The door opened and closed softly and he sucked in a sharp breath, suddenly aware that Jacqueline’s arms were around him and he was hanging onto her like a drowning man clinging to the only thing keeping him afloat. He turned his face slightly to peer past her arm toward the door to see who’d entered, who’d interrupted.
“Neve,” he croaked. “Leannán. Come in.”
“We’re already in,” Neve said quietly. “J.T. said you asked for us, but if you two are busy…”
Phelan swallowed hard, stiffening slightly. Jacqueline’s arms loosened and she straightened, pulling away. He regretted that, but let her go. “No,” he said quietly. “It’s all right, I did ask for you.”
“Do you want me to go?” Jacqueline asked softly.
“No,” he said. “Stay. You should hear what I’m going to say, too. You deserve it as much as they do.” His gaze flicked from her back to Neve and Marin, who drifted closer to the bed as he took a deep, steadying breath and tried not to wince. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m bloody sorry.”
It wasn’t what he’d originally intended to say, but it was what he’d decided to say now.
“Are you going to tell Thom and Cameron and Thordin and all the others that, too?” Neve asked quietly. “They deserve it as much as we do.”
“I figured you guys could do that for me,” Phelan murmured, closing his eyes for a moment. Weariness he hadn’t felt a moment before was threatening to pull him down like an undertow. “But you deserved to hear it from me. I am sorry, and you’ve my promise that I’m not going to try to run again.”
“You swear?” Marin asked quietly, though her voice was firm. He heard steel there, a dim and painful echo of the woman who’d raised Ériu.
His heart gave a brief, painful squeeze and he nodded. “I swear.”
“I’ll take it,” she said quietly, then looked at Neve. “Are you satisfied?”
She nodded. “I think so.”
“Good,” Marin said. Then she shot him an impish smile. “We’ll leave you two alone. Neve and I have to pack the boys off to bed.”
“They haven’t been to bed yet?” Jacqueline asked, blinking blearily.
“No,” Marin said. “But we left Thom asleep by the fire. You haven’t been to bed yet, either.”
“I’ll go soon enough,” Jacqueline said, glancing toward Phelan. He gave her a shy smile and felt a flush creeping across his cheeks.
Neve noticed and laughed. “Good night, you two.”
With that, she and Marin slid out the door and left them in peace.
He better keep that promise too.
Hope you are feeling some better. Seems too many people get bugs around this time of the year.
Thanks for the new post. Love this story!