“You know what the travellers can be like. Even the women.”
Jay’s tongue flicked across his lower lip. “How did you find out?”
“I’d seen them together not long before the wedding, and I had my suspicions. Orla saw me as an enemy of the Cornells and Wynters because of my surname, and she admitted what had happened.”
Jay considered what I’d told him, but I wasn’t done.
“That’s not the only thing,” I said.
“What?”
“When I found out who was responsible, I left the Cornells notes telling them someone out there knew what had happened. It was my way of letting the Irish know that if they tried to come after the Gilligans, I would let the Cornells know the truth.”
“You left those notes? I remember Leo saying he’d seen you on their territory shortly before they got the last one.”
“Yeah, that was me.”
“So why didn’t you just tell them?”
I let out a sigh. “Orla McGuinty begged me not to let them know. I guess I was testing the water as well, seeing how Tam and Leo would react, but also warning the Irish that someone knew the truth and would be willing to spill it if they put a foot wrong. Besides, I’m a Gilligan. The Cornells and Wynters hate the Gilligans. Tam would have thought I was lying to keep the heat off his family. I had to stay anonymous.”
Jay had the good sense not to ask if I was.
He pulled away from me slightly. “If the Irish all knew that they were the ones responsible for Harvey’s death, and they watched on and saw that we were blaming the Gilligans, maybe it gave them the idea that continuing to drive that wedge would be a good thing.”
“You mean the bomb,” I said. “I don’t know for sure it was them, but I never got any hint that we were the ones who set that bomb. If it wasn’t us, who does that leave?”
“I was given the name of Doyle,” he mused. “Tam said he might have a lead on it. I wonder if that lead is pointing in the same direction.”
“Sounds like an Irish name to me.”
He nodded. “I agree. I guess I might have been looking in the wrong place all this time. I’m sorry for blaming your family, Ivy.”
The mention of my family still felt like a knife through my heart.
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
I blinked back tears and nodded. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I know we’ll have to, but not right now, okay?”
He touched my face. “No more talking.”