Every time I’m with her, I think to myself... this time, we’ll make it work. This time we won’t fight like cats and dogs. This time, we’ll actually be able to stand to be in the same room for more than an hour without one of us snapping.
I want to make this work. There’s something about her that tames the wild in me. There’s something about her that makes me want to be a better man. We even… go well together.
“Can I go back to teaching tomorrow, then?” she asks.
Mary watches us all curiously. She’s a bit more timid than McKenna, and definitely a bit intimidated by being around us. She must’ve gotten the nerve to do it somehow, though, since she spends her time with the Scots, and they’re a decidedly hard-knuckled crew.
I think on it. Keenan’s allowed Tiernan and Faidha to continue teaching, but they aren’t on anyone’s watch. “Should be fine to teach tomorrow, but you’ll have to go in with Tiernan and Faidha.” Tiernan and Faidha both teach at St. Albert’s but reside at the mansion, so McKenna may be able to go.
I’ll go with her, though.
She nods slowly. “Well, I can do that.”
“Do you teach, then?” Mary asks, her eyes alight with curiosity.
“Oh, aye, I do,” McKenna says, and the girls chatter while we drive back to the mansion. My phone buzzes with a text from Keenan.
You got her?
Aye. She wants to know if she can teach tomorrow.
A pause before he replies. Only if she goes with Tiernan and Faidha and you accompany her as well. We need to get to the bottom of who’s after us.
Fair enough.
I clear my throat, and the girls look to me. “McKenna, Keenan says you can teach tomorrow if you go with the others, as I said, and if I accompany you.”
She frowns. “You? In a classroom? Really?”
Mary laughs out loud. “Well, now, no need to discriminate, McKenna. I’m sure Tully’s an excellent teacher.”
I’m an excellent teacher, alright. I’ll be sure to teach Miss McKenna some manners before the night is through.
Dusk falls over the mansion as we pull in the drive. My home isn’t here, but Keenan wants the inner circle on the premises for the sake of security and safety.
I take McKenna’s bags from the back, and she reaches for one.
“I can take that, Tully.”
“I’ve got them.”
She frowns a bit but looks secretly pleased. It’s always the way with her. “How long will I be here? I have two cats to take care of, you know. They’re fine for tonight, but…”
Jesus. I forgot about them.
“We’ll send someone to fetch them.”
“There are certain things you need to get, and they won’t take kindly to being moved…”
“We’ll take care of it, McKenna. Let’s go.”
She sighs and closes her mouth, and she doesn’t argue anymore.
As soon as we come up the steps, the front door opens, and Maeve stands, holding a baby in her arms. I can’t even keep track of whose this is anymore, there’s so many little ones running about or being held in arms.
I wasn’t around babies or little ones when I grew up. I was raised by my dad, a single father and affiliate of the Clan. He wasn’t related by blood or part of the inner circle, but very good friends with Seamus McCarthy. There were no little ones, no feminine touch. I think it’s partly why I love being a member of the Clan so much, as they’re the extended family I never had.
“That Lachlan’s newest?” I ask, as we reach the top step.
Maeve laughs out loud. “Goodness, no, Tully. The youngest babe’s barely old enough to hold up her head, and definitely not old enough to hold a bottle.”
I grunt. “Aye, I forgot they’re pretty damn near helpless when they first arrive, eh?”
McKenna finds this funny, for some reason. She snorts with laughter as we enter the house.
Definitely finding my hand across her arse.
Caitlin’s in the foyer, as well as Keenan and Cormac. Aileen’s heading upstairs with Megan, and the house is alive with the bustle and camaraderie we have here.
“Tully,” Keenan says in greeting. “I’ll have one of the staff take you to your room. Thanks for coming, McKenna. I know it wasn’t your first choice, but I want to be sure everyone’s safe.”
“I understand,” she says, with a nod. “As long as I can still teach, Keenan.”
It’s then that I realize she’s wearing a much older, beat-up pair of glasses, and I remember she lost her main pair during the skirmish.
“Need new glasses, McKenna?”
She reaches her hand to her eyes as if she’s just remembered she was wearing them, and her face turns a little pink. “I’ll get some,” she says, looking away as if she’s embarrassed. “Thanks, though.”
She’s a proud woman, and I get it. I’m proud myself. But we’re financially solvent here in the Clan and no one who’s under our protection wants for anything.