One Christmas: McKenzie Cousins, #10

By Lexi Buchanan

Ireland: the land of rolling countryside, sheep, and whiskey.

When Dylan McKenzie arrives on the green isle to stay with an old friend of his fathers, the last thing he expects is to be joined by an annoying woman who doesn't give him the time of day. What does he care if the woman ignores him? After all he plans on meeting a beautiful, green-eyed Irish girl, with a voice as sweet. However, his plans always have a habit of derailing.

Jenna McCormick was born and raised in America, but her true heritage lies in a village in County Galway called Ahascragh. Her uncle still lives  in the village, and that's where she's heading for a much needed break. It would be perfect if her uncle hadn't invited a fellow American to vacation there too. So, what if Dylan McKenzie was the man she had been attracted to since the first day of college back in Boston? He didn't know she existed. Why should now be any different?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HFCA Publishing
• Release date: Jan 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393645368

Book preview

One

Dylan

Ireland.

The land of grand, feck, and crack, along with the finer things in life—whiskey!

Back in the States, I’d only just turned twenty-one and hadn’t been allowed to drink the brown liquid Uncle Michael favored, however, in the green isle, I could have been drinking for the past three years.

As the plane had flown over Ireland and into Dublin airport, all I’d seen below was vast whiteness. It had reminded me of home back in Lexington. I’d expected to find fields in various shades of green and rolling hills. Just my luck the weather had followed me here.

Although it looked cold and fresh, I was eager to get off the plane. The flight had been long, I could feel it in every limb as I unfolded myself from the seat and rubbed the five o’clock shadow that had grown during the flight. As I shifted, the guy next to me jerked awake and mumbled something about arriving. I nodded. He’d slept all the way over the Atlantic. I’d slept on and off, but I’d been too excited to fall into a deep sleep. My cousin, Jaxon, would be impressed when I admitted my good behavior. I’d, very diplomatically, avoided the flirting from one of the young air stewards. I’d found her amusing and I would have taken her up on her offer, but my head was tangled up with another girl — the very one who didn’t even look my way.

Turning my cell off airplane mode, the cabin door opened, and to my disappointment, the long arm of the walkway was attached. I was done with canned air…all I wanted was to breathe in the Irish air. Being in first class had its advantages, like being allowed off the plane first. I wasted no time in collecting my belongings and followed the signs through to passport control before heading to luggage collection. That was the part I hated—finding the correct baggage. I felt sorry for the woman whose toddler wanted to ride the carousel but I still managed a smile at the tyke as he slipped past. Luckily, hers arrived quickly.

Two businessmen blocked my way to the carousel, so I stepped between and grabbed the large rucksack. It was heavy and I wished, for once, I’d listened to Mom about the advantages of using a wheeled suitcase. I’ll listen next time, I thought as I shoved the heavy thing onto my shoulder.

Even as I walked toward the exit, I could feel the cold wind biting through my sweater, making me shiver. I dropped my pack to the ground and pulled my jacket from the top of my luggage along with a hat and gloves. Being from Lexington, and the Boston area, I was prepared for cold weather. I just hadn’t expected the cold and snow in Ireland. Rain. That’s what I’d expected to find in Ireland. Lots of rain.

Excited, I stepped outside and inhaled the Irish air for the first time. It was fresh with an icy bite as I just stood and enjoyed the feeling of being in Ireland. Everyone else seemed to be in a rush as they exited the airport. More people needed to slow down and see what was in front of them.

Like the bus that rumbled past in front of me, the slush from the snow making a familiar noise from home. Sighing, I glanced at the signage overhead and followed the directions to the bus station while I checked my messages. One from Mom, another from Dad, and a third from my sister, Madison. My heart sunk when I found one from Tracy. She was a thorn in my side. Instead of telling her to stop bugging the shit out of me because I wasn’t interested, I’d done the polite thing, and replied to her messages. Even met her for coffee once because she’d used the excuse of struggling with the new accounting software we’d been told to get familiar with. I’d finally seen the error of my ways with her, and stopped encouraging her. Hopefully, with my one- or two-word replies, she’d start to get the message I wasn’t interested. I replied this time with, ‘arrived’, and, after sending my family quick messages, I turned the sound off.

The bus was easy to find thanks to perfect signage. I stored my luggage under the bus and climbed up the few steps. There were only a handful of people on board, so hopefully it would be a peaceful journey to Athlone. That wasn’t my final destination. Ahascragh was—a small village about thirty minutes away from Athlone and fifteen minutes from Ballinasloe. I’d been doing my research and couldn’t wait to experience a village in Ireland. Apparently, it had more bars, otherwise known as pubs, than stores.

My cousins couldn’t understand why I wanted to spend my time in a village with not much to do, but I was excited. College had been fun, until my cousin, Rachel, got very friendly with my best friend, Seth. That took a lot of getting used to, but it turned out he was so good for her. They’re happy in the end so that’s all that mattered.

Even my other cousin, who I attended college with, Jaxon, had things on his mind, which drove the family crazy. All the McKenzie’s hated secrets and Jaxon wasn’t telling us something. I’d even tried to get him to come with me, but he wanted to stay in Boston. He hadn’t moved home either. I’d say it was a girl, but I’d never seen him with one.

The sound of the engine starting up drew my attention to the front where a last-minute passenger made her way toward the back of the bus. She kept her head down and sat at the back on the opposite side of me.

No spreading out to sleep for me.

I stared ahead but watched the woman out of the corner of my eye while she got comfortable. She glanced at me a few times, but I kept my face averted. The last thing I wanted to do was strike up a conversation with her, or maybe I did. Now that she’d unraveled the scarf from around her neck and face, I could see pale skin with a light sprinkling of freckles over her nose and cheekbones, all of which looked very familiar.

My gaze quickly averted, I stared out of the window as the bus pulled away from the station while my heart thumped double time. No way could Jenna McCormick be on the same bus in Ireland as I was. The girl had been snarky with me whenever our paths had crossed back