Lilac Lane (Chesapeake Shores #14)(57)
“What about Moira? This is her mother we’re talking about,” Shanna reminded them. “Shouldn’t she be consulted?”
Nell shook her head. “I think it’s best if she’s not drawn into this. Her relationship with her mother is at stake, too. She needs to be able to claim quite honestly that she’s no more than an innocent bystander.”
“Nine o’clock tomorrow, then,” Bree said. “Suddenly—and I never thought I’d say this—I can’t wait.”
The other two women nodded in agreement. Nell barely resisted the urge to give them a high five. She didn’t want to risk celebrating too soon. There were any number of ways this plan of hers might go awry. She was counting on Bryan’s competitive spirit and desire to be taken seriously as a chef, but Kiera was a bit of a wild card. She was feisty enough to take the bait just on principle, but she could just as easily see right through the scheme and want no part of it.
*
Kiera was so eager to join the O’Brien women at Nell’s the next morning and get her first taste of being a part of a community event that she was the first to arrive at the cottage. Nell had already added extra chairs around the kitchen table and had set the water for tea on the stove to boil. The aroma of scones wafted from the oven, a new flavor Kiera couldn’t quite identify beyond being especially mouthwatering.
“What can I do to help you get ready?” she asked her stepmother, suddenly realizing that she was actually becoming comfortable thinking of Nell in that role. She’d expected it to be a more difficult transition, certain that she’d resent the woman who had taken her own mother’s place. Somehow, though, knowing that Nell and her father had shared a teenage passion so long ago and were being given this second chance by the grace of God made it easier. It certainly helped that Nell had never pushed, but only opened her arms to welcome Kiera into her life and into the O’Brien family.
“Your father helped me before he left for a walk,” Nell said. “Just come and have a cup of tea until the others arrive.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t put my father to work on your committee. The way I hear it, no one in the family escapes from playing a role.”
Nell laughed. “And Dillon won’t either, be assured of that. On the day of the event, I have him running in a dozen different directions to do my bidding.”
“I’ll bet he loves it,” Kiera concluded, thinking back to his workaholic ways with his various businesses in Dublin. “I’ve never seen him so happy and relaxed. Thank you for that.”
“I’m not sure it’s credit I deserve,” Nell told her sincerely. “He claims I’m trying to be the death of him, but being involved has brought him a great deal of satisfaction, I think. And it’s made him feel at home in Chesapeake Shores.” She gave Kiera a lingering look. “He wants the same for you, you know.”
“I’m more at ease here with every day that passes,” Kiera acknowledged, then felt compelled to add, “It will be difficult, I suspect, when my time here is over.”
The light in Nell’s eyes dimmed a bit. “You’re so certain you’ll be going back to Ireland?”
Kiera nodded, though perhaps not quite as convincingly as she might have just a few short weeks ago. “It’s my home, after all.”
“As it was your father’s, but I like to think he considers this to be his home now.”
“Because of you and all of the O’Briens,” Kiera said. “And it helps that my daughter has made her home here, too.”
“You could do the same, Kiera. Are there things drawing you back to Ireland, things you miss? Your sons, perhaps?”
“It’s where I belong,” she said simply, unwilling to get into the subject of her sons just as others were about to arrive. It was too complex a subject for a one-or two-word response.
Nell looked as if she might press her about the two grown sons she rarely spoke of, but instead she said only, “Perhaps you’ll come to think of Chesapeake Shores that way one day soon, as the place you belong. Getting involved with this fall festival could be a first step if you open your heart to the possibilities. You already have family here and soon you’ll have friends, as well.”
Kiera might have considered it another example of Nell’s eternal optimism, but she caught the gleam in the older woman’s eyes and wondered if there was something behind Nell’s words that ought to worry her. Before she could ask a single probing question, the others came in, the women in a chattering cluster with Bryan and Luke dragging behind. Neither of the men looked overjoyed at being included.
As soon as everyone had something to drink and a place to sit, Nell took charge.
“Okay, then, you all know why we’re here today,” she announced. “It’s that time of year again. We need to finalize our plans for this year’s fall festival. We added some innovations last year that did very well, but we can’t rest on our laurels.”
“Gram, it’s not even the Fourth of July yet,” Bree protested, though it was a half-hearted protest at best. She obviously knew that particular battle was already lost.
“Which means we’re already late getting started,” Nell countered. “I’ve been distracted. It’s time we get focused.”
“Thanks to you the fall festival has been running like a well-oiled machine for years now,” Heather reassured her. “I know perfectly well that all of the committees have been working since last fall to put things in place. I’d wager the vendors are already signed up and the advertising and press release ready to go out. We could start after Labor Day and it would still run like clockwork.”