Читать книгу The Mighty Quinns: Dex - Kate Hoffmann - Страница 7

Prologue

“THE HOUSE LOOKS lovely, Sally. Just lovely.”

Aileen Quinn stood in the foyer of her Irish country house and gazed around at the festive holiday decorations. Though the first week in November was a bit early to put everything up for Christmas, she didn’t care.

Most people waited for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 before bringing out the decorations. But this year, optimism filled her with the holiday spirit. This year, for the first time in her memory, she’d spend the holidays with almost her entire family, and she wanted to savor that joy for as long as possible.

“It does look grand,” Sally said. “I’ve missed all the holiday cheer.” The housekeeper slipped her arm through Aileen’s and smiled at her. “I believe this will be our best Christmas ever.”

“I was thinking we ought to put another tree upstairs,” Aileen said. “Just at the top of the stairs. We still have my collection of German glass ornaments, and they would fill a small tree.”

In years past, she’d made up for her lack of family by overdecorating the house, hoping that it might fill her with more Christmas spirit. But it had never worked. No matter how beautiful the decor, she had still been alone. So for the past twenty years, she’d just stopped, not bothering to acknowledge the holidays at all. It had been too painful, bringing up so many regrets.

The doorbell chimed and Sally left her side. “I suppose that will be Mr. Stephens.” She peeked out the door, then turned back to Aileen. “And he’s brought a guest. A young lady.”

Aileen’s eyebrow arched up and a smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. “Well, now, isn’t that a surprise? The last time I spoke with Ian, we discussed his rather dismal social life. I can’t believe he acted so quickly.”

Sally pulled the door open. Grasping her cane, Aileen moved to greet her guests. Her gaze fell on a pretty young woman with bright green eyes and dark hair that fell in soft waves around her face. “Hello there,” Aileen said, holding out her hand. “I’m Aileen Quinn.”

Two spots of color rose in the woman’s cheeks and she smiled. “Miss Quinn, it is such a pleasure to meet you. And thank you for welcoming me into your home.” She glanced around. “It’s just beautiful.”

By the accent, Aileen could tell the young lady was American. Aileen looked over at Ian. “Would you care to make the introductions, Mr. Stephens?”

“Ah, yes, yes. My apologies. Miss Quinn, this is Marlena Jenner from Back Bay Productions in Boston. She’s the producer I told you about. The one who wants to make a documentary about your life.”

Aileen chuckled softly. “I see. Well, Mr. Stephens, I admire your persistence. But as I said before, I’m not certain my life would be so interesting on film.”

“Oh, but I disagree,” Marlena said. “Yours is a rags-to-riches story. And your books are so popular worldwide that I’m sure all your fans would want to get to know you better. You’ve done so few interviews over the years, Miss Quinn.” She drew a quick breath, then quickly continued on. “And Ian has told me about your search for your brothers. Perhaps this documentary could help to find Conal.” She turned to Ian. “It is Conal, right?”

He nodded and forced a smile as she started to continue with her plea. But Aileen jumped in. “Miss Jenner, I—”

“Please, call me Marlie. We’re going to be working closely over the next few months, after all. At least I hope we are. I’m your biggest fan. I’ve read all your books. Some of them three or four times. They got me through a very difficult point in my life.”

Aileen glanced back and forth between Ian and Marlie. “Well, I suppose if you’re that determined, then we ought to sit down and talk. Sally, would you get us tea? We’ll have it in the library.”

Aileen started off in the direction of the library, then looked over her shoulder to find Marlie standing mute in the hallway, an expression of shock on her face. Starstruck—because she’d invited her to tea? “Come along, then.”

Maybe the pretty young woman was right. This might be the only way to find Conal and his heirs. A film about her life and her search for Conal and her other lost siblings would go much further than her autobiography ever would.

She didn’t have much time left to finish her search. At ninety-seven, she was grateful for every sunrise she saw. And she was busy planning a huge family reunion over the Christmas holidays, renting a castle and making arrangements for a wonderful time for all.

But it wouldn’t be complete without knowing what had happened to Conal. The clues to his existence, and any possible heirs, were out there somewhere, waiting for her to find them. And if she wasn’t willing to do absolutely everything to make that happen, then why bother with her search at all?

She waited for Marlena to catch up to her, then slipped her hand around the younger woman’s arm. “So tell me, Miss Jenner. How will this all work? When will we begin?”

“Next week,” Marlie said. “We’ll begin filming interviews with you, and we’ll finish by filming your new family at your holiday celebration, if they agree.”

The young lady seemed quite invested in this project. And she was a fan, so Aileen could count on the film being complimentary. She had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Conal. He was the only one still missing.

“Lovely,” Aileen said. “And how quickly will your documentary be finished?”