The Selkie Enchantress Read Online Free Page B
Author: Sophie Moss
“I’d be fighting to win him back.”
***
What did Glenna know? She wouldn’t go out on more than three dates with a man for fear of getting attached and, God forbid, falling in love. She probably didn’t even know what love felt like. Caitlin’s calf muscles burned, but she kept running, putting more distance between her and the village.
She ran until her lungs ached and she had to slow to a walk, clutching at the sudden cramp in her side. Dominic’s words floated back to her. ‘Tara’s going to talk Liam into seeing a specialist. She thinks there’s something wrong with his memory.’
There wasn’t anything wrong with Liam’s memory. He remembered everything else about the day—driving to Sheridan, chatting with Finn, meeting Nuala, even helping the captain with the lines before the accident. He remembered everything but their date.
A mare raised her head from a neighboring pasture and Caitlin reached out, brushing a hand over the horse’s soft whiskered muzzle. But then how did that explain their kiss at Tara and Dominic’s wedding? It was an epic kiss—the kind of kiss that made your toes curl and your arms tingle.
Surely the kiss had meant something to him, too. But if it had, then what changed? She let her arm fall back to her side, circling back on the single road leading north to the bogs. Was there a shift in their conversations she hadn’t picked up on? Or was Tara’s concern justified? Was it possible a head injury could erase only a single strand of memories?
Icy winds whipped over the barren landscape, cutting through her sweaty shirtsleeves. No. That was ridiculous. Memories could be lost over a block of time—a day, a week, even a month before an accident. But not memories of a single person .
She picked her way over the stone-and-boulder footpath, pausing when she spied a fresh set of footprints in the grass. They were small, belonging to a child. Curious, she followed them along the edge of the bogs until she spotted a boy kneeling alone outside the crumbling ruins of a stone cottage. His back was to her and he was studying something on the ground.
Caitlin shaded her eyes from the sun. “Hello, there.”
The child shot to his feet, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“It’s okay,” Caitlin said. A pair of ocean blue eyes stared back at her warily. She recognized him from last night; he’d ridden the ferry in with Liam. “No one lives here.” She glanced around for the child’s mother—the absolute last person she wanted to see. “You can poke around all you want.”
The boy stepped back from the cottage as she came closer, but his gaze drifted back to the spot on the ground where he’d been kneeling.
Caitlin’s gaze fell to where a single white rose had bloomed overnight in the dead of winter, ice water dripping from its frozen petals.
Chapter 4
Tara popped the stethoscope out of her ears. “Everything seems fine.” She used a penlight to follow the movements of Liam’s eyes. “How does your head feel?”
“I’ve a headache, but nothing a bit of whiskey can’t cure.” He smiled devilishly up at Tara and she shook her head, popping the penlight back in her pocket. Liam and Dominic were so different in personality, but when he smiled like that it was hard not to recognize that impossible-to-resist O’Sullivan charm.
Liam scooped his glasses off the night table and slipped them on. Tara noted the scratches in the glass, the bent frames. His raven black hair was still mussed from sleep and he had ink all over his fingers. She glanced down at the sheets. Sure enough, there were blue ink stains all over the pillows.
She shook her head. Absent-minded, yes, but he still had the same long lean muscles as his older brother. And when you combined a brilliant imagination and sharp mind with that hard Irish body tucked into a simple white T-shirt and jeans, it was easy to see why women sometimes got tongue-tied around him.
“Keep me posted on how you
***
What did Glenna know? She wouldn’t go out on more than three dates with a man for fear of getting attached and, God forbid, falling in love. She probably didn’t even know what love felt like. Caitlin’s calf muscles burned, but she kept running, putting more distance between her and the village.
She ran until her lungs ached and she had to slow to a walk, clutching at the sudden cramp in her side. Dominic’s words floated back to her. ‘Tara’s going to talk Liam into seeing a specialist. She thinks there’s something wrong with his memory.’
There wasn’t anything wrong with Liam’s memory. He remembered everything else about the day—driving to Sheridan, chatting with Finn, meeting Nuala, even helping the captain with the lines before the accident. He remembered everything but their date.
A mare raised her head from a neighboring pasture and Caitlin reached out, brushing a hand over the horse’s soft whiskered muzzle. But then how did that explain their kiss at Tara and Dominic’s wedding? It was an epic kiss—the kind of kiss that made your toes curl and your arms tingle.
Surely the kiss had meant something to him, too. But if it had, then what changed? She let her arm fall back to her side, circling back on the single road leading north to the bogs. Was there a shift in their conversations she hadn’t picked up on? Or was Tara’s concern justified? Was it possible a head injury could erase only a single strand of memories?
Icy winds whipped over the barren landscape, cutting through her sweaty shirtsleeves. No. That was ridiculous. Memories could be lost over a block of time—a day, a week, even a month before an accident. But not memories of a single person .
She picked her way over the stone-and-boulder footpath, pausing when she spied a fresh set of footprints in the grass. They were small, belonging to a child. Curious, she followed them along the edge of the bogs until she spotted a boy kneeling alone outside the crumbling ruins of a stone cottage. His back was to her and he was studying something on the ground.
Caitlin shaded her eyes from the sun. “Hello, there.”
The child shot to his feet, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“It’s okay,” Caitlin said. A pair of ocean blue eyes stared back at her warily. She recognized him from last night; he’d ridden the ferry in with Liam. “No one lives here.” She glanced around for the child’s mother—the absolute last person she wanted to see. “You can poke around all you want.”
The boy stepped back from the cottage as she came closer, but his gaze drifted back to the spot on the ground where he’d been kneeling.
Caitlin’s gaze fell to where a single white rose had bloomed overnight in the dead of winter, ice water dripping from its frozen petals.
Chapter 4
Tara popped the stethoscope out of her ears. “Everything seems fine.” She used a penlight to follow the movements of Liam’s eyes. “How does your head feel?”
“I’ve a headache, but nothing a bit of whiskey can’t cure.” He smiled devilishly up at Tara and she shook her head, popping the penlight back in her pocket. Liam and Dominic were so different in personality, but when he smiled like that it was hard not to recognize that impossible-to-resist O’Sullivan charm.
Liam scooped his glasses off the night table and slipped them on. Tara noted the scratches in the glass, the bent frames. His raven black hair was still mussed from sleep and he had ink all over his fingers. She glanced down at the sheets. Sure enough, there were blue ink stains all over the pillows.
She shook her head. Absent-minded, yes, but he still had the same long lean muscles as his older brother. And when you combined a brilliant imagination and sharp mind with that hard Irish body tucked into a simple white T-shirt and jeans, it was easy to see why women sometimes got tongue-tied around him.
“Keep me posted on how you
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