Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
W alking into the kitchen and finding Sara there had been the gift Kieran had hoped for. Lucky had told him a shopping trip to Missoula was on her family’s agenda. Sara had stayed back. For him. He had no doubt of that.
“I have an idea,” Lucky said once they’d piled into his truck, Sara in the front passenger seat and Kieran in the back. “We’ll be going into town, and if you have the keys to your rental?—”
“In my pocket. I brought them today in case someone could take me in so I could drive that vehicle out to the ranch.”
“If you do that after we visit the cemetery you can take Sara back and I’ll head over to the bookshop.”
“I wouldn’t mind seeing that shop today.”
Lucky grinned. “And I wouldn’t mind showing it to you.”
“It’s cozy.” Sara swiveled in her seat and glanced back at him. “You’ll like it.”
“I know I will. I’ll buy my first M.R. Morrison book today.”
Lucky glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “She’d be happy to give you one.”
“I know she would, but I’d rather buy one from you, mate. No, wait. I’ll buy two, one for me and one for Granny.”
“She reads Westerns?”
“She doesn’t read much fiction, let alone Westerns. She’s into biographies, mostly. But I think she’d read one of Desiree’s if it comes from your shop and I have your mom sign it. Even if she doesn’t read it, she’ll love having it on display to show the neighbors.”
“Then I’ll give you the one for Granny. How’s that?”
“But—”
“I want to send something back with you, bro, and a book would be perfect. I’ll let you pay for yours, but hers will be my gift to her.”
“Can’t argue with that. She’ll be thrilled.” And didn’t he love it when Lucky called him bro ? He hadn’t felt natural doing the same, but before he left he’d try it out.
At the market they each bought a bouquet, looking for the ones in non-breakable containers. Their drive to the cemetery was silent.
Lucky finally spoke as he pulled into the parking lot of the white clapboard country church. The graveyard was off to the left, bordered by a black wrought-iron fence. “I said I hadn’t been to the grave much, but the truth is, I’ve only been once, the day I asked to see where my birth mother was buried. I was five. Haven’t been back since.”
Sara reached over and touched his arm. “She didn’t let herself be known. It’s hard to care when a person is nothing but a shadow.”
“Sara’s right.” Kieran unfastened his seat belt and leaned forward. “Don’t blame yourself, boyo. I’m just now forgiving her. I came over here mad as hell.”
“I was mad, too. If Mom hadn’t been in that hospital having Rance, I’d have been SOL.”
“You need to come to County Kildare. It’s grand for most people living there, including Granny. But it didn’t suit Freya. She had too much fire in her.”
Lucky nodded. “I will come.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Does County Kildare suit you?”
“You ask hard questions.”
He grimaced. “So I’ve been told. Never mind.”
“Let’s just say it suits me well enough. Granny devoted her life to raising me when all her friends were long past that stage. I’ll never forget that.”
“Understood.” Lucky opened his door. “Let’s pay a visit to Freya Noreen Haggerty.”
“Do you remember where she is?” He and Sara followed Lucky through the gate.
“Oh, yeah. I was the smartest five-year-old you’ll ever meet.”
“Wow, good for you.” Sara switched her bouquet to her other hand and adjusted the strap of her shoulder purse as she picked her way along the gravel path. “You must have a photographic memory.”
“No, just a degree in smartassery. I don’t remember. I asked Mom for directions.”
“She comes out here?” Kieran hadn’t expected that.
“Much to my surprise, she does. I figured we’d be coming eventually so I got to the house this morning before she started working to get info. I thought she’d have to look it up. She told me exactly where to go.”
“How often does she come? Did she say?”
“Every year the day after Rance’s and my birthday. She checks on the condition of the gravesite and gives thanks for… for me.”
The last part sounded suspiciously husky.
“And here we are.” Lucky paused in front of a grave covered with neatly trimmed grass.
The modest headstone contained all the information Desiree had possessed, a name and a date.
Kieran waited for sadness to come, or relief, or closure. Nothing. He glanced at Lucky. “I was pure dreading this. But…”
“It’s weird. You’d think now that I know more, I’d feel a connection. But I don’t.”
“Having the wrong name doesn’t help.” Sara gazed at the headstone. ‘It might be different if you had everything on there — Freya Noreen Haggerty and her date of birth as well as her date of death. How old was she?”
“Twenty-two. Granny celebrates it every June 13 th .”
“I’ll make sure Molly gets that info.” Lucky held his bouquet in the crook of his arm as he pulled out his mobile and tapped on it. “We should take our picture and send it. Molly needs time to work her magic.” He set his bouquet by the headstone.
Sara put hers next to it and then Kieran added his. The bright flowers lined up at the base of the granite slab helped. Lucky tapped on his mobile and backed up, moving to the foot of the grave.
“Wait.” Sara took her mobile out of her purse. “You two should be in it.”
“Should we?” Kieran glanced at Lucky.
He shrugged. “It’s for Granny. It shows that we were here together. It’s our mother’s grave. Why not?”
“On either side, then?” He looked to Sara for direction.
“One of you on each side and take off your hats.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He removed his Stetson and finger-combed his hair.
Putting away his mobile, Lucky did the same. “Should we smile? I don’t think we should smile.”
“But then we’ll look like we don’t give a feck.”
Lucky snorted. “Sorry. This is not a laughing matter.”
“Or maybe it is, mate. We’re hoping to fool an oul dear into thinking this banjaxed headstone is fine and dandy. That’s a story you tell in the pub over a couple of pints.”
Lucky flashed him a grin. “Hadn’t thought of it that way.”
“Here’s an idea.” Sara took another step back. “Look at each other instead of at the camera. And smile just a little bit.”
Kieran turned slightly so he could see Lucky. The fella was wearing the goofiest fake smile ever. “What is that?”
“My half smile.” He said it while trying to keep his lips in position.
“It needs work.”
That set Lucky off and once he started laughing, Kieran couldn’t help himself. When he finally regained control, he looked around to see if anyone was in the cemetery apart from the three of them.
“Nobody else is here,” Lucky said. “I figured it would be deserted on a weekday morning.”
“Are you two eejits ready to try it again?”
Keiran gave Sara a thumbs-up. “Well spoken, lass.” He checked with Lucky. “Don’t do the half-smile.”
“Should we shake hands, instead?”
“Like we’re concluding a business deal? I think not. Let’s just look at each other.”
“Okay.” Lucky’s eyes twinkled. “For the record, I give a feck.”
“Yeah, me, too.”
“Okay!” Sara called out. “I took several. Good job.”
Putting on his hat, Kieran looked down at the grave. “She did give us life.”
“So true.” Lucky’s gaze dropped. “And a good hair color. I’m glad I got hers, especially now that I know the scumbag she ran off with was blond.”
“My gobshite father was blond, too. She had a type.”
“I liked hearing she was a reader, though.” His voice softened. “Granny seemed proud of that.”
“She is.” Leaning down, he shifted the pots so they were lined up better. “Mum was a fine student.”
“I thought my love of books was all my mom, but maybe some was her doing.” Crouching, he plucked a small weed and tossed it aside. Then he gently laid his palm on the grassy mound.
Kieran’s breath hitched. Seeing Lucky do that got to him. His brother had never felt her arms around him, but he had. A warm hug, the scent of her perfume… the memory hovered… and was gone.
When Lucky straightened, he blinked away a sheen of moisture. “Thank God she sent that last postcard.” He swallowed. “What you did, using your life savings to come over here….” His chest heaved. “I won’t ever be able to thank you enough.”
Kieran looked right back, memorizing Lucky’s face. Emotions crowded his chest and clogged his throat. “I think you just did, bro.”