The Summer Garden (23 page)

“No, for finally getting that awful woman out of town.”

Luke touched her cheek. “I know you have every reason to despise Kristen, but she wasn’t an awful person, Suze. She did some rotten things to you, but I saw another side of her, too.”

“Then you’re a better person than I am,” she said. “I’ll bet Moira would be on my side in this, too.”

Luke laughed. “No question about it. Now, can I get you a drink? You might as well sit up here with Dad and Uncle Mick for a while, because it sounds to me as if Mack’s going to be caught up in newspaper business for quite some time.”

“I’ll take a Guinness,” she said at once. “And I’ll give Mack another fifteen minutes before I go back to stake my claim. I have my ways of getting his full attention.”

Luke clapped his hands over his ears. “Too much information, sis. I’m the baby brother, remember?”

She laughed. “From what I’ve seen, you’re no slouch when it comes to charm and trickery in the romance department. I doubt I could say a single thing that would shock you.”

“Let’s not put that to the test, okay?”

He left her with their father and uncle, then went in search of Moira. “Something tells me we’re going to have to find another waitperson.”

She frowned. “Why?”

He filled her in on Mack’s annoyance about Kristen and how he’d all but handed over Josh to make up for it.

“A small sacrifice to keep peace in the land,” Moira said at once. She regarded him skeptically. “Kristen’s really leaving? Do you believe that?”

“That’s the word on the street,” he confirmed.

“Excuse me while I do a little victory dance,” she said lightly.

Luke rolled his eyes. “You should join Susie out there. She’s ready to set off fireworks.”

“And you?” she inquired, studying him intently. “How do you feel?”

“It’s for the best,” he said at once. “I can’t help feeling a little sorry for her, though. She made a lot of people here unhappy, but I think she made herself unhappiest of all.”

Moira shook her head, regarding him with amazement. “You really do have a heart of gold, don’t you?”

“Will it get you home with me, and into my bed, if I say yes?”

She grinned. “It just might.”

He tapped his chest. “Twenty-four karat,” he assured her.

“I’ll have to think about whether that’s to be a blessing or a curse,” she said, giving him a peck on the cheek. “We’ll discuss it later. If you’ve turned Josh over to Mack, I imagine someone needs to be out there paying attention to the customers. I’m all you have left on this shift.”

“I knew there was a reason I hired you as my consultant. You keep a close eye on the big picture,” he praised.

“While you fret over the details,” she said.

“It makes us a good fit, doesn’t it?”

“I like to think so, but last I heard the jury was still out.”

Luke smiled at her response. He had a feeling that the jury warring in his head was closer to a verdict than he’d ever imagined. Those hours they’d been on the outs had scared him in ways he’d never imagined it possible for a woman to make him feel.

All too aware of Megan’s expectant expression every time she and Moira crossed paths, Moira took to carrying her camera with her everywhere she went. Sometimes it worried her that she was sacrificing quality for quantity, hoping that if she took enough pictures, lightning would strike and at least a few of them would be good.

More than once, when she went to look at the shots on the computer, she wound up deleting all of them. She was beginning to panic that she’d never get another picture worthy of all the fuss Megan had made about her previous ones.

She was sitting in Luke’s office going through the latest batch when Megan herself came in. “So, you are still taking pictures. I was beginning to worry since it’s been a while since you last stopped in at the gallery.”

“I’ve taken nothing worth showing to you,” Moira replied in frustration.

“Move over and let me take a look,” Megan said.

Moira stayed where she was, one finger ready to delete the entire file.

“Don’t you dare!” Megan commanded. “Not till I’ve seen them for myself and can give you a professional evaluation.”

Moira sighed and stood up, though she’d never been more reluctant to show her work to anyone.

Megan sat down and went through the couple of dozen photos Moira had shot earlier in the day, then she went back and took a second look.

“They’re terrible,” Moira said, before Megan could say it.

“They’re not your best work,” Megan agreed candidly.

Her words sent Moira’s confidence dipping even further. If she’d found even one to praise, it might not have hurt so badly.

“I don’t understand what’s happening,” she admitted to Megan. “It’s the same camera I’m working with. I’ve my same two eyes. Yet nothing is coming out quite right.”

“How much time are you spending at this?” Megan asked.

“I go out on my breaks from here and try to take some pictures every day.”

“An hour then? Less?”

Moira flushed at the implied criticism. “Probably that.”

“And that’s the problem,” Megan said. “You’re rushing. You’re not taking the time to observe these people before you snap the shutter. You’re too eager to get a few shots and then get back to what you think of as your
real
work.”

Moira couldn’t deny it. “That’s true.”

“It won’t work,” Megan said gently. “The value of your work is your understanding of the people whose pictures you’re taking. In all the others I’ve seen, you’ve observed first, then captured them at the precise moment when they’re showing a side of themselves that sums up their personality in the blink of an eye or, more precisely, the click of a shutter.”

Moira felt a sudden burst of understanding and a renewed sense of purpose. “You’re exactly right. I’ve been rushing through it, hoping for something magical but not doing my own part to see that I get it.” She met Megan’s gaze. “But how am I to do that with all my time tied up here?”

Megan held her gaze. “You’re not going to like my answer to that.”

Moira saw exactly where she was headed without Megan saying it directly. “You want me to quit,” she said, her tone flat.

“Or at least to cut back your hours,” Megan confirmed.

“But you said I could balance the two sides of my life,” Moira protested, as if it were Megan’s fault somehow that she obviously couldn’t.

Rather than taking offense, Megan merely smiled. “And the day will come when you can do that easily, but you may not be there yet. Until the photography is second nature to you, you might have to work at it a bit harder, take the time to truly master it.” She gave Moira a direct look. “Or you can choose to let it go.”

Luke walked in at the end of the conversation. Apparently, he’d overheard just enough, because there was worry in his eyes.

Megan gave Moira’s shoulder a squeeze. “Let me know how it’s going, okay?”

Moira nodded as she left, then sank down into the chair with a heavy sigh.

“There’s a bump in the road?” Luke asked.

She nodded. “She thinks the only way I’ll be able to get enough incredible pictures for a show is to quit my job here with you or at least to cut back on my hours so I can focus on my photography.” She gave him a rueful look. “I guess I took it for granted that all I needed to do was snap the shutter to create something wonderful, but it’s a job like any other, isn’t it? It requires real dedication.”

“Sounds that way to me,” he said. “Have you decided how you want to handle Megan’s suggestion?”

“I want to pretend she’s wrong,” Moira said, then sighed. “But she’s not.”

He sucked in a breath. “Then quitting is what you need to do,” he said decisively. “A consultant’s role was only meant to be temporary, right?”

“I never thought of it that way,” she argued. “I love working with you.”

“Is it forever that you’ll have to focus a hundred percent on the photography?”

She shrugged. “Probably not, but it’s impossible to say.”

“Then it’s only temporary.”

“How can I walk out on you when this place has only just begun? And Josh will be leaving in a week or two as well to work with Mack. We’ve yet to hire and train a replacement.”

“I can handle that,” Luke said. “You have this place running like a well-oiled machine. I’m sure I can manage.”

“Would it be so easy for you if I walked away?” she asked irritably.

“Not easy at all,” he soothed. “Just a sacrifice worth making.”

“I don’t see it the same way. I see it as throwing away something I love, something I
know
I’m good at, for a risk.”

“Megan doesn’t think of it as a risk, does she? Shouldn’t that at least give you the courage to try?”

“I’m not scared!” she retorted heatedly.

He merely lifted a brow at her display of temper.

“I’m not,” she said, though with slightly less force. “Not of failure, as you’re thinking, anyway.”

“Of what, then?”

Could she admit her heart’s deepest secret and risk total humiliation? Did she have a choice? Luke deserved honesty.

“I’m afraid you’ll discover you don’t need me at all.”

His eyes widened in shock. “There’s nothing that could be further from the truth,” he said. “I need you in a hundred different ways, and only a handful of them have anything at all to do with your working here. I can bear to lose my consultant, but not my partner. You’ll always have a role here, if you want it.”

She took some solace from his words. “You’re sure? You’re not just saying that because you don’t want to stand in the way of my big opportunity?”

He smiled. “I’m probably not that unselfish,” he admitted. “What I’m saying is the truth. Cross my heart.”

She nodded slowly, letting his certainty steal into her heart and calm her fears. “Then I suppose I could take a brief leave of absence, no more than a couple of weeks, to see if I can do this photography thing right. If I give it my full attention, maybe that’s all it will take, and I’ll be back here before you even have time to miss me.”

“You’re going to succeed magnificently,” he predicted with confidence. “And I’m going to be standing in the background at Megan’s gallery in a couple of months while people heap tons and tons of praise on you. Then I’ll be the one worrying if you’re going to be so wildly successful that you’ll run off and leave me in your dust.”

“Never,” she said, standing up and moving into his embrace. “I will only go if you no longer want me.”

His eyes lit with satisfaction at her words. “Then we have nothing to fear at all,” he said, kissing her thoroughly to prove it.

21

M
ick was about to leave his house and make the usual rounds of his family’s businesses just to check in with everyone when he saw Dillon walking up the driveway. He took a seat in his favorite rocking chair on the porch and waited for him.

“It’s a lovely morning,” Dillon called out. “Were you about to go somewhere? I can come back another time.”

“I usually take a walk around town this time of day to see how things are going with my children. You’re doing them a favor by keeping me out of their hair. Being semiretired is a blessing in many ways, but I find that too often I have no idea what to do with myself. Doing this, I can at least claim I’m out walking for my health, though I doubt any of my children actually believed that. So, tell me, what brings you by?”

“I thought we should talk, man-to-man,” Dillon said, his expression serious.

Mick’s heart seemed to thud at Dillon’s words. No good ever came out of a conversation that began like that.

“About?” he asked.

“Your mother and me.”

“I thought we’d settled things between us over you and Ma,” Mick said, really wishing he’d been ten minutes quicker about getting away from home this morning. An oddly meandering call from his mother had kept him here. He wondered now if that was a coincidence.

“Something’s changed,” Dillon said, looking him straight in the eye. “Since I’ve always thought the direct approach to be the best, I’ll be blunt about it. I’ve asked her to marry me, Mick, and she’s said yes. I’ve come here to tell you that I love her, that I’ve always cared for her and that I’ll be good to her. There’s no woman who’s as special as Nell, but you know that.” He kept his gaze steady. “So I’ve come to ask for your blessing.”

Mick felt as if all the air had been sucked right out of him. He wanted to be the kind of son who put his mother’s happiness first. He really did. But the thought of her marrying this man, perhaps moving to Ireland, yanked the heart right out of him, as it would from the entire family. How could they watch Nell leave and do nothing to stop it?

“I’ve left you speechless,” Dillon said, a smile on his lips. “I should probably take some pride in that.”

“Oh, I’ve quite a lot I want to say,” Mick began, then tried to calm his temper. He had to do what he knew his mother would want him to do. He had to be a better man than perhaps he was.

“Congratulations!” he said eventually, proud that he hadn’t stumbled over the word. He thought he’d even managed to put a reasonable amount of sincerity behind it.

Now it was Dillon’s turn to look stunned. “That’s it? We’ve your blessing, just like that?”

Mick smiled. “I know I’ve fought this far longer than reasonable and in ways I shouldn’t have,” he told Dillon. “But this is obviously what Ma wants, and I would never deny her anything that truly matters to her. More people should be as blessed as I’ve been to have someone like her as a mother. She was right by my side when Megan left. She looked after my children. I owe her, and goodness knows, she deserves all the happiness she can find.”

He sighed, then admitted, “My worries are more for the rest of us than for her. I know you’ll make her happy.”

“I wouldn’t be doing that if I tried to take her from here,” Dillon said. “From the moment I arrived, I could see how important not just her family, but also this community, are to her.”

Mick sat up straighter, feeling hopeful. “Are you saying that you’ll live right here in Chesapeake Shores?”

Dillon nodded without hesitation or any hint of regret. “I believe that’s what Nell wants and, like you, I can’t deny her anything. When everything’s settled, I’ll speak to Connor about any legalities that need to be managed. Nell and I will travel to Ireland when and if we can, but I have a feeling at least some of my family will be right here, so it will be reason enough for the others to come.”

“You’re referring to Moira and Luke,” Mick guessed. “That does seem to be progressing rather well.”

Dillon smiled. “Especially given the rocky start of it and a few more recent bumps in the road. Despite all that, I’m hopeful.” He regarded Mick curiously. “Has she won you over yet?”

Mick laughed. “I have to say that, surprisingly, she has. And Megan can’t sing her praises enough. I don’t know if Luke has worked his magic on that temper of hers or if she’s mellowed, but she’s a different woman now.”

“Thank the heavens for that,” Dillon said with obviously heartfelt emotion. His expression sobered. “Will you tell your mother you approve of us getting married? She’ll want to hear it directly from you before we let anyone else know.”

Mick nodded at once. “I’ll walk back to her cottage with you now. There’s no need to keep her in suspense. In fact, I’m a little surprised she’s not out in the garden hiding amid the rosebushes trying to eavesdrop.”

“She could be, for all I know,” Dillon said with a chuckle, “though we did agree I’d do this on my own.”

“You’re a brave man.”

“Not really. Your love for Nell shines through in everything you do, even when you were busy misjudging me and my intentions. How could I not admire and respect a son who has so much devotion to his mother?”

“Then let’s go and set her mind at ease,” Mick said, then grinned. “Or should we take our time and let her wonder if I’ve tossed you off the cliff?”

“I don’t think unnecessary worry is called for,” Dillon chided.

“I’ll want to throw the two of you a proper engagement party,” Mick said as they walked toward his mother’s cottage. “The diplomatic question will be if it’s to be at Jess’s inn or Luke’s pub.”

“We could always have the engagement party at one and the wedding reception at the other,” Dillon suggested.

Mick smiled at the compromise. “No wonder you and Ma get on so well. You both have a tendency to be peacemakers. In this family, someone has to do it. I’m glad to know that Ma will finally have backup. She’s had to handle the duty all on her own for too long. It hasn’t always been easy.”

“She’ll have that and more from me,” Dillon promised.

And for all his doubts and concerns, Mick finally felt reassured that this wedding truly would be a blessing.

As they continued on toward Nell’s cottage, he slanted a look toward Dillon. “I’ll not be calling you Dad, you know.”

Dillon laughed. “And if you try welcoming my Kiera as a sister, who knows what she’d be likely to do. She’s not the easiest woman, you know. If anything, she makes her own daughter, Moira, look like a positive saint.”

“I remember,” Mick said. “But they will be welcomed as family, just as you will be. Ma wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s taught us all to value family above all else, however someone comes to be a part of it.”

“It’s a lesson you’ve learned well, Mick.”

Mick accepted the compliment graciously. “It’s probably the best part of who I am,” he said quietly.

The truth of that settled in his heart and gave him comfort, even as he reluctantly let go of his role as his mother’s protector.

Luke hadn’t realized how hard it would be to have Moira missing for most of the day. Though she popped into the pub from time to time for a chat, he’d gotten too used to her being within sight just when he needed a glimpse of her. He wondered if he hadn’t pushed her away, just when he should have been keeping her close.

He knew better, though, because when he did see her now at the end of the day, her eyes were shining with excitement over her day’s work. He’d insisted that she keep the laptop at his apartment and work there once she’d taken however many photographs she wanted to. He often came home late at night to find her asleep on the sofa, the computer on the table beside her, the pictures still on the screen. That’s how he found her tonight.

Not for the first time, he was unable to resist stealing a look at the pictures before waking her and urging her to get ready for bed. Megan was right. Even to his untrained eye, he could see that she had an incredible talent. He’d done exactly the right thing by pushing her to take the time to do justice by it.

More than once, though, a nagging fear set in that in doing that, he’d pushed her into a different world, one where he wouldn’t be able to follow. Not that he thought he couldn’t cope with her success, with others feeling they had a right to a piece of her time and attention. That was the least of it. What worried him was that she’d no longer be content with the small-town owner of a local pub. Artistic triumph and success did strange things to people, and he had no idea how Moira would cope with it. After all her years of feeling like a failure, would she be one of those who got swept up in the glamour of it?

It was amazing to think that a woman who’d been as lost as she had been such a short time ago was now on the verge of finding herself in such a huge and public way. He wanted to be happy about that—he
was
happy about it—but it made him uneasy. He couldn’t deny it.

She woke while he was pondering all that, rubbing her eyes and blinking at him. “How long have you been home? Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I was enjoying the view,” he teased.

“Of me, sleeping?”

“Actually, no. I was talking about the pictures you left on the screen of the computer. They’re remarkable, Moira.”

“I think they’re better now that I’m taking the proper amount of time to get to know people,” she confessed. “Megan was right about where I’d been going wrong. I spent all morning watching Ethel in front of her shop doling out penny candy to wide-eyed children before I saw exactly the shot that captured not just their delight, but hers.”

“Then this break has worked out well?”

She nodded, then slid over to snuggle against him, her head resting on his shoulder. “But I miss you, Luke. I miss the pub. I thought I’d at least have more time to stop in for a visit, but the days seem to pass in a blur, and the next thing I know, you’re here and waking me.”

“I think it’s probably good that you’re so caught up in your work, don’t you? That’s what it takes to be successful in that field.”

“But I don’t want to sacrifice the other things that are important to me,” she said. “I can see how that could happen. I don’t know that I can give this my all and do the same with you. Eventually, you’re bound to get tired of my being distracted or absent, and there will be someone who will have the time for you.”

Luke smiled. “Are you already jealous of a woman who doesn’t exist?”

“Oh, she exists,” Moira said direly. “It’s just that you may not have crossed paths yet.”

“No one will be more fascinating to me than you,” he promised. “And if I get only these late-night hours, well, then, having you in my bed is not exactly a punishment.”

She searched his face, her expression uncertain. “It’s enough?”

“For now,” he said. “And for as long as it takes.”

“If that changes, if you start to lose patience, you’ll tell me?” she said.

“I will,” he assured her, but he knew he wouldn’t. He couldn’t, not if he was going to be the kind of man who supported the woman in his life while she followed her dream, just as she’d supported him in following his.

Rather than the two weeks she’d planned, Moira had spent three focusing entirely on her photography. In the end she’d even called Peter and told him he’d have to find someone else to handle the assignments in Dublin. Thankfully, there’d been enough time left.

The results of her extra efforts were good, she thought. Maybe even spectacular. She held her breath as Megan looked through the photos she’d brought by the gallery as possible additions to the portfolio.

This time when Megan looked up, she was beaming. Relief flooded through Moira.

“They’re better?” she asked.

“A thousand percent better,” Megan confirmed. “It’s going to be very hard to choose, which is an amazing dilemma to have. I think if you spend another couple of weeks at this, we’ll have more than enough for an amazing show.”

“You need more?” Moira said, her heart sinking. She’d been counting on getting back to the pub—and Luke—tomorrow.

“Yes,” Megan said firmly. “And this is only the beginning of putting the show together, Moira. I’ll be able to do most of it, but there will be mounting the pictures to be done. You’ll want a say in that, and in how they’re hung in the gallery. And I’m anticipating a lot of publicity, so you’ll have to be available for interviews.”

In the back of her mind, Moira had known all that, but it hadn’t seemed real to her. Even on her most hopeful days, she hadn’t envisioned things going so far, that expectations would be so demanding and time-consuming.

“It’s part of the job,” Megan said, when she was silent for too long. “An important part. You have to be willing to commit to all of it.”

Moira nodded. “I know that. And I won’t quit now. It’s just given me a lot more to think about, that’s all.”

Megan smiled. “It’s all going to be worth it,” she promised. “Now get back out there and take more pictures. At our next meeting, we’ll start to narrow them down and make the final selections.” She reached over and touched Moira’s hand. “And try to look a bit happier about this, okay? I’d hate to think I’m forcing you into something that’s making you miserable.”

Moira managed a tight smile. “I’m grateful,” she said. “More than grateful.”