The Lost

“Not at all. I simply woke and knew I’d slept long enough.” Aidan paused. “Did I overhear you say your father was having trouble with his ledgers?”

“You did.” The girl blushed. “As part of the Farmers’ Cooperative, he’s obliged to balance the books, but the poor dear is having fits over all the numbers. He said he’d rather muck a hundred stalls than tally any more numbers.”

Aidan shared a laugh with the girl. “I wish I were going to be here long enough to lend a hand.”

“You’re good with figures?”

“That was my job when I worked at the bank. I love balancing books.”

“Oh, my.” Charity touched a hand to her heart. “If you could be here long enough to help my poor father, he’d bless your name forever.” She clapped a hand to her mouth. “Here I am babbling, and forgetting my duties.”

Aidan watched as the young woman danced away, returning moments later, trailed by Cullen and Ross.

“Good morning, my dear.” Cullen greeted her with a smile. “I instructed Charity to let me know the moment you came downstairs.”

“I don’t want to take you from your work.”

“I can work anytime. Right now, Ross and I will join you for breakfast.” He nodded toward the steam tables. “There’s ham and bacon already prepared. Kathleen will make any kind of eggs you prefer. And she’s already baked fresh scones.”

“I’ll start with coffee. Would you like some?”

“I prefer tea in the morning, but I’m sure Ross would like another cup. Ross?” He turned and the younger man gave a nod.

Aidan filled two cups and handed one to Ross before lifting the other to her mouth and drinking deeply.

Cullen held her chair, then took his place at the head of the table, with Ross to his left and Aidan to his right.

Charity paused beside him. “What is your pleasure, Mr. Glin?”

“Just bacon and some of Kathleen’s fine scones.”

“Miss O’Mara?” She paused beside Aidan.

“I believe I’ll have the same.”

Charity glanced at Ross. “Mr. Delaney?”

“Nothing, thanks. I’ll just drink my coffee.”

Within minutes Aidan and Cullen were enjoying their meal, while Ross, as usual, watched and listened in silence.

When at last Aidan sat back, sipping a second cup of coffee, Cullen folded his napkin. “I didn’t want to push you last night, because I knew you had to be feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the stress of your flight, but I hope now that you’ve had a chance to rest, you’ll speak candidly about your grandmother and mother.”

“I’d be happy to. What would you like to know about them?”

“What was your grandmother’s life like in America?”

“As far as I can recall, she lived an ordinary life in Landsdown.” Aidan glanced over. “That’s a small town in upstate New York.”

“I know of it,” Cullen said simply.

“Of course. You researched it for those documents I was given.”

“They were carefully researched, not only by Ross and the American legal firm, but by me, as well.”

“Then you’ll understand my reluctance to give you any hope that we could be related. There is the matter of different names…”

She paused when Cullen lifted a hand. “We’ll get to that. Please, tell me about your grandmother’s life in America.”

Aidan took a breath. “She was married to my grandfather, Edward Martin, for more than forty years before he died after a long battle from a stroke. Most of my memories of him are in a wheelchair.”

“Was he a wealthy man?”

Aidan chose her words carefully. “He came from a wealthy family, and inherited great wealth through the family business. But he was careless in business and made some unwise investments, losing nearly everything. If it hadn’t been for my grandmother’s diligence, they would have been left with nothing.”

Cullen looked surprised. “Your grandmother became a businesswoman?”

“Out of necessity. She took over his company, paid off his debts, then took over the books and made enough money that they would be comfortable in their old age. Of course, my grandfather didn’t live to an old age.”

“What did she do after his death?” Cullen had gone very still, as had Ross.

“She talked endlessly about a trip to Ireland. It seemed to be her reason for living.”

Cullen sat a little straighter in his chair, his gaze fixed on Aidan’s face.

At his unspoken question she explained. “But then she fell ill, and a trip was out of the question. Within the year she was dead.”

He stared at his hands for long moments. At last he looked up. “And your mother? What of her life?”

Aidan smiled. “She married my father, John O’Mara, when she was twenty-n ine.”

Cullen arched a brow. “So old.”

That had Aidan chuckling. “I suppose it is, though I’m twenty-fi ve, and don’t feel like an old maid just yet.”

“I wasn’t implying…” He spread his hands. “Your grandmother was only seventeen.”

Aidan gave him a steady look. “I never mentioned her age. Was that in the documents you sent me?”

He shrugged. “No matter. Tell me about your mother.”

“She and Dad were married twenty years when he passed away. His illness ate up my mother’s savings, but we were still getting by, until she became ill.”

“I understand you quit your job to care for her.”

Aidan set aside her cup. When she looked up, her eyes were steady on his. “I went through all our savings. Sold my car, gave up my apartment and moved in with my mother. I’m not proud of the fact that I’m in debt, but I’m not ashamed of it, either. It is what it is, and I’ll figure out what to do next. But this much I do know. You desperately want to find your daughter, and I’m sorry that my mother can’t be the one you’re seeking. As I told you, her parents were Maureen and Edward Martin. I have a copy of their marriage license, and a copy of my mother’s birth certificate. Now, I hope this will put an end to your claim that we can somehow be related. Obviously, you can’t be the father of my mother, when that honor belonged to my grandfather, Edward Martin.”

When he started to speak, she shook her head. “Wait. Let me finish. This isn’t easy for me to say, but I have to say it.” She looked from Cullen, who showed no reaction, to Ross, who was scowling at her as though she were pointing a gun. “I came here for two reasons only. To satisfy my curiosity about a man who would fly a stranger all the way to Ireland, and to collect the check you promised me for my inconvenience. I’m not proud of this, but I am desperately in debt, and I saw this as an answer to my problems.”

Drained, she sat back, prepared for whatever explosive reaction he might have.

Instead of the expected anger, or frustration, he merely leaned forward and placed a hand over hers. “It pains me to hear about your debt, though it was certainly beyond your control. You’ve had your say, Aidan. Now humor me as I tell you my story.”

She nodded, then purposefully removed her hand from his grasp and sat back. She wanted no co

Cullen’s face grew animated. “When I was just seventeen, I met the great love of my life. Her name was Moira Fitzgibbon, and she lived in the town of Glinkilly. She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, with skin like milk, flashing green eyes and hair as dark as midnight.” He shot Aidan a smile. “You look just like her.”

“That’s not possible because…”

Before she could say more, he interrupted her. “Moira’s father considered me to be beneath her, because I was a common laborer, while her father made a comfortable living as a landlord who owned a great deal of land in the area, which he leased out to tenant farmers. Moira and I were young and foolish and wildly in love, and we did what young lovers have done from the begi