Welcome Back to Apple Grove (7 page)

“I don’t lie, Grace. My mom taught us not to, and no matter how much what I have to say might hurt someone, I won’t gloss over the truth, not even for a woman with eyes the color of shamrocks and lips begging me to kiss them.”

Grace slid her hands up his back and over his shoulders, pulling him flush against her. He felt her generous curves pressing against him and had to close his eyes; he didn’t want to scare her away with the depth of the need raking through him.

“I’m not begging you to kiss me,” she mumbled against his collarbone.

He eased her back and locked gazes with her. “Oh no?”

Her mouth curved into a smile. “Begging’s not the same as wanting.” She pressed her lips to his jaw and he groaned.

“Wanting could lead to begging, Grace.” He slid his hand down to the base of her spine and slowly up again, delighting in the way her body quivered beneath his touch.

He stroked his hands along her shoulders and down to her wrists, manacling them. “Will you let me kiss you, Grace?”

He wanted so much more than a kiss but would be damned if he’d give in to his body’s clamoring like a teenager. He’d savor every step of his seduction of Grace Mulcahy.

When she realized he’d captured her hands as effectively as if he’d handcuffed them, her eyes changed to a deeper hue as desire and want filled them.

“May I?” He brushed his thumbs against the underside of her wrists and felt her pulse pounding there.

She tilted her face up. Green eyes glowing, she whispered, “Please.”

He fought against the urge to feast and gently brushed his lips tentatively across her mouth. The sexy sound she made in the back of her throat made it hard to go slow. He fitted his mouth to hers, kissing her softly. With the tip of his tongue he traced the fullness of her bottom lip, adding kindling to the fire he was building between them.

He nibbled where he’d licked, and her sharply indrawn breath told him she was right there with him.

When her tongue tangled with his, he lost all perspective and let the kiss take them to the edge of desperation. When her hands started shoving his T-shirt up, his brain kicked in and he broke the kiss and their intimate connection. They stared at one another, though neither one spoke at first. His conscience wrestled with what he wanted to do and what he should do. Needing to catch his breath and struggling for control, he rasped, “Your father would hang me from the yardarm on the ship’s mast in Mr. McCormack’s field.”

Grace laughed.

He liked the husky sound of it. Running his hands across her shoulders and down to her hands, he grasped them, lifting them up to his lips. Pressing a kiss to the backs of her hands, he confessed, “From the moment I saw you standing on the back porch with a ray of sunlight setting fire to the red highlights in your hair, I knew I wanted to kiss you.”

When she remained silent, he added, “But I had no idea you’d set me on fire.” Holding her hands against his heart, he told her, “I’m going to want another taste of you, Grace. Are you going to make me beg?”

Her lilting laughter filled the barn and his heart. “I’ve only got today and part of tomorrow. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get back.”

Patrick was determined not to let her forget him when he’d only just found her. “Dan challenged me and a couple of the guys from my firehouse to a game of soccer next weekend, but the day’s still up in the air.”

Grace was watching him closely when she said, “Maybe I could visit Pop again next weekend.”

He chuckled. “I have a feeling your father and Meg, and maybe your other sister, might be counting on that.”

***

Grace had suspected something was up but hadn’t been paying close enough attention to catch all of her meddling family’s telltale signals—just her father’s. “Are you angry with them?”

“No. I come from a long line of matchmakers, but I have a feeling you weren’t in on it.”

“I wasn’t,” she said. “But I’m glad they meddled.”

She laid her head against his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. Grace hadn’t expected romance when she’d left Columbus. Was she reacting to Patrick because she was lonely, or was it because he’d been turned on by her curves instead of put off, as she’d expected him to be? Although no one from her hometown commented on her weight, she could see the speculative looks in their eyes, leaving her to wonder if they were mentally tallying up the number of pounds she’d gained. People in the city didn’t meddle—just one more thing she loved about living there—but then again, people in the city weren’t as openly friendly as people in her hometown.

Patrick’s hand stroked up and down her back, soothing those worries until they evaporated under the hypnotic warmth of his touch.
Maybe
I’m scared.
Patrick was the walking, talking version of her childhood dream of a man who worked with his hands, liked children, and was handsome as sin. She wasn’t sure yet, but she’d bet her family’s farm that he had a heart of pure gold.

But
I’m not looking for a man!

He slid his hand higher. Cradling the back of her neck, he tipped her face up. His eyes darkened with desire that called to her, pulling at her until she realized it didn’t matter that she hadn’t been looking—he was real and he was here.

He leaned down and kissed her until her eyes crossed and she melted in his arms.

“Did you two find that grill yet?”

They broke apart and started to laugh. Dan shook his head. “Good thing Joe asked me to find out what was taking so long.”

“Since you’re here,” Pat said, “why don’t you tell us where he actually hid the grill?”

Dan’s grin was infectious. “On the other side of the barn—he’d never keep anything like that by the Model A.”

Grace tugged on Pat’s hand. “Come on. I know right where it is.” With a glance over her shoulder, she called out, “Tell Pop his plan is working like a charm.”

Her brother-in-law’s laughter confirmed their suspicions.

“Let’s get that grill,” Pat said. “I’m starving.”

The scent of meat grilling carried over to where Grace stood beneath one of the oak trees in her family’s backyard. Drawing in a deep breath, she sighed. “I’ve missed this.” Turning to Meg, she asked, “Did you ever lie awake at night and imagine yourself as a mom?”

Meg’s smile bloomed slowly as she cuddled baby Deidre in her arms. “No, I’d spent too many years trying to be a mom to you and Cait after mom died.”

Interested, Grace urged her sister to tell her about it.

“I was going to take over the business from Pop and maybe start tracking down our cousins and making them an offer they couldn’t refuse.” The sounds of deep male voices drifted toward where they stood. “But then Dan came to town, turned my life upside down and inside out, and well…here I am.”

Watching the twins whooping it up, running in a circle like they were little wild things and the grill was their bonfire, Grace couldn’t understand her sister’s serenity. “I guess we never really know what life has in store for us.”

Meg put her arm around Grace and squeezed her close. “Fate, dear sister,” she said. “And destiny.”

“Serious talk for such a beautiful afternoon.”

Grace grinned as Meg smiled and said, “Cait! You made it.”

Deidre held out her arms to the middle Mulcahy sister and was passed off to Cait’s waiting arms. “I just had a few things to catch up on this morning. Jack’s bringing the potato salad.”

“Looking for me, gorgeous?” Jack Gannon set a large bowl on the table behind the sisters and wrapped his arms around his wife and their niece. Deidre was babbling a mile a minute but stopped when he kissed his wife. From the way she giggled, Grace knew the little one was used to getting her share of her uncle’s kisses too.

Jack pressed his lips to Deidre’s forehead and snagged the little one from Cait’s arms. “My turn.” Settled on his hip, the two walked over toward the group of men—tall and small—standing around the grill.

With Meg in the middle, the sisters linked arms and listened as Cait caught them up on the latest news from Honey B. and Rhonda.

“So we’ll have even more donations for Love Locks.” Grace couldn’t be happier. “I’m so glad Kate talked me into making that appointment with Honey B. to straighten out the mess I’d made of my hair.”

Cait snorted. “That’s what you get for snipping while you were sipping.”

Once she started giggling, Grace couldn’t stop. She ended up brushing away tears from the laughter.
It
feels
so
good
to
laugh
like
that.

“Did you check out the town website this morning? The pics turned out great.”

Grace heard Cait’s question but was distracted by the deep rumbling of male voices again.

***

Pat watched the way the sisters linked arms and started talking all at once. They made a solid unit—like he and his brothers. Now he sounded like the oldest of his brothers, Tommy
. Not gonna go there.
He shoved those thoughts deep.

The ladies’ laughter floated toward him and, like a tantalizing scent on the breeze, distracted him. They were quite a trio, heart-stoppingly beautiful. Cait and Grace were tall, with the same gorgeous green eyes and strawberry-blonde hair, and although they used to have the same slender figures, Grace’s had filled out to bodacious proportions while she’d been living in Columbus. The petite firebrand in the middle, Meg, had auburn hair and bright blue eyes.

It was crazy to think a blind date with Honey B. had brought him here. How he let Snelling talk him into signing up for that online dating service he couldn’t really remember. It might have been an ARI—alcohol-related incident. Whatever the case, Honey B. had been his intended date that night. To his surprise and approval, she’d shown up with reinforcements, Dan and Meg, to watch her back, and he’d ended up making new friends that had filled in part of the gap leaving New York City and his family had caused.

“My girls are gorgeous.” Joe’s voice broke through Pat’s train of thought.

Patrick answered without thinking. “Yeah.”

The older man’s laughter caught Pat off guard. He turned toward Joe and asked, “Did I miss the joke?”

But Joe just smiled, turned the steaks, and sent the boys over to their mother to grab the bowl of potato chips. “Don’t run,” he warned them as he tossed a few burgers for the kids onto the grill, “or you’ll spill your share of the chips.”

Enjoying their antics, Pat watched Danny and Joey walk back with the bowl between them like it was TNT and about to explode. “You always know just what to say to those two.”

Joe smiled. “They’re a lot like my girls were growing up.”

“Your girls were that wild?”

Joe’s deep laughter had Dan and Jack breaking off their conversation. “Did you just ask if the Mulcahy sisters were wild when they were younger?” Dan asked.

“Just wondering,” Pat replied.

“Did you hear about the time Meg climbed up to the crow’s nest?” Dan asked.

Patrick just had to ask, “At the top of the mast in McCormack’s field?”

Dan nodded.

“Or the time Cait tried to dye her hair blue with Jell-O?” Jack asked.

Pat shook his head, asking, “What wild stuff did Grace do?”

Joe sighed. “She was always the one to quietly rebel.”

“So she wasn’t as obvious as her older sisters?” Pat filed that information away with what else he’d learned so far about the beguiling woman.

“Wow,” Jack said, staring at the sisters. “Separately they are gorgeous. Together—”

“They’re stunning,” Dan finished for him.

“Some little girls are going to be very surprised when they receive the new wigs that Love Locks will be creating for them with all the hair my girls donated.”

“Whose idea was it?” Pat asked.

“Grace’s,” Dan told them. “She’s the catalyst that had her friend Kate calling Meg who called Honey B. Once those three started talking, the ball got rolling.”

When Pat stared at him, Dan shrugged. “That’s how it is in Apple Grove. One good deed leads to another, and before you know it, the town’s in on it and everyone wins.”

Joe smiled. “It’s what I love most about living here—that and the fact that the Mulcahy family’s roots go deep.” He turned to watch his youngest. “Maybe not all of us feel the same way, but two thirds of my girls do.” His sigh was heartfelt. Joe shook his head and added, “Everyone has to follow their own path, make their own way.” He locked gazes with Patrick. “Sooner or later a man meets his destiny and either accepts the fact, or he walks away from it.”

Pat wondered if Grace’s father knew Pat was running from his past or if the man was referring to his daughter—the blonde goddess with the killer curves. A man’s destiny could be twofold, couldn’t it?

“Family’s important.” Joe watched Patrick intently. “Do you have family in Newark?”

A completely innocuous question unless you caught the underlying tone in Joe’s voice—the man was digging for information. Everything Joe knew about him was surface.

Patrick watched the way Grace laughed with her sisters and felt the jolt go deep. This could be the one his ma had warned him he’d meet one day when he wasn’t looking, a woman who’d make all the ones he’d dated before fade in comparison.

“Ma’s right,” Pat whispered.

“What’s that?” Joe asked.

Patrick shook his head to clear it of those thoughts and said, “Thinking out loud.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Joe reminded him.

“If you mean other than my firefighting brothers in Newark, no, my family’s in New York—Brooklyn.”

Joe looked up and Patrick knew the man was asking because he was curious for his daughter’s sake.

“From the way you are with my grandsons, I’d say you have nephews and nieces of your own.”

Pat found his equilibrium and his smile. “My three sisters are all married with kids. Grania’s got three boys and two girls, Maeve has three girls, and Kelly has four boys. None of my brothers are married—yet.”

Jack and Dan were keeping the boys from eating too many chips by starting a game of keep-away with the bowl. The boys enthusiastically chased after the men—and the bowl of chips.

“Always wondered what my life would have been like if there’d been a son added into the mix,” Joe said softly. “But my girls are my heart.” He stared out at the field behind the house for a few moments before looking down at the grill. “Hand me that platter. These babies are done.”

Pat did as he was asked, surprised when Joe spoke up. “Are you going to keep me in suspense or tell me about your brothers?”

Pat laughed and told him, “I’ve got three. Tommy’s the oldest, then me, Mike—then come the girls, Grania, Maeve, Kelly, and the youngest—Johnny.”

“Salesmen and stockbrokers I suppose,” Joe said cagily.

The snort of laughter escaped before he could stop it. “We followed the family tradition; we’re all firefighters.”

“Smoke eaters,” Joe said. “Takes a certain breed of man to walk into a fire—had them in the coast guard. Scariest thing I’d ever seen in my life was a fire aboard ship.”

Before Joe could begin what Pat sensed would be an amazing tale of courage, filled with danger, the women walked over, distracting him.

“So, Pop,” Grace said, “what have you been up to?”

Patrick watched Joe deftly distract his youngest to keep from letting on that he’d been subtly grilling Pat for information. The man was a master at distraction, Pat decided, watching Grace turn around and head back inside to bring out the tray of condiments Joe had left in the kitchen.

The picnic table was just long enough to fit everyone, with a high chair for the baby at the end of the table. Watching the boys sitting on their knees to reach the table top reminded him of his childhood.

Grace’s laughter had him turning to watch her. He had a gut-deep feeling that she’d fit right in with his family.

Maybe what he should have been focusing on was arranging schedules with Grace so they could start to fill in the blanks. He was pretty sure he’d convinced her to come back next weekend for the soccer game. But Patrick wanted to find out if the spark that sizzled between them could be kept going until it built into a flame that would last for years.

His last girlfriend hadn’t been able to handle his job and had walked out of his life when he’d hit bottom and needed her most—after that tragic fire. The nightmares that plagued him—superimposing his nephew Michael’s face over that of the boy’s he hadn’t been able to save—had sent him in a downward spiral. The spiral ended with his ex walking out and him trying to drown in a bottle of whiskey. It had taken months of his lieutenant and brothers badgering him to get help before he would even admit he’d tried to solve the turmoil inside of him by drinking himself to sleep—every night.

His heartbreak, the nightmares, and the breakup with his ex were all tangled up in a mass of emotion he had yet to unravel. He’d learned to push those feelings deep and move on with his life—accepting that he wasn’t meant to have a woman to come home to. Or so he thought until he’d seen Grace again and felt the frisson of want and need spark to life.

“So,” he drawled, “what’s for dessert?”

“Cait made Boston cream pie.”

“I love pie,” Pat said.

“I guess you’ve never had it before, or you wouldn’t be saying that,” Grace added.

“OK,” he said, “I give. Because…?”

“It’s not really a pie,” Jack told him.

“It’s our grandma’s recipe,” Meg added. “It’s actually a buttery vanilla layer cake filled with homemade custard and topped with confectioner’s sugar.”

Dan shook his head. “My mom’s recipe for Boston cream pie called for melted chocolate poured on top.”

“That’s because she didn’t have my grandmother’s kick-butt recipe which does not call for chocolate.”

“But I like chocolate,” Dan mumbled.

“Me too, Daddy!” Danny scooted close to his father’s side and patted him on the arm.

“I like Auntie Cait’s pie.” Joey jumped off the bench and followed Cait across the yard and into the house.

Dan chuckled. “So tell me again about this sugar fixation our boys have.”

“All kids have it,” Meg protested. “It’s not just a Mulcahy thing.”

“Yeah it is,” her father said.

Instead of contradicting him, she just shook her head at him. Joe turned to Patrick and asked, “So, any interesting habits in the Garahan family?”

Pat thought about the way Tom and Mike had called a family meeting and told them they’d be getting shamrocks tattooed over their hearts to support their Texas cousins and help raise money for the first annual Take Pride in Pleasure Day Celebration and Rodeo. At the last minute, only Tom and Mike had been able to fly out to Pleasure, Texas, to take part in the finale—the lineup of Garahans and their Colorado cousins. Cowboys, firefighters, and lawmen on stage standing shoulder-to-shoulder…clad in worn blue jeans and beat-up boots and all of them shirtless showing their Irish pride and their Kelly-green shamrocks tattooed over their hearts.