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“I want my own,” he insisted. “I know it’s probably too soon, but you need to know where I’m coming from, where I’m heading. You can set the pace to determine how quickly we’ll get there.”
The last bit of ice lingering around Liz’s heart melted at the sincerity behind his words. “I want that, too. I love you, Aidan,” she said, squeezing the words bravely past the giant lump in her throat. “I’m scared to death of that feeling, but I can’t deny it. I’ve known for some time that you’re a man worth loving. I was just too frightened of repeating past mistakes.”
“I’m pretty terrified, too, if you want to know the truth, but this is right. I feel it in my gut. I think I have from the moment I set eyes on you. Keep in mind I didn’t have two parents with a perfect marriage to set an example for me. I’m following my heart here, and I can honestly say I don’t have a single doubt about us.”
She met his gaze. “I have enough doubts for both of us,” she told him candidly. “Not about us so much as about the whole forever thing, if that makes any sense.”
“But we’re agreed?” he pressed, clearly determined not to leave her an opening she could claim later. “We’ll take it one day at a time until it feels 100 percent right to both of us, and then we’ll get married and start that family?”
Liz swallowed hard, fighting panic, but then she looked into Aidan’s eyes and felt Archie’s encouraging nudge. “I think that sounds like an amazing plan.”
When Aidan reached for her, she moved into his arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. He rubbed them away with the pad of his thumb.
“If you’re so happy, why are you crying?” he asked.
“Because that’s what I do when I’m deliriously happy,” she said. “I also do it when I’m scared or sad. Sometimes I’m just a blubbering mess for no good reason.”
He grinned. “Then I guess I’d better get used to it, because I plan to keep you very, very happy.”
*
Given Bree’s involvement in Aidan’s plan to seduce Liz and convince her to marry him, Aidan was stunned that for once the news hadn’t leaked and circulated all over town before Sunday dinner at Mick’s.
As they walked into the foyer, Liz came to an abrupt halt and whispered in his ear. “Today should be about you and Thomas, okay? Our news can wait.”
He regarded her with amusement. “Our friend Bree might have been astonishingly silent about the other day up to now, but do you honestly think she’ll be able to keep the news to herself through an entire family dinner?”
“I can beg her to try,” Liz said earnestly.
Aidan studied her. “It’s because of Thomas and me, and not because you’re already running scared?”
She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “Absolutely.”
Startled by the public gesture, he laughed. “Well, now you’ve gone and done it.”
“Done what?”
“The kiss, Liz.”
“What about it?”
“Take a look around.”
At least a half dozen O’Briens were standing close by, mouths agape. Obviously they’d congregated to greet Aidan and witnessed a whole lot more than they’d bargained for. Being O’Briens, they put their own interpretation on that kiss.
“That wasn’t what it looked like,” Liz announced loudly, and clearly to no avail, given the hoots that greeted the comment.
Susie and Shanna were the first to cross the foyer and give Liz enthusiastic hugs.
“You’re a couple!” Shanna said happily.
Liz opened her mouth, no doubt to deny it, but before she could, Susie chimed in, “Don’t even try to deny it. This is the best day ever, a new cousin and a new cousin-in-law-to-be!”
Aidan smiled at Liz’s stunned expression.
“I kissed you on the cheek,” she murmured, sounding desperate. “Does that say engagement to you?”
“No,” Susie agreed. “It was the expression of pure delight on Aidan’s face that told that story.”
Within minutes, they’d been dragged into the living room for enthusiastic embraces from what seemed like a couple of dozen people, some of whom Aidan was sure he’d never seen before. It was Thomas who finally came to their rescue.
“Okay, everybody, back off. There’s somebody we need to see.” He scowled at the rest of the family. “In private.”
Leading the way, he took the two of them to the kitchen, where Nell was bustling around with the assistance of Mick’s oldest daughter, Abby, and her twin daughters, Carrie and Caitlyn. Caitlyn held a baby in her arms, but still seemed to be doing a deft job of stirring a pot of something that smelled delicious.
“Ma,” Thomas said quietly, immediately stopping the buzz of conversation. “I’d like to reintroduce you to Aidan Mitchell, your grandson.” He winked at Liz. “And to the woman I’ve been led to believe may have agreed to become his wife.”
As Aidan stood there, feeling more nervous and exposed than he ever had before the first play of any professional football game, a smile slowly spread across Nell’s face. She crossed the kitchen and put her hands on his face. She had to reach high to do it, her touch gentle and full of such wonder that it brought tears to his eyes.
“I can’t tell you how much joy it brings me to have another grandchild to cherish,” Nell told him. She turned to Caitlyn and Carrie with a quick wink. “Maybe you can teach those two how to be more respectful of their elders.”
“Gram!” Carrie protested indignantly.
Caitlyn quickly shushed her. “You know she’s just teasing. We were her very first great-grandchildren. She adores us. And I’m holding her first great-great-grandchild right here in my arms. Do you really think she’s going to risk me keeping this sweet boy away from her?”
Nell laughed. She took one of Aidan’s hands in hers, then reached for Liz’s hand, as well. “I couldn’t be happier about the news, any of it. I wish you both all the blessings and happiness you deserve.”
Aidan felt that salty sting of emotional tears in his eyes once more. He’d shed more tears today than he had in years. Even at his mother’s funeral, he’d been stoic and dry-eyed. There was something about the O’Briens, though, that seemed to bring emotions to the surface.
His heart seemed to catch once more when Nell gave Thomas a kiss, too. “Thank you for bringing more joy into my life.” Her expression turned stern then. “But no more surprises, okay? I’m not sure how much my heart can take.”
Laughter ricocheted around the kitchen then, and the solemn mood was broken.
“Gram, I’m starved,” Carrie announced. “Isn’t it time to get dinner on the table?”
“Do you think I don’t know when my own cooking is ready?” Nell chided. She turned to Aidan and Liz. “Aidan, you carry the pot roast to the table. Liz, you can get the soda bread.”
She directed the preparations in such a perfectly orchestrated way that Aidan could see where Bree had learned the directorial skills that went along with her ability to write a great play.
At the table, surrounded by his new family, Aidan bowed his head with the rest of them.
And when Nell thanked God for all their bounty and for bringing Aidan into their lives, his eyes welled up with tears yet again. He glanced at Liz and saw that she, too, was thoroughly emotional. As she’d told him, she clearly shed tears on any and all occasions, but the smile on her lips told him this was another of the happy moments.
As the prayer ended, he caught her gaze. Oblivious to the curious gazes cast their way, he mouthed, “I love you.”
She beamed back at him. “I love you, too,” she said, but her words rang out loud and clear.
And in that moment, surrounded by family, Aidan knew that everything would work out just as it should.
*
ISBN: 978-1-474-01891-3
DOGWOOD HILL
© 2015 Sherryl Woods
Published in Great Britain 2015
by Harlequin MIRA, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited
E
ton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
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