Sisters of Colford Hall 01 - The Invasion of Falgannon Isle (34 page)

Brian nodded. “Maybe… but what if it starts rocking worse before we have it secured? The passenger door is smashed. B.A.‘s out cold. We can’t tell how badly. Pull yourself together man; her life depends upon it. Let’s look in the passenger side.”

Desmond forced back panic and followed the Frasers. Most of the broken glass wasn’t inside the car, but had been knocked out by the hitch.

“Guardian Angels are working overtime today. She had the wheel cut sharply to turn into the store when the hitch gave. The hitch’s path curved at the last minute, whiplashing through the window instead of into her,” Ian explained.

“It didn’t hit her?” Desmond choked.

“No, the bloody car stalled. No power steering, no power brakes. With the wheel locked, she nearly flipped. Hamish said he saw her head slam into the side window. But I don’t think she hit it too hard, since the glass isn’t cracked. She’ll be coming to any sec. We need to present a calm front.”

The buzzing inside Desmond’s head was so loud it took a minute for him to hear Annie crying. It broke his heart. She was hanging from the last bench. If she let go, she’d drop into the water thirty feet below, possibly hit one of the boats there. It twisted in Desmond, but he couldn’t do anything. If he called to Annie to come, her frail weight might be the straw that toppled B.A. and her over the edge.

“Got it!” Jock ran up panting, looping the rope around the front bumper.

“No!” Wulf growled and shoved Jock aside. Carefully, the Norwegian pulled the rope back. “That bumper will give away at first tug.”

The big man scooted forward, glided the rope around the wheel. Men at the other end quickly dragged it up the hill and tied it off around an old bulldozer.

Desmond offered Wulf a hand. “Can we use the ‘dozer to pull her onto the pier?”

Wulf’s head gave a small shake. “Motor’s out. I’m waiting for parts.”

Desmond moved with Wulf, Julian and Ian to the driver side. Desmond wanted to howl; instead he said determinedly, “Let’s get that door open and her out.”

“Careful, Des,” Julian warned. “That rope might not hold the car if it goes over.”

B.A. stirred, jerking around in her seat.

Desmond risked tapping on the window. “Dammit, B.A., look at me.”

She glanced up, puzzled. “What…”

“The hitch on my car gave. Your sedan stalled. You couldn’t control it without power brakes and steering. Damn, a man barely could. You slammed up against the pylon, but your rear wheels are over the edge.”

“Desmond! Annie’s about to fall.” She panicked and reached between the seats, setting the car to rocking again.

Five men screamed, “Whoa!” and threw their weight on the hood to counter her.

“Dammit, B.A.! Stop! Listen to me! You
can’t
move!” Desmond stressed frantically.

B.A. cried, “She’s going to fall.”

“She’s not,” he lied without hesitation. “Do what I say. Annie and you’ll be fine. B.A., are you listening?”

“Yes, Des,” she said weakly.

“Can you unlock the door?”

“Not sure.” Her voice quavered. “The lock has been catching. Remember?”

“Stay still. Don’t move, B.A.” he instructed.

She nodded, then immediately turned to look at Annie. “Here, Annie, kitty, kitty…”

Annie took to screaming twice as loud. The tiny cat dragged herself to the back of the seat, but fear kept her from moving farther. B.A. kept calling, and Annie howled piteously

Desmond carefully tried the door handle. It didn’t work.

Julian came up close, leaning close to Desmond so his words didn’t carry. “Wait, Des. Open the door with that odd incline, the weight will shut on B.A. Get her to roll down the window. Once it’s down, pull her out the opening. That’ll be less tricky.”

Men shouted and rushed to the other side. Desmond panicked, thinking she was going over, that his precious B.A. would slip off the pier’s edge. In that instant he knew that nothing in his life mattered more, nothing ever would. Without B.A., he wouldn’t want to live.

He exhaled in relief when the car didn’t shift. Dudley had jumped up on the pylon. Callum made to grab him, but Dudley growled. Giving his nemesis a dirty look, The Cat Dudley launched himself in a graceful arc through the open passenger window and scurried over the two seats to the rear.

“Grab the front,” Desmond yelled. Julian and he threw their bodies onto the warm hood, trying to balance the weight of the fat feline moving inside.

Dudley approached Annie, and like a mama cat he grabbed the small gray kitten by the scruff of her neck. He jumped from the last bench to the second one, then into the passenger seat and finally out to the pylon, dragging terrified Annie with him.

Julian laughed. “If that doesn’t beat all. Reckon you could do that with B.A.?” he joked, trying to ease the tension.

“Would if I could.” Desmond eased off the hood cautiously and stepped to the window. “B.A., can you switch the ignition to accessory, then roll down the glass? Slowly.”

B.A. nodded and did so. “Did you see? Dudley’s a hero.”

“Yes, he is.” Desmond blinked away tears. “Now let me be one, too, B.A.”

“Des, I love you.” She trembled, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. The way she spoke made it seem like a goodbye. His eyes darted to the boats bobbing below, fear a razor to his soul.

“Bloody hell, B.A., don’t go all female on me now. I need my warrior woman.”

“Des…
hurry,
” Julian pressed.

Desmond saw the rope holding the car beginning to fray, filaments unwinding strand by strand. “B.A., you need to carefully rotate in the seat so you can snake your arms out the door.”

“Des!” Julian, Dennis and Ian pressed.

He ignored them. More lads rushed up, word having spread to the rest of the villagers, but he only peripherally noticed. “Come on, B.A. It’s bloody wet out here. We need to go in and congratulate Dudley on being a hero. Worm your arms out the window.”

“Yes, Des.”

Slowly, she shifted. Immediately the car seesawed. The lads shouted, but Desmond blocked everything, focusing on her whisky-colored eyes. His breath held as both arms poked out. Desmond didn’t hesitate. He grabbed them and pulled.

The Rover shifted, screeching and popping, wood splintering as the rope snapped and whiplashed into the car’s front. With superhuman effort he held on to her, dragging her body, then her legs from the sedan, the car sucking at her as though determined not to let go. With a grinding noise it finally went over the edge, crashing onto Phelan’s lobster boat moored below.

For an instant Desmond teetered on the pier’s edge, B.A. in his arms. He had her. With a spinning vertigo, he saw the wreckage of the boat and car beneath them, his feet barely touching the wooden pier, his body and B.A.‘s hanging out over it.

In that bizarre instant of time, his life flashed before him. His father’s death, the agonizing years of his mother’s illness, his brothers crying in hunger, his shame at wearing hand-me-downs. He saw himself cutting B.A.‘s picture from the magazine and putting it into his wallet. For a shard in time he vividly saw Sean Montgomerie’s funeral, was back in the pew. B.A. sat with her sisters. Never had he seen seven more beautiful women. Only an indefinable air about BarbaraAnne drew his attention. Her chin tilted against grief, she’d sat in the pew, all prim and proper, that mass of long blonde hair in a French braid. Though her sisters were equally stunning, he was unable to take his eyes from B.A. She turned and looked directly at him, making eye contact. Time suspended and the world held its breath as they stared at each other. Odd, disturbing—never in his whole life had he felt so connected to anyone.

Everything telescoped, granting realization that the pain, sorrow and anger was part of the trail leading him to B.A., the one shining certainty in his whole life who loved him with her whole heart.

He swallowed regret that he’d not taken B.A. with him to Ireland, let his mother see the beauty of their love before she died. Maybe she would have changed her mind, understood there was something more important that getting revenge for the past.

He didn’t blame his mother. She’d been ill and hadn’t gotten treatment for her condition until too late. Over years, she’d worked herself to the bone to keep them together. She’d loved him as much as she could, but too much of her had died when his father did. As he might die if he lost B.A.

B.A. was love, laughter and happiness. She’d save him if he gave her the chance.

She clung to him, shuddering, though not as tightly as he clutched her or trembling as hard. Slowly, the pieces of his life faded and he stood poised on the pier, mystified by why they hadn’t fallen. Had the magic of Falgannon reached out to protect them?

His belt jerked. Desmond felt himself pulled back until he was on solid footing. Only then did he risk looking behind him.

Julian grasped Desmond’s belt, holding on for dear life. Behind him, Dennis held Julian’s belt, then Ian clutched Dennis, Brian held Ian, Wulf, Callum, the Michael’s—a chain of dozens of B.A.‘s lads. Each was risking harm to save the people they loved.

Yes, the magic of Falgannon had stopped B.A. and him from falling.

“Helluva way to start the morning, Boss. Two cars wrecked, and Ferry isn’t too happy,” Wulf called out in his booming Viking voice.

Setting a shaky B.A. onto her feet, Desmond squeezed her. “Small price. I was saved.”

“Everyone to The Hanged Man to warm up.” Shaking his cane, Angus barked, “Either of you do something like this again and
I’ll
beat you regularly! I’m too old for nonsense like this.”

“Go on, Angus. We need a moment.”

“Cedric is waiting to check you over, come on,” Angus insisted.

Shaking like a leaf, B.A. stared. “You won’t leave, will you, Des?”

He kissed her forehead, afraid he might never let her go. “B.A., I’ll never leave you.”

He finally started them toward the pub. “It won’t be easy.” His steps halted and he turned to face her. “You understand I need professional help? The terror this morning burned through some of the nonsense that’s screwed me up, but I’m not healed. I still have problems I have to face, find a way to work through them. Can you handle that?”

“Des, I can deal with
anything
as long as you love me.”

He pulled her close, laughing and crying at the same time. Reaching into his pocket, he took out the small box and slid the diamond on her finger, “I love you, BarbaraAnne Montgomerie. You’re the air that I breathe, the blood in my veins. You’re my heart, my soul.”

She hardly looked at the ring. “It’s about time you told me that, Desmond Mershan.”

“I love you, B.A.,” he repeated over and over.

“Of course you do, you silly man.”

Epilogue

Late March, the following year

“Look out below!” B.A. called, then tossed the scuba tanks over.

Desmond watched them fly from the crenellation, hit and bounce when they landed. “Did you see that?” he asked. “She’s a madwoman, I tell you.”

Julian arched a black brow. “What set her off this time?”

Desmond shifted the bundle in his arms, rocking it. “She doesn’t want me diving again.”

“You’d think she’d find a cheaper way to express her feelings,” Julian said drolly.

“I’m glad she’s giving them the heave-ho when they’re empty instead of full.” He shifted his tiny black-haired baby to his shoulder to burp her. “Your mum is in a dither, Katlyn, because she’s pregnant again. Hormones have been flying warrior’s banners the past few days.”

“Congratulations.” Julian smiled. “Fast work. Katlyn’s only three months old.”

“Thanks. Happens after a ‘dry spell,’ Morag tells me.” Desmond eyed his beautiful wife glaring at them. “Speaking of which—have you heard from LynneAnne?”

“She gave me a birthday present.”

Baby Katlyn burped, so Desmond went back to rocking her. “What?”

Julian tugged on his diamond earring and pretended to study the renovations to the castle. He exhaled. “If you must know, it was a pair of boxer shorts.”

Desmond laughed. “I have a few of those. Got Woody Woodpecker last month.”

Julian choked. “Woody Woodpecker? B.A. is a hoot. LynneAnne has the same sense of humor. I got a pirate’s skull and crossbones.”

“Desmond Mershan, bring that baby up here this instant!” B.A. yelled from the castle roof.

“So it looks like the castle’s coming along, B.A. is pregnant again, and I saw your paintings in a New York gallery last month…” Julian cut himself off.

“New York?”

“I popped over to confer with the Trident exploration team.”

Desmond harped, “New York? And you got a birthday present?”

“Okay. I took the redheaded witch out to supper.”

“And?”

“And nothing. I took her to eat. It was my birthday.”

“And you only got a pair of shorts?”

Julian switched subjects. “Your design for the oil platforms is gaining worldwide attention, Desmond. Less costly, yet you have so many safeguards built into them.”

“I’m proud of the design. Anything to lessen dependency upon the Middle East. Only, I don’t want oil from our platforms to end up hurting Falgannon. That’s why I’ve focused on this.”

Three couples went riding by on bicycles, laughing and waving. Julian waved back, since Desmond’s arms were full.

“How’s B.A.‘s matchmaking efforts?” he asked.

“She’s averaged about one marriage for her lads every couple months. Not counting Janet and Wulf. And by the way, Janet’s expecting.”

“Wulf, a papa? Cool, a baby Viking! I loved the house you designed for those two. Energy efficient, yet so in keeping with the isle, warm and full of heart.”

B.A. marched down the stairs. Dudley and Annie trailed after her. Three kittens tried their best to follow. Two were gray; one was pudgy, golden and had a little white bib of fur on his chest.

“The island holds its breath, thinking The Cat Nigel will soon be the new terror of the isle,” Desmond said to his tiny daughter. “Uh-oh, looks like we’re in trouble now, Katlyn. Lucky I cut her a rose from our bush, eh?”

B.A. opened her mouth to fuss, but stopped when he handed her the rose. She smiled at it, then him, love in her eyes. “I told you to put the baby to bed.” She leaned over and kissed Julian on the cheek. “Welcome home,
Jules
.”

“You’ve talked with your sister.”

She smirked. “LynneAnne said I should ask how high the skull and crossbones fly these days.”

“Your sister’s nuts.” Julian turned away, looking at the castle. He inquired, closing the topic of LynneAnne, “When will you be able to move in?”

“Maybe for Christmas,” she said hopefully.

Desmond shook his head. “Valentine’s Day.”

She smiled. “Valentine’s Days are special on Falgannon. After all, we are the Isle of Love.”

Des leaned toward B.A. to kiss her, but paused. Blinking, he saw two figures atop the castle. Iain and Deporadh? A ghostly breeze ruffled his hair, and suddenly he knew B.A. carried twins—a girl and a boy—and what they would name them.

He smiled and kissed her softly. Leaning his forehead against hers, he agreed, “Yes, we are, my love. Yes we are.”