Lilac Lane

by Sherryl Woods

  “I told you to take as long as you need. I know I presented you with a complicated situation. There’s no rush for you to make a decision.”

  “It’s certainly a situation I never envisioned finding myself in, and that’s the truth,” she said. “If I’d been asked about something like this, I would have considered the answer to be obvious, but it’s you and me, Bryan. There’s nothing simple about it.”

  “We can go on as we have been,” he told her. “We can remain friends and forget the rest.”

  She looked startled. “You could do that?”

  “I wouldn’t want to, but if that was the only choice you gave me, I could manage it.” He held her gaze. “Or I could sit with Connor, tell him the story and have him do whatever it takes to clarify the situation legally. That would probably be the sensible thing to do.”

  “You’d be willing to do that? To tell him so much of your personal story?”

  “Perhaps it’s time. Past time, more likely. It’s something I should have resolved years ago, but I clung to hope for a long time, then just pushed the whole marriage issue aside and tried to forget about it altogether. The only thing I pursued was finding my daughter, and you already know how that turned out. Dead end after dead end. I couldn’t bring myself to give up, even though the very detectives I went to kept telling me it was a waste of my money. I thought each new one I hired would see something that the others had missed.”

  “It seems you have some thinking to do while I’m gone as well, then,” Kiera said. “Perhaps it is a good thing that I’ll be away for a few days.”

  “Don’t waste a minute of your trip on any of this, Kiera. Just enjoy yourself. Come back with a hundred photographs on your cell phone and as many stories to tell. I’ll be eager to hear them all.”

  She laughed, the sound far more lighthearted than their conversation up till now. “With my daughter a famous photographer, you think there will only be a hundred photos? I’m counting on her filling albums with pictures from this trip. I’ll be wanting to show all my friends back in Dublin.”

  At the careless mention of Dublin, Bryan felt his heart still. Perhaps all the talk and worry about what the future might hold for the two of them was to be wasted time. It was entirely possible that her mind was set on returning to Ireland and that would end the matter.

  Now was not the time for that discussion, though. There would be time to explore all of the difficult questions hanging in the air between them when she returned from San Francisco. And that uncertainty gave him just the excuse he needed to postpone that long-overdue conversation with Connor just a little longer.

  Chapter 17

  Bryan couldn’t seem to shake off his impulsive offer to Kiera to speak to Connor O’Brien about his situation, even though he’d decided the conversation could be postponed. Whether things between him and Kiera moved forward or not, he recognized that something had changed inside him. He was finally ready to put that part of his past behind him. He would never give up looking for his daughter, but the marriage was long dead and he needed to let go of whatever legal ties might still bind him to Melody. He still had a future to live, if only he were free to seize it. If he’d learned nothing else from this time with Kiera, he had learned that. Life didn’t end after a tragedy. It was right there, waiting for you to grab it.

  A couple nights later when he spotted Connor at the bar in the pub with Mick, Bryan came out of the kitchen and joined them. “Connor, I was wondering if I might have a word with you when you have the time. I’d come by your office, but I’m pretty much chained to this place until Luke gets back to town.”

  “How about your office, then?” Connor suggested, gesturing toward the kitchen. “Would that work, or is it too busy in there for you to talk?”

  “It’s mostly quiet tonight,” Bryan said. “I can keep up with the orders while we talk, if you don’t mind a few interruptions.”

  “Heather drops the kids off in my office every now and then just to challenge my ability to concentrate,” Connor told him. “It’ll be fine.”

  Back in the kitchen, Bryan made quick work of a couple of orders, then turned to Connor. “This is strictly confidential, right?”

  “Of course, though if you want to give me a dollar to retain my services, that will make it official that lawyer-client confidentiality is firmly in place.” He shook his head. “I’ve never entirely understood why that dollar makes people feel more comfortable, but it seems to be reassuring.”

  Bryan handed over the dollar. “I think I get it. It’s symbolic, if nothing else.”

  “So’s a handshake, according to my father,” Connor said. “I’ve seen him make multimillion-dollar development deals on that alone.”

  “And fifty-cent deals with his grandchildren,” Bryan added, laughing. “Okay, here’s the situation. I’ll give you the short version, and you can ask all the relevant questions about whatever I’ve skipped over.”

  “That works for me.”

  Bryan drew in a deep breath, then summarized the history of his marriage, the birth of his daughter, his wife’s abrupt departure and his subsequent futile efforts to find them.

  Connor had taken a notebook from his pocket as Bryan talked, searched until he found a pen and then jotted copious notes. “The detectives never found a trace?”

  “The trail went cold in Baltimore,” Bryan acknowledged. “I moved there from New York, hoping that meant they might still be in the area, but it was a dead end. That was years ago.”

  “Yet you continued to look?”

  “I couldn’t give up. I can give you all the canceled checks and the reports from the various detectives,” Bryan said. “The last one was dated a month ago. This last one was very thorough. He explored every old lead and even followed up on a couple of new ones he thought he’d found online. He’ll tell you himself that it was as if they vanished. I had no idea how easily someone could do that.”

  “Sounds like your wife must have changed her name,” Connor said.

  “That’s what the detectives concluded, too.”

  “What exactly do you want me to do?” Connor asked. “Are you looking for another investigator to take on the case?”

  Bryan shook his head. “No. What I need to know is the legal status of my marriage. I have no idea how to find that out.”

  “Given how long ago she left and everything you’ve told me about the way she vanished, I think we could go to court and make a case that she abandoned you and have the marriage declared invalid.”

  “Would that be complicated?”

  “I don’t think so under these circumstances, but I’ll find out.” Connor’s eyes sparkled. “I can’t help wondering about something.”

  “If there’s anything you need to know, just ask.”

  “You’ve gone for years, apparently content to just let things be. I assume this is suddenly so important to you for a reason.”

  “It’s just time,” Bryan said, skirting any deeper reasons.

  Connor gave him a knowing look. “In my capacity as your lawyer, I can accept that, if you say that’s all it is, but as your friend I have to wonder if Kiera is playing some role in this. Everyone in town is speculating about the two of you.”

  “Thanks mostly to your grandmother,” Bryan said ruefully, avoiding a direct answer. “Nell has everybody fascinated with just about everything we do these days. I swear there are bets being placed at the bar. I think Mick’s keeping track of them. Unfortunately, I’m not entirely sure if people are betting on Kiera beating me in the cooking competition or on whether we’re going to end up together.”

  “Truthfully, I think there are odds on both,” Connor told him, laughing. “My money’s on you winning the bet and Kiera winning you. I’m pretty sure my wife bet exactly the opposite. Just so you know, the odds are pretty even right now.”

  Bryan sighed. “Good to know.” If he found that disconcerting, he could only imagine how Kiera was going to feel about it.

  Connor grinned
at him. “Surely you’ve been here long enough to know that my family and people in this town place bets on just about anything. If romance is so much as hinted at, the ante goes up. It’s just what we do. No offense is meant.”

  “None taken, but it does add to the pressure, which is all the more reason to get this marriage situation resolved quickly. Can you help me to figure this out once and for all?”

  “Of course,” Connor said, his expression sobering. “I’ll do a little reading and ask a few colleagues in my old office in Baltimore since I’ve not handled anything exactly like this before. We’ll come up with a solution to clarify your legal status.”

  “Thanks, Connor.”

  “Not a problem. It beats trying to get people out of traffic tickets. I love a good legal challenge. They’re in short supply in Chesapeake Shores, where most people aren’t inclined to sue each other over crazy little disputes.” He held Bryan’s gaze, his expression even more serious. “I assume the end result you’re after is to be free and clear to pursue something with Kiera, right?”

  “That, and I’m hoping it will be one more step in helping me to let go of my past, something I should have done years ago.”

  “Take it from me, a piece of paper doesn’t always accomplish that,” Connor said. “But I’ll do my part to get you to that point.”

  “All I can ask,” Bryan said. The rest would be up to him.

  *

  Bryan’s text came while Kiera was sitting at the airport waiting for her flight home to Baltimore. After a whirlwind three days in San Francisco, she was surprisingly anxious to get back to Chesapeake Shores despite all the uncertainties awaiting her there.

  Relieved that Luke was taking a walk with Kate, she studied the text. Saw Connor tonight. He’s looking into things. See you soon. Anxious to hear about the trip.

  Kiera stared at the terse message and felt something shift inside her. If Bryan could, indeed, resolve his marital status once and for all, it would make moot all of those decisions she’d made, then rejected, then made again and again. He would be free and she would have to base her decision on her feelings, not on her perception of right and wrong. Feelings were much trickier than hard truths.

  “You look awfully serious,” Luke said, sitting down next to her with a sleeping Kate in his arms. “I thought you’d be eager to get home and tell everybody about the trip.”

  Kiera mustered the smile he obviously expected. “It was a wonderful trip, no question about it. Thank you for making it happen. I’ll treasure the memories for years to come, especially the chance to see the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman’s Wharf, to say nothing of watching my Moira being the center of attention.”

  “You deserved it. You’ve been a huge help at the pub and with Kate. I know how much it meant to Moira to have you here for her grand success.”

  “And you and Kate, too. I know she didn’t want to see you leave.”

  “She understands she has obligations to her career,” Luke said. “So do I. And she’ll be home in another week. I know how much she hates being away, but I’ve come to look forward to her homecomings.”

  Kiera smiled at the unmistakable twinkle in his eyes. “I’m sure you have. Perhaps Kate could have a sleepover at my house when Moira arrives next week.”

  He laughed. “Now, that would be a true blessing.”

  “Consider it done.”

  “In that case, I’ll have to see that Megan schedules another show for Moira soon and we’ll take another family trip.”

  “There won’t be time for many more,” Kiera said softly. “The fall festival will be taking a lot of time between now and October, and when it’s over—”

  Luke cut her off. “We’ll deal with what’s next when the time comes, Kiera. You know you have options. Going back to Ireland isn’t the only choice.”

  She wanted to believe there were real options open to her, but she’d learned not to count on things turning out the way she wanted them to. The simple fact that a tiny part of her was already yearning to stay in Chesapeake Shores was tantamount to tempting fate, which hadn’t always been so kind to her.

  Worry clouded Luke’s expression. “Are you okay?”

  “Just overthinking things as I usually do,” she said.

  He glanced at the phone she was still holding tightly. “Was it bad news that had you looking so troubled when I came back just now? Is that what you’re overthinking?”

  “To the contrary, I’m not exactly sure what sort of news it was,” she confessed.

  Luke looked predictably bewildered. “Am I supposed to understand that? It sounds like the sort of thing Moira would expect me to grasp, but also the sort that leaves me clueless.”

  Kiera chuckled. “I’m not sure how you could possibly understand, when I’m not entirely sure myself what I mean.”

  “A riddle, then?”

  She laughed. “Something like that.”

  Understanding dawned. “Is Bryan somehow involved?”

  “He’s at the heart of it, yes,” she said, then gave Luke a stern look. “But you are not to be nagging at him about it, is that understood?”

  “You’re awfully protective of him,” Luke observed. “That’s a change from a few weeks back.”

  “I’m protective of our privacy,” she corrected.

  “But he’s done nothing to upset you, nothing I need to address?”

  “Nothing,” she assured him.

  Her son-in-law studied her, then nodded. “Okay, then. Just know I’m on your side.”

  “There are no sides to be taken,” she said firmly. And if there were, she thought, perhaps Bryan could use the support every bit as much as she might need it.

  *

  Though it had been clear in Bryan’s text that he was anxious to see her, Kiera overslept in the morning, then had to rush to get to a festival committee meeting at Nell’s. Bryan was outside waiting for her, pacing in the yard.

  “I knocked on your door,” he said. “I was worried when you didn’t answer.”

  “Jet lag,” she said simply. “I slept like the dead and woke up with barely minutes to spare before coming here.”

  “We need to talk.”

  “We need to get inside before Nell comes looking for us,” she corrected.

  “Then we’ll talk on the ride over to the pub after the meeting,” Bryan said.

  “Is it something that can be discussed in a ten-minute drive?”

  He sighed. “I suppose not.” He gave her a perplexed look. “I thought you’d be eager to know about what Connor’s found.”

  Despite her impatience to get inside, Kiera paused long enough to caress his cheek. “I want to hear every word,” she assured him. “But when I’ve had a moment to catch my breath so it can sink in.”

  Looking relieved, he nodded. “Later, then.”

  “Definitely later.”

  But, as it turned out, fate once again had other ideas.

  *

  The tall, willowy brunette stood hesitantly in the doorway of O’Brien’s. It could have been that her eyes were adjusting to the dim light, but Kiera thought otherwise. It looked more like she hadn’t quite made up her mind whether to come inside or to flee. Something in that hesitation made Kiera’s pulse skip erratically. Surely this couldn’t be… She cut off the ridiculous thought before it could fully form. There was absolutely no reason for her mind to go there, except that Bryan’s past had been too much on her mind today.

  “May I help you?” she asked, approaching cautiously. “Were you meeting someone here?” Recognition dawned on her. “You were here on the Fourth of July. I told you that you looked familiar, but you said it wasn’t possible. It’s nice to see you again. We’re always happy to see returning customers.”

  The blue-eyed gaze that met hers was clearly a nervous one. “I’m not here as a customer. Not exactly. I’m looking for someone.”

  “The friend who was with you that day?”

  “No, someone who works here, at least I think
he does. It’s not an appointment or anything like that. It’s someone I’ve been searching for, and I read an article in a magazine about him. Bryan Laramie. Do you know him? Does he still work here?”

  Kiera felt her heart race yet again. Some bit of caution told her to tread carefully, revealing nothing until she was certain about why this young woman was seeking Bryan. Again, that sense of recognition washed over her. It was the eyes, the coloring. The truth was right there in front of her.

  “And you are?” she asked, needing confirmation of her suspicion.

  “Deanna,” the young woman responded. “Deanna Lane.”

  For just an instant relief flooded through Kiera, but before she could even draw a deep breath, the woman added, “It was Laramie once. Bryan Laramie is my biological father.”

  She spoke the words as if they were foreign to her, as if she wasn’t even a tiny bit comfortable with them and needed the practice of saying them. They hit Kiera with a force that nearly took her breath away. She noted the careful distinction that had been made, too. Not her father, but her biological father.

  All these years of searching, all the unanswered questions and pain, Kiera could only imagine how Bryan was going to react. At the moment, though, her focus was on this terrified young woman who’d obviously used up the last of her courage to admit the truth.

  Instinctively Kiera reached out and gave the girl’s shaking hand a quick squeeze. “Come with me. You can sit for a moment and gather your composure. I’ll get you something to drink.”

  “I’m only twenty.”

  Kiera smiled at the honesty. “And I’m only thinking a glass of cold water with a bit of lemon. It might settle your nerves while I break the news to your father. It’s going to come as quite a shock. This moment is something he’s been longing for for a very long time.”

  The girl looked startled. “You know about me?”

  “Just that not a day has gone by in the past nineteen years or so when your father hasn’t wondered where you were and how you were doing.”

  Deanna frowned at that, disbelief in her eyes. “Then why has he never come looking?”