Saoirse
The Veranda Outside The O’sullivan Manor
I sigh as I look out over the peaceful view of the lake from our perch on the same veranda where Cillian and I had dinner.
It feels like weeks have passed since then.
“This place…” I breathe in amazement. “It’s good for the soul.”
Kian gives me a smile. “Maybe if you haven’t grown up here,” he says with a shrug.
“Meaning you’ve gotten used to the view?”
“Meaning we never learned to truly appreciate it in the first place,” he corrects. “There were other things that took priority. And also, our parents were not exactly the kind to sit and enjoy nature, you know?”
I smile. “More of the tough love types, huh?”
“Understatement of the year, but yes,” Kian laughs. “Sean got the brunt of it because, for a long time, he was the heir. But Cillian was the second-born, so he got it, too. To a lesser degree, but plenty bad enough.”
“And then they both left and there was nothing to distract from you,” I surmise.
He smiles thinly. “I managed.”
“Is that why you chose a broken leg over leading the clan?”
It’s strange really, almost unsettling, how he looks so much like Cillian. The nose, the cheeks, the cut jaw—it’s all the same.
But there’s a different kind of soul animating his features.
“Perceptive.”
“For the record, I don’t doubt you were trying to trying to protect Cillian.”
“What makes you so sure?” he asks.
I shrug. “It’s in the eyes.”
His expression grows more thoughtful. More searching.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he says, shaking his head. “It’s just weird to see and speak to you now. You were only ever a name before.”
I cringe a little at the thought of what his answer to my next question might be.
But I ask it anyway. “Did you hate me?”
“Some days, yes,” he says honestly. “But as I got older, it became easier to understand.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve been stupid about girls when all I felt for them was lust. I can’t imagine how stupid I might have been if what I really felt was love.”
I guffaw. “That was… poetic.”
He chuckles politely. “Nah, Cillian is the poetic one. He always was.”
“So what are you then?” I ask.