Wild Chance (Wilder Irish #13) - Mari Carr Page 0,19

up. “This one has magical properties. And this one,” she said, lifting up a second, “traveled all over the world in the pocket of a great adventurer. You couldn’t believe all the things it’s seen.”

Padraig stood and picked up a third. “And this one?”

“Was once a handsome prince but is now suffering from a curse cast by an evil witch. I’m sad to say he’s destined to remain a rock until his princess finds him and frees him with a kiss.”

“How many times have you kissed the rock?” Padraig asked with a grin.

“When I was younger, about a million times. I really wanted to be that princess.” Emmy looked at the rocks. “I remember every single rock’s story. And I keep them because someday I’m going to tell the stories to my own kids.”

“They’re going to love these rocks. Where was your brother when all of this was happening?”

“Sometimes he was here and he heard the stories, shared the sweets. He even made a wand with us once, and the two of us cast spells on each other all night. I always liked it when he was with us. But most of the time, he wasn’t. Especially as I got older. My brother was sort of an oopsie baby. My mom got pregnant when she was dating my dad, so they got married. Although they both insisted they were headed to the altar regardless. They were young and poor and barely making ends meet. My brother was nearly seven when they had me. By then, their lives were more settled. Because he was so much older, there were times when I felt like an only child. He fell in with a bad crowd at thirteen. I’m pretty sure that’s when the drugs started. My dad blamed himself, his long work hours, for Sam drifting so far away from us.”

“And your mom?”

“She couldn’t control him. He was always angry, and my mom, well, I’m not sure I ever saw her mad a day in her life. She was a very gentle soul.”

“You take after her then.”

Emmy gave him a curious look.

“I’ve never seen you lose your temper either.”

Emmy was touched to be compared to her beloved mother. “Plus, she couldn’t have helped him after…” Emmy swallowed down the lump in her throat. “She was diagnosed with ALS when I was seventeen—I told you that, right?”

Padraig nodded. “You did.”

“After that, she was too sick to be much help with Sam. I dropped out of school and—”

“You dropped out of school?”

Emmy didn’t tell many people that fact. “I got my GED. My dad needed to work for the health insurance, so I stayed home to take care of my mom and the apartment. That was when I started writing. She’d spent my entire life telling me stories, so I figured it was my turn. I wrote whenever she was asleep, and when she woke up, I’d read what I’d written, to her. She loved romance novels, so that was what I wrote. Although, those earlier stories were much less steamy…closed bedroom door and all that.”

“I think that’s the nicest thing I’ve ever heard.”

She gave him a look that screamed “really?” “I’ve heard of nicer things, Paddy. Maybe take a look in the mirror and think about it a minute or two.”

After all, Padraig spent a year helping Mia accomplish everything on her bucket list after he discovered she was dying of a brain tumor.

He rolled his eyes at her, amused.

“My mom was my best friend,” she continued. “After she died, I sort of disappeared for a little while. Spent every waking hour writing stories because it was easier to live in my fictional worlds than in the real one. A world without my mom wasn’t one I wanted to be in. Dad put his foot down, determined I wasn’t going to hide inside for the rest of my life. So he set me up with a guy, Tim, from his work. And I went out with him to make Dad happy because I knew he was as devastated as I was over Mom’s death, and I wanted to set his mind at ease…at least over me. He had enough to deal with, grieving over Mom, worrying about Sam. I never wanted to add to his stress.”

Padraig ran his hand over her cheek tenderly, and it took a moment for Emmy to recover from the sweet touch to continue her story.

“Anyway, Tim was a really nice guy and we had a good time together,

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