Chapter Eight

Finnegan groaned as he slowly began to gain consciousness. The sunlight against his closed eyelids told him that it was no longer night and the soft body wrapped in his arms told him that it had been a good night indeed.

He buried his face into a mess of wild curls and froze.

Curls?

Soft body?

A good night?

Shite! It better not of been that good a night. This bare body he was holding had better not belong to Cassandra...... He had no memory of much of anything from the night before and he could only imagine what this would do to her. Hell a simple kiss had had her heartbroken for years... if they had lain together.....

Finnegan barely opened one eye and breathed out a huge sigh of relief when the curls his face turned out to be snuggled against were dark brown instead of bright gold.

Finnegan pulled himself away from the woman in his arms and flopped onto his back, nearly falling from the tiny bed. Once he righted himself and felt assured that his heart was not going to burst, Finnegan took in his surroundings.

It appeared he was in a hotel room. That was good at least because it meant he was still in the town he had left Cassandra in.... he hoped.

Finnegan pushed himself to his feet as his head swam. He never did get headaches after a night of heavy drinking but the dizziness was nearly just as bad.

What had happened last night? He remembered the dead man and then sending Cassandra up to the rooms while he headed to the saloon to see about making some quick money.

He remembered that he'd been doing good. The money had been coming his way quickly, the whiskey had been pouring, the beer mugs were clanking and the women were hanging off his arms..... Then it all became a blank.

Finnegan quickly pulled on his pants and then reached in the pockets—empty!

He ran to his vest and checked the inside pocket, breathing a sigh of relief when he felt the leather bound map and then his heart falling when he realized that's all that was there.

He had no money.

He had told Cassandra not to worry and assured her that he'd take care of her and get the money for the train but he had failed.

They needed that train ride. To go all the way to Montana by horseback would take months and the odds of them being caught by her father, who was no doubt searching high and low for his little girl were very very good.

Finnegan shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. He'd just have to go out again tonight and do a better job at keeping what he won.

A knock on his door had his head whipping around and the woman in the bed moaning as she woke. "Who is it?" Finnegan called out as he motioned for the rather beautiful woman to get out of his bed.

"The Virgin Mary, you idiot, who do you think it is?" Cassandra's voice came from the other side of the door. "Let me in."

"Just a moment there, Little Cass. I'd hate for ya to see me in all my glory and ruin ya for any man who tries to win your heart in the future." The woman currently pulling on her petticoat and corset rolled her eyes and Finnegan glared at her. "Do I owe ya money?" he whispered.

"No, sugar, you paid up last night." Finnegan saw the predatory gleam in her brown eyes and knew that he'd paid a pretty penny. Dammit! Cassandra was going to skin him alive.

"Go out the window now," he urged the whore and she laughed.

"I don't think so."

"Finnegan Callahan, I know you have a woman in there! I heard you both grunting like a couple of wild boars in the night. She better be one of those real cheap rides."

"Cassandra, such language comin' from such a pretty mouth. Is that how ya speak to your mother and father then?" Finnegan scolded as he pointed toward the window and glared at the woman who was now fully dressed, (barely covered any more than she had been nude) and once again lounging on his bed.

"Finnegan, open this door."

Finnegan hung his head and went to the door. He pulled it open and kept his eyes on the floor as Cassandra entered the room.

"You blew every bit of money you made didn't you, Finnegan?" Cassandra asked with a deadly calm in her voice.

"Aye," Finnegan whispered.

"On her?" Cassandra demanded.

"Not just me. A few of my friends as well," the helpful woman on the bed informed them both. "And he bought rounds for the saloon. Your man is quite generous."

"He's not my man," Cassandra replied and the sadness in her voice had Finnegan raising his gaze to look at her. What Finnegan saw on her face sent him reeling backward.

Disappointment.

He had disappointed Cassandra. The look on her face was one he had seen countless times on countless other faces but never hers. Disgust, disappointment and sadness. Finnegan was surprised by how much it hurt to have Cassandra looking at him with those emotions.

"Little Cass, I am sorry...." Finnegan began.

"I'll see you around," the whore stated as she slid from the room.

Finnegan ignored her and took a step toward Cassandra, "Little Cass, speak to me."

"I'd rather not," Cassandra replied, her gaze looking determinately past him instead of at him. "I will get us the money we need for the train. How foolish I was to think that Finnegan Callahan would have grown up into a man in the last five years. How foolish I was to think that he might really be someone who knew how to keep a promise he gave. It appears I was very very wrong."

"Does that surprise ya then?"

Both Finnegan and Cassandra's heads whipped around to face the doorway to the room as the new voice entered the conversation. Finnegan stared in shock at Seamus standing in the doorway looking trail worn and a bit sheepish. Seamus speaking the way Seamus had spoken while growing up... not trying to hide his accent and Irish roots.

Then Finnegan's shock turned to complete and utter disbelief when Cassandra cried out Seamus's name, laughed happily and jumped into his arms.

***

Cassandra had no explanation for exactly why she felt so hurt and betrayed by Finnegan's actions. She had known deep down that the man would win money and then proceed to lose it all before the night was out. That was Finnegan. It was how he was. He never had known when to quit. Seeing that woman in Finnegan's bed had hurt in ways that it shouldn't have hurt.

Truthfully that was what had Cassandra the most upset. It made no sense but she felt as if Finnegan had betrayed her with that woman.

She had been rather enjoying putting him in his place, though fighting back her own tears had been getting harder, when she had heard that voice come from behind her. The voice she hadn't heard in a little over five long years.

Seamus Callahan.

Finnegan's older brother and the man she had given her heart to so long ago when he had stolen her first kiss and then ridden off into the night vowing that he would return to her as soon as he was able.

Cassandra let out a happy bark of laughter as she leapt into Seamus' arms and he held her tightly, spinning her around several times before setting her back on her feet, "I did miss ya, Cassandra."

"Truly?" Cassandra asked as she looked up at his handsome face. He nodded, his green/blue eyes looking wary.

"Yes, truly."

Cassandra's smile turned into a frown and she swung her hand, her palm falling sharply upon his cheek, "That is for stealing a kiss like a common thief and riding off into the night." She swung again and caught his other cheek, "And that is for breaking my heart and having the nerve to act as if you missed me!"

Silence reigned for several long moments as Seamus rubbed at his welted cheeks. Then he held up his hands. "I apologize, Cassandra. I never meant to hurt you." Cassandra frowned. Where was his Irish accent? It had been there moments ago and now it was gone. He seemed to notice her confusion, "I've worked hard since I've been gone to get rid of my heritage," he informed her. "And I go by the name of John now."

"John?" Cassandra snorted. Where were the fond feelings she had once had for this man? She had thought herself in love but the sight of him merely angered her.

"Yes."

"I refuse to call you by anything other than the name your mother gave to you, Seamus. She was a good woman and does not deserve for you to disrespect her so."

"I...."

Finnegan interrupted Seamus when he stepped forward and scratched at his hair. His brow was screwed up and it was clear he was thinking very very hard about something. "Little Cass, are ya honestly tellin' me that your journal was about this sack o'shit and not about me?"

"Yes, I told you that," Cassandra stated with irritation.

"So ya both agree that I'm a sack o'shit then?" Seamus demanded his accent once again becoming pronounced.

"Yes we do," Finnegan and Cassandra replied in unison.

"What the hell are ya doin' here?" Finnegan added angrily. "Are ya ready to have your ass handed to ya then, dear Seamus?"

"And what exactly are ya gonna hand my ass to me for, Finnegan?"

"For hurtin' my Little Cass!" Finnegan replied, his fists clenching tightly as he stepped forward. Cassandra was touched, a bit, but more than that she was simply irritated. While Finnegan claimed he was ready to brawl to defend her heart the truth was that when it came to Seamus, he and Finnegan had always been ready to beat each other to bloody pulps. Finnegan was merely using her as an excuse.

"Boys...." she began but it was no use.

"How could ya do that to her, Seamus?! How could ya kiss her and make her promises and then run off and forget about her?"

"You kissed her just the same as I did, Finnegan," Seamus reminded him, once again losing his Irish accent. Cassandra pinched her nose between her fingers and simply watched them. Both men were just under six feet tall and they were nose to nose just now, yelling loudly and appearing ready to kill one another. It was quite like old times.

"That's where you're wrong, Dear Seamus! I never once made the woman a single promise! And I did not leave cuz I wanted to because I didn't. I would have stayed right there and kissed her every day she'd have let me but I could not because her papa ran me off....."

"You would have....?" Cassandra asked quietly.

Finnegan merely glanced her way and then met his brother's gaze once again, "I might be one hell of a screw up, Dear Seamus, but I would never hurt Cassandra on purpose. Not for all the whiskey, money or women this world has to offer. You had no right to do what ya did to her!"

"I know that!" Seamus bellowed. "But I had my damned reasons, Finnegan! Just the same as you have yours for acting the way you do!"

"Seamus, why are you even here?" Cassandra demanded as she pushed the two brother's apart. She really did not want them coming to blows, especially not over her.

It amazed her that she wasn't reduced to tears by the sight of Seamus after all this time.... And yet Finnegan lying with that whore had filled her with a sadness and disappointment so deep that it still stung. Perhaps that was something she needed to examine further.

"I'm here because Finnegan owes me money and I intend to collect it. I've been following you for days."

"So I was bein' watched," Finnegan grumbled. "Nice to know I wasn't going soft minded."

"It's hard to get much softer than mush," Cassandra informed him and he stuck his tongue out at her before crossing his arms over his chest and pouting much like a child. "How much money does he owe you, Seamus?"

"Two-thousand dollars," Seamus growled, his eyes flashing with temper as he sized up his brother. Cassandra sighed. Neither Seamus nor Finnegan were high-tempered alone but when you put them both together it was like mixing dynamite with open flame.... Things tended to go bang rather quickly.

"Why in the name of all that is holy would you loan Finnegan that much money?!" Cassandra demanded. "You know how he is with money!"

"I'm standing right here, Little Cass. If ya have somethin' to say then feel free to speak it into my good ear. Don't be worried about hurtin' my feelin's. I'm a wee bit tougher than I look," Finnegan mumbled, clearly angry.

"I thought that he would finally get something right. He seemed certain he could win the race he was entering," Seamus replied.

"Finnegan, you have to pay Seamus back."

"No I don't," Finnegan argued stubbornly. "Why if it hadn't been for the knife I had hidden in me trousers I'd be a dead man now and Seamus' hands would be the ones that killed me. He wanted me dead more than he wanted his money."

Cassandra frowned and Seamus swallowed hard, "What are you talking about?" Cassandra demanded, her eyes narrowing.

"He hanged me!" Finnegan sounded much like a child taunting another as he smiled smugly at his brother, "Twice! And that was just a fraction of what the man had done to me in the last few years."

"You hanged your brother?!" Cassandra exclaimed as she rounded on Seamus. "How could you do something like that?! Finnegan is a damned good man! No good with money, a secret or a promise perhaps but the best damn friend I've ever had. To think that you hanged him--"

"Twice," Finnegan chimed in from behind her.

"And you..." Cassandra turned and stuck her finger under Finnegan's nose. "You will figure out some way to pay your brother back and make money for the train ride. And you will stop blowing what little money you do manage to get on whores and whiskey!"

"Not a damn thing about you has changed has it, Finnegan?" Seamus snorted and just like that the brothers were once again at each other's throats.

Cassandra knew that neither was listening to the other as they yelled

and she also knew it would only be a matter of time before fists began to fly. After trying, and failing, to get their attention she finally threw her hands in the air and headed for the door.

"Hey, Little Cass, where ya goin'?" Finnegan questioned.

"Out," Cassandra snapped without looking at either of them. "I've had about all I can stand of Callahan men today."

She stormed out the hall and down the narrow staircase, entering the lobby just in time to see three men carrying the large dead hotel clerk out the door. Cassandra found herself laughing lightly when she remembered Finnegan's fear the night before and then knew for certain she would go to hell upon death. She should not find humor in anything surrounding a man's death.

As she stepped into the sunlight outside, Cassandra's thoughts were jumbled. Seamus was back but those feelings she had felt for him for so long were nowhere to be found. Finnegan was defending her an claiming that if not for her father running him off he would have stayed by her side... did he mean that? Or was he simply saying it to anger his brother? And what if he did mean it? What did it mean?

Cassandra shook her head. She didn't need to worry about that just now. Just now she needed to find money for a train ride. Cassandra saw a diner across the road with a help wanted sign on the door and headed that way. It wouldn't pay enough for a train ticket but it would certainly give her some money to bet at the poker table and she'd prove to Finnegan that his lessons in gambling had paid off—and unlike him she knew enough to quit while she was ahead.