Saving a Legend(61)

Kieran took another bite of his mashed potatoes. “Maybe.”

“Is being employed part of your par—” Rory started, but Kieran immediately cut him off with a glare, then glanced sideways at Fiona to see if she’d been paying attention. She was looking at him, innocently following the conversation.

“I’m still weighing all my options,” he said quickly, hoping they got the hint.

Rory narrowed his eyes at him; Clare glanced at Fiona, then looked down at her own plate. Tension hung heavily over that end of the table as everyone seemed to understand what he’d just silenced—everyone except Fiona, of course.

“Fuck, that’s messed up, K,” Quinn said, interrupting the silence, leaning into the conversation.

Kieran hadn’t even realized Quinn had also been listening. He hoped his parents were too busy talking to Casey to notice the dying mood at this end of the table.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kieran warned his brother. He wanted to tell Fiona about the last two years, but he needed to figure out the best way to do it, and now certainly wasn’t the time. He hadn’t wanted this to come up during dinner, and he mentally scolded himself for going about this entire thing so foolishly and not telling her right away.

“I’m confused. What’s wrong?” Fiona asked, putting down her fork, her brows furrowed.



“Nothing.” He squeezed her hand as he glared at his brothers.

Both of them glared back while Clare pretended to be engrossed in her meal. He didn’t need their judgment right now. It wasn’t any of their business what he did or didn’t tell her. After all, they’d known each other for only a week. Telling someone you just got out of prison isn’t really a topic for a first date. Not if you wanted a second date, that is.

And he was going to tell her.

“So who’s coming to my state championship in a few months?” Kane asked loudly, veering them all onto a new topic.

Kane gave him a friendly nod, and Kieran felt relieved that at least someone had his back. He knew that Kane probably disagreed with him, too, but being a twin ran deep. He’d always be there for him, no matter what.





Chapter 14

“Whoa.” Fiona’s eyebrows shot up as she glanced into Casey’s bedroom on her way to her own. There were three large racks of dresses in the center of the room. Not just any dresses, but gorgeous gowns and evening wear that looked fit for the red carpet. “What’s going on in here?”

“Fiona!” Casey’s head suddenly popped up over one of the garment racks, and she waved her over. “Come in! You still need to pick your dress, too.”

“For what?” Fiona stepped in, gravitating toward the first rack and the silk sheaths that hung from it. “How did you get all these up here?”

Two dresses on the rack Casey was standing behind pushed apart and Clare’s pretty blond head peered out. “I helped!”

Fiona laughed at her sudden appearance. Clare was shorter than the rest of them, so Fiona hadn’t seen her at first. “Hey, Clare, what are you doing here?”

“Helping you girls pick out your dresses, of course! I have some smaller sizes I think may fit Shea, too, but we’ll probably need to get them hemmed. Is she here?”

“She’s in her room reading,” Fiona told them. “Why do we need dresses? What are these for?”

“The gala, of course!” Casey and Clare said in unison, both holding up different dresses against themselves.

“You want me to wear one of these to the gala? I was just going to borrow a simple cocktail dress from Nora.”

“Cocktail dresses won’t do for this,” Clare said as she began pulling out dresses she liked and laying them across the bed. “It’s a big family event, especially for Rory, so if I’ve got to be dressed up for it, so do you. After all, you and I are both part of the Kavanagh family now, thanks to our taste in men.”



“Listen to Clare—you’re one of us now,” Casey said. “I’m going to go get Dee. I’ll be right back. Try something on!”

“Fair enough.” Fiona laughed and began scanning through the closest rack of dresses as she and Clare were left alone. As she browsed, she realized that each and every one of these was by a major designer. “Where did you get these dresses? They’re…” Words failed her as she looked down at the soft fabric and sparkling gems making up the dress in her hand.

“Crazy, right?” Clare grinned. “Dee has really great taste. Don’t look at the price tags—they’ll only make you dizzy.”