Page 16 of Harbor Lights (Inishderry Island Romances #3)

TEN

Shiv’s cellphone buzzed in her pocket, making her jump.

She’d lost track of the time as Con gently teased her recent past from her.

It felt like a weight off her shoulders to share.

Prison had freaked her out and she’d had no time to process any of it before she’d taken off to another continent.

Perhaps she should be more open with her cousins, too.

She pulled the phone from her pants pocket. “That’s Joey saying they’ll be here in ten minutes.” She typed a quick response and unfolded herself from the couch.

Con got up, too. “Do you want anything before you leave? I’ll ask Joey and Marianne in for a cup of tea.”

Shiv didn’t want the evening to come to an end, but she didn’t want to inconvenience Joey. “I’d better be ready when they get here.”

“Okay, do you need to collect your tools?”

“Yeah, I’ll get them now.”

Despite retelling much of her traumatic experience, she’d enjoyed the company of another person. Especially this particular person, who she was beginning to like a lot.

She packed her tools and was checking the door was dry enough to close as Con came out onto the porch.

“That looks so smart! My patients will think this is a respectable surgery if I’m not careful.”

“It’s the best I could do with the old paint. You should add it to my list of jobs and pick a fresh new color.”

Something flashed across Con’s face, and she shook her head. “It looks better than it has for years. Let’s focus on some of the more urgent work.”

“You’re the boss.” Shiv wondered what Con was thinking about as she stared at the door. It was suddenly illuminated by headlights. A truck had pulled up the hill and into the parking space by the house.

“There’s Joey for you, now,” Con said.

Shiv gathered her bags while two figures approached along the path.

Walking in front of Joey was Marianne, looking even more jaw dropping in a fitted jacket over a low-cut top.

Shiv forced her gaze to Joey, who also looked smarter than she’d seen them before, wearing a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up, even on this chilly evening.

They both hugged Con, and Joey turned to Shiv, who avoided an embrace by shifting her bags onto her shoulders.

“Hey, how was your meal?”

Marianne smiled. “Divine. We’ll be going back there again.” She turned to Joey and pulled on their belt. “And they’ve asked for a regular delivery of langoustines, so Joey’s happy too.”

Joey laughed. “I don’t know how you manage to turn everything into a sales opportunity, but yes, they’re a good new customer.” They draped an arm around Marianne. “Are you ready to go?”

“Will you come in for a coffee?” Con stood by the newly painted door.

“We won’t. The babysitter needs to get home. Oh, I see Shiv’s been up to more renovating. That looks so much better.” Joey swung the door open and closed. “Do you miss the grating sound of it dragging on the flagstones?”

Con laughed. “Strangely enough, no, I don’t. Siobhán has been a godsend.”

“Well, don’t you be monopolizing her,” Marianne said. “We’ve got a dark cottage that needs lighting.”

“I can do both.” Shiv gathered her equipment. She’d never been so popular. “Talking of dark cottages, now I’ve got power in the cabin, I can work there in the evenings, so I can get your jobs done in the daytime.”

“That must make the cabin so much more hospitable.” Con smiled.

“It was fine before, but it gives me more working hours now the evenings are getting darker.”

“Right, let’s get us all home. Aisling will be charging double time soon.” Joey took one of Shiv’s tool bags, slung it over their shoulder as though it was empty and led Mari away down the path. “See you tomorrow, Doc.”

“Thanks. For dinner. And e-everything.” Shiv felt a wave of sudden awkwardness and turned quickly to follow Joey. Before she got two steps, Con caught her by the arm and pulled her back into a one-sided hug, since Shiv’s hands were full.

“No, thank you .” Con’s breath tickled Shiv’s ear.

“You’re welcome here anytime. I don’t just want you for your practical skills.

” Con pulled away and her cheeks were flushed.

She stepped back inside the house. “See you soon, Siobhán.” The door shut with a click and Shiv shook herself and hurried to Joey’s van.

“Sorry.” She slung her bags in the back and jumped into the cab, where Marianne had moved up close to Joey to give her space on the bench seat. “I could’ve walked down to the harbor.”

“It’s no problem,” Marianne said. “If Denny’s car seat had been here you’d’ve been able to sit in it.”

Shiv was already aware of how dwarfed she was by the tall couple, but she laughed along, relieved when the short drive was over.

Joey got the boat going and they were quickly out on the water.

Shiv pulled on the cap she’d remembered to shove in her pocket and wished she had a warmer coat.

Perhaps with all the work she was being offered, she’d be able to afford a new one soon.

Marianne was standing alongside Joey in the boat’s small cabin, and Shiv didn’t want to join them in the cramped space.

She rubbed her arms while she looked out over the dark water at the sweeping light of the lighthouse as they approached Inishderry.

A noise made her turn. Marianne was opening a locker on deck. She pulled out a long coat. “Joey says you’re to wear this, and it’s best not to disobey the captain.”

Shiv resisted for a moment until a shiver wracked her body. “Thanks.” She pulled on the fleece-lined coat. It cut out the bite of the wind and she immediately felt better.

When they docked, Joey helped her load the island truck with her tools. Marianne then pulled her into the cab. “Joey’s going to take me home, then they can drop you off after the babysitter.”

“Thank you.” Shiv couldn’t argue. There was no way she could get all her tools home alone.

She wondered if she should try to get hold of a car.

She would ask Christy if he knew of any available.

He was the one who transported them on his cargo boat, so he’d surely know if anyone was going to upgrade.

Marianne ran into the house after delivering a peck on the cheek to both of them, much to Shiv’s mortification. A young woman, presumably Aisling, emerged and joined them in the cab. “Hi, Joey.”

“Hey, Aisling. Do you know Shiv? She’s your cousin.”

How many cousins were there on this island of Walshes?

Aisling explained she was Christy and Aoife’s niece, and her father, known universally as Young Tony, even though he was, in Aisling’s words, “getting on a bit,” was the island’s real estate agent.

She chattered on about the stories she’d read to Denny for the rest of the journey, and Shiv was relieved when they dropped her off at a large bungalow on the outskirts of the village.

Joey glanced over as they pulled away. “Sorry, she always likes to chat after spending the evening with a three-year-old.”

Shiv leaned her head against the car door and didn’t reply.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. It’s been a long day.”

“And you’re looking forward to some peace at home.” Joey nodded. “I like my own company, too. Sometimes I go out on the boat for an hour to escape.”

“Yeah.” Shiv decided to be more open about her past. It hadn’t hurt with Con, and she trusted Joey, too. “Jail didn’t do a lot for my dislike of being surrounded by people. But your friends and family are so great I kind of like it. For a time, at least.”

Joey nodded. “Much as I loved my life before Mari and Denny, I always knew there was something missing. Life’s better when you share it with someone. Or mine is, anyway.”

Shiv considered that in silence. She’d never thought for a moment about finding a partner and settling down.

She had too much important work to do. How would it feel?

Like the warm, safe feeling she felt around Con?

She blinked away the thought. She was getting too fond of the doctor for her own good.

Con was clearly settled in her life alone.

She wasn’t looking for someone to complete her. Neither was Shiv.

They finished the journey in silence. With a quick goodbye, she jumped out. Inside, she clicked on the lights, which reminded her nothing now would stop her from getting on with her online research.

She’d had something of a reset the last couple of weeks, but now she could get back to the work of hunting down fascists and exposing them.

If she couldn’t do it in person, she’d make up for it online.

There was no feeling like immersing herself in work to take her mind off strangely magnetic doctors in tumbledown houses.

* * *

Shiv stood and stretched her back. She needed to get a better chair if she was going to spend hours in front of her laptop.

The equipment she’d ordered from the mainland—a powerful laptop, a large screen and a router that gave her fast broadband internet access—had been quick to set up once she’d got the power connected.

After that, it hadn’t taken her long to get back into the swing of her full-time passion.

She’d missed so much over the last year, horrified at how much the political landscape had changed, and how much more acceptable the language of hate had become.

It had overwhelmed her for a while and she’d had to take some time away, paddling the little kayak out into the bay until she felt calm again.

She’d looked for sea glass on her way back up the beach, but hadn’t been so lucky this time around.

Now back at her screen, she followed trails of far-right behavior to prominent businessmen and politicians.