The Summer Garden

by Sherryl Woods

  With obvious reluctance, the family had taken him up on his offer to stay. And because Moira refused to leave her grandfather here alone, Luke had stayed with her.

  It had been a long night. They’d already consumed more cups of god-awful coffee and stale vending machine junk food than he’d imagined was humanly possible. If they kept it up, they were likely to wind up hospitalized right next to Gram.

  Each time Luke had tried to broach the subject of their own differences, Moira had shaken her head and silenced him.

  “Not now,” she said. “This isn’t the time.”

  “When will be the time?” he’d asked in frustration. It had only earned him another shake of her head.

  So he’d settled for sitting beside her, fetching coffee, checking occasionally on Dillon, who was at Gram’s bedside, and letting Moira’s head rest on his shoulder when she risked falling asleep for more than a heartbeat.

  Morning light was streaming in the waiting room windows before they knew it. Luke looked up to see Dillon regarding them with a benevolent smile.

  “You’re a thoughtful man,” he told Luke.

  “I doubt Moira would concur at the moment. She’s annoyed with me.”

  “Then perhaps a visit with Nell is just what the both of you need,” Dillon suggested. “She’s asking for you.”

  Luke frowned. “Both of us?”

  “She insists on it,” Dillon told him. “I’ll tell her you’ll be there in a minute.”

  Luke nodded, then gently tried to rouse Moira.

  “What?” she murmured, snuggling closer.

  “Time to wake up. Gram’s awake and she wants to see us.”

  She blinked at that. “You and me? Why?”

  “I’ve no idea, but your grandfather says she’s determined to have a word with us.”

  Moira nodded and stood, stretching in the slow, sinuous way that always captivated him in the morning…and made him want to crawl right back into bed with her.

  “Okay, then,” she said, then frowned at his expression. “What?” Apparently, she noticed a giveaway glint in his eyes, because she said incredulously, “Now? You’re thinking about sex now?”

  Luke grinned. “I always think about sex when we’re together.”

  “Even here? In the hospital?”

  He shrugged. “Can’t help it.”

  She shook her head, but there was the tiniest hint of a smile on her lips as she walked away. They walked down the hospital corridor, which brought back way too many memories of the hours Luke had spent here when Susie had been so ill. He’d hated it then, but at least there had been a good outcome. He hoped this incident would turn out just as well.

  To his relief, Gram was sitting up in bed, her cheeks filled with color, her eyes sparkling.

  “Well, you certainly did stir things up yesterday,” he teased her as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

  “Oh, you know how I enjoy being the center of attention,” Nell responded. “I just wanted to see who’d show up if they thought I was on my deathbed.”

  Luke frowned. “That’s not even close to being funny, Gram. You scared us.” He leveled a look into her eyes. “And it’s not the first time you’ve taken ten years off my life recently.”

  She reached for his hand. “I know, darling, and I am sorry,” she apologized, then gave him a stern look. “Don’t think I don’t know that you’re responsible for your mother suddenly hovering over me, either. It was thoughtful of you, but entirely unnecessary.”

  “Unnecessary?” Luke scoffed. “Look where you are.”

  “That’s not important, except for the fact that it’s giving me the perfect opening to say a few things that I think the two of you need to hear. Perhaps under these circumstances, you’ll actually listen. Moira, come over here, please.”

  Luke risked casting a glance at Moira, who inched cautiously closer to the bed. She seemed stunned that she was about to be lectured by a pint-size woman in a hospital bed. He knew better than to try to silence Gram, even though he suspected the bulk of her words were likely to be directed at him.

  “Okay, Gram, what’s on your mind?” he prodded reluctantly.

  She gestured for Moira to come even closer, then reached for her hand and held it tightly, probably anticipating the moment when Moira would decide to bolt from the room. But even as she clung to Moira, her gaze was directed at Luke.

  “Timetables are a fine thing,” she began, “especially for a young man who had no real sense of direction when he graduated from college. But a smart man recognizes when it’s time to let them go, when they’re no longer relevant.”

  “But—” Luke began, only to be cut off.

  “Let me finish,” she commanded. “You’ve had me as an example that life can be long, that it can be full and rich with love and wonderful memories. Now let me be the example that it can also be entirely too short. Dillon and I have just found each other again. We have a second chance at happiness, but these little episodes of mine are proof positive that we’ve no way to know whether that chance will be for days, months or, blessedly, years. The same is true for you and Moira. You may be young, but life is uncertain. We’re not put on this earth with a timetable,” she said, obviously using the word deliberately.

  “I know that,” he said.

  “Then act as if you understand the meaning of it,” she scolded. “Seize what’s important when it’s there for the taking. Don’t wait for the perfect moment. There will always be challenges that can be offered up as excuses. What’s important is to understand that love and family are the only things that matter. I know you’ve heard that from me so often that it washes over you like background music, but stop just this once and listen to my advice, Luke. Heed the meaning of those words.”

  She looked from Luke to Moira and then to Dillon, where her gaze lingered. “Love and family are the only things that matter in the end,” she repeated quietly. “Jobs come and go. Careers come and go. Love is the one constant, the one thing that makes all the rest worthwhile.”

  Luke knew then just how stupid and mule-headed he’d been with his determination to stick to a plan. As Gram had just said, plans were all well and good. Risks and unexpected twists were what kept life interesting.

  Gram gave them both a hard look. “Have I gotten my point across?”

  “I heard you, Gram,” Luke said.

  “And it’s nothing I’ve not said and thought myself,” Moira confirmed, giving Luke a defiant look.

  “Okay, then,” Gram said, looking pleased. “It’s time for the two of you to run along home. Mick will be back soon. I’m being discharged in an hour or two, and he can drive Dillon and me home. I’ll see you both there later.”

  Luke nodded, then bent down to press another kiss to her forehead. “I’m glad to see you’re back in fighting form,” he said.

  “And intend to stay that way,” she retorted with conviction.

  Moira gave her a hug as well, then followed him from the room.

  “We should stop for breakfast somewhere and talk,” Luke said as they left the hospital.

  Moira shook her head. “I’d rather go straight home and straighten up the cottage,” she said, avoiding his gaze.

  Luke frowned. “Moira, what she said made perfect sense. I get it. There’s a proposal still on the table. We need to discuss it.”

  “I’ve turned it down,” she reminded him. “My reasons for that haven’t changed. An immigration snafu and a lecture from Nell may have given you some kind of change of heart, but you’ve said nothing to me to change my mind.”

  “Which is why we need to talk,” he repeated impatiently.

  She regarded him with the same sorrowful expression she’d worn the other night when she’d kicked him out of Gram’s
cottage. “Not today, Luke. I’m exhausted. You must be, too.”

  “This is more important than catching up on a few hours of missed sleep,” he argued.

  She finally met his gaze. “Yes, it is, which is why you need to be giving it more than a few minutes’ thought. Whatever you say could change the course of both our lives. It’s too important to be tossed out impulsively, then regretted for years to come.”

  Luke understood what she was saying and, thinking of Heather’s reaction to Connor’s sudden epiphany, he grasped why she wanted to be cautious. What he didn’t know was whether a few hours or even longer would give him enough time to come up with all the right words to prove that he was finally ready for the life she’d wanted all along.

  Apparently, word had spread like wildfire along the O’Brien grapevine not only that Nell would be home by early afternoon, but that Moira had once more turned down Luke’s attempt to persuade her to marry him. How they knew about the latter was anybody’s guess. Luke himself might have sought commiseration from his cousins for all Moira knew.

  What she did know was that first Laila and then Jess magically appeared at the cottage not fifteen minutes after her return from the hospital.

  She’d barely settled Laila in the kitchen with a cup of tea when Jess arrived.

  “Not that it’s not a joy to see you both,” she said, her tone wry, “but I’m wondering why exactly you’re here. It will be a while before Nell’s back.”

  “It’s not Gram we’ve come to see,” Jess said. “We’ve come to try to talk some sense into you.”

  “You turned down Luke’s proposal,” Laila said incredulously. “Not once, but twice. Who does that?”

  Moira couldn’t help it—she laughed at the question. “You, of all people, would ask me that? How many times did Matthew try to persuade you to marry him before you said yes? I’ve heard the stories, so please don’t pretend otherwise.”

  Jess chuckled. “She has a point, Laila.”

  Moira whirled on her. “And you? It’s my understanding that Will jumped through hoops for years before you even agreed to a date with him.”

  Laila flushed. “Unlike Jess, there were extenuating circumstances in my case,” she insisted defensively.

  “And in mine,” Jess said, just as defensively.

  Moira nodded. “There are quite a few in mine as well.”

  “But you don’t have the luxury of waiting around,” Jess said. “Not if you expect to stay in Chesapeake Shores. Connor was very clear about that.”

  “So Connor’s the blabbermouth who filled you in?” Moira asked.

  Jess shrugged. “One of them. Mum’s worried about you, too.”

  “Lovely to know my future is a hot topic among the O’Briens.”

  “Your future and Luke’s,” Jess emphasized. “He’s one of us, so naturally we’re concerned with how this turns out. This is what O’Briens do.”

  “Luke is the one who, up until a few days ago, wanted no part of marriage,” Moira reminded them.

  Laila leveled a solemn look directly into her eyes. “But he’s always wanted you! That should count for something, don’t you think? Men don’t always know their own minds the way Matthew did with me or Will did with Jess.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Jess confirmed. “They get all tangled up when marriage is mentioned, even when they’re crazy in love. If you went through our family one by one, there would be a lot of different variations about what it took for the men to make a commitment, but the one thing never in doubt was that they loved the women.”

  She glanced to Laila, who nodded confirmation.

  “Sometimes it took a gentle push to get them to say the words,” Jess continued. “Sometimes it took a crisis, as it did for Connor and Heather. Sometimes it even took a divorce, as it did for my mum and dad, but in the end the love itself was a constant.”

  Moira appreciated Jess’s attempt to give her a different perspective, but she wasn’t quite ready to embrace it. “But—”

  Jess cut her off. “Everything you want, or at least that you’ve indicated you want, is right there for the taking, Moira. Sometimes it’s not about the pretty words. It’s about the guy being right there when you need him most, proving his love with his actions. Isn’t that what Luke, in his own misguided way, has been trying to do?”

  Laila nodded. “He’s made no secret about that timetable of his and his reasons for it. All of them valid, at least to him. But he’s willing to toss that aside to step up for you, to keep you here because he doesn’t want you to be forced to go and because he can’t bear the thought of losing you.”

  Moira couldn’t deny that they were giving her an entirely different take on Luke’s actions. She’d been looking for the pretty words, just as they said, when what mattered far more was that he was willing to put his heart on the line, to do something he hadn’t planned for now because the thought of her going wasn’t acceptable to him. There was only one reason why that would be—because he loved her.

  “Okay, you’ve made your point,” she told them.

  “Then you’ll accept his proposal?” Jess prodded, a gleam in her eyes as she clearly jumped feetfirst into making plans. “We’ll have the wedding at the inn. I think that’s best, don’t you? I can pull it together in no time.”

  Moira laughed at her enthusiasm. “Hold on. I haven’t even spoken to Luke yet.”

  “Well, what on earth are you waiting for?” Laila asked. “Get over to the pub and straighten this out now.”

  “I’d planned to clean up the cottage before Nell gets home,” Moira protested. “While I’ve been hiding away here the past few days, I’ve let dishes pile up in the sink. She can’t come home to that.”

  “We’ll take care of it,” Jess promised. “The cottage will be spotless by the time Gram gets here. Just go.”

  Moira regarded them both with a mix of gratitude and dismay. “Is anyone ever able to get out of the way once the O’Brien bulldozer kicks into gear?”

  The two women exchanged a look, then chuckled.

  “I haven’t met anyone yet,” Laila said.

  “Me, either,” Jess added. “You’d be the first.” She grinned. “But only if you’re a lot more foolish than I think you are.”

  “Am I allowed time to shower and change?”

  “I suppose that would be okay,” Jess said. “But don’t dawdle. We want to have an announcement ready when Gram gets home. The prospect of another O’Brien wedding will be the best medicine possible.”

  Moira smiled at that, but she didn’t blow Nell’s news—that Nell had a wedding of her own in the works. Unlike the rest of this family, she at least knew how to keep a secret.

  Luke was conducting job interviews when Moira walked into the pub. He’d decided he couldn’t put off hiring extra waitstaff or a potential new manager. Though he’d scheduled these interviews before Moira had twice turned down his proposal, he saw the inevitability of needing the help as more critical than ever now. With the photography show on the horizon and then her likely departure, he had no choice.

  Startled, he watched as Moira eyed the assembled women with a malevolent look that probably should have scared them off, but none of them appeared smart enough to notice. He’d grown weary of their stock replies to his standard questions. It would have been all too easy to dismiss the entire lot of them, especially with the prospect of settling things with Moira right here in front of him.

  Instead, though, he went ahead and started to call for the next candidate. Moira held up a hand, then stepped in front of him.

  “A moment, please,” Moira said quietly.

  “I’m in the middle of interviewing prospective employees,” he told her, mostly to be obstinate.

  “I can see that. This is more important.”

 
He took heart at that. “Okay, then.”

  He excused himself and followed Moira outside, where presumably they’d have more privacy than they would in the pub in front of a suddenly attentive audience.

  “I wasn’t sure I’d see you again,” he began. “You’ve seemed determined to put an end to things between us.”

  “And would it have mattered to you if you hadn’t?” she asked, then waved off the question. “Don’t answer that. I’m here professionally, not personally, right at the moment.”

  He frowned. That didn’t seem to bode well. “What exactly does that mean?”

  “It means you’re wasting your time talking to all those women in there. The job is filled.” She held his gaze. “Unless you intend to rescind your offer.”

  Luke’s heart skipped several beats. “Which offer are we talking about?” he inquired hesitantly. She’d said she was here professionally, after all.

  “It’s a package deal,” she told him. “You get a wife, a partner and a consultant, all rolled into one. It remains to be seen if you’ll have some famous superstar photographer in the bargain, so you need to focus on the first three things. Those are the ones that matter.”

  As she spoke, she gave him a challenging look. He had to look closely to see the hint of uncertainty behind it.

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “I’ve been sure from the beginning,” she said. “It’s your certainty that’s been in question. I don’t want to stay if it’s only to beat off immigration. I don’t want to be in your life if it’s only to please your grandmother.”

  Luke smiled at that. “Those were just the excuses I needed to do what I’ve longed to do since the night we met,” he said. “That’s when I fell in love with you, but the tiny shred of common sense that I was working so hard to nurture kept screaming that no one falls in love like that, not for keeps. When Connor broke the news the other day and I thought you might leave, that you might have to leave, I panicked. I know I didn’t say it right, but I love you and I want to marry you, Moira. It’s all I’ve wanted from the beginning.”