Lilac Lane (Chesapeake Shores #14)(82)

She sighed. “I do know that. I just meant that the news is still fresh. I think you need to take a few minutes, at least, to grapple with it.”

“Something tells me you’re the one who wants the time,” he said slowly. “What I’m less sure of is why.”

“You’ve known from the beginning that I’m not the kind to rush into these things. I never expected to be in this position at all.”

“I see,” he said slowly.

“Bryan, I care for you. You know I do.”

“But now that there’s the possibility of it turning into something real, you’re scared,” he concluded.

“Terrified,” she admitted.

“So am I,” he told her. “I have even less experience with relationships than you do, but at least I’m willing to take a risk.”

“And I need time,” Kiera said. “Can’t you give me that?”

“If it’s what you need, then it seems I have little choice,” he told her. “But I’ve studied the calendar, Kiera. Time is the one thing we have very little of.”

Her heart sank at his words, because he was right. Time was not on their side. The fall festival would be here before either of them knew it. Her visa would expire and she would head back to Dublin.

And unless she found some way to be as courageous as Bryan, it was very likely she’d be going home with her heart broken. Again.





Chapter 19



Nell studied Kiera’s expression as they waited for the others to arrive for the fall festival committee meeting. She looked as if the weight of the world were on her shoulders, not at all the way a woman should be feeling if things were progressing nicely with the man in her life.

“Problems?” she asked carefully.

Kiera blinked at the question, then shook her head. “Not really.”

“I heard about Bryan’s daughter showing up out of the blue. That must have been a shock.”

“A happy one,” Kiera said, sounding as if she truly meant it. “He’s over the moon to have the chance to get to know her after all these years of searching for her.”

“And is that taking all of his time?”

“Not at all. And she’s a lovely young woman,” Kiera added with unforced enthusiasm. “I spoke to her just last night. She’s very excited to be coming back on Saturday for another visit. She’ll stay with me.”

“With you? Why is that?”

“I think she feels more comfortable having a safe refuge just now, a little distance from this man she doesn’t even remember. This is a very emotional time for both of them.”

“And you don’t mind?” Nell prodded, never sure when she might cross a line and stir Kiera’s temper. It was every bit as mercurial as Moira’s. How they’d both descended from a man as easygoing as Dillon was a mystery.

“Not a bit,” Kiera said with a hint of amusement as if she saw right through Nell’s cautious questioning, but was willing to endure it to stay away from even trickier turf.

“She’s an easy guest,” Kiera continued. “And I want to do whatever I can to ease the way for the two of them. I feel a great deal of compassion for both of them. I know how difficult it is to work through an emotional minefield with family you barely know. It took my father and me quite a while to mend fences and feel comfortable with one another, as you well know.”

“Still, this reunion of theirs must leave less time for you and Bryan to figure out things between the two of you,” Nell persisted. “It’s an awkward time to have a third person underfoot.”

“There’s nothing to be figured out,” Kiera said, her tone going flat and defiant.

And there it was, Nell thought with a sense of triumph at the revealing flash of temper in Kiera’s eyes. It practically dared Nell to keep probing, but she knew when to end a game as well as she knew how to begin it. She resolved to turn the questioning over to Dillon. Perhaps he could get to the bottom of whatever was bothering his daughter. Despite Kiera’s cheerful words about Bryan and his daughter, Nell sensed there was some resentment there. This was the Kiera of old, a hint of bitterness just below the surface. Of course, if she were right, Dillon might very well blunder in and make a mess of it. She’d need to do some careful coaching before sending him on the mission.

“Where are the others?” Kiera asked with a trace of impatience. “I thought we were to begin at nine.”

“Nine thirty,” Nell corrected, not mentioning that she’d deliberately given Kiera an earlier time to allow for this conversation that was going absolutely nowhere.

“Ah, there they are now,” she said, relieved to hear her granddaughter and the others coming in the door. She took note of Kiera’s unmistakable disappointment that Bryan wasn’t among them. He’d begged off this morning and, since it had suited Nell’s purposes, she’d let him.

“Okay, now that we’re all here, Luke—why don’t you tell us how the cooking competition is shaping up,” Nell said enthusiastically, deliberately turning her attention away from Kiera and onto business.

“I know it’s the talk of Sally’s,” Bree said. “Every time I go in there, someone’s pulling me aside to find out how it’s going. They each have an opinion about whether Bryan or Kiera will win their ethnic main dish category. The split’s about fifty-fifty. Some are loyal to Bryan because they know him and have tasted his stew at the pub. Others think Kiera has the edge because of her heritage and her ties to us.”