Lilac Lane (Chesapeake Shores #14)(25)
“Maybe. It’s not as if you have to rush into something with him or anyone else. Just keep an open mind, the same way I’m trying to do.”
“Moira, darling, I love that you want to see me happy, but some sort of romance with a man who gets on my last nerve is not the answer. The only thing I feel when I see Bryan is the desire to shake some sense into him.”
Moira laughed. “Exactly.”
“You have a very odd understanding of the way relationships should work,” Kiera concluded. “I suppose I’m to blame for that, since I set no example at all for you. Your dad was long gone and I never let another man into our lives until you pushed me toward Peter. He was another sort entirely. He was kind, respectful and steady, exactly the sort of man capable of giving me the life I’d never had.”
To her surprise, Moira looked deeply troubled by her words. “You would have settled for that?”
“It wasn’t settling,” Kiera said indignantly. “I was reaching for happiness. Why would you say such a thing? You and your grandfather believed that Peter was perfect for me. Now you’re questioning it?”
“I know. I’m surprised myself. It was just hearing the way you described him, as if he were a comfortable fit.”
“And what’s wrong with that? At my age and with my background with your father, comfortable holds a great appeal.”
“A few months ago, I would have agreed and seen nothing at all wrong with it,” Moira told her. “But it implies that you’re past passion, like a woman who chooses shoes that don’t hurt her feet over those that make her feel feminine and sexy.”
Kiera didn’t like the analogy, but she was forced to admit she could see the truth of it. “Perhaps that’s where I am in my life.”
“I don’t believe it. I’ve seen a difference when you’re around Bryan,” Moira said, then grinned. “I don’t like saying it, because you’re my mother, after all, but it reminds me of the way things are between Luke and me. There’s a lot of heat and electricity when the two of you are in the same room.”
It was a bit frightening to have her daughter romanticizing the situation. Kiera had to put an end to the speculation or any attempt at matchmaking it might inspire. “If there are any sparks at all, and I’m not saying there are, it’s only because he’s infuriating,” she responded emphatically.
Moira clearly wasn’t persuaded. “And just saying so brings you alive in a way I’ve never seen before,” she replied, then slipped off the bar stool and gave Kiera a kiss. “Something to think about.”
Kiera would think about it, alright. But only long enough to question whether her daughter had taken complete leave of her senses.
*
Kiera’s six-month work visa came through the day after her disconcerting conversation with her daughter. She almost wished there’d been some glitch that she could have used as an excuse to pack up and run back to Ireland, back to comfortable and steady in an environment that soothed her. That, however, was not to be, and the truth was, she really wanted a while longer to soak in the world of the O’Briens and Chesapeake Shores itself.
One certainty, though, was that she needed to have a good sit-down with Luke and define her position at the pub more precisely. Even more essential, she needed to make good on her plan to find her own place now that her future here was settled for a few months at least.
Luke and Moira continued to assure her they were content having her living in their guest room, but even their spacious house was too crowded to have a mother-in-law in residence for more than the brief time she’d already spent there. And after last night’s chat with Moira, she didn’t want her daughter watching her every move and analyzing it, especially when it came to her personal life.
The very next day at Sally’s, she decided to address the problem without giving Moira a chance to try to talk her out of it.
“I need a place of my own,” Kiera announced, appealing to Luke’s sister, Susie O’Brien Franklin, when the O’Brien women were gathered for coffee at Sally’s. She’d been told Susie’s history with ovarian cancer and heard the story about her recent adoption of a baby girl. Though Susie and her husband, Mack Franklin, had faced tragedy, it was her triumphs that had been the focus of the telling. Kiera had also been told that Susie knew every piece of property available for sale or for rent in Chesapeake Shores.
As she’d expected, Moira regarded her with dismay. “Mum, I’ve told you again and again that Luke and I are happy to have you,” she protested. “Your visa’s only for six months. Why move out for such a short time? You’ll barely have time to get settled. You don’t need to find your own place until you decide if you’ll be staying indefinitely.”
“And your grandfather has said the same,” Kiera told her patiently. “He and Nell have invited me to stay with them. This is for the best. I don’t like being underfoot. After you and your brothers went off on your own, I grew used to being in my own space, answering to no one.”
“And I know the perfect place,” Susie chimed in eagerly before Moira could present another argument against moving. “I haven’t even had time to post the listing. It just came in last night, when Uncle Mick finished the renovations. It’s just a little cottage, no more than a guesthouse, really, on a piece of property that even has its own tiny glimpse of the bay. It’s completely furnished. The owner was forced to move into a retirement home because she could no longer maintain the property on her own, so she’s renting the main house and the guesthouse separately to cover her costs.”