Wild Irish Heart (The Mystic Cove Series Book 1) Read Free

stairwells of the T, dispersing into the green of the Common and weaving between the ponds and trees. It never failed to interest her, the people she found here, Keelin thought. Keelin had spent many an afternoon thinking about the lives of those who walked past her picnic blanket. She often played a game without really knowing why. Keelin would guess the ailments of strangers. She had no way of confirming how or why she knew what she did but she did it without thinking. Cancer, cold sore, cough, diabetes, sprained wrist…images flashed through her head along with emotions. It was like a game show where she had no way of knowing if she was a winner.
    Keelin walked quietly beside her mother and listened as she rattled off the prices of the apartments that lined the Common. She knew all of this already, yet allowed her mother to talk. Margaret had a tendency to talk real estate when she was nervous. Eventually, they wound their way to a stone bench overlooking a small pond. Keelin idly watched a mother help her toddler feed the ducks.
    "What do you know of Grace's Cove?" Margaret asked.
    "Well, I know that it is a small town on the water in Southern Ireland. I know that you grew up there and didn't like the village lifestyle. I've googled it and the pictures are stunning. It really looks like a beautiful place to live. And, I'd love to get out on the water there. Those cliffs are incredible! I imagine there is a ton to study," Keelin said.
    "Yes, well, I'm not surprised you like the water so much, as your father was a fisherman," Margaret said.
    "Yes, so you've said," Keelin said. She was surprised that her mother had brought him up. A source of bitterness between them, Keelin knew little of her father and Margaret rarely spoke of him.
    "I understand that I made a decision to remove him from your life, Keelin, however, it was in your best interests. And look at the life that I gave you. I had my reasons," Margaret said.
    Keelin stayed silent. She'd heard this refrain before. What was the point of arguing the past?
    Margaret sighed. "I suppose it is time for you to know more about your heritage."
    "Yes, that would be nice," Keelin said dryly as she picked at some fuzz on her sweater.
    "I loved your father, deeply," Margaret said.
    Keelin gasped. She had always assumed that she was an "oops" and her father was a passionate night in passing.
    "Oh, Keelin, we were so young and in love. He was working to be a commercial fisherman and had plans to go to Dublin to open a commercial fishing business. That, or start a boat tour company. Either way, you couldn't keep him from the water if you had tried. Sean had quite the big dreams. He…he didn't know about you until I had left. I never told him. Leaving Ireland was one of the hardest things that I have done."
    Keelin stared in shock at her mother. Margaret's cheeks were flushed, yet there was a stubborn tilt to her chin. There would be no questioning of her past decisions.
    "But, how could you not tell him?"
    "He ran from me. He left me, Keelin. When I found out about you, I knew that the only thing that mattered was that I give you a chance at a normal life."
    "But, Mom, didn't you miss him? What was so bad that you had to leave?" Keelin asked.
    "I missed him terribly. I still do. I see pieces of him in you. We aren't the same people anymore though, and that time has passed. Let me tell you about the history of Grace's Cove."
    Keelin nodded and kept silent. This was the most she had ever gotten out of her mother and she wouldn't let her big mouth sidetrack Margaret from giving her the information she so desperately craved.
    "Have you heard of the famous pirate queen, Grace O'Malley?"
    "Of course; she is legendary throughout Ireland. She was notorious for her fierceness in battle. I know she married twice and had several children.  She was famous for being ruthless, yet at the same time is credited with preserving much of Gaelic history."
    "Absolutely, and she was a woman that knew