Whatever Reilly Wants.... Maureen Child

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      Emma opened her mouth, but they were interrupted. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

      “Tea, Father,” Mrs. Hannigan announced as she bustled into the room carrying a wide tray loaded with a pitcher of a murky brown liquid, two tall glasses filled with ice and a plate of cookies.

      “Oh,” Liam said with heartfelt sincerity, “you really didn’t have to do that, Mrs. Hannigan.”

      “No trouble.” She set down the tray, dusted her palms together, then turned on her heel and marched out of the room with near military precision.

      “We have to drink it,” Liam said on a sigh as he reached for the pitcher.

      “I know.” Emma braced herself as she watched him pour what looked like mud into the glasses.

      “She’s a good woman,” Liam said, lifting his own glass and eyeing it dubiously. “Though I can’t imagine why the concept of tea escapes her.”

      Emma decided to get it over with and took a hearty swig. She gulped it down before it could stick in her throat, then set the glass back on the tray and coughed a little before speaking again. “So about Connor…”

      “Right.” Liam gagged a little at the tea, set the glass down and shuddered. “What’d he do?”

      Intrigued, Emma asked, “How did you know he did anything?”

      “Something put that flash of anger in your eyes, Emma.”

      “Okay, yeah. You’re right.” She jumped up from the chair that was big enough and soft enough to swallow her whole and started walking. Nowhere in particular, she just felt as though she needed to move. “He did do something, well, said something and it made me so mad, Liam, I almost punched him and then I thought he wouldn’t even understand why I was hitting him and then that made me even more mad, which even I could hardly believe, because honestly I was never so mad in my life and he didn’t even have a clue. You know?”

      She was walking in circles, and Liam kept his head swiveling, to keep up with her, following her progress around the room and trying to keep up with the rambling fury of her words.

      “So, would you hate me, too, if I said I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about?”

      Emma blew out a breath and stopped in front of the wide windows overlooking the shady front lawn. The scent of the roses in the cold hearth mingled with the homey scent of lemon oil clinging to the gleaming woodwork. Outside, a slight wind tugged at the leaves of the magnolias and two kids, oblivious to the heat, raced past the church, baseball bats on their shoulders.

      “He’s an idiot.” Emma turned and looked at him. “Connor, I mean.”

      “True,” Liam admitted and gave her a smile that took the edge off her anger. “In fact, all of my brothers are idiots—” he caught himself and corrected “—maybe not Brian anymore since he wised up in time to keep Tina in his life. But Connor and Aidan?” He nodded. “Idiots. Still, in their defense, they’re under a lot of…pressure, right now.”

      “You mean the bet?” Emma asked.

      Liam blinked. “You know about it?”

      “It’s practically all Connor’s talked about for the last month.”

      “Is that right?” Liam smiled again, wider this time. “Driving him crazy, is it?”

      Emma grinned at him, despite the bubbles of anger still simmering inside her. “You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”

      “I shouldn’t be, should I?”

      “I don’t know,” Emma said, her smile fading just a little, “okay, you’re a priest, but you are still a Reilly.”

      “Guilty as charged,” Liam admitted. “And this Reilly wants to know what Connor did that upset you so much.”

      “He dismissed me.”

      “Excuse me?”

      Emma shrugged, as if she could shift what felt like a load off her shoulders, then shoved both hands into the pockets of her jeans. Blowing out a breath, she realized that it was just a little harder than she’d thought it would be to talk about this. Saying it all out loud only made it harsher and made her remember the stupid smile in Connor’s eyes when he told her she was a “pal.”

      Gritting her teeth, Emma got a grip on her anger and muttered thickly, “He actually told me that he didn’t want me, so I was safe to be around.”

      Liam groaned. “He really is an idiot.”

      “Yeah, well.” Feeling the sting of Connor’s words again, Emma turned her head and looked out the window, focusing on the gnarled trunk of the closest magnolia tree. She should just be mad, but there was an undeniable sting of hurt jabbing at her, too. And it was that niggling pain that bothered her the most. She hadn’t let a man close enough to actually hurt her in three years. The fact that Connor could do it without even trying infuriated her.

      “He’s going to be sorry,” she whispered, more as a solemn promise to herself than to Liam.

      “Emma?”

      She wouldn’t look at him. How could she? She heard the concern in his voice, and though she appreciated it, she didn’t need it. She’d be fine. Just as she’d always been. And once Connor had been taught a very costly lesson, things would go back to the way they should be. “I’m going to see to it he loses that bet, Liam.”

      He sighed and she heard him stand up and walk toward her. “Not that I wouldn’t be pleased if the church got a new roof,” Liam said when he stopped beside her. “But I feel I ought to caution you.”

      “About?” She slanted him a look.

      Shaking his head, Liam said softly, “Sometimes the best-laid traps can backfire, Emma. They can spring shut on the one who set the trap in the first place.”

      Not if the trapper was careful.

      “Don’t worry about me, Liam,” she said firmly. “I’ll be fine.”

      “Uh-huh,” he said, and reached out to turn her face toward him. “But you and Connor have been friends for a long time.”

      “So?” She didn’t mean to sound so much like a cranky child. But she couldn’t seem to help it. The fact that they had been friends was the very thing that had made this whole situation so infuriating.

      “So,” he said, “it’s not that far a fall from friendship to love.”

      Emma laughed and shook her head. “Sorry for laughing, Liam. But trust me, there’s no chance of that.”

      Number one, she wasn’t interested in loving anybody. She’d tried that once and she still had the emotional bruises to prove it. And Connor wasn’t looking for love either. Heck, if anything, he was trying to avoid women altogether. And clearly, she told herself, her spine straightening and her chin lifting, if he were to go looking for СКАЧАТЬ