CHAPTER 17

“Oh, wow. You’ve done a lot of work since I came in here last,” Dawn told him.

“I told you we’d been busy. We’ll have it up and running in no time,” Liam told her as they walked around the space they had purchased.

Where there had once been bare wood and stone walls, there were now heavy beams waiting for the interior walls to be put on top. Men were working on the plumbing right now, and then the electricians would come to run the interior wiring in preparation for the walls to go into place.

“Come here. I want to show you something,” Liam told her.

Dawn followed him to the other side of the office space and looked at the large stone hearth. When they had looked at the place, it had been in quite a state, but now it looked as if it had been just built, albeit with vintage stones.

“Does it work?” she asked.

“It does! I had to replace the flue and have a stone mason come in to dismantle and reset the stones. It cost a bit more, but I think it was well worth it. It’ll give the place a bit of character and can be used as a prop for photos and such.”

“It’s beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever been in an office with a wood burning fireplace, but I really love the idea.”

“I do, too. You like it so far then?”

“A bit hard to tell without walls,” she laughed.

“They’ll be up in no time. That’s something we can do while we are in the city: pick out colors and get some paint ordered.”

“Sounds good. Are we ready then?”

“Yep. Let’s get going.”

Making their way outside, Dawn caught sight of someone who seemed to be watching them from across the street. She couldn’t quite make out his face, but his thoughts quickly became clear. She grabbed Liam’s arm and hastened their pace toward the car.

“Dawn? What is it?” he asked.

“That guy across the street. Did you see him?”

“No. Who was it?” he asked, craning his neck around in an effort to see.

“Don’t look at him! It’s Tommy.”

“Really? I didn’t realize he was out of jail. I would have thought my father would have told me. What is he doing here? Wasn’t he supposed to be exiled upon release?”

“Yes. We need to talk to your father.”

“We’ll stop by before we leave.”

Liam drove to his parents’ house, though it was only a short distance from where they were. He went in to find his mother cleaning, but his father wasn’t home.

“Is he in his chambers?” Liam asked.

“No. He is at some sort of conference down in Dublin. Can’t it wait? He will be home tomorrow.”

“Sure it can wait. I’ll try to call him tonight or tomorrow when he is done.”

“Okay, son. I love you.”

“Love you, too, Mom.”

She hugged Dawn before they left, telling her the same. Dawn replied in kind and followed Liam out.

“It can’t be good for him to be wandering around town,” Dawn commented. “Do you think we should tell my Dad or maybe Thomas Higgins?”

“Nah. Maybe he is just waiting for nightfall to leave. I assume that if he just got out, he either had to arrange for transport or wait until darkness hits to fly out.”

“Fair enough. I guess we can leave it alone until tomorrow. See how it goes. Maybe he is just on his way out then.”

Liam seemed to put it all out of his mind, but Dawn certainly didn’t. She had seen his thoughts. There was no indication of his intentions, but he was full of venom, and it seemed to mostly be directed toward her.

“Where shall we go first?” Liam asked, seemingly oblivious.

“Let’s go to the paint store and sort out colors while the look of this place is still fresh in my mind.”

“Sounds like a plan. How about we skip over to Drogheda and take a look around some of the thrift stores there? I’d love to have some vintage stuff for the office rather than all new stuff.”

“Sounds good. They have some really great places there, and we can stroll down by the marina and the waterfront.”

“Maybe hole up at The Goat’s Toe for a bite to eat?”

Dawn laughed. It was just like him to be focused on food more than anything else.

“Yes, lunch at The Goat’s Toe and perhaps a stroll around that bookstore down the street.”

“Perfect,” he replied, reaching for her hand and holding it as they drove.

Dawn smiled as they made their way into Dublin. She remembered their first time here together in this city, the night he had proposed and how they had made love for the first time. It had all been so perfect, and it still felt like it was.

Looking over at Liam, she smiled happily. She had been lucky in life. He had always been a part of her, from the time she had first seen him. She could remember him even as a baby. Could everyone remember that far back, or was it just her?

The day was wonderful – one of the best days she could remember having in a long time. Their lives had become so busy, and even a bit strained. Although their relationship didn’t seem to be harmed by it, she did feel like they were sometimes becoming an old married couple long before it was due. Perhaps that was a good thing in some ways, but she never wanted him to get bored with her.

“Let’s drop off the things for the office on our way in. I don’t want to clutter up the house with office stuff anymore than we already have,” she told him.

“That sounds like a good idea. I think we got some really nice pieces to go in there.”

“I do, too. It’s going to be really great when it is all finished and we can get moved in.”

“It will be. We will make sure of it.”

They pulled up to the front of the office and began unpacking bags and boxes. Liam picked up a set of small saddle back stools he had found to place near the fireplace for people who might want to wait there rather than in the more formal chairs they had on order.

Dawn brought in some other bags and sat them down on the stools for now, looking around at the day’s progress.

“What the hell?” she heard Liam say as he wandered into the other room.

“What is it?” she asked him.

“I think they installed the wrong toilet,” he told her. “Do we have a flashlight? The electricity isn’t switched on yet, and I can’t really see very well.”

“I think there is one in the car. I’ll go get it,” she replied.

“I’ll get it. Look and see what you think. Isn’t that green and not white?”

Dawn wandered into the bathroom to look as he made his way outside. He was right. Even in the room, dimly lit by the moon and nearby street lights, the toilet appeared to be some shade of mint green rather than white.

Looking at the sink that was still laying uninstalled nearby she could see it was a different shade, it seemed. Why wouldn’t they have asked before installation if they saw they didn’t match?

Outside, she heard shouts. She was instantly on alert as they grew louder. One of them was Liam. Running outside, she could see him standing in the middle of the street yelling at Tommy. Her hearted raced as she realized Tommy’s intentions toward him, toward both of them.

“I hear you are marrying that worthless bitch that made sure I spent the last five years in jail? They put me in a dark hole when I was only eighteen and left me there with nothing but time on my hands.”

“What happened to you was no one’s fault but your own, Tommy. You killed Harlan. You might not have pointed a gun at him and pulled the trigger or cut him to the bone, but you killed him all the same.”

“You’d have no way of knowing that if not for that bitch of a girlfriend of yours. I hear she has some sort of ability to read minds. I hear she can see what people have seen or done just by being near them.”

“Leave her out of this. You’re out now. You can get on with your life. Don’t make things worse,” Liam replied, calming down and trying to reason with him.

“Get on with my life? How? I’ve been exiled from the only place I’ve ever lived. My father died while I was in that place, and they wouldn’t even let me out to go to his funeral. I have no one and nowhere to go.”

“You have your life and you have no record here. Village law is separate from everywhere else. You can reinvent yourself. You’ve learned your lesson.”

“There was no lesson for me to learn. I was a kid picking on another kid, and your bitch got me sent away for it. So, if anyone is going to learn a lesson, it is going to be her. I’m going to tear you apart, but don’t worry. I won’t kill you. I want you to be able to watch helplessly while I have my way with her, and then the two of you can bleed out together. It’ll be romantic.”

Dawn saw the red flashes of anger that occluded any sense of reason Liam had tried to retain. The sounds of ripping and tearing filled the night as they both began to shift.

“No!” Dawn cried out as she ran toward them. “No, no, no!”