Chapter 3
The three of them went on like that for several more months. January, February, March, and well into April, Sean and Tom took turns dating Maeve. By then, however, it wasn't so much taking turns as trying to defeat each other. What had started out as a simple case of simultaneous attraction turned into a true competition. Both cousins stopped bringing Maeve into County Mayo unless the other one was away from home at the time. Since INTERPOL was working Sean harder now, giving him field work that took him out of the Keep for several days at a time, including weekends, Tom had more time to spend with Maeve, so if she came to County Mayo, it was inevitably with him. Sean, being keenly aware of his new shortage of opportunities to see her, did his best to make his little time with her count. When he got to see her, they went for plenty of time alone. Sometimes, they'd just sneak up onto the roof of Maeve's dormitory, huddling together for warmth and talking for hours while looking at the stars. At first, Sean tried to gain an edge over Tom through information. He tried to find out what Tom was planning on doing with Maeve, while keeping his own plans secret. He soon abandoned this tactic, knowing his dates weren't comparable with Tom's, and he had no intention to make them that way. Instead, he settled for merely keeping his own plans a secret from his cousin.
Meanwhile, Tom enjoyed his increased time with Maeve. He was glad Sean was in the field as much as he was not just so Maeve would be available more often, but because even when Tom was at home, away from her, he could hardly think about anything except when he would next see her. It was an embarrassing state in which to be seen by his cousin.
Both of them were guilty of trying to arrange several dates with Maeve well in advance, but she put a stop to that right away.
The deadlock continued until mid-April, when Maeve gently announced a special occasion at her school. She was looking forward to the university ball, and asked Sean to escort her.
Both cousins took notice of this. On the night of the ball, Sean stood in front of his full-length mirror, adjusting his tie while lost in a whirlwind of thoughts.
*I'm to escort her to the university ball,* he thought. *That has to be a sign she cares most for me! But is it? Dare I ask her straight out? Suppose she says no?! Or resents my putting her on the spot?!! Or thinks me the proper twit for having to ask such a question when the answer, to her, is perfectly obvious?!!?*
He shook his head and turned away from the mirror, knowing that the last question, at least, was unnecessary. Maeve had never given any indication of thinking him "the proper twit" on any issue. He was letting his excitement and suspense run away with him.
*In heaven's name,* he thought. *Why must love be such an infernal muddle?! Who knows, if it were easy, it wouldn't be such fun!*
He skipped out of the main hall with a jaunty wave to Tom, who was sitting in an armchair and reading a newspaper, on his way out. Sean hopped onto his bike and started speeding north. Tom saw the wave and heard that damned cheery whistling from his cousin, and the nagging fear he'd been pushing away that whole day was corroborated. He could tell that Sean was thinking the same thing he was: that Maeve had made her choice. Then, Tom realized that even if they were right, he wasn't ready to leave it at that.
Sean crossed the border into Northern Ireland with nothing to hear but the roar of the motor and his own thoughts. He was so distracted, it didn't occur to him that he was headed straight into the same area where he'd been held up by Sgt. McLanahan and rescued by Maeve. No, all he could think about was his upcoming evening with her, and his possible future with her.
*Silly as it sounds, she means so much to me,* he thought. *If she's happy, then I am as well...even if her happiness comes from choosing Tom.*
He didn't see the car parked on the side of the road with its headlights off. He didn't hear its engine fire up or notice the added rumble on the road as the car started following him. It wasn't until the car's headlights came on that Sean was jerked out of his reverie and looked behind him, and saw that the squat blue sedan's front bumper was right next to his rear tire.
Sean tried to accelerate while steering farther to the left, but Detective-Sergeant Damien McLanahan jerked his wheel to the left so hard that Sean and his bike went careening over the low stone wall at the side of the road.
"I warned you, chummo!" the sergeant growled triumphantly. "Someday, somehow, we'd meet again...and I'd get even!"
It was some time, maybe just a few minutes, maybe closer to a half hour, before Sean pulled himself out of the grass and sharp little rocks, knowing that he'd faint from blood loss before he danced with Maeve. He pulled his banged-up motorcycle back over the wall, expending a great deal of his remaining strength in the process, and started driving south again.
Meanwhile, Tom had not moved from his position in Cassidy Keep, being lost in a reverie of his own.
*I've never known anyone quite like Maeve,* he thought. She was nothing like the other girls he'd dated and discarded. She was smarter, more demanding, more assertive. It was exactly why he'd been struggling with Sean for so long, and exactly why he was so smitten with her. His usual arsenal of charm, good looks, and classy entertainment weren't enough for her. There was something about Sean that she appreciated, and Tom would just have to learn it. *I'm blessed, though, if I understand what she sees in Sean...and I don't care! I love her...and I'll do anything to win her!*
Just then, the door opened, and Sean leaned against the doorframe, bleeding profusely from the head, with dark shiny stains all over that ridiculous maroon bellbottom suit. "Tom...!" he managed, before his legs gave out.
"Good lord! Mrs. Bridges!" yelled Tom, scrambling up to grab his cousin before he collapsed all the way.
Mrs. Bridges came running in and wrapped Sean's other arm around her shoulders, so she and Tom could drag him up the stairs. They bandaged up the worst of his open wounds and got him into bed. Tom called their family doctor and asked him to make a house call. While they waited for the doctor to arrive, Sean grabbed his cousin by the sleeve and asked him for a word.
"Maeve's waiting," he croaked. "She'll be wondering where I am."
"I'll phone," Tom offered.
"No!" Sean burst out. "Evening's special...shouldn't be ruined for her. Go in my place...explain. Tell her not to worry."
"Are you positive that's what you want?"
"Please."
On the way to Maeve's room, an idea struck him: this was not merely a favor for his cousin, this was an opportunity. Maeve didn't have to know the whole story.
She answered the door, all dressed for the dance in a delightfully short hot-pink dress and necklace of large faux pearls. As soon as Tom knocked on the door, he heard her say, "Sean, what kept you, I thought..." but jumped slightly when she opened the door and saw Tom standing there. "Tom! I was expecting..."
"I know," he said. "Sean isn't coming."
"Oh," she began, looking towards the floor. She looked back up at Tom, and said, "I'm glad you've come." Maeve locked the door, Tom held out his arm, and she showed him the way to the dance floor.
At the surface, they appeared to be at perfect ease together. Tom kept telling himself everything was okay; they danced so gracefully, and she smiled up at him so eagerly, it had to be going his way. Yet, he could feel a hesitance in her movements that he could only ignore for so long.
She was letting him dance with her, and she was trying to smile. It wasn't like Sean to blow her off, and she knew it. Finally, he froze on the dance floor. "Does it matter so much, that it's me with you and not him?" he asked, frowning.
"Of course not. I care for you fully as much as for him."
"That's a lie."
"You're here, Tom. He isn't."
*All I need to do is keep silent, and I've won. She'll be mine,* he thought. *But she's in such pain. Because she cares so deeply for him. And thinks he's betrayed her. It's more than I can bear.*
While trying to think of how to set Maeve's mind at ease, it struck him, what Sean had over him. It was his honesty, his earnestness, that had gotten him an invitation to the ball. If Tom used those now, he'd lose her right away, but if he didn't, he wouldn't keep her for much longer.
"Sean was on his way here, Maeve," he began. "He was run off the road. He'll be all right, I think...but he asked me to come and explain why he couldn't be here. I thought, by keeping silent, I could turn your heart from him to me. But I reckoned without my own heart. Even though you'll probably hate me for it...I find I cannot lie to you. Even about this."
She nodded, and let go of him. "I should go back to my room, in that case," she said quietly.
"Do you hate me, Maeve," Tom called after her as she headed for the door. "For what I've done?"
He didn't expect her to do anything more than glare back at him and keep going, but she turned around, and smiled. "For being true?" she said. "For caring for me more than yourself, no matter the cost? Oh, Tom, how could I ever hate the man who's proved himself my dearest friend?!"
