Page 40 of Intolerable Bishop

By the time I’d emerged from the shower, Blake had disappeared, but Ren was in the bedroom, sitting on the bed, looking as adorable as a little pixie. Her long hair was around her shoulders in waves, a small smile gracing her lips. She was leaning back on her hands as she stared at me, and I melted on the spot.

“Every time I see ya, I fall in love with ya all over again,” I said, smiling wide as she stood and then jumped on the bed so she was taller than me.

“Funny, I was going to say the same thing to you,” she said, and just like that, all the fear I’d been hanging onto that one of these days she was going to wake up and realize that she was far too good for me evaporated. Stepping in close to her, she wrapped her arms and legs around me.

“I really do love this necklace on ya.” I lifted the silver snowflake with the diamond crown.

“Me too,” she said, and she kissed me until my head was light, and I didn’t remember what we were even talking about.

“Yer ma’s ring looks beautiful with it.”

“Thanks. I love it, too. Now I can carry a piece of her around all the time.”

“Hang on,” I said, jumping into the air. She squealed and gripped me harder as I landed on my hands and knees. Ren flopped off me, laughing, and I couldn’t resist dropping down so that I could feel the warmth of her body as I kissed her.

“I have something for you.” She cupped my cheeks, a light shining from her silvery eyes.

“Ya mean more than this? Cause this is more than enough for me.”

Kissing me again, she smiled and then gave me a little shove so she could get up. Damn, I didn’t want to let her go, but I obliged. She darted across the room, her bare feet not making a sound as she moved.

When she turned around, she was clutching something to her chest.

“What’s going on, Snowflake? Yer actin’ pretty suspicious,” I teased.

“I’m really hoping you won’t be upset about this, but Fiona told me that today was your mum’s birthday.” My eyes went wide. Of all the things she could’ve said to shock me, this one did the most.

“Aye,” I whispered, watching her as she came closer.

“I made you this,” she said and held out the picture frame.

Taking the gift from her hands, I turned it over and sucked in a sharp breath, and held it as my eyes roamed over the collage of images of me or me and Lip with Ma. I remembered every photo and when they’d been taken. I ran my fingers over my ma’s face as tears filled my eyes, making it hard to see.

“Shite,” I said and wiped the wetness away. “Ya got to me, Snowflake. This is amazing. I don’t have any photos of her and didn’t know anyone other than my grandparents did. We agreed when I left Ireland that I wouldn’t take any photos.”

“I don’t understand why?”

I shook my head. “My da wouldn’t allow any pictures of her in the house and burned all the ones we had. I don’t think Lip even knows what she looked like.”

“Oh my god, why is he such an asshole? I hate your father so much.”

Smirking, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the pictures of Ma’s smiling face. “I don’t know why, and I’m sure my ma wouldn’t have married him if she hadn’t been forced. They were an arranged marriage.”

Ren laid her head on my shoulder. “We can keep this with my stuff so it doesn’t get destroyed. Do you want to tell me what happened to her?”

“Ya don’t want to hear that story.”

“Yeah, I do.”

I glanced at Ren and sucked in a deep breath. “Ya may not say that when I’m done, and ya may not like me as much. Last chance?”

Ren sat up straight and nodded for me to tell her. I didn’t want to think about that night, but I forced myself to go back in time.

“My brother Devin had tried to kill me years earlier. He was sent to Da’s brother in the States to attend a boarding school.”

“Your dad has a brother? Jesus, there are more of him?”

I shook my head. “Naw, he was a good man, but he died a couple years ago. That’s another story.” I sighed and closed my eyes.