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By Root 879 0

of their only child. So they started a new life in a new country, and persuaded Moira to do the same. Maybe she wanted a new start. Maybe she didn’t love Cullen as much as he loved her. Or maybe her loyalty to her parents was stronger than a tenuous love for an impetuous young man. For whatever reason, whether she was persuaded, or forced, what’s done is done. There’s no going back. But at least, while you wait for the hospital technician, read the letters Cullen wrote to his Moira through the years. None of them ever reached her. But he kept them, hoping that one day he could give them to her as proof of his love. It is his fondest wish that you read his letters and look over the mounds of documents he’s gathered through the years in his search for the love of his life. And then listen to your heart.”

She stared at the pile of papers that he set on the coffee table. “What do you get out of all this, Ross?”

He straightened. “I get to see a man I love and respect finally getting the chance to fulfill his dream.”

The words were spoken so simply, she knew they came from his heart.

As he started toward the door she said softly, “All right. I’ll read his letters and documents. But I can’t promise anything.”

By the time Ross descended the stairs, she was already settled on the window seat, lost in a young Cullen Glin’s declarations to the woman he’d love and lost.

Aidan looked up from the last of the letters, her eyes moist. What would it be like, she wondered, to love someone so deeply, and then face the loss of that love for a lifetime?

Cullen had poured out all his feelings on the pages of his letters. Had emptied his heart and soul, until she wondered that he had any passion left. And still he’d refused to give up his search for his Moira. There were piles of requests for information regarding immigrants from Ireland by the name of Fitzgibbon. A thick folder compiled by a private detective agency in New York State documenting every Fitzgibbon who had entered the country legally, and some who had found their way via illegal channels. And finally she found the current file, with her mother’s obituary from her local newspaper.

A lifetime search had ended with a death.

Aidan stood, flexing her cramped muscles just as a knock sounded on the parlor door.

She opened it to find Charity poised to knock again.

“Oh.” The girl snickered. “I thought you might be napping. Bridget sent me to fetch you. There’s a hospital technician in the library waiting to administer a test.”

“Thanks, Charity.” Aidan followed the girl down the stairs, aware that everyone working at the lodge knew just what was going on. There were no secrets here.

In the doorway of the library she paused. Cullen was seated behind his desk. Ross and a stranger were standing by the windows talking.

They all looked over as she stepped into the room.

Cullen walked around his desk to stand beside her. As though, she thought, to shield her.

“Easiest test I’ve ever taken,” he said with a grin. “A quick comb of my cheek, in triplicate just to be certain, and we were done with it.” He turned to the young man wearing latex gloves. “Patrick, this is Aidan O’Mara. Aidan, Patrick is with St. Brendan Hospital. He’ll administer the DNA test.”

“Miss O’Mara.” The young man handed her a long plastic stick with something that resembled a tiny comb at the end. “If you’ll comb your mouth for a full minute and place the comb in this vial, please.”

“Comb? I thought I’d be swabbing my mouth.”

“It’s the same. We call it combing.” He glanced at the tiny comb. “I’m sure you can see why.”

She did as he instructed, pleased that the tiny comb easily detached from its handle as she slid it into the vial. After handing over the vial, he sealed it in a plastic bag, which he carefully marked with a pen.

“And now again,” he said, handing her a second.

She swabbed a different section of her mouth before dropping the tiny comb into another vial.

The technician followed the same procedure and handed her a third.

When she’d finished, he turned to Cullen. “The results will be sent