An O'Brien Family Christmas by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online

in and ask who owns it now,” Susie offered. “Then you could decide.”
    Nell seized on the suggestion. “Would you mind?”
    “Of course not,” Susie said, giving her grandmother’s hand a reassuring squeeze before heading inside.
    Nell all but held her breath as she waited for Susie’s return. “Well?” she asked, searching her granddaughter’s face for answers when she came back.
    “The man I spoke to says he’s Dillon O’Malley.”
    Just as Susie spoke, the man himself appeared in the doorway, his eyes filled with curiosity. Tall, with only the barest stoop to his broad shoulders and just a hint of silver in his black hair, it was unmistakably Dillon. When his gaze settled on Nell, he seemed to go perfectly still.
    “Nell?” That one word was part confusion and disbelief, part hope.
    Nell reached out to Susie to steady herself as she looked into the clear blue eyes of the man she’d once been so certain she was meant to marry.
    “Hello, Dillon,” she said softly.
    He shook his head. “After all these years I’d have known you anywhere,” he said. “You’re as beautiful as ever with your red hair and those grand eyes.”
    She laughed. “And you’re as full of blarney. My hair hasn’t been red in years. I can barely find a few strands amid the gray to remind me of the shade it once was.”
    “In my eyes, you’re the lass you were the last time I saw you,” he insisted.
    For just an instant, Nell allowed herself to feel like that girl again, young and carefree and wildly in love for the first time in her life. She’d been Nell Flanagan then.
    “Come in, Nell,” Dillon pleaded. “Talk to me. Tell me about your life.” He glanced again at Susie. “This has to be your granddaughter.”
    “She is. Just one of them. This is Susie O’Brien Franklin.”
    Dillon clasped Susie’s hand, though his gaze remained locked on Nell. “And she brought you to Ireland for the holidays? What a lovely thing to do.”
    “Actually this is her honeymoon trip,” Nell said wryly. “Can you imagine? She insisted that the whole family accompany her.”
    Dillon laughed. “Then she is, indeed, truly a Flanagan with a huge heart. I look forward to getting to know you, Susie.”
    “So, you and my grandmother go way back?” Susie asked, her face alight with curiosity.
    “Way back,” Dillon confirmed.
    “Did she always have a wild and reckless streak?” Susie asked.
    He laughed. “You have no idea.”
    “Stop it, you two,” Nell ordered. “I’ve never been wild or reckless.”
    “You went back to America and broke my heart, did you not?” Dillon asked.
    Nell frowned at him. “I’m quite sure there were plenty of women around to mend it. Christina Ahearn comes to mind. Didn’t you marry her not long after I’d gone home that last time?”
    “Only after I was convinced you were never coming back,” he insisted. “Now, come inside. I’ll brew some tea. I have the Earl Grey you love so much.”
    Nell stared at him in amazement. “You remember that?”
    He held her gaze. “I remember everything,” he said solemnly.
    Susie regarded them hesitantly. “Should I leave you two to catch up?” she asked.
    Nell hesitated, torn. She wanted to know everything about Dillon’s life, wanted to fill in all the blanks that her grandparents had been so careful to leave unanswered once she’d gone.
    Yet so many years had passed. What was the point at this late date?
    Still, when she looked into Dillon’s hopeful eyes, she couldn’t say no. “I’d love tea,” she said at last, then squeezed Susie’s hand. “I’ll be fine here for an hour. Why don’t you come back then?”
    “Or I could see that she gets back to her hotel,” Dillon offered.
    “I’ll come back,” Susie said, apparently sensing that Nell needed backup. She smiled at them. “Enjoy your visit.”
    Dillon escorted Nell inside, waited as she looked around.
    “You’ve kept it mostly the same,” Nell commented.
    “How could I change a