Despite the fact my life has been something of an on-going roller-coaster for the past two months, I did manage to get a short story completed for ENTICE ME, the first boxed set from nine of the authors of Romance Books 4 Us. Set in Ireland, Something Moor is about Fate and Destiny, as well as our ability to recognize what we are meant to know once we find it. Caragh McCarthy is alone, and not entirely sure a trip to her past is a great idea. I hope you enjoy what Fate has in store for her when she gets lost on the moors of County Tyrone...
Excerpt:
SOMETHING MOOR: An unexpected trip to Ireland takes Caragh
McCarthy back to her ancestral home, and the past collides with the present
when car trouble strands her on the moors of Country Tyrone. When Kelan O’Shea
comes to her rescue, a 300 year old injustice might yet be set right, and a
promised future can be fulfilled.
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| Available from Amazon for only 99¢ |
“Where are you
heading on a night like this?”
Kelan O’Shea tucked a flashlight
into his backpack and smiled. “I’ve got to get home, Maeve,” he replied. “You
know that.”
She pouted and shook her head
before coming to stand at his side. “They can manage without you for a night,
Kel.”
“And here was me thinking I was
indispensible.” He grinned and held up a hand when she would have tried to
dissuade him. “I have to go.” He ignored her glare and headed out the door.
Maeve was getting a little too clingy for his liking, and despite a lifelong
friendship, he would soon stop visiting her. She ran a wonderful stable with
excellent horses, and he enjoyed his hours spent on the trails. But… he laughed at his own thoughts,
always a but to ruin things.
He reached the stable and led his
horse out into the damp evening air. The storm had been torrential, holding him
up longer than he intended. He mounted and nudged the gelding into an easy
cantor. The animal was familiar with the route, and required little guidance.
He was only a mile or so from home
when the horse deviated from their usual trail. A minute or two later, Kel
spotted why. He reined in his horse and slid from the saddle in an easy motion.
The ground beneath his feet was slippery. He paused just long enough to be sure
he wouldn’t end up on his arse with his next step, then he crossed carefully to
the figure lying in the rain-soaked grass. He dropped his pack and hauled out
the flashlight. A quick once over twisted something unnameable deep in his
bones and he swallowed the reaction.
The unconscious woman he’d found
was a stranger. Her dark hair was soaking wet and tangled strings clung to her
ashen features. Blood stained one shoulder of her lightweight jacket. He
carefully picked her up and took her to the patient horse. It took him a few
minutes, but he got her positioned in front of him and he touched heels to the
sides of the gelding.
“Come on now, boy, we need to get
home in a hurry.”
The horse agreed, he picked up his
pace.
* * * *
*
“How is she
Doc?”
Seamus Payne was an old family
friend, and he eyed Kel for a few seconds.
“Why was she out there on the moor?
Even a stranger should have known better than to attempt that.” He closed his
medical bag before adding, “Why in hell were you out there?”
Kel shrugged. “I got delayed by the
storm.”
“Know who she is?”
“Caragh McCarthy,” Kelan said. “She
was headed here, but wasn’t due for another day.”
“She the one you’ve been waiting
for?”
Kel hesitated, then looked at the
woman lying unconscious in the bed. “She might be. Is she going to be all
right?”
“Keep an eye on her, she may have a
slight concussion. She hit that rock pretty soundly. The bleeding’s stopped,
and the few stitches won’t need to be in long.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Payne had just reached the door
when Kelan stopped him with a question. “Did you see an abandoned car on your
way in?”
“Half a mile from where you found
her.”
“Can Robbie tow it here in the
morning?”
“I’ll ask him when I get home, but
I’d say yes,” the doctor said. “I want to see her at the clinic, Kel. It would
be a good idea to get a CT scan. I don’t think she’s incurred a serious head
injury, but I’d rather be cautious.”
“I’ll bring her in as soon as
possible,” he promised.
When the door closed, Kelan pulled
up a chair and sat a short distance from the bed. Leaning back in his chair he
shook his head. “What the hell were
you thinking?” he mused.
This is such an intriguing excerpt. I love the mysterious vibe connecting fate and destiny and the idea of recognizing what we were meant to know when we find it.
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