“No, but he’s looking after a million-and-one details. Rather than letting me help, I seem to annoy him by asking what I can do.” She shrugged. “So I’ve done whatever I’ve noticed that needs to be done and now I’m biding my time till the doors officially open.”
Jess laughed. “Pay no attention to Luke. That’s the O’Brien independent streak talking. Don’t take it personally. We all get a little crazed when we have something major on the line. You should have seen me the night the inn opened. I was a nervous wreck. I would have alienated a saint. He’ll calm down once the rest of the family gets here and the invited guests begin to pour in, proving that this pub was a brilliant idea.”
Moira met her gaze. “It really is going to be a huge success, isn’t it?”
“I certainly think so. And I heard the band you chose tuning up. They’re perfect for an opening night. It will set the tone and lure people into coming back anytime music’s on the schedule. No one will be able to resist such a lively atmosphere. I’m so glad he hired them for tomorrow night’s official opening, too.” She looked at Moira. “Your idea, I assume. I imagine he was worried about the expense.”
Moira grinned. “Yes, I managed to convince him that it would be shortsighted not to let the general public get its own glimpse of the atmosphere we’ll be promoting, from food and drink to music.”
“Well, they sound fantastic,” Jess said.
“That’s what Nell and I thought,” Moira said, relieved to have their vision supported.
“Why don’t we sneak over to the bar and get something to drink?” Jess suggested. “Luke’s standing over there, and despite whatever he said earlier, I think a glimpse of you might calm him about now. He’s looking a little frantic.”
“It might make more sense to open the doors and let the rest of the family pour in. They’ll calm him more than I will.”
Jess smiled. “You’ve honestly no idea of the power you have over my cousin, do you? He adores you. I have to admit that at first none of us could see it, but now that I’ve gotten to know you, I do.”
Moira chuckled at the candid comment. “You’re referring to my charming behavior when you came to my grandfather’s at Christmas. I’m surprised you didn’t have me put on a watch list to keep me out of your country.”
“And risk Luke’s hating all of us?” Jess asked. “No, we gave him credit for seeing something in you we’d missed and gave you the benefit of the doubt.”
They were almost to the bar when the door opened and a tall, willowy, blond beauty walked in as if she belonged there.
“No way!” Jess said, momentarily frozen in place.
Moira stilled beside her. “Who is it?” she asked, though if memory served her correctly, she thought she already knew.
“Kristen Lewis. And trust me when I say she does not belong here. She can’t possibly have been on the guest list.”
Jess was obviously about to bolt in her direction, but Luke got there first. To Moira’s relief, he didn’t look any happier about Kristen’s arrival than Jess had. Putting a soothing hand on Jess’s arm, she said, “Maybe we should join them, but only if you can keep your temper in check. Let’s not start out the night with a scene, if one can be avoided.”
“I wouldn’t count on that,” Jess muttered. “But we are definitely going to join them, if only long enough to kick her sorry butt right back out the door. She needs to be gone before Susie and Mack get here.”
To be honest, Moira was less concerned about Susie’s reaction than she was about whatever hold this woman might still have on Luke. She was gorgeous and clearly predatory. Moira had recognized the type instantly. She’d met her share of them over the years, clinging possessively to men in the pubs where she worked. Often they were staking a claim to perfect strangers, men they’d stumbled into and were determined to hold, if only for the night.
As she and Jess neared, Moira heard Luke quietly trying to reason with her and Kristen just as stubbornly resisting his suggestion that she leave.
Suddenly feeling fiercely protective of her own turf, Moira slipped her arm through Luke’s and beamed at Kristen. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Moira.”
“Ah, the Irish holy terror,” Kristen said, her expression smug.
After all her advice to Jess about behaving civilly, Moira found she was barely able to hold on to her own temper, even as Luke stepped in with a sharp warning.
“Enough, Kristen!” he commanded. “Please don’t make this any more awkward. There was a reason you weren’t on tonight’s guest list, and I’m certain you know exactly what it was.”
Kristen gave him a defiant look. “Is this really about poor Susie?” she inquired, then turned her arch gaze on Moira. “Or don’t you want your little friend here to know just how close we are?”
Even before Moira or Luke could reply to that, Jess inserted herself into the middle of the fray. She latched onto Kristen’s arm with a white-knuckled grip that was likely to leave bruises. “Say good-night, Kristen,” she ordered in a low tone. When Luke opened his mouth to intercede, Jess gave him a hard look. “I’ve got this. Do some fence-mending. Now!” she added emphatically.
She steered Kristen toward the door at a pace that had her stumbling in her very high heels.
“Lovely woman,” Moira commented lightly.
Luke turned to her with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. She was deliberately taunting you. It’s what she does. She’s angry with me and she enjoys stirring up trouble. It’s an ugly combination.”
“She can only cause real trouble if there’s some truth to what she says.” She leveled a look into his eyes. “Is there, Luke? Is something still going on between the two of you? Have I somehow missed the signs that it’s not entirely over? It would certainly explain why you don’t seem willing to take the next step with me.”
“Absolutely not,” he swore. “I’ve broken it off.”
“When?” she asked. “In Ireland, before she left after that new year’s visit? Before we got together?”
His hesitation was all she needed to figure out the truth. “More recently, then,” she concluded wearily. “Was it going on until the day I arrived, then? Did my unexpected appearance put a crimp in the romance?”
“No, absolutely not,” he repeated. “And it was over in Ireland, I swear it. I just didn’t tell her point-blank until I got back here.”
“After sleeping with her how many times?”
The question clearly rattled him. “Could we hold off on this discussion until later?” he pleaded. “People are starting to arrive. We shouldn’t be fighting.”
“Yes, that would make this an inconvenient time, wouldn’t it?” she said quietly. “Later, then.”
She turned and walked away.
“Moira, wait.”
Fortunately for her, people were indeed surging into the pub. The band began playing. Guinness was being poured at a record clip and the noise level was almost enough to drown out all the voices in her head telling her that on the biggest night of Luke’s life, she’d lost the one thing that truly mattered to her…her faith in what they were building together.
There was no question that the night had been a rousing success. Luke knew that from the laughter and conversation that flowed easily around the room, from the people who came and stayed on rather than leaving after offering a few polite comments. Positive remarks were directed his way not just from his own family, but from all the invited guests who’d dropped by to wish him well and lingered for the party atmosphere.
The band was a huge hit as well. As his father had suggested, the locals must have considered themselves in some part Irish, because they seemed familiar with most of the lyrics and sang along lustily to all the traditional songs.
Over the course of the evening he’d caught barely m
ore than a glimpse of Moira. He knew Kristen’s comments had hurt her, just as they’d been designed to do. His inability to defend himself against what she’d implied had made it worse. After weeks of looking forward to this opening, now he only wanted for it to be over so he could find Moira and mend fences with her. They should be celebrating together, but it seemed they were further apart than ever.
It was nearing closing time and the crowd had yet to thin out. He was mentally wishing them away when his parents came up to him.
“You must be so proud,” his mother said. “Just look at what you’ve accomplished, and in record time, too.”
“It’s only the grand opening party,” he cautioned. “It’ll take time before I know if this enthusiasm will hold once people have to pay for their food and drink.”
“It will,” his father said. “Things went like clockwork. I’ve been to other openings when the kitchen was overwhelmed or the waitstaff inexperienced and clumsy. That never happened here.”
“I can thank Moira and Gram for that,” Luke said candidly. “I don’t think Gram left the kitchen for more than a minute all evening. She seemed to thrive on supervising. And Moira was at work behind the scenes to make sure things ran smoothly.”
“Where is she now?” Jo asked. “I’d like to thank her and say good-night.”
“I’m not sure,” Luke said. “The kitchen maybe. Or perhaps she’s taking a well-deserved break in the office.”
“I’ll take a look,” Jo said.
That left Luke alone with his father. “Do you really think it has staying power? Tell me honestly.”
“I do,” Jeff said. “You’ve done not just yourself, but the entire family, proud.”
“I concur,” Mick said, joining them. “Your Irish ancestors are looking on tonight with delight. Any one of them would be comfortable in a place like this. It’s everything a place called O’Brien’s ought to be.”
“I’ll second that,” his uncle Thomas added. He circled an arm around his wife’s expanding waist. “I’d stay for another set of that fine music, but if I don’t get this mama-to-be home soon, she’ll be asleep on her feet.”
“I’m afraid I’m exhausted all the time,” Connie added. “But I wouldn’t have missed this for the world, Luke. And I can tell our little one here that he or she was here for the grand opening of Chesapeake Shores’ hottest nightspot. That’s what you’ll be soon, you know.”
Luke was embarrassed by all the accolades. “You don’t have to keep cheerleading for me,” he told them all, feeling chagrined by their apparent need to keep reassuring him. “I’m feeling okay about the chances for this place after tonight.”
“It’s not cheerleading,” Mick said. “We just want you to know how proud we are.” He glanced toward his brother. “In case your father here can’t find the words.”
“I found plenty of words,” Jeff grumbled. “You just insist on having the last one.”
“He’s got you there, Mick,” Thomas said. “That is your habit.”
“Well, tonight I’ll leave it to Jeff to have the last one.” He winked at Luke. “It’s only fair.”
Luke recalled the plea he’d made to Mick weeks ago to let him be the one to fill Jeff in on his plans. “Yes, it’s only fair,” he confirmed. “Good night, everyone. Thanks so much for being here.”
Once again he was left alone with his father, but only for a moment, because his mother returned just then, her expression perplexed. “I couldn’t find Moira anywhere,” she said. “Nell said she thought maybe she’d already left.” She gave Luke a sharp look. “Why would she leave early on a night like tonight? She should be here so the two of you can sit quietly and share a toast to the pub’s success.”
“I don’t know,” Luke said evasively, but, of course, he knew precisely why she’d left. What he didn’t know was how he was going to fix things.
On the walk back to Nell’s, Moira told herself a thousand times that she should have stayed at the pub till the final customer had gone. Leaving had been cowardly, and she had never in her life been a coward.
Her convenient excuse was that she hadn’t wanted to ruin Luke’s exhilaration by forcing the fight that had been brewing since Kristen’s untimely appearance.
Grateful to have Nell’s house to herself, she took a shower, wrapped herself in a thick terry-cloth robe and made herself a cup of tea. With the tea in hand, she settled into one of the Adirondack chairs in the yard, hoping her grandfather and Nell wouldn’t even notice her out here when they eventually returned home. With the soft sound of the waves breaking on the shore and a gentle breeze in the air, she finally managed to relax and think about what had happened earlier tonight.
Luke clearly hadn’t been expecting Kristen. As Luke had reminded Moira, Kristen hadn’t been on the official guest list, which said a lot about her character. She’d intruded for the sole purpose of making Moira uncomfortable and stirring up trouble between her and Luke. Should she really blame Luke for that? Probably not.
But she did blame him for not calling it quits sooner, for coming back to Chesapeake Shores and spending even a moment in that woman’s company, much less in her bed. Had he thought that was okay because he hadn’t yet made a commitment to Moira, in fact, hadn’t even expected to see her again soon? Well, it wasn’t okay! And if he didn’t get that, then she intended to make it plain to him.
Satisfied that she would face the issue head-on, she allowed herself to relax at last and enjoy the night air and the pub’s amazing success. She even let herself bask in satisfaction over her tiny part in it. She heard Nell’s car in the driveway, the slam of a door, a murmuring of voices, but no one came around the side of the house. Lights came on in various rooms, then went out again, filling her with relief.
Curled up and comfortable, she might have fallen happily asleep if it hadn’t been for the sound of another car, another door and then the sound of pebbles against glass. She knew at once it was Luke trying less than subtly to get her attention. She could ignore him, hoping that the new moon wasn’t casting enough light to give away her presence, or just bite the bullet and deal with the issues between them now.
In the end, she opted for the latter. Padding across the lawn in her bare feet, she said, “Stop that before you wake up the whole house!”
He whirled in her direction, obviously startled. “You’re out here,” he said, stating the obvious.
Despite her mood, she smiled. “So I am. I was having a lovely quiet time of it until a few minutes ago. Could I persuade you to leave me to it?”
His jaw set stubbornly. “Do you really want me to go?”
She debated her reply, then sighed. “I suppose not,” she said, and returned to her chair and her now-cold cup of tea.
Luke followed her over and sat down next to her. “It was quite a night,” he said, clearly testing the waters.
She smiled. “A glorious success from all the comments I heard.”
“You and Gram played a huge part in that,” he said. “I’ll never be able to tell you how much that meant to me.”
“It meant a lot to me to share the occasion with you,” she said.
He drew in a deep breath, then said, “I’m sorry if Kristen spoiled it for you. You do know she wasn’t invited, right? I wasn’t just saying that for your benefit.”
“I’d seen the list,” she said. “I knew. Obviously, though, crashing a party is nothing new to her.”
“No, she definitely goes wherever she wishes, welcome or not.”
“I don’t understand how anyone can do such a thing,” Moira admitted. “It’s one thing for her to want to get a closer look at me or make me uncomfortable, but surely she has to know that everyone there hates what she tried to do to Susie.”
“Oh, believe me, she knows that, but she believes time will ev
entually make everyone forget. I have to admit that I might have been partially responsible for giving her that impression.”
Moira frowned. “How?”
“Right when things were at their trickiest a few months ago, I took her with me to Mick’s for Sunday dinner.”
Moira didn’t even try to hide her astonishment at his insensitivity or Kristen’s audacity in accepting the invitation. “Why on earth would you do such a thing?”
“I was in peacemaker mode,” Luke admitted, his expression rueful. “Kristen was here to stay. She was working for Mack. She was with me, not him. I thought we should all forgive and forget.” He gave a bitter laugh. “Except nobody had forgiven or forgotten. It was the most miserable Sunday I’d ever spent, especially with Gram looking at me as if I’d killed someone’s prized pet.”
He gave her a hopeful look. “To my credit, I didn’t try to inflict her on everyone in Ireland. She only came after the others had left, and even that was a mistake, because by then there was you.”
She finally dared to face him. “If I mattered so much, why did you go right back to her when you got back home?”
“I didn’t go back, exactly,” he said. “She came after me. That I allowed that, even for a few weeks, doesn’t speak well of me.”
“No, it doesn’t,” she said, refusing to let him off the hook. “Talk about mixed messages, Luke.”
“I get it,” he said.
“Do you really? Because you’re still sending them out, only now it’s to me.”
“I did not invite Kristen tonight,” he repeated.
“I’m not talking about Kristen now. I’m talking about your taking me into your bed, letting me share in your business, but refusing to commit to anything more and, worse, admitting that there’s been someone else all too recently.”
“But I’ve said all along I’m not ready for more,” he complained. “There’s nothing mixed about that message. Haven’t I been clear?”
“Your words have been,” she conceded. “But your actions have kept me close, given me hope.”
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