Unholy Blue Read Free Page A

Gaelic, meaning more with the words than just “my friend.”
    Steering one-handed along the pine- and spruce-lined driveway, Shay squeezed his fingers back. In a crunch of gravel, she pulled over to one side of the spacious parking area in front of a house that could best be described as “over-the-top Colorado lodge mansion.” A wide porch greeted them. It was graced with massive posts crafted from Ponderosa pines that had been green shoots on the forest floor when Bann was a sapling of a boy, himself.
    â€œI don’t know which one is worse—you or Cor.” Shay grinned. Her nose, dusted with just the right amount of freckles, crinkled in a way that had charmed Bann almost from the moment he had first seen her. “You’re both such cranky-butts when you’re tired.”
    In awe of her ability to simply let go and move on, unlike his late wife, who felt it was her duty to win every bleedin’ argument—and leave bodies in her wake—Bann’s heart lightened. “Oh, to be sure, Cor is worse than I.”
    â€œUh-uh,
you
are. Big ol’ cranky-butt.” Cor’s voice held a hint of disbelief that he dared to use Shay’s phrase to his father.
    â€œIs that so?” Bann climbed out. Stretching his arms over his head, he waited until the boy swung open the car door and dropped to the ground. Then, with a lightning-fast move, he grabbed Cor around the middle. Ignoring the squawk of protest, he threw his son over his shoulder. “And would an
old
cranky-butt be able to do
this
to a boyo who has shown such disrespect to his da?”Holding the boy face down with one arm, he began tickling Cor with his free hand.
    â€œNo!” Cor shrieked in protest, struggling and almost breathless from giggling. “Shay, save me!” He stretched out a hand in desperation.
    Shay joined them. “Sorry, kiddo. I only play on the winning side.”
    â€œBannerman Boru!” A voice boomed from the porch. Still holding Cor prisoner, Bann turned.
    Hugh Doyle stood beaming in the open doorway, red hair and beard flaming in the light from the foyer. The same height as Bann, but stockier, Shay’s uncle waited as they climbed the steps to the porch before extending a hand. “Good to have you home again.” They clasped each other’s forearms in the traditional greeting. “And I see you’ve captured a monkey.”
    â€œA cheeky one, at that.” Bann swatted Cor lightly on the rump before setting him down and shooing him inside. “What is this I heard about my son burning down the play structure?”
    â€œNot deliberately. In a way, Rory did,” Hugh said, naming one of Shay’s many cousins. “By pouring too much lighter fluid on the barbeque. Cor simply flung the potholder, which had caught on fire, away from everyone. It had the misfortune of landing on a section of jungle gym—”
    â€œâ€”the section made from those
old, dry timbers
.” Shay pointed out. “The one-hundred-year-old timbers.”
    â€œThe structure went up in a blaze before we could stop it,” Hugh finished. “Which was a blessing, as I have been meaning to tear that down for some time now.Your son simply saved me the trouble.” Hugh beamed. “A thoughtful lad, as I oft say.”
    Bann looked from Hugh to Shay and back again. Then he gave up. “Right.”
    â€œThere you are, Bann.” A dark-haired woman, slender and a head shorter than Shay, with a body and features that always reminded him of Audrey Hepburn in the prime of her life, hurried out the open door.
An Audrey Hepburn with a wicked sense of humor and the ground-fighting skills of Boudicca
, he thought.
    â€œAnnwen Doyle.” He took both her hands and bent over to kiss her on the cheek.
    She smiled archly up at him, smoothing a lock of her chin-length hair behind one ear. “That’s it? Just a peck on the cheek?”
    â€œI was