“I guess I was,” she laughed.
“Anything interesting rattling about your noggin?”
“Not really. I was just thinking that despite being a prisoner here, I somehow feel freer than I’ve ever felt in my life.”
“You aren’t a prisoner here, Eimear.”
“Aren’t I? I can’t leave. Isn’t that the definition of being a prisoner.”
“I don’t see things like that anymore. Do you want to leave?”
“No, not really. I mean, I would like to leave eventually, but I’m not in such a hurry now.”
“You are not my prisoner. Not anymore, and I’m sorry that you ever were. Sometimes I have to do things that just aren’t nice for the people on the receiving end of them.”
“It’s fine. You did me a favor, really, didn’t you? You saved me from a man who would have made my life an absolute misery.”
“That’s your choice. I just told you who he really is. It’s up to you whether you can accept that or not.”
“I can’t. I made a bigger mistake then just agreeing to marry into a crime family.”
“What mistake is that?”
“I forgot who I am, what I wanted.”
“Who are you? What do you want?”
“I’m a girl who grew up on the wrong street in the wrong town. I never knew my father and I’m not sure my mother could pick him out of a lineup if she saw him again. I’ve no idea where he even is. I could run smack into him in a shop and not recognize him and he probably has no idea that I even exist as he left before I was born.”
“You can’t help what you’re born into.”
“Exactly! You can’t help your upbringing, but you can help what you do once you’re grown. I fought to survive my environment. I didn’t get into the heavy drinking or do drugs. I wasn’t in the back seat of someone’s fuckmobile at nights or standing on a street corner turning tricks for cash. I stayed home and took care of my brother and sister. Even though Callum was older, he always seemed childlike, and I guess I didn’t raise him very well or I wouldn’t have lost him.”
“It wasn’t your job to raise him. You were a kid yourself.”
“Maybe, but I felt like it was. I think I did better with Bronagh, my little sister. She and I made it through. I managed to finish college and she’s in college now. Even Mom made it. She’s clean for the first time in who knows when and doing well, working, dating—enjoying her life. She’s even been looking to move out of Dorchester to a better neighborhood.”
“So, I don’t see your failure then.”
“I failed myself. After fighting to make it past all that and finish school, I just tossed it all aside to marry the first guy who acted as if I was somebody. You know? You’re taking me away from him was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. He clouded my thoughts. He didn’t want me to work, and I just rolled over and said okay when I didn’t really want to give up my career. I like my job. I like working.”
“Like? Present tense?”
“I’m on leave for the wedding and honeymoon. He asked me to turn in my notice and not go back, but I never did.”
“So, you aren’t just a sellout, after all. There was a bit of fight left in you.”
“I don’t know. I guess it’s a good thing now. I’ll still have a job when I get back to civilization.”
“You like it there then.”
“I love it there. It’s entry-level, but there’s plenty of room to work my way up.”
“Thompson and Lewler, right?”
Eimear looked at him, surprised, but then realized that he knew a lot about her and dismissed it. She nodded her head up and down, realizing that she felt a bit of dread about asking her next question, but he saved her the trouble.
“They’re a good company. Solid. Clean.”
“Good to know,” she replied, breathing a sigh of relief.
“So, what’s next then?” he asked.
“Go back, maybe crash with my mom for a few days until I find an apartment I can afford. My salary isn’t that great yet.”
“I can help you make some extra cash,” he said with a grin.
“Yeah? You making me an offer I can’t refuse?” she asked.
“Yes. Wine and no mosquitoes,” he replied, standing up to go into the house.
She joined him, not at all displeased about leaving the swarming insects that seemed to rise like a plague of locusts coming off the lake. She swatted several of them away and hurried to catch up with him, his longer stride putting him far ahead of her.CHAPTER TWENTY-THREEFergus
“I’m going to turn in,” Eimear told him.
He had been busy answering some emails on his phone while she read in the nearby chair. He looked up at her, admiring the way her copper hair spilled down her back and cradled the blades of her perfect shoulders.