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He smiles, “I don’t imagine they do. Not with that red hair of yours.”
I make a face at that. It was not red, it was auburn. I know because I paid a pretty penny to dye the red hair that I was born with.
“The family is expecting you. I’ll just open the gate, pass through and you will come to a clearing. The house is just past that aways.”
I murmur my thanks as he heads back tothe shack. When the gate opens, I press on the accelerator and wave to him as I pass by.
Just like he said, I came to a clearing and stomped on the brakes. A low whistle escapes past my lips as I take in the house before me. I snort, who am I kidding? That isn’t a house, it’s a frigging mansion.
The house is made from black stone. Not your usual brick, but actual black stones that looked like they were pulled from a riverbed. Two white columns hold up the roof of the porch, and I count ten windows on either side of the front door, on both floors. Beyond it, is a black barn with a nearby pond. Weeping willows sway in the breeze as geese swim, going bottoms up in search of food below the water’s surface. My mother’s words echo through my mind,never go meet your father, he’s not a nice man.
It’s decided. I’m getting the hell out of there.
Without a second thought, I shift the Blazer into reverse and stomp on the gas pedal.
Only I don’t go anywhere. Because I’m thrown forward as the sound of crunching metal meets my ears. I look into the rearview mirror and see a man glowering in its reflection. In a flash, he’s out of his car and is standing beside mine.
He motions for me to put my window down, and I slowly lower it.
“Who the fuck are you?” he thunders out.
I swallow hard, not because I’m scared. But because of his voice. I just met Rory Hennessy. True to his namesake, he’s a tall glass of yum if I ever did see one. Dark hair, thrown over to the side with a bit of stubble on his chin and a muscle twitching along his jawline. I want to reach out to smooth its dance, but instead I sit there, debating if I should answer him. Because really, from what I could gather, I only had two relatives. So, he was likely just a hired hand or something. Someone that I didn’t have to answer to. But I do.
“I’m Kat. Tomas’ daughter and Declan’s half sister.”
He squints his blue eyes at me. “Get this hunk of junk out of the way!” he mutters, and I watch as he starts to stomp back to his car.
How dare he call Nellie a hunk of junk! It was time to set the man straight.
Undoing my seat belt, I flung open the door, got out and yelled, “What the hell is your problem?”
He stopped mid stride, and I watched as his whole body went rigid before he spun around on his heel. Those eyes of his bore into my soul as if searching for a demon he thought he was sure to find. “You. You’re my problem.”
As he moved ever closer, I crossed my armsover my chest, as if somehow that would stop me from striking out. But that only seemed to anger him more as we stood toe to toe.
“You don’t belong here,” he snarled. “Go back to wherever the hell it is you came from and forget you ever heard the name MacGallan.”
I put my hand on the Blazer and leaned. “Considering you’re not a MacGallan, I don’t have to listen to you, now do I?”
He snorted, then had the audacity to lean against Nellie just like I was doing. “Lady, you have no clue who the fuck you’re dealing with.”
If he thought he could intimidate me, he had another thought coming. I squinted at him. “Neither do you.”
He dropped his hand and started walking back to his car. Over his shoulder he called out, “We’ll see about that.”
And me? I turned and got into my car.
It was decided, I wouldn’t be going home, at least not at the moment. Because I was never one to back down from a fight.
Chapter 4
Rory
“Declan, she needs to leave,” I say, pacing back and forth down the aisle of the horse barn as he cleans out a stall. And I try to come up with a lame excuse as to why she needs to go. I mean, she’s blood, his kin, something I’ll never be. But that’s not going to stop me.
He stops shoveling the shit and leans on the pitchfork shaking his head at me. “She just got here yesterday. Besides, Wren has taken a shine to her.”
I turn and look at him. I knew I was grasping at straws when I said, “She smashed into the front of my car.”
