Sweet Dreams by Claire: A Heartwarming Irish Romance (Capture the Light, Book 2) by Nanette Littlestone

Author:Nanette Littlestone [Littlestone, Nanette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781958904121
Publisher: Words of Passion
Published: 2023-12-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

T

elling my story will be like ripping open a wound over and over again. Those buried feelings will bubble slowly to the surface then burst, spewing all that pain as fresh as it was the day it happened.

Everyone in Claremore knows about my accident. Small towns share news, and this was a big event. For a few weeks. Then life went back to the everyday routine of an author who just got published, a family wedding, the football team scoring a win against County Clare. Almost twenty years have passed since the event, and there hasn’t been a reason to reopen the wounds.

Until now.

A huge part of me wants to retreat. To say there’s nothing. What will dredging up the incident prove?

But as I look at the faces around the table, I see kindness. A sympathy as soft as rose petals. These are friends, I remind myself. People who care. People who understand. At least, I hope they will.

Finn’s hand is warm on my shoulder. Solid. An anchor against the turbulence to come. How ironic that I’m thinking in ocean metaphors, but how apropos for him. For us, if there ever is an us.

The only way to tell this is to plunge in.

“We were on a sailboat in Galway Bay, not far from here. It was a hot day in August, the week after my eighth birthday. We’d been sailing for a while and Dad and I decided to cool off, so we stripped down to our bathing suits and jumped in the water. Mam stayed on the boat.”

The scene comes back to me as vivid as the day it happened. “The sea was fairly calm, low waves slapping against the hull, the sun high overhead, the sky clear and picture-perfect blue. The cool water felt good on my skin, and I loved the salty taste as it brushed against my lips. I remember leaning my head back and floating on the lull of the water. Dad splashed me a couple times in fun and I splashed back, then we just closed our eyes and drifted.

“It was beautiful out there. So peaceful.”

I loved that feeling of being one with the ocean. The support. The way it cradled me.

“It seemed like only a few moments had passed when Mam said, ‘You two should come in before you turn into lobsters.’

“‘In a minute, Rose,’ my dad said.”

Nerves fire in anticipation of what’s to come. Flickers that turn to flames that paralyze my limbs. My heart races and my breathing quickens. The familiar dread starts to take hold with an iron grip, bearing down with incredible pressure. But this time there’s something else. An aura of warmth that surrounds me. A softening to shield me from the pain. I let myself sink into that.

Brigid takes my hands. “You don’t have to say anymore, Claire.”

I avoid her eyes and lick my lips. If I look at her, I won’t be able to go on. “I felt a pat on my arm, the little touch my dad would give me to signal it’s time to come in.

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