Marco hauled him up. “And who’s this?”
“That’s our Kavan,” Aisling said as the boy babbled at Marco. “Who’s never met a stranger.”
Kavan grabbed a handful of Marco’s braids, grinned at them. “Like!”
“Me, too.”
Then the boy dived to Breen, babbled at her.
“When are you due?” Marco asked.
“Around and about Imbolc. Early in February,” she explained at his baffled look. “I’m past the halfway mark as I figure it. Hoping for a girl this time, as you can see I’ve two heathens already.”
“I missed your heathens,” Breen said, and gave Kavan a nuzzle before she set him down. “We’ll be back tomorrow. I’ll work with Nan, as I did before. And if you’d tell Keegan I’ll train if he wants.”
“No doubt he will. He and Mahon—that’s my man,” she told Marco, “will be back by moonsrise. Come and see me when you can, the both of you are welcome. Come on, lads. Did we or did we not promise Harken we’d see to the kitchen garden? Blessings on you both,” she said as she herded her kids away.
“And on you,” Breen called. “Come on, Bollocks.”
She gestured as they went through the gate again. “The portal’s through that tree. Or the portal is the tree, I’m not sure which.”
He looked over, beyond the dirt road, another stone fence, a pasture of sheep, and up a hill.
The tree spread more than twenty feet wide as it rose out of a tumble of rock. Its thick branches curved down, some reaching the ground before they arched up again. The leaves Breen remembered as boldly green all summer had a wash of crimson.
“What kind of tree is that?”
“It’s the Welcoming Tree, and the portal—or the main one—between Talamh and Ireland.”
She led him across. Bollocks bounded ahead, scrambled up the seven stone steps on the hillside. Perched on a branch, he stopped, barked as if to tell them to hurry up.
“Okay. If I pass out, you can go get me the ale again, or whatever was in it.”
“I can, but you won’t need it. You’ll feel the change,” she told him as he followed her up the steps. “And there’s some wind—but not like the other. A change in light, just a flash. Then we’re over. Don’t be surprised if it’s raining on the other side. You never know.”
“I don’t think anything’s going to surprise me again. Ever.”
Standing above him, she reached back. She felt his anxiety, but it couldn’t compete with his loyalty.
“Take my hand. Go ahead, Bollocks. We’re coming. Step on the branch. It might feel a little like you’re falling, but …”
The light flashed, the sudden breeze blew through her hair.
“You’re not. See?”
“We’re through? Gut shook a little, but. Are you sure we’re through?”
“Yes. You just need to climb down.”
“Little shaky in the knees,” he admitted. “But not all whacked like before. And it’s not raining.”
“Lucky us, we won’t get wet. It’s about a mile’s hike to the cottage.”
“It looks pretty much the same.”
“It does, but it’s not. You didn’t get a chance to see last night because it was raining over there, and you were shaken up, but Talamh has two moons.”
“Two?”
“One waxes when the other wanes.”
“That is so way cool! I want to see that. But you know, Breen, I walked all over these woods when I was here getting my Irish on. I never saw that tree. How could anyone miss that tree? It’s huge, and it’s growing out of rock. Or there’s rock growing out of it.”
“You weren’t meant to. Look at your watch.”
He did, let out a half laugh. “How about that. Working fine.” He pulled his phone out of his borrowed pants. “Got a phone, too.”
“Sally first,” Breen told him. “The best thing to say is you decided to come back with me, and we flew out last night. You’re going to stay for a few days, and—”
“I don’t know how long I’ll stay, and that’s what I’ll say. Give that one up, Breen, you’re stuck with me. We’re going to be fine. We’re going to get each other right on through this. And I’m going to learn to ride a horse. Giddyup!”
“It’s not as easy as you think. My ass had bruises on bruises for days. And I hate myself for being glad you’re here.”
“You can stop that. Say, in all this you wrote down? Anything in there about sex with Chief Hotness?”
“I— Crap. Listen—”
“Too late. You said I could read all of it. And you two might not be in the mood for snuggling right now, but I saw how he looked at you.”
“Like I was one more pain in his ass?”
“No. Like I hope somebody looks at me one day.” Marco’s romantic heart gave a little sigh. “He didn’t even try to punch me back when I hit him, when I thought he’d hurt you. He could’ve mopped the floor with me, but he didn’t. Hell, he could’ve probably turned me into a kumquat or something. But he didn’t.”
“He respects loyalty and friendship.”
“Sally said he had class.”
“I suppose he does.”
“I remember this trail now. Son of a bitch! Walk that way, and you end up in the village. The bay’s over there. Hey, it was over there, over there. Wrong place. That’s— You know what? That’s freaking awesome.”
He sniffed the air. “Catch that? I can smell the bay, I think. And … smoke.”
“They lit the fires for us.” She gestured as the trees thinned. “See?”
The cottage stood, smoke trailing from the chimneys over its thatched roof. The gardens Seamus had taught her to tend spread as colorfully as ever. And the pots of flowers he’d shown her how to plant thrived still.
“It’s your place, Breen. Your grandmother said, and she made it for you. I get that more than ever now. I loved being here, too.”
“I know.” She looked down at the dog, who danced in place. “Go ahead.”
He all but leaped in the air before he raced out, across the green grass, down the slope to the shale beach, and bounded into the water.
“Sea dog,” Marco said with a laugh. “He’s something.”
“Let’s go in. I’m used to drinking tea over there—and God, you’ve got to try Finola’s lemonade. It’s magickal. But I sure hope they remembered to stock Cokes.”
It was like coming home, Breen thought as she grabbed that Coke out of the refrigerator. With the first sips, she scanned her pretty kitchen—the freshly baked bread wrapped in a white cloth on the slate-colored counter, the stoneware bowl of fresh fruit, the fresh flowers on the wide windowsill.
So much as she’d first seen it months before. So much as she’d left it.
“I’m going to make us a pasta dinner,” Marco announced as he poked around the kitchen. “Look at these tomatoes. They are prime!” He checked his watch, did the math. “I’ll wait about an hour to call Sally. If they’re sleeping in any, I’d rather they get some coffee in them before I tell them I flew the coop.”