"Look alive there, Ms. Gallagher," Cait's kitchen chef said as once again she found herself blocking the door to the kitchen. Cait rolled her eyes and stepped aside. She made her way to the bar and decided that she needed an Irish coffee to nurse her hangover from too much wine. After her kiss with Shane last night she had returned to the wedding and immediately downed another glass. Shane must have left after their heated kiss and she was spared from seeing him dance with the blonde again.

Cait had slept poorly and what few dreams she did have were littered with images of glowing blue water. She'd woken with a headache and in a surly mood. Cait bent to pull the heavy cream from the cooler and whipped it quickly before pouring it on her coffee. She added a gentle amount of whiskey and hoped that the bite of Irish would take the edge off of her dulled senses.

Settling in at a table by the bar, Cait reviewed stacks of invoices that needed to be paid as well as her inventory list. Money comes in and out it goes, she mulled. Pride kept her in business as much as did a healthy following of patrons. She'd never be filthy rich, but finally, in her third year in business, Cait felt like she could breathe a little easier. Her tiny nest egg was slowly growing. Someday she'd buy this building from Shane and own the pub outright.

Thoughts of Shane hurt her head and she gulped angrily at her coffee. The hot liquid stung her tongue and she swore before slamming the cup down on the table. Burying her face in her hands she took a moment to breathe.

"Looking good, cousin." Aislinn's warm voice cut over Cait and she peeked from between her fingers and groaned. Aislinn, Keelin's half-sister and a second cousin of Cait's, looked the picture of health and Cait knew that she'd had more than her fair share of wine the evening before.

"How come you look so great?" Cait demanded.

Aislinn smiled peacefully and pulled up a stool next to Cait. "Fiona gave me a little something to help."

"She did? Why didn't she give me anything?" Cait said, righteously angry.

"Apparently she decided that you needed to feel your pain today." Aislinn's eyes laughed at her and she reached out to run a hand over Cait's arm.

"Of course, another lesson from the great Fiona," Cait mumbled and then shut her mouth and looked around. It wouldn't do to be heard speaking poorly of Fiona and Cait knew that it was just her bad mood that had her being cranky.

"What's troubling you? I can see it's more than just the hangover. What happened with Shane?" Aislinn asked directly, unerringly narrowing in on the exact cause of Cait's problems.

"God, how do you do that?" Cait asked grumpily.

"How can you pluck thoughts from people's heads?" Aislinn asked serenely. Aislinn had her own gifts. She'd been blessed with being able to see auras and to read people's feelings. Another thing that Cait didn't care to examine too closely. Which reminded her…

"Fiona wants me to come to the house this week to work on my skills," Cait said, deftly changing the subject.

"Ah, and how do you feel about that?"

"I don't know. I feel like…I'm fine. That I'm where I am supposed to be with my ability. So why can't I just stay with that?"

"Because everything changes. Nothing stays the same. Do you think your gift or your understanding of it will stay the same the rest of your life? It is fluid and ever changing. I think that this might be exactly what you do need."

Cait sighed and rubbed her hands over her eyes again before taking a timid sip of the now-cooling coffee.

"Okay, I get that. But I don't want to face this. It scares me."

"Why? It is who you are." Aislinn tilted her head at Cait and examined her face closely.

"But…but, why? Why me? Why us? Why can't we be normal?" Cait asked stubbornly. She struggled with the ability to understand her extra talents as a gift.

"Why would you want to be?" Aislinn said carefully and Cait brought her head up to look at her in surprise.

"I guess that I've never considered that."

"Well, my friend, maybe it is time to think of these talents of ours as a gift…not a curse."

"I saw the cove glow from within last night," Cait rushed out on a breath. Silence greeted her and she met Aislinn's eyes.

"Did you? How interesting," Aislinn said.

"Yes, I think so. Yes, I definitely did. Or it was the wine."

"And what were you doing down there if I may ask?"

"I just needed a moment to step away from the dancing. I walked to the edge…almost without thinking. I swear that place pulls me to it," Cait said as she shredded a paper napkin on the table in front of her.

"I understand. It pulls me too." Aislinn nodded at her.

"It does?"

"Of course. Our bloodline rests there. That is powerful magick. But…were you alone?" Aislinn said, returning to the point.

"Yes, I walked there alone," Cait said carefully.

"And did you stay alone?" Aislinn said with a laugh; Cait knew she could read right through her.

"No, Shane came and pulled me back from the ledge all dramatic like."

"He did? He left his date to go after you." Aislinn cocked an eyebrow and waited for Cait to go on.

Cait blew out a breath. "Ah, well, we yelled at each other and then he kissed me." Cait gulped as heat flooded her body again as she thought about his kiss.

"Did he now? Isn't that wonderful?" Aislinn smiled like a cat that had just been given a full bowl of cream.

"Is it? Because it felt like it was wonderful and frustrating and angry all at the same time. And then he called me stupid and left!" Cait threw up her hands.

"Sounds wonderful and angsty. A perfect kiss." Aislinn nodded her approval and picked up Cait's coffee for a sip.

"What do I do? Where do I go from here?" Cait asked.

"Well, to Fiona of course. Ask her about the cove. She'll know what to say," Aislinn said.

"No, I meant about Shane, not my gift."

"I know," Aislinn said, and rose to give Cait a hug before trailing casually from the bar.

Well, what was that supposed to mean? Feeling even more confused than before and not having any answers about the glowing of the cove, Cait took a deep breath and forced herself to focus on the numbers before her. She'd go to see Fiona on Monday, her official day off. She needed to get her feet back under her for now.