Alex immediately regretted the words, but Julie seemed not to mind. Brenda reappeared, and Julie transferred the baby to his mother’s arms. “What about Kieran? He’s glued to that set as if he’d never seen one before.”
“Maybe he hasn’t,” a new voice said.
Chapter 8
The voice was female and slightly rough, honed with age and experience. Alex looked around. An elderly woman, well into her seventies, walked gingerly into the room from the kitchen and stopped in front of Alex, leaning on a cane.
The force of her presence struck Alex so unexpectedly that it was several moments before she saw the old woman’s strong family resemblance to Julie. She wore a loose print blouse and knit pants and wire-rimmed glasses low on her nose. Her thick salt-and-pepper hair was pulled back in a wide, heavy braid. Keen eyes focused on Alex with uncomfortable frankness.
“Grandma, this is Alex,” Julie said gravely. “Alex, my grandmother, Mary.”
The elderly woman nodded perfunctorily and sat down on the sofa. She stretched out her legs with a sigh. “I’ve heard about you. The chimookamon who runs with the wolves.”
Alex felt unable to move under that ebony gaze. It had the potency of Kieran’s, but different; Alex felt less like prey being stalked than a defendant being examined by a judge.
And then she remembered: this was the grandmother Julie had mentioned before, the one from whom she’d supposedly inherited her “intuition.” “I’ve heard about you, too, ma’am,” she said.
“Ha!” Mary tapped her cane on the floor. “My daughter’s daughter never could keep quiet about much of anything.” She gave Julie a keen sideways glance. “But you were right, Granddaughter. There’s more to this one than meets the eye.”
Julie opened her mouth to reply, but Alex beat her to it. “I do my best,” she retorted.
Mary studied her. “You try, but you don’t always see what it is,” she said cryptically. Her gaze shifted to Kieran. “What about your boyfriend over there?”
The temptation to snap back was almost more than Alex could stand. “I think Julie may have given you the wrong impression, ma’am. Kieran is—”
“Different.” Mary frowned, adding new lines to her deeply seamed face. “Yes, you were right, Granddaughter. I want to talk to that young man for a while. Then we’ll eat.”
As if he’d heard the conversation, Kieran turned away from the television. He looked directly at Mary, rose and came to join them. Old woman and young man stared at each other in silence.
“Yes. I see,” Mary muttered. She waved at Kieran. “Do me a favor and sit down. I can’t keep looking up at you.”
Kieran glanced at Alex and settled into a crouch at Mary’s feet. “My name is Kieran Holt.”
“And mine is Mary. So tell me, Kieran Holt—what’s troubling you?”
His muscles bunched, and he relaxed with a visible effort.
“That bad, eh?” Mary muttered.
“There’s nothing wrong with Kieran,” Alex said quickly.
“No?” Mary bent over her cane. “That true, young man? Don’t worry, I don’t bite. And I don’t think you’ll bite me, either.”
Kieran smiled—an oddly open, wistful expression. “No, Grandmother. I won’t bite.”
Mary nodded and leaned back. “Tell me about yourself, Kieran Holt.”
Before Alex could think of a way to intervene, Julie took her elbow. “Dinner won’t be ready for a half-hour or so. The day’s nice… let’s go outside.”
Alex closed her mouth on a protest. Any objection would make it look as though she and Kieran had some thing to hide. But Kieran would be totally on his own, with a woman who saw too much…
She cast a final glance toward Kieran and followed Julie out the door. “Would you mind telling me what all that was about?”
“I told you my grandma wanted to meet you,” Julie said. She leaned against the wall of the house and met Alex’s gaze with implacable calm.
“But it was Kieran—” She stopped herself, struggling to match Julie’s composure. “You told me once that your grandmother was a medicine woman.”
“That’s right.”
“And she thinks there’s… something wrong with Kieran.”
“Those were your words, Alex. Is there?” Julie was dead serious. Alex had never seen her look so grave—except the first time she’d met Kieran at the cabin. Suddenly Alex felt manipulated. Manipulated by Julie, whom she wouldn’t have believed capable of it.