Wild Irish Roots (The Mystic Cove Series) by Tricia O'Malley Page B

way?"
    "One way," Margaret whispered.
    "What was that? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you," the voice at the other end said.
    "I'm sorry. One way, please." Margaret spoke briskly.
    "We have an eleven a.m. flight that leaves every other day from Shannon to Boston. Flight will be 360 pounds."
    Margaret gulped. That was almost the exact amount that she had saved for moving to Dublin.
    "Ah, thank you. Can I buy a ticket the day of or do I need to reserve now?" Margaret asked, unsure of how it worked.
    "You can buy a ticket day of, love. These flights are rarely full."
    "Thank you," Margaret said softly and placed the phone back in the receiver.
    She stared blindly at the paper, clutched in her trembling hand. Could she do this? Pick up and leave for Boston? A part of her cried yes. And...a very sad part of her that she tried to tamp down wanted to stay here. Every time the door opened at the café she looked up, hope flinging its way through her for a brief millisecond.
    Sean hadn't called. He hadn't stopped by the café or her house. She'd even gone to the pub, hoping to run into him. Instead, the happy voices only caused her more heartache and she had quickly retreated to her car.
    Which is where she was spending most of her time. Camped out in her car on the side of the road, reading books on real estate that she had checked out from the little library. It was the only thing that she could process right now. Everything else hurt too much. Margaret even found herself avoiding driving past the harbor, scared that she would see Sean flirting with another girl.
    As Margaret stared at the piece of paper in her hand, she promised herself that if her cousin got back to her and Sean hadn't come to see her by then, she would leave. Her pride wouldn't allow her to wait for a man to come around any longer than that. On a nod, she shoved the paper in her pocket and pulled her real-estate book from her bag, flipping it open to the chapter that she had last been reading. In a matter of moments, Margaret was engrossed in the chapters and making notes on a small pad of paper. Her future hung suspended around her. Waiting.

Chapter Thirteen
    ––––––––
    T hree and a half weeks later, Margaret dragged herself from her bed. She felt like she was tired all the time lately. And weepy, Margaret thought. Oh-so-weepy. Nothing had panned out as she had expected. No word from her cousin and no word from Sean. She'd only glimpsed him once and had ducked behind the corner of a building so that he didn't see her.
    She was barely eating and Margaret knew that Fiona was desperately worried about her. She expected an intervention from her some day soon.
    Pulling on a long sleeve shirt over her t-shirt and pajama pants, Margaret wandered into the kitchen and stopped short. Fiona sat at the table, a pot of tea with two cups in front of her and a paper bag on the table.
    "Sit," Fiona ordered.
    Groaning, Margaret sat. There was no use arguing with that tone. Or with the fact that this was a long time coming. Margaret assumed this was going to be her intervention. Buck up and move on, my child, Margaret mimicked her mom in her head.
    "I'm worried about you," Fiona said softly.
    Margaret shrugged, even though her mother's soft words brought an unexpected sheen of tears to her eyes.
    "It's fine," Margaret said grumpily and poured herself a cup of tea.
    "It's hard for me to sit here and watch you starve yourself. It isn't good for you. Or..."Fiona cut herself off. Margaret tilted her head and looked at her mother for the first time in weeks. Really looked at her. Fiona wasn't just worried, Margaret thought. She was scared.
    "Or...what?" Margaret asked. Knowing Fiona's ability to sense illness, Margaret's heart seized up.
    "Am I sick? Like really sick? Not just heartsick?" Margaret demanded, slapping her cup on the table.
    Fiona blew out a breath and Margaret watched as Fiona raised her eyes to the ceiling and said a small prayer. Scared now, she waited for