One Sinful Night (15 page)

“Thank you for the tea and bread, Mrs. Joyce.”

“Oh, you must call me Aggie. Everyone does. Even Vivienne calls me Aggie. It's only fair that you should, too.”

Aidan nodded his head, pleased with being accepted so warmly into this amazing little world.

“Oh, play a song for us, Aggie!” Vivienne exclaimed, clapping her hands in excitement. “Aidan would like that, wouldn't you, Aidan?” She scampered to the little piano in the parlor and readied the stool for her grandmother.

“All right,” Aggie agreed with a smile, “but Vivienne must sing with me.”

Mesmerized, Aidan sat in the flower print armchair Vivienne had climbed upon earlier and listened as she sang a jaunty tune while her grandmother played the piano. They enjoyed being together and obviously spent a great deal of time together. He watched the old woman and the little girl with an unexplained longing in his heart. He suddenly wondered if other families were like Vivienne and her grandmother—close, and warm, and joyful of each other's company. And was his cold family the peculiar one?

Then they insisted that he learn a song and sing with them. Gamely Aidan joined in, laughing more than actually singing. They encouraged him cheerily, pleased with his strong voice, and he sang even louder until they all collapsed with laughter.

“Well, Master Kavanaugh, did you enjoy your visit?” Aggie asked after their musical interlude had ended.

“More than anything I've ever done,” he said earnestly. In truth, it had been the nicest afternoon he had ever spent in his life. Being with them satisfied a need for companionship he had not realized he was missing. They had made him feel he was a part of their family.

“Well, isn't that a lovely thing to say!” Aggie proclaimed proudly, her warm smile beaming at him. “You will have to come visit us again.”

“I will?” he asked in amazement. Even though he wanted to return to this little house, with the witchy, but not witchy, grandmother and granddaughter, his mother would never permit him come back here. He was sure of it.

“Of course you will, sweet child!” Aggie smiled at him in such a way that Aidan knew she meant what she said and he desperately wanted to believe her.

Vivienne added, “He can come anytime he wants, can't he, Aggie?”

Although he was mortified, he felt he had to tell them the truth. He looked up at Aggie, pleading with his eyes for her to understand. “My mother will not allow me to come here again. She does not even know I'm here now.”

Vivienne gasped in wonderment, her expression perplexed. “Whyever not?”

But Aggie knew why and Aidan silently blessed her. She took his hand in her soft and gently wrinkled one and squeezed it reassuringly.

“My dear boy, you must respect your mother's wishes, but you will always be welcome in our home whenever you can manage to stop by and visit us.”

Humbled by her kind words, he whispered in relief, “Thank you.”

“Aidan, you're my friend now, so you must come see me,” Vivienne declared, and Aidan knew he had no choice but to find some way to visit them again.

However, Aidan did not return soon to Vivienne's house, for when he arrived home later that evening, his father stewed in a drunken rage and his mother was in hysterics, convinced that Aidan had been abducted. After searching the house from top to bottom, they had scoured the nearby farms to find him. By the time he returned home, his parents did not want to hear about Aidan's wonderful adventure, nor about the amazing little girl he met on the beach and her magical grandmother, nor that he made his first friend.

Instead they lectured him on obedience and responsibility, traits that he was surely lacking, and gave him a reminder he would not soon forget. To impress the lesson upon him, his father dragged him out to the stables and whipped him with a belt so severely, Aidan could not sit down without pain for two whole days. He bore the agony by remembering the time he spent with Vivienne, which made that day worth the price of the beating. Anytime he wanted to escape his home, he placed the beautiful Floridian conch shell from Vivienne against his ear and imagined himself on a grand ship at sea.

From time to time, he managed to escape from Cashelwood and visit Vivienne, and that, oddly enough, was due in large part to his father. Horrified at the thought of Aidan associating with common Irish peasants from the town, Susana forbade her son to go out alone again. And that was when Joseph Kavanaugh stepped in, declaring that it would be good for Aidan to learn the local ways and that being outdoors would toughen him up a bit. Joseph also delighted in infuriating his wife.

So, in a manner of speaking, Aidan was set free.

Whenever Aidan knocked on their little door, Vivienne clapped her hands in delight and Aggie warmly welcomed him into their home. An unspoken bond of friendship developed between Aidan and Vivienne. They understood each other. Vivienne never questioned his situation at home, but accepted Aidan as he was. She sensed he needed comfort and she gave it freely.

One special summer Aidan spent almost every day with Vivienne, because his mother went to England for her mother's funeral and stayed there for two whole months. Aidan and Vivienne ran wild along the shores of Galway Bay. They competed with each other in foot races on the sand and swimming contests in the sea, and sometimes Vivienne actually beat him. They played together, hiked the green fields together, and fished together. They spent hours in Aggie's bright kitchen, concocting all sorts of delicious goodies to eat, for food always tasted better at Vivienne's house. He listened avidly as Vivienne read aloud the letters she received from her father, describing his trips to far off lands. Aggie taught Aidan to play the songs that she and Vivienne sang. Before he knew it, Aidan had become a part of their intimate family scene and he loved them for it.

When he was thirteen and she was twelve, Aidan finally met Vivienne's father for the first time. Captain Montgomery arrived in port from America and Aidan managed to escape from Cashelwood for the day because his mother and father had taken a trip to Dublin. Vivienne and Aidan spent a magical afternoon exploring the ship, the
Great Wave,
together.

Aidan thought Vivienne was the luckiest child in the world to have a father like the dashing and exciting John Montgomery. It amazed him that a father could be so loving to his child. Captain Montgomery's whole face lit up when he saw his daughter. And he let Vivienne, who was just a girl, climb the rigging and give orders to the crew. It was a beautiful ship and Aidan was in heaven.

Vivienne became an essential part of his life somehow. As the years passed, they became confidantes as well as playmates, sharing their secrets and dreams of the future with each other. Aidan was going to sail ships around the world and Vivienne was going to travel to far off lands and become a princess.

One time Aidan even dared to bring Vivienne to the manor house to meet his parents. His mother, not surprisingly, was most displeased with Aidan's Irish peasant friend. However, Joseph Kavanaugh thought Vivienne an intelligent and charming girl and encouraged the friendship, and for that reason alone Aidan blessed his father.

At his father's insistence and amidst grudging approval from his mother, Aidan was finally sent to school in Dublin, which, in any case, provided him with a convenient means of escape from both his parents. He didn't mind school. In fact, he enjoyed his studies, received the highest marks, and ranked in the top of his class. The best part of school turned out to be meeting boys his own age. Aidan made many good friends and was popular with the students and the teachers at school. For Aidan the only drawback to being away at school, was being apart from his best friend. He missed Vivienne terribly, but they stayed in touch by writing endless letters to each other.

When Aidan turned eighteen, he completed his last term at school and returned home to Galway after almost a solid year of being away. Instead of witnessing yet another ugly argument between his mother and father over how Aidan should spend his summer, Aidan snuck away that first afternoon home. Naturally he went straight to Vivienne's house and knocked on her door, anxious to see her after so much time had passed. Disappointed when no one answered, he made his way lazily down to the shore.

As he always did, he sat on the rocks along an empty stretch of coastline, just watching the low waves roll in and looking across to the Aran Islands. The sky was covered with a dark blanket of low clouds and the ocean was a steely gray. He loved when the water looked like that, as if it couldn't contain itself. Enveloped in the briny scent of the ocean and the salty sea spray, he breathed deeply, still longing for the day when he could escape both his parents and go off to sea on a ship of his own. Shaking his head ruefully, he knew his childish daydream was just that. He was a man now and would soon manage Cashelwood.

He glanced south and noticed the figure of a woman walking unhurriedly along the beach. Her self-assured and fluid movements caught his attention first. Possessing the graceful bearing of a queen, she paused and gazed out to sea, as if searching for something. She appeared deep in thought. Her build was slender and petite, and her thick, dark hair was swept up in a knot behind her head, exposing the tender curve of her neck. Something familiar called to him and his heart raced. And then he knew exactly who the woman was. She couldn't be anyone but Vivienne Montgomery.

Continuing her stroll across the sand, she came closer to where he was sitting on the rocks. She didn't notice him yet, nor was she even expecting him to be there. As far as he knew, she was unaware that he had returned from Dublin earlier than planned. So he took this opportunity to observe her at his leisure. It had been a year since he had last seen her, and he was astonished to realize that she was no longer a little girl.

Vivienne Montgomery had grown up while he was away at school! His daring little witch and his best friend had, quite simply, changed.

Not only had she grown a little taller, but the cut of her plain navy gown revealed a very shapely seventeen-year-old figure with the well-rounded breasts of a woman. Her dress billowed around her, exposing glimpses of lovely, stocking-clad legs. And then there was her face. He'd always thought her a pretty, spirited little thing, but now…now her beauty left him speechless.

Vivienne had always been the one person he could turn to when things at home were terrible. He never needed to explain to her, she just knew. Her presence comforted him, filled him with contentment. She made him laugh, with her flashing eyes and witty tongue. Vivienne was the first friend he ever had.

Seeing her now, he felt overwhelmed by a new emotion he had never associated with Vivienne before. Desire.

Perhaps sensing his presence, Vivienne glanced up and saw him looking at her, and her beautiful face lit up in delight. She smiled wholeheartedly and waved her hand, as she picked up her skirt and ran across the sand toward him.

“Aidan!” she called excitedly. “Aidan, you're home!”

For Aidan, the earth turned upside down watching Vivienne run to him, so obviously happy to see him. This beautiful, warm, smart, and caring girl was running to him. He could barely breathe. Feelings he never realized he possessed crashed over him in a tumultuous wave. Desire, longing, tenderness, protectiveness, possessiveness, need. Love.

Vivienne belonged to him. She always had. She always would. He felt it in his heart, his soul, his blood. They just belonged together.

He rose to his feet as she reached him, and she was out of breath from her dash across the shore. Still smiling at him, she marveled, “It's been so long since I've seen you, Aidan! When did you get back?”

Seeing her sapphire blue eyes alight with happiness at the sight of him, he stepped toward her, cupped her exquisite face with both of his hands and kissed her full, tender lips. Almost as if she had expected him to do that very thing, she did not resist, but returned his kiss with an openness that touched his soul. He parted her lips and his tongue met hers and their kiss deepened. Aidan lost himself in her, thoroughly consumed by the warm feel of her skin, the sweet sea-misted scent of her. He breathed her in, wanting her in a manner that shook him to the core of his being. His world now centered on one person, one woman. One incredibly beautiful woman.

Completely unprepared for the intensity of kissing Vivienne, he could have willingly drowned in her sweetness, warmth, and passion. He should have guessed it would be that way with her. His heart flipped over and a potent desire for her spread unchecked through his throbbing body. He wanted her.

Slowly Vivienne pulled back from him, her beautiful face serious, and looked directly into his eyes. “So that's the way of it, then?”

“Yes,” he whispered hoarsely, overcome with emotion. “That's the way of it.”

He kissed her again to emphasize his point. There was no need for words or explanations. It was as if they had just come home. To each other. They were connected as one being in that moment, locked in a breathtaking, soul-searching kiss that left them both reeling with the knowledge that their friendship had irrevocably changed.

Still shaking with desire, his arms moved around her shoulders and he pulled her closer against him. She rested her head against his chest and a soft sigh escaped her. He pressed a kiss to the top of her silky hair, breathing in the floral scent of her perfume that mingled with the fragrance of the sea. She smelled heavenly. He wanted to hold her close to his heart that way forever.

“Aidan,” she whispered against his chest, when she was able to catch her breath.

“Yes?”

“There is something you should know.”

“What is it?” His heart began to pound. She was going to tell him something he didn't want to hear. That she was in love with another boy. That she didn't want him. He could not bear it. He looked into her sapphire blue eyes and became lost, for she gazed up at him with such honesty and tenderness, he was thunderstruck.