I set my jaw. “He’s not a ghost, Da. He’s alive.”
Angus didn’t move. “I helped bury you,” he said, low. “We all did.”
Sully nodded. “I know. I’m sorry for that.”
Angus’s hand trembled on the wood. “What trick is this?”
I stepped between them, blocking the room with my body. “No trick. He came back last night. He’s…changed, but it’s him.”
Mother pushed past and circled Sully, crossing herself with every step. She pinched his arm, hard, then let go with a yelp. “He’s warm!”
Sully managed a weak smile. “Would you like to sit?” He offered her his own seat by the fire.
She sat, but kept her hands pressed to her chest like a shield. “We grieved you, Sully,” she whispered. “We mourned.”
He nodded. “I know.”
Angus stepped inside, shutting the door. He kept one hand on the latch, as if to bar Sully in or out at a second’s notice. “You look wrong,” he said, eyes scanning the jacket, the boots, the patched jeans. “You sound wrong, too.”
Sully met his gaze, but said nothing.
I set out three mugs, poured the last of the beer for my father, and tea for the rest. The air was too thick to breathe. I watched Angus study Sully, looking for cracks.
“Where’ve you been?” Angus barked. “None saw you in the village. The priest said you had gone to God.”
Sully licked his lips. “I don’t know where I was,” he said. “Woke up far away. No memory of the place, but I… I knew I had to come here.”
Mother made a wounded sound, soft as a baby bird.
I nodded. “It’s true, Da. He just came to the door, half-dead with cold. No money, no weapon. Just himself.”
Angus stared at me, then Suly. “It’s not natural,” he said, voice hoarse. “Men don’t walk out of their own graves.”
Sully looked down, twisting the shamrock at his wrist. “I know. I don’t have answers for you.”
Mother reached out, touched Toolie’s hand, pulled back, then touched again, this time keeping her palm flat. “You’re alive,” she murmured. “But how?”
He shook his head, lost. “I only remember Catherine.”
Angus snorted, but it sounded like he was trying not to cry. “Of course. Fool for love, the both of you.”
I put my hand on Sully’s shoulder. “He’s here now. That’s all that matters.”
Angus drained his mug in one go, wiped his mouth, and glared at me. “You’ll have to tell the priest,” he said. “And the O’Connors, and the rest of the world. They’ll say you’re cursed.”
I shrugged. “Let them. I have Catherine back, so the world is good.”
He turned back to Sully, voice dropping. “You plan to marry her this time, or just haunt her from the shadows?”
Sully met his gaze, steady. “If she’ll have me, I’d never leave her again.”
Angus set his jaw, then spat on the floor. “Fine. You’ll stay, but you’ll work. And you’ll keep out of sight till we can decide what to do with you.”
Mother nodded, eyes still on Sully’s hand. “We’ll make a pallet by the fire, like old times.”
Sully looked at me, a question in his eyes. I gave a little nod. He gripped my hand under the table, out of sight of the others.
Angus stood, grabbed his coat, and opened the door. “I’ve got fields to see to. No more trouble today, Catherine.”