Wild Irish Soul (3 page)

Chapter Six

Aislinn let down
her shields and allowed herself to feel Baird's emotions. Confusion, a little bit of anger, covered in disbelief pulsed at her. She shook her head. Aislinn should have expected this response. She'd received it in the past; it wasn't like this was anything new.

"You're telling me that you have some magickal power?" Baird's voice went a little high at the end and Aislinn sighed. If this was to be the end of it, at least she could be honest.

"Yes. Though it's not magick. It just is."

"What…what can you do?"

"I'm empathic. I can read people's feelings, I can tell if they are lying, and sometimes I get glimpses of the future. Oh, and I see auras too. Yours is blue. A lovely aura, in fact…" Aislinn trailed off as she watched Baird's face.

"I…I'm not really sure what to say."

Aislinn shrugged her shoulders. "It's okay. I know that you don't believe me."

"It's not that. I'm sure that you believe what you are saying."

A slap of anger hit Aislinn and she worked to control her breathing.

"I believe what I am saying because it's the truth."

"Okay, okay…I'm not calling you a liar," Baird said soothingly. Aislinn threw up her hands.

"Don't pull your shrink crap on me. I'm not crazy. This is the truth. And, this is why we can't date. You'll never accept it." She got up and stood in front of the table. "Thanks for breakfast. And for last night, sincerely. It was wonderful, but this can go nowhere."

Baird jumped up and walked around the table to face her. Aislinn's breath hitched at his nearness and she tried her best to act unaffected.

"You didn't exactly give me a lot of time to process what you just said, Aislinn," Baird said.

"What do you want? Evidence? Go ahead, tell me a truth or a lie," Aislinn dared him.

Baird sighed.

"I'm thirty-six years old."

"Lie."

Baird shook his head at her. "Okay, I'm thirty-three."

"Truth," Aislinn said. 

"My mom lives in Galway."

"Truth."

"I'm wearing black underwear."

"False. Are we done here? I need to open my shop," Aislinn said angrily and turned away only to be whipped around.

Baird crushed his lips to hers and Aislinn pushed at his chest. Caught in his arms, she melted against him. Just for a minute. When he loosened his arms, Aislinn stepped back, tamping down the lust that rose deep inside of her.

"I don't have to prove myself to you or anyone else. Now get out," Aislinn said quietly. This time when she turned, Baird let her go.

Chapter Seven

What the hell
was that?
Baird's mind was whirling with confusion and possibilities as he watched Aislinn walk to her shop. Part of him wanted to run after her and beg her to go out with him again. Watching her leave was harder than hearing what she had to say about herself.

His science mind scoffed at Aislinn's belief that she had some sort of power. And, yet, he'd just witnessed a small taste of it himself, hadn't he?

Baird began to clean up the table and examined his own feelings. Though he was shocked at what he had just discovered he needed to decide if the news scared him or intrigued him.

Since he was already trying to figure out how it all worked, he supposed that it intrigued him, Baird thought.

Baird made a mental note to contact a few doctors that he knew in Dublin. They specialized in learning the intricacies of intuition. Perhaps they'd have some light to shine on this.

Baird checked his watch. He needed to unpack and get his things in order. Now would not be the time to go out to the cove, but before the week was over he'd make a point of venturing out to this much-talked-about beach.

Casting his gaze back on the shop, Baird forced himself to leave. It looked like he had some research to do.

Chapter Eight

Aislinn's hands trembled
as she moved invoices around on her desk. She dropped a pencil and bent to get it, surprised that tears pricked her eyes.

Damn it. She was not going to cry over Baird. She barely knew the man.

Which is why you shouldn't have slept with him
, her conscience lectured her.

Aislinn slammed her fist on the desk. More than anything, she hated how he made her feel – like she needed to check into the loony bin. Though she knew she had her moments of being irrational, Aislinn was quite certain she wasn't crazy.

With a sigh, she went to unlock the front door. Saturdays were typically busy as the tour buses brought through hordes of gift-seeking tourists. Bracing herself for the onslaught of people in her shop and all of the emotions that they brought with them, Aislinn examined her inventory. She was getting low on her hand-painted postcards and made a note to pick up more blank cards this week.

As if on cue, the bells above the door chimed a cheerful greeting and Aislinn turned to greet her first customer of the day, grateful for the distraction.

Hours later, Aislinn stretched and wandered back to her small kitchenette to freshen up her tea. One thing that was great about running her own business was that it didn't allow her a lot of time to sulk over personal problems. Pleased with the day's sales, Aislinn thought about closing the shop for a few days next week to focus on painting and printing more photographs for the shop. She did that occasionally – closed her store on a whim. She knew that it drove some people crazy, but Aislinn refused to let her business run her. As soon as she felt like a slave to her work, she'd leave it. Freedom to make her own decisions was vitally important to her.

The bells chimed again and Aislinn turned to smile at the new customer and stopped short.

A slim girl stood just within the door, examining a rack of small black-and-white photos that Aislinn had on display. Aislinn recognized her and had heard talk of the girl through the small town. Her name was Morgan and she'd recently signed on to work on Flynn's fishing boats. She couldn't have been more than nineteen years old and had a startling beauty that was only heightened by the softness of her youth. Aislinn was also a hundred percent certain that she was looking at another one of Grace O'Malley's ancestors.

Instead of calling out her usual cheerful greeting, Aislinn stayed where she was and watched Morgan move through the room. She stopped dead at a photograph of the cove, shot at sunset when the rays of the sun pierced the entrance to the cove and played on the cliffs protecting the sandy beach. It was one of Aislinn's favorites and she wasn't surprised that Morgan had stopped to examine it.

The girl reached up to lift the picture and check the price. The painting slipped from her hand and Aislinn gasped as it stopped mid-fall, hovering briefly in the air before returning to the wall while Morgan's hands remained at her side.

Morgan whipped her head around at Aislinn's gasp and pierced her with her eyes.

"Sorry, I'll just be leaving," Morgan said brusquely and fled towards the door.

"Hold up," Aislinn shouted.

Morgan paused at the door, her hand on the knob.

"It's fine. You can touch my pictures," Aislinn said soothingly, glossing over what she had just seen. Morgan stayed with her back turned. With a shrug, she just nodded and looked down at her hand.

"Would you like to stay? Have a cup of tea?"

"No, I have to go," Morgan mumbled but she hesitated.

"Morgan. Stop. I know that you're one of us."

Morgan's head whipped around and a ripple of anger flashed across her face. Aislinn almost took an involuntary step back before she steadied herself.

"You don't know a damn thing about me," Morgan hissed.

"Oh really? I know that you can tell when someone is reading your mind. I saw how you acted when Cait tried to figure it out. And, try as you might, you can't hide your feelings from me, and I see a lost, scared, and very angry young woman. Now, you can either turn your back on one of the few people who actually understands you or you can get right on out of my shop. I have no time for people who refuse to accept what they are." Aislinn tried to center her breathing. She knew that she was taking some of her anger at Baird out on Morgan but she didn't care. It seemed to her like the girl needed a quick lesson in what was what.

Morgan's shoulders slumped and she took her hand off the doorknob.

"I'll have that tea, I guess," she whispered.

"Lock the door, I'm done for the day," Aislinn decided and went to put the teapot on the stove.

Chapter Nine

Aislinn stayed silent
as she gathered cups for tea and motioned to Morgan to step into her courtyard. Her mind raced as she thought about how to approach Morgan. Though she'd seen several instances of Grace O'Malley's power in action, she'd yet to see anyone move something through the air.

Telekinesis.

Fascinating, Aislinn thought and stepped into the sunny courtyard. Morgan sat at her picnic table, hunched over, and refused to meet her eyes.

"Oh stop with the pathetic act," Aislinn said, her patience done for the day, "I'm not going to attack you."

Morgan started and then a hint of a smile slid across her beautiful features.

"I've heard you're a character," Morgan said, her voice heavy and warm like whiskey, a voice that was too old – too seductive – for her age.

"Aye, I am at that." Aislinn shrugged off the hurt that could come with a statement like that. She'd long ago stopped worrying about whether people considered her an eccentric artist or just crazy.

"Thank you," Morgan said softly when Aislinn slid her a cup of tea. Aislinn eased herself onto the bench across from the girl and studied her in silence. Aislinn sensed an underlying strength that belied Morgan's whipcord frame. Dark hair hung almost to her waist and her eyes were a startling mix of blue and green…almost a sea green. Aislinn imagined that Morgan must have had her fair share of suitors. She wondered if Morgan and Patrick had ever hooked up. Patrick, the main bartender at Cait's pub, had nursed a crush on Morgan for a few months now. Aislinn had yet to see them out and about together though. In fact, Aislinn rarely saw Morgan, which made her wonder where she slept. She said as much.

"I sleep in my van, mainly," Morgan admitted and Aislinn gaped at her.

"Why?"

Morgan shrugged and stared down at her cup. "Apartments require too much information."

Aislinn gestured with her cup for Morgan to go on.

"You know, background checks, references, that type of stuff."

"Maybe in a big city, but not in a place like Grace's Cove. Does Flynn know where you are sleeping?" Knowing Flynn, Morgan's boss and Keelin's husband, she was certain he would be appalled at the thought of Morgan sleeping in her car.

"No! And you mustn't tell him," Morgan said fiercely, pride flashing across her face.

"Morgan, he would help you. Do you need more money? Is that it?" Aislinn couldn't imagine that being an apprentice on a fishing boat paid much.

Morgan shrugged her shoulders and then gave a small nod.

"I'll hire you part-time," Aislinn said and almost kicked herself. Where had that come from?

A flash of shock and then a sliver of pure joy rippled across Morgan's face.

"You will?"

Aislinn sighed. That flash of hope ­­– of happiness – had told Aislinn everything that she needed to know. There was no way that she could let Morgan suffer. They were relatives of a sort, after all.

"On one condition – you tell me everything," Aislinn said and watched Morgan carefully. Morgan stiffened and then stared down into her cup before beginning to rise.

"Thank you for the offer then, but I'll have to decline."

Aislinn threw up her hands. "Morgan, sit. I swear, save me from dramatic people…" Aislinn rolled her eyes and stared across the table at Morgan. "Just give me the basics of why you are here and where you came from. We'll talk about your power in a moment."

Morgan flinched at the mention of her power.

"Yes. I have power too. You aren't the only one, sista, so don't get up on your high horse about it."

Morgan huffed out a small laugh.

"Trust me, that's the one thing that I have little ego about."

"So? Talk to me, Morgan. If I don't know you, I won't trust you alone in my shop."

Morgan nodded at that and tucked her long hair behind her ear. "I suppose that makes sense."

Aislinn leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for Morgan to go on.

"Well, I'm from Killarney. I just turned nineteen and have been on my own for a while. Too long, actually." Morgan shrugged her shoulder and dismissed the fact quickly. "I was raised in an orphanage. Every time I was given to a foster home, I was returned. Basically the nuns raised me off and on, between homes. I took off when I was sixteen and have pretty much been on the road since."

Aislinn's heart broke a bit for Morgan. Knowing how hard it was when her family split up, she couldn't imagine not having a family at all. It also didn't take much for Aislinn to connect the dots.

"Let me guess…those foster homes. They saw you use your power, didn't they? And they were scared of you?"

Morgan's eyes filled with tears – so suddenly that Aislinn almost jumped across the table. The empathic part of her could feel years of Morgan's pain and anguish at being different come bubbling to the service.

"Yes, they always returned me. The nuns…the nuns used to tell me that the devil was in me. They even tried to perform an exorcism on me."

Aislinn stared at the girl in horror. She wanted to go across the table, hug Morgan, and tell her that everything was going to be okay. But Aislinn's instincts told her that Morgan would bolt if she did.

"Well, that was right stupid of them, wasn't it?" Aislinn said casually and was rewarded with a small smile from Morgan.

"Aye, it was at that," Morgan agreed.

"So, you haven't really had anyone to tell you what you are or how you got to be this way, have you?" Aislinn asked.

"No, I did some research though and that is how I landed in Grace's Cove. I figured if I could get on a fishing vessel maybe I could get into the cove from another angle and figure some things out."

"It's tough to grow up with power. It must be even harder not to have anyone to explain it to you."

"Did you? Did your mom explain it?" Morgan asked.

"Ah, well, yes, she did. Luckily, we moved back to Grace's Cove when I was a teenager and I was able to meet Fiona. She had a larger impact on me than my mother ever did."

"The healer?"

"Aye, I'll take you to meet her."

"I…I think that I'd like that," Morgan said hesitantly. She twisted a piece of hair through her fingers.

"Here's the deal, Morgan…if you come into this, want to be a part of us, then you're in it. You get me? Keelin, Cait, Fiona…we are all, in an odd way, connected and family. I know that you don't have family, but we would be it. So, you have to decide if you are ready for that. If you are used to being on your own…it could be hard for you to understand that." Aislinn picked her words carefully, wanting to show Morgan that she could have a family but not scare the girl by insisting that she become friends with everyone.

"I...I'd have to think about it to be honest. I'd like to work for you. Your shop is beautiful, it would be an honor. I'm not sure if I am ready for the rest yet," Morgan said softly.

"I understand. But you have to promise me one thing – no hiding and no lying. That's one of the benefits of my ability – I can tell if you lie to me."

Morgan nodded.

"I promise. No lying. Despite everything or maybe because of it, I'm an exceptionally loyal person."

Aislinn could tell that she spoke the truth.

"You'll need to meet Fiona. Not right away, but…she's just amazing. She took all of us in and taught us about ourselves. She's become like a grandmother to me."

Morgan smiled. "That sounds nice. Having someone like that in my life."

"Let me show you around the shop and then I'll call Shane. I bet he'll be able to hook you up with an affordable apartment, okay?"

Morgan nodded her head eagerly and for the first time, Aislinn saw a wide, unencumbered smile light up the girl's face. Aislinn almost gasped. When the worry dropped away from Morgan's face, she was stunning. Making a note to draw her sometime, Aislinn led the way back into the shop.