“Especially a dark, devilish doctor,” Colleen stated with more confidence than she felt.
Deidre smiled and gave her another hug. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she whispered near Colleen’s ear. Colleen closed her eyes, sadness and worry filling her when she felt how desperately Deidre clung on to her…how much of her typically indomitable sister’s rib cage she could feel through the cotton of her T-shirt.
“I can see the
first thing I need to do is cook you a decent meal,” Colleen told her when they broke apart, still holding hands.
Deidre waved her hand dismissively. “Linc’s chef, Sasha, is terrific. My appetite has been off a bit since I came from Germany.”
“Her appetite has been nonexistent,” someone said in a blunt tone.
Colleen started when a tall man with chestnut-colored hair suddenly stepped into the foyer. He had a bold, handsome face and a powerful, rangy build. She noticed the way his gray-eyed, cool gaze landed on her sister’s face. Deidre’s back straightened, her chin went up and her eyes turned every bit as flinty as the man’s.
“Nick Malone, I presume?” Colleen murmured wryly under her breath. Neither the man nor Deidre corrected her—just continued their staring duel—so Colleen knew she’d been right in her guess that the man was Lincoln DuBois’s right-hand man and CEO of DuBois Enterprises—not to mention the man who made it clear he was suspicious of Deidre’s motives in claiming to be Lincoln’s daughter. Malone was younger and a heck of a lot better looking than she’d expected, but Deidre’s haughty stance said loud and clear they were in the presence of the enemy.
“That’s right,” Deidre said. “Nick, I’d like you to meet my sister Colleen. Colleen, Nick Malone. She’s come for the funeral.” Deidre gave Colleen a bland glance. “Knowing Nick, he thinks you came to help me steal the silver, so I just thought I’d clarify.”
Colleen suppressed a snort of laughter, but Nick’s expression grew even harder at Deidre’s jibe. Despite his jeans and Western-style shirt, Malone reminded Colleen more of a soldier than a cowboy or executive.
As usual, Deidre was fearless in the face of potential danger. She grabbed Colleen’s free hand and pulled.
“Come on. We’d better get moving. Nick is likely to go into interrogation mode any second.”
Colleen glanced at Nick bemusedly as they passed, but his gaze was glued to Deidre. Was that concern she saw on his face, mingling with annoyance? For some reason, the way he looked as he followed Deidre’s retreating figure reminded her of the way Eric glared at her sometimes when she was being stubborn.
Chapter Thirteen
A painful stitch stabbed at Colleen’s side as she and Deidre raced through the Holy Name parking lot, both of them wearing heels and holding hands to improve their balance. Their flight from Reno to Detroit had been delayed four hours because of weather, and now they were running late for Liam’s and Natalie’s dress rehearsal. Brigit had gone ahead and brought the kids with her to the wedding rehearsal, while Deidre and Colleen hurried to get ready.
Everything in the past twenty-four hours had happened so suddenly, it still felt a little surreal to her. She couldn’t believe she was rushing to Liam’s rehearsal dinner with Deidre in tow. They’d decided to surprise Brigit, Liam and Marc with Deidre’s presence. Colleen didn’t like to think about how either her mother or Deidre would act when they saw each other.
All of that was nerve-racking enough. But Colleen had to admit to herself that she was nervous and edgy because she was about to see Eric again. Would he be irritated at her for avoiding him all this time? Or would he be relieved? He’d stopped attempting to call her in the past week. Had he given up on trying to apologize for his intentions in seducing her? Was he ready to move on from the whole affair?
Dashing into the church vestibule, Deidre and she removed their coats and hung them on the rack in the entryway. In the distance, she heard Father Mike calling out instructions.
Her heart thrummed with dread and excitement as they entered the church. Deidre hadn’t spoken to Brigit since she’d overheard an argument between Brigit and Derry sixteen years ago. In that argument, Derry had confronted Brigit with the fact that given their blood types, Deidre couldn’t be his daughter. Brigit had admitted Derry wasn’t Deidre’s father, although she’d kept the identity of Deidre’s biological father a secret until last summer.
Now Deidre was back in Harbor Town, and Colleen couldn’t help but worry that all hell was going to break loose for the Kavanaughs—again.
Despite her worry about Deidre and Brigit, it was Eric’s face she immediately sought out among the small crowd, not her mother’s.
“Oh, my God,” Deidre whispered without moving her lips. They paused at the back of the church, and the entire wedding party turned to look at them. “Is that Eric? He’s gorgeous.”
Colleen flushed, hoping fervently the excellent acoustics in the church hadn’t made Deidre whisper carry. Deidre was indeed staring at Eric, and he did indeed look gorgeous, as usual. He wore a black suit, white shirt and pale tie. She hadn’t been able to resist her sister’s encouragements to reveal the truth about the reason for her frequent distractedness and occasional weepiness while they’d been in Tahoe. Now Deidre was privy to the secret workings of her heart. Well…most of them, anyway. There was no way she could convey with words the feelings she had seeing Eric at that moment.
The wedding party had apparently been practicing the bride’s entrance, because Natalie was holding Eric’s arm and they paused in the center aisle. His gaze fixed on her. Colleen couldn’t interpret his expression. Her heart plummeted to the vicinity of her belly.
Suddenly, Liam gave a shout, and Marc, Mari, Liam and Natalie were converging on them at the back of the church.
“I can’t believe it!” Liam said, laughing jubilantly as he hugged Deidre and picked her up, making her shriek in surprise. “You came!”
“I was wondering if I’d ever see the day,” Marc said a moment later, beaming at Deidre. He gave her a big bear hug. When he glanced over Deidre’s shoulder and saw Colleen standing there, smiling with joy, he reached and pulled her into the embrace. Laughing, Colleen put out an arm for Liam. The Kavanaugh children all engaged in a mutual, clumsy, heartfelt hug. “Do we owe you for this miracle?” Marc asked Colleen. “This is incredible.”
“I’ll say it is. All four of you together again in Harbor Town. I wondered if I’d ever see it again.”
They all broke apart and turned at the sound of Brigit’s voice. Brigit stared at her oldest daughter, her expression rapt. The hesitancy mingled with joy Colleen saw on her mother’s face sent a pain through her heart.
“Deidre. You’ve made me so happy.” She flew to her daughter, arms outstretched. Deidre didn’t speak, just returned the hug, albeit stiffly. When they parted, Colleen saw a film of tears over Deidre’s eyes, but she didn’t allow one to spill.