Love, Luck, and Little Green Men: A Contemporary Romance

by Diane Kelly

  While Ma and Da watched the shop for me, Brendan drove Seamus, me, and my pot of gold to the bank, where I rented the largest safe deposit box they had. The bald-headed guard standing at the door of the vault eyed Seamus as the little man walked through, carrying a box almost as big as he was. “Need some help with that?”

  “No, thanks.” Seamus looked back and shot me a wink.

  After we left the bulk of the gold at the bank, we dropped Seamus off at the Thorn and Thistle, where Tammy was working the early shift today. Brendan and I then drove to the jewelers, where I cashed in enough coins to pay for both the down payment on the space next door to my shop and Blarney’s surgery. Call me an eejit, but despite everything that had transpired, despite the magic that seemed to be flowing all around me, I still wasn’t fully convinced the dog was cured. Sure, Seamus had brought me a pot of gold, and, yes, what he’d told me about my ancestry had been true. He’d performed some tricks that seemed magical, too. But where Blarney’s life and my son’s happiness were concerned, I couldn’t take any chances. I’d called Dr. Delgado’s office and scheduled the surgery for the following day.

  “Here you go. Nice doing business with you.” The jeweler handed me a check for eleven grand. Five grand would cover Blarney’s surgery. Five-thousand six-hundred would go straight to Mr. Reinhardt to secure my lease on the space next door to my shop. And the remaining four hundred would be spent on a sign for Flaherty’s Footworks. I’d send Matthew’s money back to him. No doubt he needed it more than I did now.

  I tucked the jeweler’s check into my wallet and turned to go.

  Brendan grabbed my arm. “Not so fast, Erin.”

  I turned to find him going down on one knee, right there in the store. He took my hand in his and it was all I could do to breathe.

  Brendan gazed up at me, a smile tugging at his lips.

  My heart tap-danced a joyous jig against my ribcage as I looked down at Brendan, at the man I had adored, respected, loved for so long.

  “I love you, Erin. Will you make me the luckiest man in the world? Will you marry me?”

  Did he even have to ask? I was so overcome I couldn’t speak. The best I could do was smile and cry and nod emphatically, like a bobble-head doll gone berserk.

  He leapt to his feet and wrapped his arms around me. As he held me I let go, let go of all the frustration, the worry, the pain. I shook as I sobbed in release, realizing I had years of pent-up emotion in me. When I finally found my voice, I cried, “Yes, Brendan! Yes, I’ll marry you!”

  I wiped my tears with my fingers and stepped back.

  Our gazes met again. Brendan’s eyes flickered to my lips and back. He leaned toward me.

  Oh, dear God, he was going to kiss me!

  Finally, after all these years of dreaming about it, of fantasizing what his kiss would feel like, I would finally experience it for real. I had no doubt it would be pure heaven on Earth.

  And it was.

  Even better than I could have ever imagined.

  Minutes later we stood before the glass case containing the engagement rings, our faces full of hopes and dreams. “Which one do you like?” Brendan asked.

  My eyes scanned the engagement rings, working their way slowly over an assortment of marquise cuts, rounds, princess cut, and ovals, in an assortment of sizes and colors. My eyes stopped on a ring situated to the side of the case. Rather than a diamond, the small gold ring bore a rectangular emerald in a deep but brilliant green. It was the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen. “What do you think of that one?”

  Brendan tucked my rebellious curl behind my ear. “I think it’s perfect.”

  Brendan refused to use any of the proceeds from the exchange of my Leprechaun gold to buy the engagement ring or the wedding bands we’d chosen. He made a down payment, and signed documents to finance the rest with his earnings from his new job. He’d called juvie that morning and discussed the counseling position with the administrator. Though he’d have to go through a formal application and interview process, no one else had applied for the position and, given how much the staff and children respected him, he was a shoo-in for the job. It wouldn’t pay a lot, but with my earnings from my shoe repair shop, my future profits from my dance studio, and the pot of gold to tide us over, we’d easily make ends meet. Maybe we could even buy a small house. I’d noticed one for sale at the end of my parent’s block. I could plant some new pansies for Blarney to dig up.

  Back in the truck, Brendan pulled the burgundy velvet box from his pocket and removed the engagement ring. I couldn’t help myself. I emitted a little squeal as he slid it on to my finger.

  He gave me another kiss. Warm, and deep, and absolutely breathtaking. I knew I’d never get enough of them. When we finally came up for air, Brendan cupped my chin and stared into my eyes. “Here’s where our happily ever after starts.”

  ***

  By the time we’d finished at the jewelers, school had let out. Riley was sweeping the floor when Brendan and I walked into my shop. Blarney met us at the door, tail wagging. Da sat in a chair, his cane resting at an angle against his leg, dozing. His eyes fluttered open as we walked in. Ma, as usual, stood at the counter, reading her week-old Irish Examiner.

  “Any exciting news?” I asked her as I bent to scratch Blarney hello.

  “Nah,” she said. “’Tis a good sale on potatoes at Tesco in Cork City, but a fine lot of good that does me, eh?” She folded the paper.

  “Well, Ma, Da, Riley,” I said, giddy inside, giggling outside. “Brendan and I have some exciting news to share.”

  The three of them looked at us, their faces expectant.

  Brendan beat me to the punch. “We’re getting married.”

  My mother gave a happy cry, rushed out from behind the counter, and ran over to give us each a kiss on the cheek and a big bear hug.

  Da struggled up from his chair and walked over to shake hands with Brendan. “I couldn’t ask for a better man for my daughter.”

  “And I couldn’t ask for a better father-in-law.”

  Riley came over to stand in front of Brendan. “Dude. You’re gonna be my Da, dude.”

  “Yeah. And you’re gonna be my son, dude.”

  They did their knuckle bump thing, then grabbed each other with one arm, slapping each other on the back in that half-hug way.

  “When will the nuptials be?” Ma asked.

  “As soon as we can complete our required premarital counseling,” Brendan said. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”

  “As has Erin,” Ma said. “Years and years.”

  “Ma!”

  “Well, ye have.” She waved her hand dismissively. She was right, of course.

  Brendan turned to me then. “There’s one more thing I need to go do.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Officially resign from the priesthood.”

  ***

  The top story on the evening news was the amazing rainbow spotted over Fort Worth for a brief time that afternoon. The anchorman described the inexplicable sight, which disappeared as instantly and mysteriously as it had appeared. Viewers sent in home videos of the intensely colored rainbow, which filled the sky with its intense spectrum of brilliant hues. The folks in the footage appeared astonished, looking up at the sky with expressions of absolute awe on their faces.

  One man removed his cowboy hat and held it over his heart. “Boy howdy!” he hollered as he looked up at the heavens. “I never seen nuthin’ like this!”

  “It’s a sign!” a women cried. “A sign of peace!” She went on to say she planned to run home and phone a sister she’d had a falling out with years ago and hadn’t spoken to since.

  I had to smile at their reactions.

  Da, who was sitting in his worn armchair watching the news with me, shook his head. “That rainbow was amazing, indeed. Did ye see it?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I did.” Heck, I’d caused it.

  “If I didn’t know better,” Da said, “I’d say it was magical.”


  I grinned at him. “Maybe it was.”

  Da cocked his head, considering for a moment. “Nah,” he said finally. “Magic’s for faeries.”

  “Indeed it is, Da. Indeed it is.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  THURSDAY, MARCH 19TH

  WEDDING PLANS

  Blarney was none too happy when he was denied his breakfast that next morning, pulling on his leash, trying to drag me back into the house for some kibble. But he wasn’t permitted to have food before his surgery. Doctor’s orders.

  “No, boy! Come.”

  He wouldn’t come.

  I was forced to play a cruel trick on him, luring him into the car with a plastic-wrapped slice of American cheese, then quickly gobbling it down myself once I had the car doors shut. I didn’t dare open the doors again lest he revolt and jump out.

  At Dr. Delgado’s office, Blarney was a bit more cooperative, happily jumping down from the seat to begin sniffing his way around the parking lot. He checked the messages on the cat crossing sign, left one of his own, then trailed along the edge of the bushes.

  I thought back to Valentine’s Day, the day when Brendan had brought me those beautiful roses, the day when I’d taken Blarney to the vet and he’d sniffed that silly little garden gnome. Had it really only been a month since then? So much had happened in the last few weeks, so much had changed. And all for the better.

  Once Blarney finished his reconnaissance, we went inside. I checked in with the receptionist, then took a seat on one of the orange plastic chairs. Today, a Chihuahua barked at us from the lap of his owner, a harried-looking young mom with a tow-headed toddler ambling around her, chewing on his pacifier, drool on his chin.

  Blarney paid the Chihuahua no mind, instead choosing to engage in a casual sniffing and tail-wagging session with a female black lab at the end of a blue leash. Doggie flirtation.

  Dr. Delgado poked her head in the door. “Hi, Blarney, Erin. Ready?”

  I nodded and stood. Blarney knew the drill, trotting through the door ahead of me. The doctor led us to an exam room, and set Blarney’s file down on the Formica-topped exam table. “I see that you’ve asked for another CAT scan to be performed on Blarney before surgery. Is there a reason for that?”

  How could I explain that maybe, just maybe, my dog was all better now, that he’d been cured by a Leprechaun because my fiancé—my fiancé!—had used his one Leprechaun wish to rid the dog of his tumor? She’d think I was crazy.

  “I know it’s an odd request,” I said. “But I’ve recently come into an inheritance and I have plenty of money now to pay for the procedure. I . . . I just have a feeling he may be better now.”

  Dr. Delgado gave me a patient yet knowing smile. “We all like to hope for miracles, Erin. But they don’t happen. Meningiomas don’t just disappear without surgery.”

  Or do they? How could I ask her to repeat the CAT scan without accusing her of misreading the results?

  “I know it sounds crazy, doctor. But he’s been acting like his old self again. I’m wondering if maybe the first CAT scan was just . . . wrong.” I shrugged and smiled.

  Dr. Delgado seemed a bit annoyed now, but also seemed to realize there was no harm in performing another scan, especially if the fee was no longer an object for me. “I won’t have the results until tomorrow,” she said. “You’ll need to leave Blarney here for a few hours. He can go home after four. After we get the results back, we can reschedule the surgery.”

  Obviously, she was assuming the scan would show the same thing as before, that the dog had a large tumor on the left side of his brain. And she was probably right. But no sense putting the dog through an invasive, dangerous surgery and a long recovery period if it wasn’t absolutely necessary, right?

  “Thank you, Dr. Delgado.”

  ***

  Seamus was already at work inside my shop when I arrived. Brendan stood outside, waiting for me. He wore jeans, work boots, and a navy knit pullover with “Jesus Rocks” and a drawing of the tomb and stone on the front of it. When I pulled to a stop, he stepped over to get the door for me.

  I grabbed my tote off the passenger seat, slung it over my shoulder, and climbed out of my car. He welcomed me with another warm, deep kiss. Would I ever tire of them? Not in this lifetime.

  “How did things go with the bishop?” I asked.

  “Surprisingly well,” Brendan said. “He was actually glad I was willing to stay on and lead the youth program. He said he heard from a number of parents after I announced my transfer. They said the youth program was the highlight of their kids’ week. They’d begged him not to transfer me.”

  “That’s good news, Bren.”

  “Believe it or not, he actually wished us well.”

  “Even better.”

  Brendan jerked his head toward El Toro. “How about a breakfast taco before I head off to the center?”

  “Sounds great. All I’ve had to eat today was a piece of cheese.”

  Over our tacos, we began planning our wedding. He’d search for a caterer. I’d look for a DJ. I already had a long list of songs I’d want to dance to at our reception. We’d hold the ceremony at St. Tony’s, the reception in the Knights of Columbus hall.

  Brendan cocked his head and gave me a soft smile. “What about the honeymoon?”

  “I don’t care where we go as long as we’re together.” The thought of us together, in that way, crossed my mind then, and I felt a warm blush rise to my cheeks. But, truth be told, I could hardly wait to make love to Brendan, to know him fully, to bond completely. Our honeymoon couldn’t come soon enough.

  “North Dakota it is, then.”

  We shared a chuckle.

  A thought occurred to me then. “How about Ireland, Bren? We can afford it now that I’ve got my gold. I could meet your sisters, visit my father’s grave. See the homeland.”

  Brendan’s face brightened. He hadn’t been back to Ireland in years. “Erin, that’s perfect.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  A DOG AND A CAT SCAN

  The next morning, while Seamus and I sat side by side at the workbench, my cell rang. It was Dr. Delgado. “Can you come by this morning? I’d like to discuss the results of Blarney’s second CAT scan with you.”

  Seamus agreed to keep an eye on both Blarney and the shop. I told him I had a wedding-related errand to run. No point in telling him I still harbored some doubts about whether he’d actually cured Blarney. It would probably piss the little man off. That whole thing with the lights the other day had been impressive, and I still had no idea how he’d opened the door without a key, but was it truly magic? He’d been right about my ancestry, and he’d brought me a kettle full of unusual coins, but there wasn’t necessarily anything magical about that, was there?

  Still, after all he’d done for me, I felt guilty that I wasn’t completely convinced he was truly a magical Leprechaun. After all, if I accepted that he was a faerie, that Leprechauns truly existed, I’d have to accept that I, too, was a Leprechaun, that any children Brendan and I had could be Leprechauns, too. It had been hard enough raising Riley. I had no idea how I’d raise a son with magical powers. Then again, a baby who could magically change his own diapers would be a blessing.

  When I arrived at the veterinary clinic, Dr. Delgado waved me in immediately. She turned on the computer monitor. “This was Blarney’s initial scan, which shows the tumor here.” She used her finger to trace the tumor that appeared there. “Now, here’s the scan I ran yesterday.” She clicked the mouse and a new image appeared. This one was clear, contained no mass. She looked at me, her eyes wide with amazement. “I’ve never heard of this happening in all my years of practice,” she said, her voice a mere whisper as if saying the words aloud would somehow jinx things. “But his tumor is gone.”

  “Gone?” I repeated, instinctively raising my hands with my fingers splayed, the international sign for “poof.”

  She nodded. “Gone.”

  Holy crap! Seamus really was a ma
gical Leprechaun faerie.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  DREAMS REALLY DO COME TRUE

  The grand opening of Flaherty’s Footworks was an enormous success, thanks in part to our growing reputation as the precision performers of the Irish Festival. The number of new students who signed up surprised us all. With so many students, I’d be in the black immediately. What’s more, I could keep my prices low, charge no more for my classes than I had at the rec center, give everyone a chance to experience the joy of dance no matter what their income level.

  My luck had certainly changed.

  Brendan loved his new full-time job at the juvenile detention center and had even started a spiritual fellowship for the youth there. One of the teens, a girl from a single-parent home who’d been arrested on multiple drug violations, cleaned herself up with Brendan’s help and began attending my dance classes on a scholarship from an anonymous donor—me. She showed great promise. I’d be sure to choreograph a solo for her in the upcoming recital.

  We completed our required premarital counseling at the church, held our annual recital before a packed crowd in the Knights of Columbus hall, and were now counting down the days until our wedding.

  Three.

  Two.

  One.

  Most brides are probably very nervous on their wedding day, but I was far too excited to be nervous. Today, Brendan would be mine. Mine! We’d be joined together in the sight of family, friends, and God.

  In the dressing room at the church, Tammy and Ma struggled to button each of the seventy-three teeny cloth buttons that trailed down the back of the bodice of my white dress.

  Tammy tugged at the fabric. “Ever heard of a zipper?”

  Finally, they were done. I stood in front of the full-length mirror. It might be sinful pride to say so, but I looked gorgeous. Stunning, even. My dress was an off-the-shoulder true white gown, fitted through the sleeves and torso, expanding into an eight-foot train in the back, all of it covered with iridescent beads. For my something old I wore the veil Ma had worn when she married Da. For something new, I wore a pair of pink lace panties Tammy had bought for me at a lingerie store in the mall. My something borrowed was an emerald necklace and earring set that belonged to my oldest sister. For something blue, I carried a bouquet of Texas bluebonnets. At Brendan’s request, I’d left my curls down, that one rebellious curl—his favorite—refusing to stay behind my ear, as usual.