The Summer Garden (24 page)

“But you’re still uncertain,” Megan said. “I can understand that. You won’t know if all the sacrifices have been worth it until the show actually opens. If it goes as I anticipate, that’s when you’ll have the really tough choices to make. I’ve already shown a few of the sample prints to my former boss in New York. He’s very interested, and he’ll be here for the show. I’m fairly certain he’s going to want to do something at his gallery.”

New York? It seemed inconceivable to Moira. And much too far away from Chesapeake Shores and Luke. If a show like that actually happened—and she had no reason to doubt Megan’s optimism—Moira wasn’t sure what she would do.

Luke looked up from his spot behind the bar and saw Moira coming in, her expression dejected. He knew she’d been planning to see Megan today, so he immediately worried that the meeting had gone badly.

“You okay?”

“Fine,” she said, slipping onto a bar stool.

“Want something to drink?”

“A diet soda will do.”

He poured the drink, then came around the bar and sat beside her, turning her to face him. “Didn’t things go well with Megan? Wasn’t she happy with the latest pictures?”

“She loved them,” Moira responded gloomily, “but she wants more.”

“And that’s bad?” he asked carefully, trying to see it the way she obviously did.

“It means I won’t be back here tomorrow or the day after that or the one after that,” she said miserably. “I don’t know when I’ll be back, and you can’t hold a place for me forever. You’ll need to fill the position.”

“I can hang on awhile longer,” he reassured her. “This place should be the least of your concerns.”

“But I miss you. I miss this,” she said.

“You’re here now, and I’m right here with you. We’re together most nights.”

“I know I sound like a whiny five-year-old who wants it all, and wants it now,” she said. “I know I’ve accused you more than once of having your priorities all mixed up, but just look at mine. I thought I was so superior because I knew exactly what I wanted. And now, it turns out, I’m a total mess. I have no idea what I want from one minute to the next.”

Luke risked a smile. “You
can
have it all, you know.”

“That’s what Megan says. I’m not sure I believe her. Just look how this show in a small town has taken over my life. And now she’s talking about a show at a gallery in New York.”

Luke’s eyes widened. “She’s talked to her old boss about you?”

Moira nodded. “She’s even sent him a few prints.”

“That’s amazing. You can’t walk away now.”

“I’m not going to,” Moira said irritably. “I’m no quitter. But I feel as if I’ve crawled onto this bloody treadmill that’s going faster and faster and I’ve no way to get off. Or perhaps not the sense to, even if I could.”

Luke put his hands on her arms and waited until she’d looked him in the eye. “What is it you really, really want? What is your heart telling you?”

She gave him a look filled with such sorrow it almost broke his heart.

“I can’t hear it anymore,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “Every time I think I know, someone tugs me in another direction.”

“I have an idea,” he said. “Gram and Dillon were in here earlier. They’re thinking of taking a day or two and going sightseeing in New York. You’d have the cottage entirely to yourself. Maybe that’s what you should do. Stay there in the peace and quiet until you can hear yourself think again.”

“Away from you?” she said, sounding alarmed.

“Just for a few days, Moira. I think you need that time to get your bearings. I’m bound to be one of those who’s been tugging you in one direction or another. So has Megan, and who knows who else has, given this family’s tendency to meddle. I’ll make sure no one bothers you there. It can be totally restful.”

“I’m not sure I know how to do restful,” she said. “I could go completely stir-crazy.”

He laughed at that. “Then you’ll come looking for me, won’t you? What do you say? I think it makes sense. I think it’s exactly what you need.”

She nodded with obvious reluctance. “When are they going? Did they say?”

“Tomorrow. They’re catching a morning train.”

She looked relieved by the news. “Then we still have tonight,” she said eagerly.

He nodded. “And we’ll make the most of it. I promise.”

Moira took her accumulation of things from Luke’s back to Nell’s cottage very early in the morning, hoping to spend a little time with her grandfather before he and Nell left on their trip. He greeted her at the door with a smile.

“It’s about time you put in an appearance over here, young lady,” he chided. “I’d begun to feel abandoned.”

Moira laughed. “I doubt that. I hear you’re about to go gallivanting off to New York with Nell this morning.” She regarded him worriedly. “Are you sure you’re up to it? I understand it’s a hard city to manage in if you don’t know your way around.”

“Nell has it all planned out.”

“Is there some reason you decided to go now?”

“Let’s have a cup of tea and I’ll explain,” he said.

When they were settled at the kitchen table, he said, “I doubt this will come as any surprise to you, but Nell and I have decided to marry. This trip is a little celebration. When we get back, we’ll tell the rest of her family, but I wanted you to know now. You and Mick are the only ones we’ve told.”

Moira regarded him with astonishment. “You’re getting married?”

He searched her face. “Are you shocked that two people our age want to get married?”

She took a second to think about it, then shook her head, a smile breaking across her face. “Quite the opposite. I’m thrilled for you, and it’s given me hope that things always work out the way they’re supposed to, even if it takes more time than you’d anticipated.”

“I believe that with all my heart,” Dillon said. “Will you be okay here in the house alone with Nell and me gone? Or will you be alone?”

“I will be,” she said. She explained what she and Luke had decided. “It’s not a breakup or anything like that. I’m just sorting through all these conflicting emotions about what I want.” She shrugged. “It’s probably foolish.”

“Why would giving careful thought to such important matters ever be foolish?”

“Because the choice might not be mine in the end,” she said.

“Decisions that affect your life can’t be taken out of your hands,” Dillon said.

Moira shook her head. “That’s not entirely true now, is it? As soon as another person’s involved, they get to make their own choices.”

“Then, as it often is, it’s Luke we’re discussing,” Dillon said wryly. “And you still don’t feel confident that he feels the same way you do.”

“In my heart, I believe he does, but I can’t help wondering if he’ll ever be ready to put his heart on the line. I’m afraid it will be one excuse and then another.”

“If that’s what happens, then you’ll make your own decision about how long to wait,” he told her. “See what I mean? In the end, you make your own choices, even if they’re not the ones you’d envisioned needing to make.”

Moira sighed heavily. “You’re right, as always.”

Her grandfather chuckled. “I’d like a recording of that to send your mum, if you wouldn’t mind.”

She laughed with him. “She’d never believe it, would she?”

“And never utter the same thing, that’s for sure.”

Moira couldn’t help wondering how she and her mother could see this same wonderful, wise man so very, very differently.

Luke was wiping down the bar when Connor came in. He glanced at the clock on the wall, noted the lateness of the hour, then regarded his cousin with surprise.

“It’s awfully late for a married man and father to be arriving in a bar,” he teased Connor. When there was no answering smile, he felt a momentary stirring of worry. “Is something wrong?”

Connor nodded. “There have been some problems with Moira’s paperwork for her work visa,” he said, his expression grim.

Luke threw down his rag and walked around the bar to take a seat. “Tell me about it.”

“It seems that someone informed an investigator that she is no longer working here and suggested that her application should be voided.”

Luke stared at him in shock and then with dawning anger. “Kristen!”

“That would be my guess,” Connor admitted. “But I have no proof of it. And the point is that since it’s widely known that she isn’t consulting for you at the moment, we have to start from scratch, and they’re going to be looking to see that every
i
is dotted and every
t
is properly crossed.”

“Won’t it be even better for her with Megan vouching for her and the show they’re about to have at the gallery scheduled?” Luke asked hopefully.

“But that gives the investigator a time line,” Connor pointed out. “When the show ends, so in all likelihood does the visa. Where is Moira now?”

“She’s taken refuge at Gram’s for a few days to catch her breath. Your mum’s been putting a lot of pressure on her, and it’s rattled her. With Gram and Dillon away, it seemed like the perfect hideaway.”

Connor blinked. “Gram and Dillon have gone off somewhere together? And Dad hasn’t had a coronary?”

Luke laughed. “I know. It’s stunned me, too. He’s been in here most nights, calm as can be, as if nothing’s amiss.”

“Maybe he doesn’t know about the trip.”

“Oh, he knows. In fact, he’s the one who told me even before Dillon and Gram came by to share the news. Gram wanted to spend extra time with Bryan to make sure he has the menu under control. I think she takes our culinary success here very personally.”

Connor smiled. “That’s Gram, all right. But I don’t get Dad’s reaction,” Connor said. “He was practically apoplectic over every second they spent together in Dublin.”

“I know.” Luke shrugged. “Go figure.”

“Well, since Moira’s not here, I’d better get back home. I’ll stop by Gram’s tomorrow and fill her in.”

Luke shook his head. “I’ll go by tonight and tell her myself. I’ll make sure she comes by your office first thing in the morning.”

“Okay, then. Make certain she does. We need to handle this as quickly as possible. Even though her tourist visa is still in effect, this paperwork needs to be approved before it does run out.”

“I’ll see to it,” Luke promised.

After Connor had gone, he muttered a curse about Kristen’s likely final act of pure spitefulness. Maybe Susie had been right about her all along and he was the one who’d been wearing blinders. What did that say about his judgment?

22

O
n her second night at Nell’s, Moira had gone to bed, but she hadn’t been able to fall asleep. She’d grown too comfortable falling asleep in Luke’s arms. Being all alone again felt strange and desperately lonely. Rather than trying to force a sleep that wouldn’t come, she got up and made herself a cup of tea, then settled on the sofa with a quilt and the TV remote.

She was trying to focus on some late-night comedian’s jokes when there was a knock on the door. Rattled, she tiptoed over. “Who is it?”

“It’s me. Luke.”

She swung open the door at once, delighted by the interruption. “I thought you’d ruled out all visits,” she said. “Believe me, though, when I tell you that I’m not complaining that you decided to break the rules.”

It dawned on her then that he didn’t look half as thrilled to be here as she was to see him. “You’re not here to make up for lost time, are you?” she asked with a frown.

He did smile at that. “We’ve lost little more than twenty-four hours,” he told her. “Surely we’re both strong enough to weather that.”

She sighed. “I’m not so sure. Well, no matter why you’ve come, I’m glad, and I’m not afraid to admit it.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “It’s nice to be welcomed so warmly,” he said as he came inside.

“I could make the welcome even hotter,” she offered, grabbing his hand, prepared to take him to her room.

“Not so fast,” he said with a shake of his head. “We need to talk.”

Her heart stilled at his words and at the dire expression that went with them. “Is it grandfather? Or Nell? Has something happened to them?” She pulled away and began to pace. “I knew this trip was a terrible idea, that it would be too much for them. They’re far too old to be traipsing around in a big, unfamiliar city, battling with crowds and such.”

“They’re fine,” Luke said, catching hold of her and looking directly into her eyes. “They’re absolutely fine, and having the time of their lives from all reports.”

She wasn’t entirely ready to believe him. “You’ve spoken to them?”

“No, but Mick has. Nell’s called at least twice to keep him from chasing off to check on them himself.”

She finally allowed herself a sigh of relief. If her grandfather and Nell were all right, then nothing else could possibly be so bad.

“If they’re okay, why do you look so unhappy? And what does it have to do with me?”

“Connor stopped by the pub a little while ago,” Luke said, then filled her in on the issues with her paperwork.

As Moira listened, her temper stirred. “Now who do you suppose would be so jealous of me they’d file a report like that?” she asked angrily.

“Stop,” Luke commanded. “It would only be a guess, and it hardly matters now. The important thing is to fix this. You’ll need to see Connor in the morning and get Megan to vouch for you and the upcoming show. I gather it would be helpful if the date were set.”

Moira nodded. “Okay, that’s not so bad, I guess. We can do that first thing tomorrow.”

Luke held up a cautionary hand. “It’s not quite as simple as all that.”

She frowned. “There could be a problem even if Megan vouches for me?”

“Not with getting a temporary work visa, most likely, but it could mean you’d be expected to leave once the show is over,” he explained. “The show sets a time frame for your visit. The consultancy didn’t.”

She blinked at the news, her heart thudding dully. “I’d have to leave, just like that?”

“Connor seems to think so. He could be wrong, of course, but he thought it best for you to be prepared for the possibility.”

“But by then I’ll be back to working with you.”

“He seems to think that won’t fly a second time.”

Moira sank down on the sofa, stunned. “I’d have to go back to Dublin,” she said, her voice flat as she considered the magnitude of that. She met his gaze. “But it’s too soon. I’m not ready.”

“I’ve been thinking about that ever since I spoke to Connor,” Luke said, though he seemed to be avoiding her gaze. He sucked in a deep breath, then added, “There may be another alternative. We’d have to run it past Connor and see if I’m right.”

She studied him suspiciously. He didn’t look overjoyed by this alternative, whatever it was. “What?”

He finally looked her directly in the eye. “We could get married.”

Moira heard the words as if they’d come from very far away. They were the words she’d been dreaming of from the moment she’d arrived here. No, even before that. But not like this. Not just to play a game with immigration rules. Tears welled up and spilled down her cheeks, even as she shook her head.

“Not like this, Luke,” she whispered, heartbroken.

“But it’s the perfect solution,” he argued. “We’d have gotten to this point eventually. Why not now, when it can make a difference?”

She regarded him sorrowfully. “Because it sounds far too much like a timely business proposition. If and when you ever ask me to marry you for real, it has to be because you’re in it heart and soul, not just as a matter of convenience.”

He seemed stunned that she’d rejected the idea, but what else could she have done? Neither of them would have been happy with a bargain like this. He’d proclaimed too often that marriage wasn’t yet on that annoyingly predictable timetable of his.

“I think you should go,” she said quietly.

“I’ve made you angry, and I’m not sure why,” he said, his expression charmingly perplexed. “I’m sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

“I know you did,” she responded. “And I love you for making such a grand offer. But just because something might seem right for one reason doesn’t mean it’s for the best. Go, Luke, please. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Not just yet,” he said stubbornly. “I thought marriage was what you wanted.”

“It is,” she assured him. “But not like this. Never like this.”

That he didn’t understand why she felt that way left her feeling empty and lost.

When Moira arrived at Connor’s office in the morning, Megan was already there.

“Moira, I don’t want you to worry. We’re going to fix this,” Connor said as soon as she walked in. “Mom and I already have a plan.”

“That’s right, and you’re absolutely not to worry,” Megan told her.

Moira wanted to feel reassured by their confidence, but she was still too hurt by last night’s conversation with Luke.

“I’ll leave it in your hands, Connor,” Moira said. “Whatever you need to do. If I have to go back to Ireland right after the show, it’s okay.”

Both of them regarded her with surprise.

“You’d be okay with that?” Megan asked. “What about Luke?”

“I’m not talking about Luke right now. He’s not part of this decision.”

Even Connor looked flabbergasted by that statement. He exchanged a bewildered look with his mother.

“Connor, unless you need something more right now, I think Moira and I should be going,” Megan said, already standing up and tucking her arm through Moira’s. “She’ll be with me at the gallery if you need her to fill anything out or to sign anything.”

Connor nodded, looking relieved to have his mother take charge, especially since there were things going on here that clearly mystified him.

En route to the gallery, they stopped to pick up large containers of coffee from Sally’s.

“Raspberry croissants as well, I think,” Megan told Sally. “Or would chocolate be better? This may be a chocolate occasion. What the heck. Give us both.”

“I don’t think I can eat,” Moira argued, but Megan ignored the protest and ordered them, anyway.

Once they’d arrived at the gallery, Megan encouraged her to sit, but two seconds later, Moira was up and pacing.

“I know this is upsetting,” Megan began.

“You have no idea,” Moira told her miserably.

“You do understand that Connor will do everything in his power to fix it,” Megan said.

“I know, but I’m beginning to think that going home to Ireland sooner, rather than later, would be for the best. I spoke to Peter this morning, and my old job will be waiting. Perhaps some of the photography assignments I’d declined will still be available, too.”

Megan regarded her with dismay. “Your old job at the pub?” she asked incredulously.

Moira nodded. “Along with a few photography assignments. There were new bookings just yesterday for a wedding and two baby showers, if I want them. I told him I’d take them.”

“But why?” Megan asked. “How can you do this sort of turnaround just when everything is falling into place here for a much more phenomenal future?”

“It won’t matter without Luke,” Moira said. “I’ll be better off on my home turf, living far more simply. I won’t give up on photography, not after this, but I don’t need it to be on such a grand scale.”

“What’s Luke done?” Megan asked bluntly, looking as if she was one second away from heading back up the street to the pub to throttle him if she didn’t like the answer.

“Why would you assume my decision has anything to do with him?”

Megan smiled at what she apparently considered to be a disingenuous question. “Because he’s the reason you came here, and I can only assume he’d be the reason you’re suddenly so eager to leave.”

Moira paused in her pacing and sighed. “He asked me to marry him,” she told Megan. Before her mentor could express her joy at the news, Moira added, “It’s a legal maneuver, nothing more.”

“I don’t believe that, Moira. I truly don’t. O’Brien men are more than capable of the magnificent gesture, believe me, but a marriage of convenience? No, I don’t think so. If Luke asked you to marry him, it’s because he wants to be married to you.”

Moira shook her head. “He doesn’t want me unceremoniously shipped off, that’s all.”

“Why are you so certain of that?”

“Because,” she began, tears stinging her eyes, “he never—not even once—mentioned that he loved me. The proposal was all about the legalities.”

Megan blinked, but remained depressingly silent. Obviously, no amount of optimism was enough for her to find a positive spin for that.

“Okay, what did you do when you saw Moira last night?” Connor demanded when he walked into the pub at midmorning.

Luke stared at him, his temper stirring. He’d been itching for a fight all night, and it seemed that his cousin might be on the verge of providing the perfect opportunity. “What makes you think I did anything wrong?”

“Because I expected Moira to come into my office today ready to go into battle to stay here indefinitely, and what I saw was a defeated woman who was all too eager to leave. Mum saw it, too. She’s dragged her off for a heart-to-heart chat, and I’m here to try to figure out what the devil is going on.”

Luke sighed. Unfortunately, there was nothing in Connor’s comment to justify Luke’s punching his fist through anything. He explained the entirety of the conversation he’d had with Moira the night before. “And then she threw me out,” he summed up.

“Oh, boy,” Connor murmured. “Been there, done that.”

“What?” Luke asked in bewilderment.

“Made an untimely proposal that got tossed right back in my face. You were away at school when Heather was in that awful accident, but I had this huge epiphany that day and realized I didn’t want to live my life without her. Unfortunately, after all the years I’d been protesting that marriage is nothing more than an unnecessary piece of paper, Heather didn’t buy my sudden conversion.”

“How’d you convince her you were ready to take that next step?” Luke asked, understanding at last what had gone so terribly wrong the night before. He’d changed his priorities on a dime and done it for all the wrong reasons, just as Moira had suggested before tossing him out of Gram’s cottage.

“Time and actions,” Connor said. “I waged a carefully calculated campaign to prove my sincerity to her. A few of those blew up in my face, too, like buying Driftwood Cottage for her.”

“But I thought she’d fallen in love with that house,” Luke said. “Wasn’t that why you bought it?”

Connor nodded. “And she accused me of buying it out from under her when she’d intended to buy it for herself. She wanted no part of it. Dad finally convinced her that she might as well participate in the remodeling or she’d wind up living in a house I’d renovated and it would be nothing like she’d imagined.”

Luke shook his head. “Women are a mysterious breed, aren’t they?”

“In my experience, they certainly are,” Connor said. “Did you at least declare your undying love when you were making this proposal last night?”

Luke winced. “Not exactly.”

Connor grinned. “Yeah, I blew that part, too. Women don’t seem to get that we mere mortal men sometimes have difficulty putting all the right words together. Personally, I think there ought to be a textbook available, or at least some kind of romance for dummies guidebook. I still blow things on a regular basis. Fortunately, Heather usually just rolls her eyes and patiently explains how I’ve gone so far off course. At least when she’s not freezing me out and waiting for me to figure it out for myself.”

Luke wasn’t entirely reassured to know that communication didn’t always improve just because two people had taken a walk down the aisle. Apparently, saying “I do” was the least of it. At least there was nothing unclear about those two words.