Page 50 of Broken Blood Ties

Chapter16

Summer

Istep back from the bolted door after the footsteps on the stairs stop and the door to outside shuts. My heart still gallops as fast as it did when I first heard the knock at my door.

Kieran was the last person I expected to show up at my door. And with stew?

I move back to the counter, grab my bowl, and take another bite. It’s seriously some of the best food I’ve ever tasted. I’m not unexperienced with fancy cuisine, but this dish could rival some of the finest caviar.

The stew is hearty and savory, the lamb tender, and the potatoes softened to perfection. I want to cry. I’ve been living on canned SpaghettiOs and Oreos for the past couple of days. This homemade dish, made soul reviving because of who brought it, is warm and replenishing in my belly. Now, I want a nap.

Scooting to the bed, I pick up Deuce and dump him into the rumpled sheets. My face heats as I remember Kieran’s words.

Ye want me in yer bed?

He was picking on me. Making fun of the fact I scrambled to clean up the tissue mess I’d been hoarding while watchingHouse Hunters.

I smile. Thinking of him in his refined suit bringing stew to my door. I let out a nasally laugh that turns into a high-pitched honk, which scares Deuce right off the bed.

Jeez. I’m a mess. To think he saw me in this disastrous state.

I shake my head, crawling into bed and clicking the TV back on.

It doesn’t matter. A man like him would never be interested in someone like me. I’m sure he thinks I’m immature, flighty—all things someone with his experience wouldn’t want. All things I used to be.

But I’m not that anymore.

I snuggle down under my duvet, socks sticking to the flannel sheets, and wonder what type of woman would make Kieran happy?

* * *

The next week back at school is exhausting, so I’m grateful for the half-day Friday today. Granted, I have some planning to do, which is why they’ve scheduled this, but because I’m a preschool teacher, I’m finished in about two hours.

Having skipped lunch, and with most of the snow melted off the sidewalks, I decide a walk to grab some food might do me good. There’s a decent number of family-owned shops and cafes not too far from the school. Oddly enough, I have a hankering for stew.

I grab my coat, thinking about the O’Brien’s food. I can’t walk there, so it’s no use mulling over it, but I do think about Kieran. About how I haven’t seen him since he showed up at my apartment while I was death warmed over. About how he stood in my tiny apartment like a giant, looking exceptional in his black suit and worming his way into my lonely heart.

A block or so into my walk, I shuck off my coat. Between the shining sun and less frigid weather, I’m beginning to work up a sweat.

Puddles and wet patches riddle the sidewalk despite the still chilly air. Warmth seeps in with the promise of milder winter days that’ll eventually turn into first flowers and buds on trees. I can’t wait for summer.

As I round the block, I’m reminded of the little Italian bakery that sits on the corner.Dolce Amore. Such a cliché name, but their pastries are to die for. And … they bring back memories.

It seems today I have a hankering to dive down the rabbit hole of emotion, so I chuck out my previous plan of a healthy salad and opt for a cannoli instead.

The little bakery has a brick exterior that clashes with the quaint cobblestone street. The green awning hasDolce Amorewritten across it, and winter has left the tiny flower boxes empty, but the smell of fresh bread and pastries already trickles from the shop.

A miniature sign hanging on the door says open, and I’m so focused on the delicate crisp shell stuffed with velvety ricotta cream that I bump right into a man also reaching for the door.

“Oh gosh! I’m so sorry. I?—”

I glance up at the tall man and want to shoot myself in the foot.

“Mr. O’Donnell,” I say.What the heck?“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

Except now I am. With his eyebrows raised above those intense emerald-like eyes, a silent shudder pulses through me. I swear this man is more attractive each time I see him.

He’s dressed fairly casually, a sturdy wool sweater under a tweed sport coat complemented with dark wash jeans and leather boots.