Free Patrick's Destiny by Sherryl Woods Page A

Michael’s life after he was shot.”
    “Alice is not my soul mate,” Patrick protested, ignoring the fact that he had been more drawn to her than he had been to any other woman in a long time. That was chemistry, not some mystical connection. And whatever it was, he intended to ignore it, for sure.
    “Denial,” Michael noted, grinning. “Another part of the pattern.”
    “Yep, he’s got it bad,” Ryan teased.
    Patrick gave the three of them a sour look. “Gee, if I’d known having big brothers was this much fun, I’d have gone hunting for you years ago.”
    Molly arrived just then, looking particularly pleased to find them all laughing. “I’m delighted you all turned up when you did,” she said.
    Ryan looked up at her. “Oh?”
    “Patrick was getting a little too hermity, if you know what I mean.”
    “Molly,” Patrick warned, his voice low.
    She gave him an innocent look. “Is something wrong?”
    “You’re treading on thin ice,” he said.
    “Is that so?” She stomped her foot on the old oak floor. “Seems solid enough to me.” She turned to Ryan. “You seem like a man who knows his own mind. What can I get you?”
    After she’d taken all their orders and gone, Ryan turned to Patrick. “Just how many women do you have in your life, little brother?”
    “None,” he said flatly.
    All three brothers hooted at that.
    “Look, did you come here this morning just to pester me about my love life? If so, I can leave now and still get in a few hours of fishing.”
    “I guess we’re crossing the line,” Sean said, though his eyes were twinkling with amusement.
    “Definitely,” Michael agreed.
    “But this is such a fascinating topic, I hate to pass on it,” Sean added.
    “Maybe that’s because we’d rather hear about the women in Patrick’s life than talk about our folks,” Ryan said wryly.
    Sean and Michael instantly sobered, all teasing gone from their expressions.
    “You’ve got that right,” Sean said bitterly.
    “Since I’m not crazy about talking about them, either, let’s not,” Patrick said. “We could talk about baseball. How do you guys think the Red Sox are going to do this year?”
    Sean seemed eager to go along with the change of topic, but Ryan promptly cut him off.
    “Locking the past in a closet doesn’t work,” Ryan countered. “Lord knows I tried for a lot of years. Now that I’m close to getting everything out in the open, I want to finish up so I can forget about it once and for all.”
    “There’s just one problem with that,” Patrick said. “I don’t have the answers you want. Like I told you last night, the folks refused to answer any of the questions Daniel and I threw at them. As far as I know, they haven’t opened up with him since I walked out. I think he’d have let me know if they had. If you want answers, you’re going to have to look them up yourselves. I’ll tell you where to find them, but that’s it. Depending on what time your flight is, you could go today. It’s only about a thirty-minute drive.”
    All three of his brothers fell silent at the suggestion. It was as if having finally neared the end of their long search, they weren’t particularly anxious to start that final leg.
    Ryan sighed heavily, his gaze on Michael. “Up to you. Do you want this over and done with before the wedding? Or will it ruin what should be the happiest time of your life?”
    “I won’t let our folks ruin anything for me,” Michael said flatly. “But I still think we should wait. Finding them is going to affect all of us, and frankly I want all your attention focused on the wedding. If I walk into that church without the rings or miss the rehearsal dinner because you guys had your minds on what happened up here in Maine, Kelly will never let any of us forget it.”
    “You sure you don’t want to make peace so the folks can be at the wedding?” Ryan persisted.
    “ My family will be at the wedding,” Michael said emphatically. “The Havilceks