“You worry too much.”
“Your daughter told me that already today.”
“Who knows? You might find yourself setting up house with David Fenelli one day and dealing with his—”
“Aidan!” She smacked him on the arm. “Where the hell did you get that idea?”
God, that wicked twinkle in his eyes reminded her so much of Billy. “I saw Fenelli in the school parking lot. He was there to pick up Will after freshman wrestling.”
“What did he say?” Damn her Irish genes. She could feel her face burning with embarrassment.
“He asked if you were seeing anyone.”
“He did what!?”
“You heard me. He wanted to know if you were seeing anyone seriously.”
“And what did you say?”
“I told him to ask you.”
She exhaled loudly. “Right answer.”
“Then I asked him why he wanted to know.”
Wrong question. “And he said—?”
“That he’d asked you out for pizza, and you said yes.” Now his wicked grin matched the wicked twinkle in his eyes. “I asked if Potsy and the Fonz were going to tag along.”
She belted him in the shoulder again. “Jackass.”
“Hey!” He rubbed his arm. “Since when can’t you take a joke, Red?”
“We’re going to take Ryan and Billy out for pizza one day. That’s it. Don’t go reading more into it, or I’ll kill you.”
He put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “No crime in moving on,” he said softly. “We all do, sooner or later.”
A violent surge of emotion crashed over her, a powerful mix of anger and regret and yearning so intense she couldn’t speak. God, please don’t let her cry. Not in front of Aidan. She hated weakness, hated seeming needy and helpless, even if she was both of those things and more in ways not even the people who loved her best ever suspected. Maybe she was more O’Malley than she had realized.
It took a few moments, but she managed to gather up all of those unruly emotions and beat them into submission.
“Don’t you have a bar to run, O’Malley?” The old Claire took over, the sarcastic, funny sister-in-law who wouldn’t know sentiment if it bit her in the ass.
“Throwing me out?”
“You got it, pal.”
He chucked her gently under the chin, then called out a loud good-bye to her father, who grunted something in return. He made his way down the front steps and toward his truck. She waited until he had crossed the driveway before she turned off the porch light and closed the door.
Her father was standing at the kitchen end of the hallway.
“Aidan says good-bye,” she said as she lowered the hall light. “And thanks for the stories.”
“He’s a good guy. Got a real good head on his shoulders. I like what he’s done to O’Malley’s. His grandfather would be proud of the place.” He nodded his head. “No doubt about it: Rosie D.’s girl got lucky.”
Claire moved a plate from the sink to the dishwasher. “I don’t think anyone in town thought he’d ever marry again.” Much less marry a DiFalco.
“You missed the boat,” her father said, lowering himself onto a chair. “Sometimes I think you married the wrong brother.”
Funny thing, Pop, she thought as she poured herself another cup of coffee. Sometimes so do I.
AIDAN EXHALED LOUDLY in relief when he pulled into the driveway behind Kelly’s car. It wasn’t that he had expected her to be anywhere else but home, but Claire’s suggestion that something wasn’t quite right had unnerved him. Maybe more than he had been willing to admit until this moment.
He let himself into the house and tossed his keys on the desk in the hallway. “You down here, Kel?”
She wasn’t in the kitchen. He checked the den in the back of the house and the living room. No dice. He called out her name. No answer. His heart began to thud painfully against his ribs as he climbed the stairs. Her door was closed, but a puddle of light seeped through the crack, and he heard the faint thudding beat of music he no longer understood.
“Kel.” His voice was low. “I’m home.”
No response. He could feel the gathering rush of adrenaline in his bloodstream.
He tapped on the door. “Kel,” he repeated. “I’m home. Just want to make sure everything’s all right.”
Okay, so she didn’t feel like talking. No crime in that. She could be so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn’t hear him. Or maybe she had conked out over one of her schoolbooks and was dead to the world. It wasn’t like that hadn’t happened before.
He made it halfway down the hall to his room when Claire and her goddamn worried expression came back to him, and he wheeled and made his way back to her door.
“Kel, open up.” He knocked twice. “We need to talk.”
He was about to do something he hadn’t done since she was ten years old and open the door without her okay, when the door swung open, and he looked down into the yawning face of his only child.
“I’m asleep,” she said, looking like she was about to fall over into a heap. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
Considering the fact that he didn’t know what the hell he wanted to talk to her about, it could wait until next year. He cupped her face with his hand and tilted her chin up until she met his eyes. “Is everything okay, Kel?”
She bit back a yawn and struggled to appear wide awake. “Sure it is,” she said. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
Damned if he knew but, looking at his daughter, he started to think Claire might be onto something.
“Go back to bed,” he said, fighting back a rush of bittersweet longing for the days when a hug and a bedtime story were enough to slay the world’s dragons. “It’s late.”
She looked at him with the same speculative expression she had developed as a toddler exploring her ever-expanding world, a blend of intelligence and curiosity that he had never seen before or since on another child.
“I love you, Dad,” she said then disappeared behind her bedroom door.
He stood quietly in the hallway for a few moments as memories came out of hiding, crowding into the small space, vying for attention. It all went by so fast. Too fast. He was closer now to the end than he was to the beginning, and that celestial clock was ticking away, counting down his days.
He blinked once—he must have because how else could he have missed it?—and Kelly turned into a woman with secrets of her own. He turned away for a second, and Billy was gone and Grandma Irene, too. So many things left unsaid. So many things he should have done before it was too late.
He had seen something in Maddy’s eyes this afternoon, a look of puzzlement mixed with hurt that he still felt in his gut. He knew life didn’t always play fair. It didn’t send up warning signals before it knocked you to your knees. Maybe she really meant it when she said she didn’t give a damn about the cast on his leg or the fact that he couldn’t sweep her up into his arms and carry her to bed or that sometimes it hurt so fucking much he woke up in a sweat, hanging on to the edge of the bed and praying to die.
Then again, maybe she didn’t.
A man didn’t want the woman he loved to see him as anything less than a man. He wanted to be bigger than life in her eyes, strong and brave the way he had felt when he was eighteen and ready to take on the world. The trouble was, he wasn’t eighteen any longer. He knew the world could kick his ass any time it wanted to, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He would never be the man he was before the warehouse accident. Hell, he would never be the man he had been before he slipped on the ice in February.
She knew that, knew it all, and she claimed she wanted him anyway. Bruised, battered, down but not out. Not yet. Not as long as they had each other.
He glanced at his watch. A little after ten. Rose stayed up late. He had her private number. Once he had things worked out with his future mother-in-law, he would get on the Web and make reservations. Then, after he stopped bac
k at the bar to make sure Mark could handle things on his own, he would swing by The Candlelight and sweep the woman he loved off her feet.
Metaphorically speaking.
ROSE TAPPED ON Maddy’s door just before midnight. “Aidan’s on the phone,” she said, peeking inside. “He wants to talk to you.”
Maddy, who had been playing Super Collapse II on her laptop while downloading some files, leaped up from bed. “Why didn’t he call me directly?”
Rose grinned and gestured toward the laptop. “You’re on-line, right?”
“Oh damn!” She had forgotten she was using the dial-up while their high-speed connection was awaiting repair. “The office phone?”
“My phone.” Rose handed over her tiny cell phone with a wink. “Good thing I charged it up after supper.”
Maddy impulsively pressed a kiss to her mother’s cheek. “Thanks! I’ll recharge when I’m done.”
Rose patted her on the shoulder. “I’m counting on that,” she said, then disappeared back down the hall to her own suite of rooms.
“You were supposed to E-mail me,” Maddy said, curling back up in the middle of her bed. “I’ve been waiting for you to show up on-line.”
“I have a better idea,” he said. “Look out your window.”
Chapter Nine
AIDAN WAS WAITING for her at the foot of the driveway. She ran barefoot across the damp lawn and straight into his arms.
Her body melted into his in the soft darkness. His crutch was tucked under his right arm, but it didn’t stop him from gathering her close, enveloping her in his warmth and strength.
Oh God, this man knew how to hug. He could win awards in hugging. Olympic gold medals in full-body, every-sense-on-red-alert hugging. She buried her nose against his chest and breathed in the deeply comforting, deeply erotic smell of his skin. She had never known a woman could get drunk on the smell of a man’s skin, that she could crave it like a drug more powerful than anything the poppy had to offer.
“So what’s going on?” she asked as they walked up the driveway to the back porch. “You’re not in the habit of dropping by at midnight.”
“If we didn’t both have daughters at home, I’d be here every night.”
“If we didn’t both have daughters at home, I’d never let you leave.”
“Maybe we should move up the wedding date,” he suggested as they settled down on the top step. She sat as close to him as the laws of physics would allow.
“That would solve a few problems.”
“Like I’m not in enough trouble with Rosie for suggesting we elope.”
“You’re not in trouble anymore.” She leaned over and kissed his stubbly chin. “I caved.”
“Right,” he said, “and then she called the queen and asked if we could borrow the palace for the wedding.”
“I’m not joking. I totally caved.”
“You mean we’re going for the big enchilada?”
“Yep,” she said with a sheepish grin. “I said yes to the flower girl, the ring bearer, groomsmen, bridesmaids, rehearsal dinners, bachelor parties, bridal showers, the whole nine yards.”
“What happened? A few hours ago you were dead set against it.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “We were sitting out here on the porch after supper, and the next thing I knew, I was asking her if she and Lucy would make my wedding dress.”
He pretended to examine the porch very carefully.
“Aidan! What are you doing?” she asked as he bent down to peer under the top step.
“I want to make sure it’s safe to sit here. If I start saying I’m a Giants fan, call in an exorcist.”
She laughed softly. “She was so touched, Aidan—” Her voice broke unexpectedly, and she drew in a deep breath to cover up. “Her eyes filled with tears when I asked her. Can you imagine that? Our Rosie getting all mushy over a wedding gown.”
“When it comes to you and Hannah, Rosie’s a soft touch. She’d give you the moon if you’d let her.”
“I’m just beginning to realize that.”
“About time.”
“What’s wrong with this picture?” she asked in mock indignation. “You’re not supposed to take my mother’s side.” He chuckled, and she pressed her face against his shoulder and smiled. “You’ll be sorry when you see how much there is to do between now and September. She’s going to run us ragged.”
“We’ll have the rest of our lives,” he said. “We can give Rosie one day to call her own.”
Your heart really could swell with love. She could feel it filling her chest, crowding out her lungs, making it almost impossible to breathe. Thirty-three years old, and she had never experienced anything even close to the way he made her feel just sitting next to her on the back porch.
“Tuxedos. Rehearsal dinners. Guest lists. All the things you hate.”
“I’ll get over it.”
“Maybe you will,” she said, “but will I?”
“You forgot the most important part of the wedding.”
“Fittings. Shower. Bachelor party. Rehearsal. Ceremony. Reception. What else is there?”
“The honeymoon.”
In an instant they were in each other’s arms again. She opened her mouth to his, gasping at the touch of his tongue against hers, his taste, his warmth. Sweetly familiar, still new enough to be strange.
She whispered in his ear and heard his breath catch hard in response. “I thought you’d like that.”
And then he said something, and she moved against him, on fire.
“So when are you going to ask me why I’m here making out on the back porch with you in the middle of the night?”
She brought his hand to her lips. “Why question a good thing?”
“You made me think this afternoon.”
She leaned slightly away from him so she could see his eyes. He looked slightly uncertain, surprisingly vulnerable. “About anything in particular?”
“I was thinking that this isn’t the most romantic engagement on record.”
“Maybe not,” she admitted, “but it’s ours, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“Not even for a night at that little inn we saw at Spring Lake?”
“You mean the one we were heading for when you—”
“Fell on my ass and screwed everything up.”
“I wasn’t going to put it that way.” She leaned over and kissed him. “The night we got serious.”
“The night I was going to make love to you until the sun came up.”
A voluptuous shiver rolled up her spine, a delicious tingle of anticipation and desire. “Yes,” she said. “That’s the night I was talking about.”
“Saturday.” He kissed the palm of her right hand, then folded her fingers around the warmth. “Just us.”
“Say that again.”
“Just us. Champagne. Dinner. No snow. No kids. No relatives. No friends. No phones. No poodles.”
“Why—I mean, how . . . oh, I don’t know what I mean! This is so wonderful! I can’t believe—of course I’ll have to clear it with Rosie,” she said, mind spinning with details. “Make sure Hannah is—”
“Done,” he said. “I took care of everything.”
He had spoken to her mother, made sure Hannah would be taken care of, that Priscilla would be fine, that Kelly could stay there if she wanted to.
“You really did think of everything.” She didn’t have to explain her love for Hannah or her concern for her little girl’s welfare. She didn’t have to feel apologetic or made vulnerable by her sense of responsibility. He understood from the inside out.
“After seventeen years, you get pretty good at it.”
“Does that mean it gets easier?” She was five years into parenthood, and there were still times when she felt like she was barely treading water.
“No,” he said. “You just learn how to worry better.”
For one fleeting instant she thought about mentioning what Hannah had said about Kelly, but the moment p
assed as quickly as it came, swept away by the night’s excitement.
“I have some big news, too,” she said. “Do you know the old McClanahan place that Olivia’s renovating down near Paradise Point Drive?”
“I heard she’s turning it into some kind of fancy cookie shop.”
“An English tea shop,” Maddy corrected him, “and Rose has decided to go in on it with her.”
He whistled low. “When the hell did that happen?”
“Sometime late this afternoon. That’s why Liv was there when you dropped me off.”
“It’s not like either one of them needs a business partner. Far as I can tell, they’re both cleaning up.”
“Liv said that cutting Rose in on the deal would free up some capital so she could expand her store.”
“Who the hell would think anyone needed a bigger stationery store?” He looked at her by the glow of the porch light. “So what’s the attraction for Rose besides world domination?”
She laughed, then covered her mouth to muffle the sound. “She wants me to manage it. I’ll be in charge. I’ll be the one who’ll hire wait staff, set prices, keep the books.” Her enthusiasm was leaping ahead of her words, and she had to stop for breath. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll even be able to buy them out one day if things go well enough.”
“Yeah, and in the meantime you’d be working directly for your mother.”
“She’ll be a silent partner.” This time he was the one who laughed out loud. “Shh! It’s after midnight, Aidan. You’ll wake the neighborhood.”
“Your mother has never been a silent anything in her life, Maddy. You know how I feel about Rosie, but you two don’t exactly have a great track record. What makes you think this will be any different?”
“Because it’s not her show, it’s Olivia’s. I mean, she bought the place, hired designers, has been overseeing the renovations. It’s her idea, her baby. It’s just a business deal for my mother.”
“Not if you’re involved.”
“I think I can handle myself.”
“Are you sure? You two have come a long way in the last few months. Do you want to risk it for a tea shop?”
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