time, and I’ve never seen him take to someone the way he’s taken to you. And even in the last few months, I’ve seen him calm down a lot. I think you’re a good influence on him.”
But Elena was tilting her head, a curious look in her eyes. “Are you okay with that? Being with someone with a child… that makes you a de facto parent. Is that something you want? Something you ever wanted?”
“Honestly, I never thought about it back home. Married to my job,” she admitted with a shrug. “But… when I think about it… yeah, I think I do want that. I adore Eamon,” she said, smiling a little as she glanced over to the table where he and Gwyneth were still playing. “He’s a handful and no mistake, but… something about watching him learn, watching him grow, watching him get smarter and stronger every single day… it’s wonderful.”
“It is,” Maeve said softly, smiling. “Motherhood is a wonderful gift.”
“I can’t be his mother, “she said softly, frowning. “His mother’s gone.”
“No, but you can be something to him,” Anna said gently. “I knew Erin — she was a wonderful woman. Kind, caring… qualities you have, too.”
“I just don’t want either of them to think of me as a replacement for her. I’m — I can’t be that.”
“Of course not. That wouldn’t be fair to anyone — least of all you,” Anna said briskly. “But if you care about Niall, and you care about his son… I don’t see why you couldn’t be together.”
Her heart picked up at the very idea, and she grinned widely, ducking her head. Kay was still holding her hands, and the woman squeezed them tightly. “Talk to him. Tell him how you feel. What have you got to lose?”
A lot, she thought dazedly. A friendship I value, for a start. But… hadn’t he kissed me? Hadn’t he given me long, meaningful looks late at night? There was something between them, that was for sure. She just had to be brave enough to reach for it.
The thought preoccupied her for the rest of the day. She and Eamon spent it on the shore of the Loch — she figured that they may as well use daylight hours to wander about in Eamon’s favorite place, given that he was still so resentful about not being able to wander at night. He ran in and out of the water, frightening in his tirelessness, laughing and shouting as the waves splashed at him. Then, they spent some time building a model of the castle out of sand. Eamon was surprisingly patient with the process — she’d expected him to want to kick over anything they built, given his impulsive personality, but he surprised her with a care and dedication to the delicate work of sandcastle building. Was what Anna had said true? Was he really beginning to calm down a little — and did that have something to do with her own influence? She’d never thought of herself as a caretaker, as any kind of mother… but it seemed that she was doing something right with Eamon. Maybe there was some truth to the old adage that a woman’s touch was important…
But her mind kept returning to the subject of Niall. It kept distracting her all afternoon, all evening through dinner, and even when she headed to bed, she could feel her mind chewing on the subject. The thought of him kept making her mind race, her heartbeat pick up and start pounding in her chest, the blood rushing to her cheeks as she flushed at the thought of him, his lips on hers, the heat of his body…
She definitely wasn’t going to get to sleep, she realized as she lay in bed, staring unhappily at the ceiling. That was unfortunate — she’d wanted to get up bright and early the next day, but that wasn’t going to happen if she was sleep deprived. Maybe she could use the time to do some thinking about the Kelpies, about something they could do to get rid of them? She’d been thinking about whether they could set snares or traps for the creature — bait them with raw meat, or perhaps even with livestock, if the villagers could be persuaded to lend them a sheep or two… but she didn’t know much about snares or traps. Surely the hunters in the village might? But they weren’t exactly on good terms with them…
And no matter how hard she tried to focus