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Aoife gave me no concrete way to come between them, which was possibly worse than if she had. The whole plan had to be of my own making.
    I’d considered pretending to be in love with Aodhan and almost laughed out loud. As if that would be enough to keep them from finding their way back to each other. Niamh was, well Niamh. Blonde, beautiful and powerful. And they had so much history. Not to mention how much that would hurt Ethan after all he’d done for me. That was not an option I could work with.
    The thing was, it would actually be very easy to keep them apart. I didn’t need to pretend very much to do what Aoife wanted. That’s what made me so sad. I’d been rooting for them working things out, despite the odds against them. But I’d known how precarious their relationship was.
    I’d had seeds of doubt myself about whose side Niamh’s mother, Saoirse, was actually on. Aodhan and I had spoken about this several times since we’d met. But if I was to cause him to doubt Niamh’s true allegiance, even in the slightest, it would widen the rift between them in no time. I felt sick thinking about it.
    I felt the couch move next to me and realized how deep in thought I’d been. Aunt Jessie gave me a tight smile.
    “I know you’re probably exhausted, sweetie. Nicole’s going to stay and keep your mom company for a while and I’m going to take a ride up to the hospital.”
    I blinked and nodded. “Of course. I’m sorry, I didn’t even think. Go ahead, we’re fine here.”
    My aunt threw her arms around me, and sniffled against my shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
    I squeezed her back, the feeling of love and acceptance like a balm against the hollow dread in my heart.
    “Tell Pop I’ll be up to see him as soon as I can,” I said, fighting back tears.
    “I sure will,” she said, getting to her feet. “Try to get some rest, okay?”
    I nodded, following her to the front door. Nicole came up behind me as I watched Aunt Jessie climb into her car.
    “Was that Ethan who called?” she asked.
    “Yeah,” I said without looking at her.
    “He was sort of freaking out when I told him you went after Niamh,” she said.
    I cleared my throat and waved as Aunt Jessie pulled away from the house.
    “Yeah,” I said, rubbing my temples where a throbbing pain was starting to take root. “What a mess.”
    Nicole was silent as she followed me back to the couch where I flopped back down and threw an arm over my eyes.
    “What I don’t understand is how you’ve become so close with these people that you jump in the car to chase after them, neglecting to even tell your own family where you’re going.”
    “I told you where I was going, Nic. You’re acting like I’m fifteen years old.”
    “You’ve gone your whole life refusing to make friends with anyone. All the way through high school and college, you shut down every single person who tried to talk to you. It just doesn’t make sense.”
    I opened one eye and scrambled for an answer to placate her. “Haven’t you been the one encouraging me to give people a chance? I’m trying to do just that.”
    “I guess. I’m sorry for being a bitch, I was just scared you’d been abducted or hurt.”
    I tucked my hair behind my ears and closed my eyes again. “It’s fine. I would have called you if I could, you know. It was just impossible.”
    “You should probably call Niamh now that you’re home, don’t you think?”
    “Yeah, I should. I will in a few minutes.”
    “Doesn’t she work?” Nicole asked after a minute.
    “Niamh?” I asked, taken aback.
    “Yes, Niamh,” Nicole said, smirking at me.
    I took a deep breath. “Oh, um. Sort of. She doesn’t really have to since her family has so much money. But she does some modeling once in a while.” That wasn’t a question I’d been expecting.
    “That must be nice,” she said with a laugh.
    I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”
    I heard my mother start coughing again from the den. “Does she need