SWEET CALLAHAN HOMECOMING (10 page)

A little dart of pain lodged inside Ash. She’d concentrated so much on not ever getting married that she’d never allowed herself to think about the sentiment; it was going to hurt that her father wasn’t here to give her away. Still, she wasn’t the world’s most traditional woman, and tradition shouldn’t matter so much, should it?

It mattered to her. Xav would one day proudly give away her daughters.

And Fiona was right: it was very princely of Xav to think of what would make their wedding special for her. “Blast,” Ash said, “I asked him to stop being such a Prince Charming.”

Fiona laughed. “Why?”

“Because it’s hard to live up to.”

“You’re in love.”

Fiona sounded sure, and Ash saw no reason to lie. “I have been for so long.”

“Then it’s time you quit worrying about the past and look to the future,” Fiona said, placing a huge, sparkly gold star atop the tree.

“Maybe you’re right.” Why should she let Wolf spoil their lives any more than he already had? Her spirit strengthened as she looked down at her children. “You’re right. What was I thinking?”

“That you were protecting your family. Of course you were.” Fiona nodded decisively. “But we’re not giving an inch more to the cartel than we have to.”

Ash turned. “I haven’t asked what’s been happening with the cartel and the land across the canyons.”

“Well, they cause their fair share of trouble. I thought I was doing the right thing by having Galen buy that land apart from the ownership of Rancho Diablo. I wanted all of you to work for it, get married, have families to win it. Back then, the lure seemed like a win/win scenario that would benefit all of you. It was all I wanted,” Fiona said, sighing. “The thing is, that land’s so torn up with tunnels running under it that even the feds are pretty lost as to how to stop it. All we have over there now is law enforcement scratching their heads. Wolf and his mercenaries are pretty dug in.”

“Why did you send Xav to bring me home?”

“Because it’s Christmas!” Fiona looked astonished. “I missed you.”

“Fiona, you
knew,
” Ash said suddenly, realizing that the delicate painted china ornaments for the babies would have taken weeks to make. “You talked to Mallory, didn’t you?”

Fiona looked a bit sheepish. “She might have called here once or twice. On disposable, untraceable phones.”

“I was never really alone, was I?” Ash asked, and the memory of the moments of despair she’d felt were washed away by her family’s love. “It was my journey, wasn’t it? I just didn’t recognize it.”

“We all have a journey,” Fiona said. “We support each other, we love each other when our journey comes to us. Mine was to come here,” she said softly, her gaze turning toward the snow-laden landscape outside. “Sometimes I miss the green of Ireland, the hills, the beauty. But there was a battle there, too, that my parents fought. So I knew that life wasn’t always easy. I came here when I was called, and Burke came with me. He never once said he didn’t want to walk this path with me. He’s the light of my life,” she said, her smile soft, her aura serene and untroubled. “He understood the price we pay for freedom. No one lives without paying something for their decisions.”

She turned to Ash. “You were never alone. Your children will never be alone. We will always be strong, no matter what comes.”

“We haven’t won yet,” Ash said. “And sometimes I think it may be impossible.”

“Do you?” Fiona asked. “Do you really think that when you look at your children?”

No. She didn’t think the war was lost at all when she looked at Thorn, Skye, Valor, Briar. She’d never dreamed she’d have children. And then one day, they were suddenly a miraculous part of her life.

She couldn’t imagine ever living without them. They blessed her in so many ways, changed her for the better.

“I love you, Aunt Fiona. Thank you for coming here. I know you miss your homeland, your friends, your way of life. Everything here is so very different from Ireland.”

“The sacrifice is always worth it. In Ireland I didn’t have children. Here I have more children than I could have ever imagined. Life is short, and what matters more than family and good friends?”

Ash stared at Fiona, seeing her aunt’s strength in a new way. Fiona had always been strong, but Ash had never really thought of her in terms of being a fighter. Now she realized just how much of a warrior Fiona was in her own soft, gentle way.

“You’ve carried the torch for our family.”

“Actually, you allowed me to have exactly what I really wanted. The land never changes, not really. Mountains shift ever so slightly over time, but here is stability. Nothing can change that, not even Wolf’s evil. And the land that I wanted you and your brothers to compete for was yours always.” Fiona shrugged. “It was actually time more than land I was trying to give you. While you were here fighting for the truth, I didn’t want your lives to slip away,” she said with satisfaction. “Maybe I told a few fairy tales along the way to get you to go the right way, but I believe in happy endings.”

Ash blinked. “You knew this would be a long journey, so you set up a competition so we’d all focus on the prize of the land, instead of just our assignment?”

“You were twenty-five when you came here. Now you’re thirty, almost more. How many more years will be needed to be victorious I can’t say. You could be thirty-five, your brothers older. I wouldn’t take the gift of time from you, and that was all I had to give.”

Ash thought about her beautiful children. “Thank you, Fiona, for being wiser than all of us.”

She hugged her. “As I said, I got the ultimate prize. I got you. All the family I’ve been given is more to me than land or money. And one day, I know we will all be together. That thought keeps me going on this journey. My advice? Marry Xav sooner than later, and start a new journey with your family.”

She flitted out of the den, leaving Ash beside her children. Their gazes were no longer on the pretty mobile, but on the beautiful Christmas tree and the lovely twinkling lights Fiona had turned on. At the top of the tree, the star glittered, its beauty a beacon to the holidays.

“I was never alone,” she told her children, “and now I know you babies never will be alone, either. Not for one step of the journeys each of you will take.”

And somehow that thought gave her the courage she’d been missing for some time. She missed her parents, and she knew her brothers did, too. Somewhere in the mists of her mind were shadowy memories she could barely recall, of softness and joy, and the comfort of loving embraces. She hadn’t been old enough to know them well when they’d had to leave. Maybe the memories she had were really mist and not real, just recollections of the fragmented pieces her brothers shared of their own memories. She wasn’t sure. But somewhere back in the pieces of happy times she’d held so carefully, she knew she’d been loved, always had been.

“You’ll always be loved,” she told the babies suddenly. “No one can ever take that away from you. Even if I’m no longer here, you’ll hold my spirit inside you.”

And that was her only gift to her children right now, all that she had to give. She was a warrior, she was called to serve, and though she hadn’t realized it until now, so were her unexpected and precious babies.

Fiona was right.

Everyone had their journey. The strong faced theirs and walked through the fire regardless of the sacrifices.

She no longer feared that journey. Her children had her gifts, as well as Xav’s commitment and strength. Whether she’d ever known it or not, she and Xav were two halves of the same person.

And she loved him even more for it.

She remembered her reluctance to try on the magic wedding dress. What was holding her back?

Even if her sisters-in-law swore that wonderful things happened because of the gown, Ash now knew those stories were tales of fancy from the lips of women who’d been head over heels in love. She smiled, thinking it had been silly to be afraid of marrying Xav. Why had she been so fearful?

The darkness inside her made her feel afraid. But Xav wasn’t afraid of her darkness—he said he was a tough guy and a fearless badass. He laughed away
her
fears.

Maybe she’d just go catch her a badass husband, then. It was time to put her fears away and experience the magic for herself.

Chapter Ten

“When are you going to tell her?” Xav asked Running Bear, when the chief appeared beside him atop the snow-covered mesa. The days were shorter, the nights darker and colder. Something sinister stirred inside Xav, a pressing warning he could feel sitting heavy between his shoulders. Ash appeared more content than she’d ever been, her time spent almost exclusively with the babies now. But he kept a secret from her, and it troubled him. He’d waited for Running Bear to visit the ranch, but he hadn’t yet been to see his great-grandchildren, a fact that puzzled Xav.

So he’d kept on ice the knowledge that had hit him one day, not about to share his realization, not even with Ash. In spirit, she seemed as though she was in waiting, hanging in some strange still place he’d never seen her inhabit before. She didn’t mention Wolf anymore or her desire to kill him. It was almost as if she’d wiped Wolf and the danger around them out of her mind.

It unsettled Xav. He loved that she wanted to be with her children every minute, but he also worried that a little of her light had gone out, as if she turned a blind eye to the danger.

“I will not tell her,” Running Bear said. “And though you know the truth, you will not tell Ash, either.”

“Or any of the Callahans, I presume.”

“It is not yet time.”

Xav blew out a heavy breath, not feeling good about this. “Not that I’m doubting you, but don’t you think it would be fairer to the Callahans if they knew about their parents?”

“If it was so easy to set the truth free, it would be done every day. We walk in the shadows when there is pain for other people by knowing the truth.”

“I guess I can appreciate that.” Still, Xav was troubled. “I’ll play it your way.”

“I know.” Running Bear looked across the canyons toward Loco Diablo. “My son Wolf is in a killing rage.”

A shaft of hatred sliced through Xav. “What do you want me to do about it? I assume you’ve shown up here for a reason.”

“I want you to go to Wolf.”

“Why?” Nothing could have shocked Xav more. “Trust me, you don’t want me to do that. I already tried to kill him once, and I’m pissed that I failed. Frankly, my second shot will be everything I’ve got and then some.”

Running Bear shook his head. “That is not your destiny.”

“I’m not really a big believer in destiny. In my family, we do action. Bending people to our will, negotiating, stuff like that. I’m pretty sure my old man wasn’t above greasing a palm or two to make his business successful internationally, and I’m sure I own those genes, too.”

“Tell my son,” Running Bear said, “that he is walking the wrong path. His destiny will soon be upon him if he does what he is planning.”

Running Bear whistled and a Diablo galloped at full stride to the mesa from seemingly thin air. He watched with astonishment as Running Bear leaped on the horse, his speed so swift it seemed that the cold air heated as they sped by. “Damn it,” Xav muttered, mounting his horse, glancing around. Running Bear was nowhere to be seen. Nothing but stringy clouds hung in the gray sky, a promise of more snow on the way. He didn’t even hear the thunder of hooves.

He assumed Running Bear meant the message needed to be delivered immediately. There was no need to tell Ash he was going; she’d just worry—or worse, insist on coming with him. He checked his gun and turned toward Loco Diablo, the surest place to find Ash’s renegade uncle.

* * *

A
SH
DECIDED
THAT
if there was ever a time to discover what she needed to know, it was now. The babies were napping, watched over by Burke and Fiona, in the best of hands for the time being. Xav was off riding fence or something, and her brothers were occupied with the thousand chores Rancho Diablo required.

Fiona’s words had given her enough comfort to want to try on the fabled Callahan wedding gown.

She went up the stairs into the attic, turned on the lamp and looked around the big room. It appeared just the same as it had the other day, almost suspended in time. Glancing at the closet, she remembered the spark she’d thought had popped out from between the door and doorjamb, but nothing like that happened now.

Reaching for the doorknob, she slowly turned it. The door wouldn’t open, so she twisted the knob again. No one had mentioned a stubborn doorknob, and Ash was a bit disappointed. She tugged at the door, but though there was no lock, it stayed tightly closed.

There was no hope for it but to ask Fiona, which she hadn’t wanted to do—she hadn’t wanted a soul to know what she was up to. “Open, please,” she murmured. “I really want to see what you look like, magic wedding dress.”

Nothing. She’d imagined the sparks of light.

“I know Xav is the man for me, I don’t need a gown to tell me that. I’ve always known it,” she murmured, and the door swung open with a deep creak. She stared into the recesses of the closet, looked for a light to turn on.

The closet came alive in a burst of white, like flash-bang grenades she’d seen in the military, so white she covered her face with a gasp. But there was no afterburn, no pain, so she cautiously opened her eyes.

A garment bag hung in the closet, shimmering with incandescence. A gentle melody filled the attic. It called to her, beckoning her to draw the zipper down and see her destiny at long last.

The zipper slid down without resistance, the lovely garment bag melting away.

And there, before her stunned gaze, was a gown of yellow and orange, almost on fire with heat and radiance.

“Wow,” Ash whispered, staring at the long train, the long sleeves, flames raging along the bodice and hem. She reached out to touch it, drawing her hand back with a gasp. The gown was truly on fire, contained in the closet—and then, it filtered to the floor in a poof of dust and smoke.

“Oh, no!” She fell to her knees, reaching out to the blackened ashes disappearing even as she tried to grab them. Her first urgent thought was that Fiona would know what to do if she could get the ashes to her fast enough. She knew how much Fiona loved this gown, she’d treasured it for years—what was she going to tell her aunt?

Ash scrabbled at the pile but it was gone, leaving not a speck behind. She wanted to cry, but that wouldn’t do a bit of good—the magic wedding dress was magic no more.