The Selkie Enchantress (32 page)

“Oh, believe me,” Tara said. “It’s way past time to go.” She shook her head as the three kids dashed out into the street. “Ashling and Ronan’s parents are going to kill us when they get a look at their clothes.” She picked another glob of paint out of her hair. “I take it the presentation at the conference went well?”

“Very well,” Liam answered. “Though, I might have left out a few bits and pieces of the ending.”

Tara winked. “Best not to let the general public in on
all
of our family secrets. By the way,” she lowered her voice. “I’ve talked to Sam about tracking down your mother. He’s agreed to look into it.”

“And Dominic’s okay with it?”

“Not quite yet,” Tara admitted. “But he will be.” She smiled, waving goodbye to Caitlin as she followed the children into the street. “I’ll see you both at the pub later for dinner tonight.”

Caitlin nudged Owen into the hallway. “Go on into the washroom and scrub the paint off your hands. And use the faucet in the tub,” she called out, shaking her head when she heard the one in the sink turn on.

Liam wandered over to where Caitlin was cutting the end of the stems off, fussing and fluffing the flowers, moving them around until they were perfect and then carrying them over to set in the center of the kitchen table. “I’ve been meaning to ask… why are yellow roses your favorite?”

Caitlin glanced up. “Because they’re the color of friendship.”

“You knew that?”

“Of course, I knew that. Did
you
know that?”

“I found out… recently. But, then, would you have preferred I brought you a dozen red ones this time? If only for the meaning?”

“Not at all.” She moved one of the flowers around again. “I’ve always thought love—true love—should be based on friendship. Love can’t last unless it has a strong foundation to grow from. And I believe the strongest foundation is real friendship.” She edged one more flower a quarter of an inch, and then stepped back, satisfied. “I want to know that when we’re wrinkled and gray and hobbling around with sticks, we’ll still have things to talk about. We’ll still enjoy each other’s company. We’ll still be able to make each other laugh.”

“Love based on friendship…” Liam echoed. “Like a childhood friendship?”

“Yes.” Caitlin’s lips curved. “Exactly.” Her eyes sparkled as they met his across the room. “In my opinion, that’s the best kind.”

The sound of the water running stopped and Owen dashed into his bedroom—the spare room they had fixed up for him—and came back out holding a book. “I read a full sentence while you were gone,” he told Liam. “Do you want to hear it?”

“Of course,” Liam answered, feeling a rush of pride well up inside him as he listened to Owen reading him a line from one of his old children’s books. It was hard to believe this was his life now. That Owen was his son. That Caitlin had finally admitted her true feelings for him. That after all this time, all he’d ever wanted was finally going to be his.

Half-painted furniture cluttered the living room. A tarp, covered in paint cans, was pushed up into a corner. There were dirty paintbrushes piled up in the kitchen sink. It was exactly the kind of chaotic but simple life he’d always wanted to live here on the island with Caitlin. “Owen, I have a sentence I’d like you to read out loud for me. It’s a question I have for your mother.”

He unfolded a piece of paper from his pocket. “I wrote it down on the way over. Would you read it to her, from me?”

Owen took the paper, his mouth forming a thin line like it did whenever he was trying to concentrate. “Will you… mah… mah…” He glanced up at Liam, who looked down at the paper.

Liam touched his hand to the paper, sounding out each syllable. “Mar-ry.”

Owen’s eyes lit up. “Will you marry me?!”

Liam withdrew a ring from his pocket. He dropped to one knee and Caitlin sucked in a breath when he held out a sparkling circle of gold, glittering with an exotic cluster of pearls, sapphires and diamonds. “It was my grandmother’s,” he whispered, his heart in his throat. “She wanted you to have it.”

“Your grandmother…?” Caitlin’s eyes went wide when he slipped the ring onto her finger.

Liam rose, his eyes twinkling. “From my mother’s side. She wants to meet you one day—the human woman whose love was so strong it could break a white selkie’s spell.”

“Mum,” Owen tugged on her hand. “Are you going to say yes?”

Liam grinned down at her. “How would you like to be a princess?”

Caitlin stared down at the ring. She let out a long shaky breath. “You can’t lord it over me, you know—that you’re selkie royalty.” She looked up at him, a warning in her eyes. “Even if I say yes, you’re still the same ordinary land-man as far as I’m concerned.”

Liam took her face in his hands. “I don’t care who I am.” He pressed his lips to hers. “As long as you’ll be my wife.”

Caitlin wrapped her arms around him and he lifted her up off the floor. “God help me, Liam O’Sullivan. I thought you’d never ask.”

***

On a lonely stretch of beach, a driftwood fire burned. Glenna stood in the sand, gazing out at the sea, her long hair whipping around her face.

Her mother stood beside her, watching the fishing boats bob around the string of islands to the north. “You’re getting soft.”

“I only gave them a nudge.”

A gull cawed, swooping low over the horizon. “First Tara and Dominic. Now Caitlin and Liam.” Moira lifted an eyebrow. “If I didn’t know any better, Glenna, I’d think you were starting to believe in true love.”

“I’m not.”

The pale wood shifted, crumbling under the heat. “You know they’re going to look for her now—the mother.”

“I do.”

“You know what that means.”

Glenna nodded, staring out at the sprinkles of sunlight dotting the sea.

“They’ve talked to the man—the detective. They’ve asked him to find her.” The flames danced in the fire pit, black smoke curling into the sky. “You know what will happen if they do.”

“I know.”

Moira turned, facing her daughter. “You can’t let that happen.”

“I won’t.”

“What are you going to do, Glenna?”

Glenna lifted her eyes to her mother’s. “Stop him.”

THE END

About the Author

Thank you so much for reading
The Selkie Enchantress.
The
Seal Island Trilogy
continues with Glenna and Sam’s story,
The Selkie Sorceress,
which will be available in early 2013!

I live in the Mid-Atlantic and when I’m not writing, I’m fiddling in my garden, hunting for four-leaf clovers, or trying to convince a friend to have a Guinness with me at lunch. I love to hear from readers, so please email me or send me a tweet and let me know your thoughts!

Email
: [email protected]

Website:
http://sophiemosswrites.com

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