Page 64 of The Women of Wild Hill

“Of course,” Brigid told him. “I’d drive you home, but we don’t have a car here on the Island. Can you call yourself a taxi?”

Liam pointed out at the ocean. “Phone’s down there.”

“Use one of ours.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll walk. It’s not that far. Just at the end of Nereid Drive on the other side of town.”

“You want to walk all that way in the dark?” Phoebe asked. “That’s ridiculous. There used to be bikes in the shed.”

“Come on,” Brigid told him. “Let’s go have a look.”

She held her tongue until Phoebe was out of earshot. Then, just as she was about to speak, Brigid sensed someone else was watching them from the caretaker’s cottage.

“Leaving so soon?” Sibyl called out. She was sitting in one ofthe Adirondack chairs, her feet propped up on the railing, eating a bowl of popcorn.

Liam and Brigid stopped at the giant sweet gum that had fallen across the drive. “Did you chop a tree down to keep me here?” he asked the youngest Duncan.

“Maybe.” Sibyl winked at him.

“Don’t listen to that imp,” Brigid counseled as she guided Liam around the obstacle. “The tree came down in the big storm we had earlier.”

“What storm?” Liam asked. “It was clear all evening.”

“Never mind,” Brigid told him.

As they walked to the shed, Brigid wondered if this was what her mother had felt when she first met Calum. Every nerve was tingling, every atom abuzz. Brigid had never experienced anything quite like it.

“I hope I didn’t upset your sister,” Liam said.

“Don’t worry. She’ll forget all about it,” Brigid said. “She’s the sweet one, believe it or not.”

“Actually, I find that very hard to believe,” Liam replied.

“Well, that’s what everyone used to say.”

“You know, the labels people give us as kids don’t always fit when we’re older. She seems tough as nails. Maybe you’re the sweet one now.”

“I doubt it,” Brigid said. Still, it made her think. “She’s devoted her life to healing bunnies and shit. I kill people for a living.”

Liam laughed. “You two are exactly how my father described you.”

“How’s that?”

“He said you were wild, magical creatures.”

“Yeah,” Brigid said, her smile washed away by an unexpected wave of sadness. “We definitely were.”

“It was a real shame what happened to your mother.”

They were at the gate. Brigid unlocked it and they both grimaced at the horrible creak.

“Yeah,” Brigid agreed for the second time. “It was.”

“Do you think we were meant to meet again tonight?” Liam’s question opened a door.

“There’s no doubt in my mind,” Brigid told him without missing a beat.

“So it’s okay with you if I come by tomorrow?”