"Good analysis, Agent Malone."
She smiled suddenly. "John March and Wendell Sharpe have asked me to consult from time to time on art recovery cases."
"You can still be a professor."
"Most certainly. I have a real shot at that tenure-track position in Boston I told you about. Then there's the Boston-Cork conference in April. My hockey players."
Scoop winked at her. "Life is good."
"My brother tells me you have a new job."
"Yeah. It's what happens when you get blown up. They promote you."
"You're a man of courage and integrity, Scoop, but you're also very kind. And sexy."
"I'm not making love to you out here on these rocks."
She laughed. "My family can't wait to meet you. Taryn's taking a break from acting. Tim swept her up from the table last night in the pub and danced with her. That was it. I think she wants a different life. She's going to stay in Kenmare and see what happens."
"Keira and Simon are inviting you to their wedding. They're working out the details to get married when they're here at Christmas. Will and Lizzie will be next. Who knows with those two? They could get married in Dublin, Boston, Las Vegas, London, Scotland. My guess is it'll be the old Rush place on the Maine coast."
"New lives getting started."
He stared out at the rugged mountains across the sparkling bay. "Bob and I figured out what to do with the triple-decker. We're busting up into the attic and adding stairs. My brothers and some of his friends from Southie are taking a look. We'll each have two floors."
"That's a lot of room."
He looked at her. "Yeah, it is. It'll have shiny new floors and white walls. Office space. Lots of light. It's close to Logan to go back and forth to Ireland."
"You like it here," she said.
"I do, but I was thinking of you."
"Scoop."
"Tim O'Donovan figures we should have an Ireland honeymoon after the Cork end of the April conference."
"He does, does he?"
"I love you, Sophie. I want to marry you."
"When did you decide this?"
"The day we met in an Irish ruin."
She smiled. "I knew it then, too. It was love at first sight." She leaned against him, felt his lips brush the top of her head. "I love you, Scoop."
A gust of wind blew in from the west, but she wasn't cold, and she realized the only whispers she heard now were those of the ocean waves.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
One of the great pleasures of writing The Whisper has been the opportunity it's given me to explore Ireland in so many different ways--through trips, books, Internet sites, music, art and friends. While in Kenmare last September, I was introduced to a thick, gorgeous book that I couldn't resist and highly recommend: The Iveragh Peninsula: A Cultural Atlas of the Ring of Kerry, edited by John Crowley and John Sheehan. I also read numerous books on Irish history, archaeology and the Celts, including The Celts, by T.G.E. Powell; The World of the Celts, by Simon James; Pagan Celtic Ireland: The Enigma of the Irish Iron Age, by Barry Raftery; Celtic Art, by Ruth and Vincent Megaw. My deepest appreciation goes to these scholars and their work.
Many thanks to my cousin Gregory Harrell for his insights into the work of an Internal Affairs detective, and to my daughter, Kate Jewell, a doctoral student in history, for her help and expertise. My husband and I rushed back from Ireland to welcome her and Conor's firstborn, who decided to arrive a bit early. That very morning Joe and I had hiked a gorgeous trail on the Beara Peninsula, not far from where baby Leo's paternal great-great-grandfather was born.
Finally, a special thank you to Margaret Marbury and Adam Wilson at MIRA Books, and to Jodi Reamer at Writers House for all you do.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5983-0
THE WHISPER
Copyright (c) 2010 by Carla Neggers.
All rights reserved.