look for that one woman who can be a porn star in your bed but a warrior when your world is burning. When you find that woman, that angel with that kind of strength, you hold on tight. Hold on for dear life because they are rare.

He had blushed so hard that day, it seemed as though his face had burst into flames. And, like most of the things Bodgan had tried teaching him, that advice came as a riddle. He didn’t understand what it meant. As he stood in Mona’s office, the faint beauty of her rose scented perfume swirling about his confused head, Bogdan’s meaning became earth-moving clear.

“I’ve found her, uncle Bogdan.” Aedan whispered. “I’ve found her and she’s glorious.”





Chapter Eleven


For almost two hours, Mona stayed by Aedan’s side, reading his mother’s letters out loud. He hadn’t said anything. At one point, he turned so he could rest his head on her lap. Absentmindedly, she caressed his hair back while reading to him.

His mother sounded delightful. She told him about all the things she had been doing in Ireland, the places she’d been, the people she’s met. Ailin even described toys she’d purchased for him, letting him know his room was ready for him to come home. That meant, she had been preparing to take him back, to bring him home. She’d finished high school and struggled through getting a degree to become a teacher. Once she had her first job, the letter began speaking of visiting Baltimore to pick him up. She was nervous that he wouldn’t know who she was and wouldn’t want to be with her.

Soon, the letters then took on a dark, almost panicked turn. It looked as though the replies to her missives had stopped and she was demanding to know what had happened. One explained that her visa to visit had been revoked and she suspected Bronagh of having something to do with that.

The postmarks became longer apart then, until one final letter of her writing to her dead son. Mona’s heart broke then for she realized the depth of the abuse Aedan had suffered at the hands of his aunt. He went stiff on her lap after the final letter and she leaned over to see his eyes were pressed closed. She caressed his cheek, kissed his head and simply hugged him to her stomach as best she could.

“I’m so sorry, Aedan,” Mona whispered.

“She thinks I’m dead because Bronagh told her I was. My mother believes I’m dead all because her own aunt wanted her to suffer. And even then, my mother still wrote a final letter, saying goodbye—I can’t imagine that kind of love.”