Selkie's Song (Fado Trilogy) Read Free Page B

the legends being told, he loved the girl and what she had to offer far more than tales of Celts and Vikings.
    Tynan suppressed the need to wonder about her, his first love. It was completely ridiculous to even give a thought to seeing her again. She was likely married with a brood of babies and thick through the middle with her own fine cooking. He shook off the ghost of love past and tried to concentrate on the present.
    It looked as though he’d become a landowner through no effort of his own.
    He scooped up his pile of junk mail and deposited it in the paper recycling bin behind the bar. His first instinct was to talk to Matt Kincade, Cade’s older brother and president of Back Bay Records. Matt had a killer instinct when it came to business deals. However, Matt was somewhere in the Bahamas on his sailboat with his current squeeze and wouldn’t be back for another couple of weeks.
    He could hear laughter from the kitchen and hoped his sister had gotten over her tirade. When he stepped through the swinging door, Flann was sitting on Cade’s knee. He was rubbing her shoulders and nuzzling her neck.
    “Aw, now look at ’em. Guess ya haven’t learned yer lesson, Flann. An’ you blamin’ the poor man fer yer current condition,” Ty teased.
    “Can’t get any more pregnant than I already am.” Flann grinned and Ty felt a dry lump in his throat at the joy in his sister’s smile.
    Tynan pulled a chair out from the table and sat. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of his heart. It still pounded and visuals of mahogany eyes spurred a dizzying adrenaline rush.
    Kerry set a cup of tea in front of him. “Ya look like you just ran a half-marathon.”
    His twin sister was perceptive. They no longer finished each other’s sentences, but she always knew when he was troubled. “I…uh…got this letter.” He handed the solicitor’s communication to her. “Guess I’m a land baron,” he said with a wry smile.
    Kerry grinned and took the missive from his hand. “You’re my brother and I love you, but a land baron? That’s a stretch.”
    The back door burst open and Miguel Di Santos sashayed in. He had worked at O’Fallon’s as host and part-time cook for as long as Tynan could remember. Today he wore a sequined gown and black patent stilettos.
    “ Buenos dias all,” he greeted, pranced over to Flann, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “ Chica , you look marvelous.” He did a little pirouette with remarkable agility. “How do you like the dress? It’s for my gig at Jacque’s Cabaret.”
    “I think yer more flat-chested than me now,” Flann said with a giggle and looked down at her bosom. “I don’t need a push-up bra anymore.”
    Ty looked around the table. His sisters were his life, but all these people were family and he loved each one. Buying O’Fallon’s would insure they all stayed close. The pub could remain a centerpiece for their lives.
    Perhaps this little inheritance would tip the scales of finance in his direction. “Do you remember anything about an Uncle Albert…‘Bertie’ O’Malley?”
    “Ah, sure. And if you don’t, I’m ashamed of you.” Kerry joined him at the table. “It was a long time ago. Flann was still a baby in Mam’s arms when we first traveled to that village to hear his stories.” She stirred her tea and smiled as though remembering a treasure lost and found. “A few years later you were more interested in the local girls than you were in the storyteller. If you hadn’t been big as a man by then, Mam would have warmed your backside with a willow branch.”
    “Girl,” Ty corrected. “Only one.”
    “And, as I recall, she was a wild and lovely thing,” Kerry added as she stirred her tea and perused the letter in her hand.
    Tynan leafed through his memories, some as faded as pictures in a dusty album. A visual, real but unfocused, tried to surface: a man, sitting by a fire, telling tales of Ireland.
    The memory of the beguiling daughter of the household