Chapter 53
fifty-three
BLAIR
Life was about family and friends, full of smiles and laughter, best friends and hard work. Life could be cold and blustery or blazing hot, soft breezes in the afternoon or misty mornings, suffocating parties or a solitary night.
Life was colorful with blue skies, orange, yellow, and purple sunsets, verdant hills and valleys, or brilliant leafy trees, their bark like braille under her fingertips, silently speaking their secrets.
But life was also quiet. At least for her.
Blair was born with no auditory nerves, so she wasn’t a candidate for cochlear implants. She didn’t mind.
Most days.
Some were excruciating, but thankfully, they were few and far between.
Blair was too fortunate to wallow in self-pity.
She had loving parents, a shithead of a younger brother who also happened to be pretty amazing, and six best friends that included her cousin, Mags Morrow (soon-to-be O’Faolain), Gray MacGregor Murphy, Bébhinn O’Faolain Griffiths, Ciar Murphy, Dagr Griffiths, Daniel O’Faolain, and Jonathan O’Faolain.
The interconnected relationships would un-saint a saint to unravel. Best to leave the branchy family and friends’ tree for another day of musing.
Blair had been at a crossroads for months. Sure, she was independent and went her own way, when and where she pleased. Her life was plants…seriously, her life.
But her friends were all paired off now, or mostly, getting married, having children, and running their own businesses. She wasn’t falling behind or dissatisfied so much as unsettled, irritable, and lonely.
Which was ridiculous. Completely outrageous. Blair was brilliant, a prodigy botanist, and highly coveted.
A university in the United States wanted her in their master's program in plant pathology. Oklahoma State University wasn’t the most prestigious university, but one of its professors, Dr. Linda Bartel, wanted her, and Blair recognized a kindred spirit in the woman.
Linda had even flown to Dublin to interview Blair, woo her to OSU so to speak, and she’d been wooed.
Still, Blair hadn’t wanted to leave her family and friends.
She might be brilliant with all things green and leafy, but unlike them, Blair needed more than sunlight and water to thrive.
She needed to be surrounded by the familiar.
In a perfect world, Blair would work with Ulf Griffiths, Bébhinn’s father-in-law.
He oversaw a reserve passion project in Wales.
She’d already spent weeks there for one of her classes, and even though she’d fallen in love with Wales’ flora and it met school requirements, Blair couldn’t accept Ulf's offer. She needed to leave the country.
She didn’t want to.
But…it was the only way.
If she didn’t leave everything and everyone behind, she would never be free.
He didn’t want her to leave, had been furious when she’d admitted how impressed she was with the Oklahoma program.
Blair hated herself for even confiding in him about the opportunity, but there was something inside of her that refused to hide anything from him.
He wanted what was best for her. He cared for her.
Deeply. When she succeeded, he crowed about her success.
When she failed, he held her and let her cry.
When she upset him…well, those were dark times with even darker bruises to mark them.
Despite knowing he would be unhappy, she accepted the OSU position. He’d refused to see or speak to her for a week.
There were days she reveled in his absence and others where depression threatened to drown her.
Blair first touched her fingertips to the fading bruise on her cheek before sliding them to her ears, wondering if the hearing could ever feel as alone and isolated as she sometimes could.
She only needed to close her eyes for the dark silence to find her.