Alaina's Promise Part 14

"Ah, don't go scolding me now, inion. 'Tis time I got out of bed. I've a mind to dance at a ceili-the sooner, the better."

"Mama! Mama! 'Tis Torin's pretty angel!" The young male voice rang over the valley as two small children ran toward the white limestone cottage. Smoke poured from the chimney rising from the thatched roof, scenting the sea air with the sweet, pungent odor of burning turf.

A young, plump woman with streaked blond hair emerged from the open doorway, drying her hands on an ap.r.o.n that hung about her, tied high just above her very pregnant stomach. As they rattled closer, Alaina was surprised that she recognized the young boy. He was the same lad she had encountered during her first moments in Ballyvaughn. Apparently he was still under the impression that she was a celestial spirit. Alaina smiled down at the children, their upturned faces glowing back at her with their own heavenly light and innocence.

"You must be Willie," Alaina said, to which the children's mouths dropped open in wonder. She laughed, turning her attention to the mother as Sean Riordan pulled the rig to a halt near the cottage and dismounted.

"h.e.l.lo!" Mary Katherine O'Malley exclaimed as she stared at Alaina with open curiosity. "Is this Miss Ryan?"

"Aye, Mary Kate," Sean replied. "This is the lady, herself. And her da, Patrick. Alaina, Mr. Ryan, this lovely angel is Mary Kate O'Malley-a cousin of yours, I do believe."

Mary Kate blushed as she patted her head. "'Tis a grand pleasure to meet you Mister Ryan, Miss Ryan. I wish I'd known you were coming this mornin'. We aren't quite ready for company." Maggie hopped down from the carriage. "And Maggie, I'll be glad to have your hands for helping. From what I hear we've quite a crowd coming to the party."

Alaina smiled at her cousin. "Oh, please, call me Alaina. And I'd love to be of help as well, if I may?"

Mary Kate nodded emphatically. "Well, of course you can!" At that moment, a young red-haired girl tugged at her sleeve. "Oh, this is my girl, Molly, and I think you've already met our Willie. He's spoken of nothing else these past two months but the O'Brien's lovely angel. There be many more cousins round about, too. But you'll meet many of them tonight at the ceili."

Torin walked out the cottage then with another, much taller man, who was soon introduced as Tom O'Malley, her cousin's husband. But Alaina found she only had eyes for Torin. The sight of him after such a long week's absence made her heart race like a jackrabbit running from the hounds.

"About time you brought everyone 'round, Sean," Torin said as he neared the wagon.

"Ah, I didn't want to," Sean said with a grin as he turned to help Alaina from her seat. "I like having two of the prettiest ladies to myself, but Alaina insisted."

"Would you give me a hand there, lad?" Patrick asked from his seat in the bed. "My legs are starting to ache something fierce."

Sean winked at Alaina and left her sitting as he did her father's bidding. Then Torin stood at the wagon's edge, a smile in his eyes as he grasped her about the waist and lifted her down from the seat. The touch of his hands and his nearness made her tremble-this time with something very different from fear.

"There will be music, aye?" Patrick asked as he limped carefully toward them using Sean for support on one side and a make-shift cane on the other.

"Aye!" Sean exclaimed. "What would a party be without a bit of dancing. Alaina promised to save me a jig."

"Would you like to learn how to jig, Alaina?" Torin asked, oblivious to the curious stares of the other standing nearby. He stood close to her, his hands about her waist far longer than they need be.

She felt an odd stirring in her belly but refused to allow her thoughts to wander down dangerous paths. "As a matter of fact, I know how to jig! I actually used to be rather good at it, too."

One eyebrow shot up in surprise but Torin said nothing before he let go of her and turned back to the others. "It seems we have a true Irishman's daughter with us after all."

Her father never looked so proud. "That you have, lad. I might not have taught her the language, but she did learn the dance."

Maggie laughed. "There won't be any dancing at all if we don't get busy. Now lads, you go off and mend fences-or whatever it is you need to do-and let us get to work. Patrick," she added, turning to the man with a soft smile. "Since you're not quite ready for hard labor, we could use your help in the kitchen, I'd wager."

"Ah, to be closeted up with the women?" His eyes twinkled with merriment. "What great joys could there be? Old age is not such a bad thing after all."

Mary Kate's plump face broke into an even brighter smile and she nodded her head vigorously, her green eyes dancing.

"The sleeping arrangements have all been made," she announced. "The children can camp out in the barn while you men bunk with Tom in our room. The ladies and I will take the loft," she said as a plan came into focus. "I hope you don't mind, Alaina, but there's no way my Tom can climb up into the loft these days with his bad back. He hurt it when he fell off the roof last winter. Slick as ice that thatch was and himself decides to go up there to tend the chimney!"

"Oh, but you don't have to go to such trouble..." Alaina began to feel as if she had boarded a runaway train.

"No trouble at all, dear!" Mary Kate waved a plump hand in dismissal. "We haven't had a get together in ages and 'tis always a joy to have friends and family about. Willie, lad, you run over to cousin Colm's and remind them the ceili will be tonight after supper time, and ask them to pa.s.s the news. Tell him to bring his fiddle and jug or two of whatever he has on hand-food too, if they have any to spare. Off with you now, and hurry back so you can help us get ready!"

Alaina could only stare as the young boy ran off across the valley toward the next hill. She wished there were some way to turn the tide in which she was now engulfed. It seemed she and her father were going to be the guests of honor at her first Irish ceili, whether she liked the idea or not. She glanced at Torin, who looked quite pleased with the situation and met her gaze with a boyish smile.

"Come then, Sean," he said as he clapped his friend on the back. "We've been given our orders."

"Haven't you got the job done yet?" Sean asked.

"Ah, there he is," the quiet Tom interjected with a chuckle. "Trying to get out of work already! What are we to do with the likes, Torin?"

"No problem, boy-o, I saved the far wall in the west pasture just for Sean." He turned to Riordan with a grin. "I'm thinking you can handle some of the smaller stones, aye?"

"Very funny," Sean sulked. "We'll just be seeing who can handle what, old man."

Alaina watched the three men walk away, a tingle spreading over her skin as Torin glanced back at her over his shoulder. Sean Riordan was a handsome man-nearly as tall as Torin, but thinner and with a thick thatch of black hair and light blue eyes. She had become used to his easy manner and generous charm over the past two weeks, but her thoughts still lingered on Torin. So different they were-one man dark and brooding, the other playful and carefree. In retrospect, it seemed strange that her heart should be so entangled by a man of such mercurial moods. But he haunted her dreams as well as her waking hours.

"Where are my manners?" Mary Kate admonished herself. "Come, come inside Alaina and Patrick-we have a lot to talk about! 'Tis not every day you meet new family. I confess, we've heard much talk of you, Alaina. We've all been waiting to meet the O'Brien's angel." A rumbling laugh seeped out of her father.

"Angel? Oh! Willie mentioned me?" Alaina guessed. "We sort of met, in Ballyvaughn when we first arrived. He asked me if I was an angel, but I told him no."

"Aye, that's our Willie," Mary Kate said with a nod. "The lad has a way with a story and he'll always draw his own conclusions."

"A future seanachais, perhaps?" Alaina asked. The other woman looked at her with surprise and pleasure.

"Aye! A seanachais!" she said.

"I didn't know you were learning Gaelic, Alaina," her father added as he sank down onto a chair at the long wooden table.

"Oh, I'm not really," she told him. "Well, I'm trying to learn. Maggie has been helping me but I'm afraid it's much more difficult than I thought. It's so far different than English. French was much easier."

"You've gotten much better, already," Maggie added as she tied an ap.r.o.n Mary Kate offered around her waist.

"Thank you, Maggie." Alaina turned to her father and smiled. "Daddy, you did teach us a few words-and a curse or two, by accident, I'm sure."

Maggie and Mary Kate laughed as her father's face flushed. "Ah, well, 'twas not my design, la.s.s. I'd have been more than pleased to teach you of your heritage-but there were other considerations."

Some of the merriment died between them as painful memories bombarded Alaina. The other considerations came in the form of her mother, Rosalind. The woman had hated the Irish almost as much as she had hated the Yankees.

"Aye," Maggie added into the silence. "'Tis a shame many of us don't know their own language anymore. Gaelic has almost died out, except here on the West Coast and especially on the Aran Islands."

"Well, you keep on learning, Alaina," Mary Kate said with a smile. "It takes just two people to keep such a thing from fading away forever."

The sun high in the sky, the three women still sat at the kitchen table in deep conversation. They found themselves to be kindred spirits and fell easily into working side by side thinly slicing vegetables and shanks of lamb for the evening meal.

"I never knew I had any cousins," Alaina admitted as she glanced at her father. He'd fallen asleep in a large chair by the hearth. "I just a.s.sumed that since Torin's grandparents took my father in as a boy that there was no blood kin to take care of him."

"Oh, there were a lot of aunts and uncles on both sides," Mary Kate told her. "'Tis a shame, though. There was a feud between the Ryans and Clancys back then-though I'm not sure how it started. I don't think anyone remembers. Anyway, my ma said when your poor da found himself without a mum or dad, not a one would take him in. That's when Seamus and Mary Elizabeth O'Brien took pity on him and brought him under their roof."

"Aye," Maggie added. "Kind people they were! Always lookin' after others before themselves. 'Twas a quite a day for mourning when they pa.s.sed on from this world."

"True. I was young, but I remember it well. They both pa.s.sed within days of each other. Some say 'cause of the love they shared-he didn't want to go on without her."

The rest of the story Alaina already knew. Patrick and Michael came to be like brothers, even closer if that were possible. That friendship had sp.a.w.ned their pact the night before Patrick sailed to America to make his fortune. The betrothal had bound Torin, Michael and Maggie's young son, to Patrick's first born daughter.

They spoke quietly as her father snored. Alaina looked out the open door, thinking of her cousin's words as she tried to imagine what her daddy's life must have been like. Being unwanted...unloved...what a cruel hardship for someone so young. Her heart ached at the very thought.

"Glory be!" Mary Kate exclaimed. "We've been talking for hours and I've all but forgotten about the poor men! They must be dying of thirst out there by now. I better go and fetch a pail of water. They get working so hard they never think to come and get a drink themselves."

"I think there's a bit of pride in that, too," Maggie said with a chuckle. "None of them wants to show weakness, so they keep on till they drop of thirst. Alaina, dear, would you fetch the water while Mary Kate and I make them a bit of a meal?"

"Yes, of course. Just point me in the right direction."

Eyeing her thoughtfully, Mary Kate smiled at Alaina. "Your da's done well by you, Alaina. Torin must be sorely tempted."

Alaina squirmed on the bench "I don't know what you're talking about," she said. "We've decided not to get married-I thought everyone had heard that by now. We're just friends." The other woman looked unconvinced and she and Maggie shared a look that made Alaina even more fl.u.s.tered.

"I better get them some water before they faint away."

"Mind that charming Sean," Mary Kate admonished as she walked out the door. "He's always gone after Torin's la.s.s-doesn't notice a one until Torin does."

"Yes, we've dealt with his flirting already, haven't we, Alaina?" Maggie added with a smile. "No worries, Mary Kate. She's got a good head on her shoulders."

Grabbing a bucket and ladle by the front door, Alaina walked to the pump she had seen outside earlier and filled the vessel almost to the rim with cool water. Then she made her way toward the western pasture, weaving through the maze of dry stone walls and avoiding piles of sheep and cow dung. She began to chide herself for filling the bucket so full as the strain of it tugged mercilessly at her wrists and arms, the contents sloshing over the sides with each movement and splashing on her dress and shoes.

She glanced between the contents of the bucket and the treacherous ground beneath her feet, unaware how close she was to the men until she almost tripped over Sean as he knelt on the ground, digging up a large stone in the field.

"Whoa there, la.s.s!" he cautioned as he steadied her with both hands. His face dripped from perspiration, his shirt soaked clear through.

"Oh," she stammered as he took the bucket from her hands and set it on the ground. "I beg your pardon-I didn't see you."

"Obviously," he said with a grin and a wink. "And to what good fortune do I owe such a lovely la.s.s almost falling in me lap?"

"Mary Kate thought you gentlemen might be thirsty," she told him. A quick glance told her the other two men weren't anywhere in sight.

"That I would!" He stood and scooped up a ladle-full, watching her over the rim as he drank. "You are lovely," he murmured after a moment. "How did Torin get to be such a lucky man?"

"Thank you, Sean," Alaina replied lightly. She'd grown used to his blatant flirtation, but it still made her a bit nervous, particularly when they were alone. "But Torin and I are just friends, you know that. Where are the others, by the way?"

He smiled at her for a moment, a questioning look in his eyes. Then he shook his head and smiled-all carefree and easy once more. "They be over the next field. We needed a few smaller stones to finish the patch job and I was elected to dig them up."

"Thank you." She picked up the bucket and started off in the direction he'd indicated. "Maggie and Mary Kate are making lunch. They should be out shortly."

"Ah, bless their sweet souls!" Sean said as he knelt back on the ground. "A man works up an appet.i.te hefting stones and digging in muck all morning long."

A field away, she came upon a mountain of a man, his blond hair shining in the sun as he lifted stones into a wheelbarrow. "h.e.l.lo," she called, somewhat timid until he looked up at her with a warm, boyish smile.

"Ah, Miss Alaina," he greeted her.

"h.e.l.lo, Mr. O'Malley."

"Please, call me Tom. We're not so formal 'round here." He wiped both hands on his trouser legs, took the bucket from her and set it down.

She held out her hand and he shook it gently as if afraid he might break her. Taller than Torin by at least a head, the man also boasted powerful shoulders that strained against the sweat-stained fabric of his broadcloth shirt.

"You have a beautiful family and home, Tom. I can tell much love has gone into making it so."

He smiled at her thoughtfully and nodded. "Aye, thank you, la.s.s. We've done it together-Mary Kate and myself. Don't know I would have cared if she hadn't been at my side."

A slight stab of envy nettled her then, but she shook off the feeling. "The other ladies are putting a meal together. They should be out shortly."

"Good timing," he said as he dipped the ladle and drew it out. "I was just telling Torin the rocks were starting to look tasty."

A low chuckle had her spinning around. "Such a babe you are, Tom. Doesn't Mary Kate feed you any more?"

Torin stood a few feet away, a large rock cradled in his arms against his bare chest. Alaina gazed at his strong arms and back as he walked by her to lay the stone in the barrow. Muscle moved fluidly beneath sun-bronzed skin as he bent and lifted another into place. He turned toward her with the glare of the sun shining across the surface of his torso; the smooth skin glistened with perspiration. She couldn't help the downward movement of her gaze as she took in every inch of his figure. His thin breeches clung to muscular thighs and narrow hips in a most disconcerting fashion. She felt her face color while torrential waves of heat rose from some place deep within her middle.

Alaina knew she should look away. It would be the ladylike thing to do. But she seemed to have no control over herself. Torin stared straight at her, his immediate smile frozen upon his lips as their gazes held.

Her heart pounded at the expression she saw in the depths of his eyes. For a moment they stood still, trapped in some sort of void through which no thought seemed to penetrate. Then Tom cleared his throat rather loudly and she looked away, her cheeks burning hotter than the noonday sun.

"I-I brought water," she stammered, finding she could barely breathe.

After another moment, Torin moved toward her. "Thank you," he said. He removed the ladle, drew it out br.i.m.m.i.n.g full of the cool clear liquid and drained the cup with one gulp. He dipped it again, then tilted back his head to draw out every drop of water. The movement of his throat as he swallowed held her rapt attention. Some of the liquid spilled and she felt a sudden urge to lean forward and lap the drops from his skin. Alaina imagined how it would feel to then follow the trail they left behind with her tongue.

"Do you want some?" he asked.

She shook her head and licked her dry lips in a way that drew his attention to her mouth. She thought she heard him groan.

"Are you all right?" she asked softly. Tom coughed nearby.

"Nay," Torin murmured, his expression somewhat pained.

Panic fluttered in her chest. "What can I do?" She stepped toward him. "You've been in the sun so long, maybe I can help you into the shade and ..."

With a quick movement, he grabbed the bucket from the ground. Alaina gasped and stumbled backward as Torin dumped the icy water over his head. The empty bucket fell with a thud as he shook the water droplets from his hair like a great beast and rubbed his face with both hands. Tom let out a bellow of a laugh at the sight.

"Sorry," Torin replied with a rueful grin. "'Tis a lot hotter than I realized."

She stood there and blinked at him, her mind awhirl with confusion.

"Go back to the cottage," he commanded. "I'll be 'round as soon as we've finished here." The biting edge in his tone snapped Alaina out of the spell she was under. With Tom's laughter echoing across the Burren, she gathered up the discarded bucket and turned on her heel toward the small house, leaving a puzzled-looking Sean in her wake.