Lilac Lane (Chesapeake Shores #14)(97)

“I can’t just decide to stay. There are regulations.”

“Which can be readily handled, if it’s what you want. Connor knows the law and Mick has contacts just about everywhere, it seems. Both would step up to help.”

“I know, and I appreciate that,” she said.

“But?”

“I never mentioned a but,” she said defensively.

“You didn’t have to. It’s Bryan, isn’t it? You’ve come to care for him. You want him to be the one to ask you to stay.”

She sighed, unable to deny it. “I’m being foolish at my age to think that way.”

“Nonsense,” he said. “From everything I’ve seen, Bryan is a fine man. If he matters to you, that tells me a lot. You’re a cautious woman, Kiera, and after Sean, why wouldn’t you be? It’s made you leery, but it’s also made you a good judge of people.”

“It’s not Bryan’s worthiness that’s in question. It’s whether or not he has feelings for me.” As soon as the words crossed her lips, she covered her face. “Listen to me. I sound like an insecure teenager.”

“When it comes to love, we all feel a bit insecure at the beginning.”

“You didn’t when you followed Nell to Chesapeake Shores.”

“No, but I had our history on my side. I knew the love was still there, even after all the years we’d spent apart. Claiming a second chance was less about taking a risk than about what I might be leaving behind.”

“Your businesses?”

“Heavens, no! It was past time to turn those over to others. It was Moira, who still needed me, and you. People around here talk of the O’Briens as a fine example of family. We know they’ve had their difficulties, but they’re united just the same. I wanted us to be united, too. I feared if I left that might never happen for you and me. We were making strides, but trust needs nurturing, and I wouldn’t be there to do the work. That’s why I was so delighted when you agreed to come here. I’d like us to be a united family for whatever time I have left.”

“You’re making a very strong case for me to stay, regardless of what happens between Bryan and me,” Kiera admitted. “And it’s not as if I haven’t considered it.”

“But knowing there’s a future with Bryan would tip the scales,” he guessed.

She nodded. “He shouldn’t have that power, I know, but I don’t know I could bear to just sit by and have the occasional chat with him when my feelings have grown so strong.” She frowned. “I didn’t want them to, you know.”

Dillon chuckled. “I’m sure of that. But fate sometimes takes things into its own hands. And if something is fated, then it usually happens, even if it’s not on our timetable.”

“Well, I don’t have time to wait around,” she said in frustration.

His full-throated laugh filled the kitchen. “You sound just as you did when you were three and your mother’s cookies didn’t bake fast enough.”

“Impatience is one of my well-known flaws,” she conceded.

“Then perhaps a change of topic is in order. When will you tell me what is going on with my grandsons?”

Startled not only by the topic, but by the fact that it had taken him all these weeks to broach it, Kiera said simply, “It’s not a subject I like talking about.”

“Because?”

“I’m ashamed of them and the decisions they’ve made,” she said, busying herself by pouring more coffee for her father even though his cup was half-full. “I was hoping you’d never have to find out.”

“They’re in trouble?”

“Quite likely in jail, since that’s where I left them. And before you judge me, I bailed them out of jams more times than I can count. They considered it their due, not the slightest motivation to change their ways. I might well have gone on doing it out of guilt, but Peter convinced me I was doing them no favors. He said perhaps a longer stay behind bars would get through to them as nothing else had.”

She’d kept her head turned as she recited all this, but finally dared a look at Dillon. He seemed troubled, but not at all surprised. “You knew, didn’t you?”

“I’d heard a few things. I knew if they were hanging out with Sean Malone, sooner or later there would be a bad ending. Peter told me the rest. Ever since you arrived, I’ve been waiting for you to mention it.”

“I said it before. I was ashamed.”

“Their behavior isn’t your fault, Kiera. They’re grown men.”

“They’re my sons and I was the one who raised them.”

“And then they fell under their father’s influence at a time when they were old enough to know right from wrong.”

“It breaks my heart,” she said softly. “I lost them and I don’t know quite how. I tried so hard to do right by them, by all three of my children.”

“Moira is a testament to your efforts,” Dillon told her. “Boys need a strong male role model, and sadly, they chose their father.”

“If I’d invited you back into their lives sooner, it could have been you.”

“There’s no turning back the clock, Kiera. You did the best you could. Would you like me to go to Ireland and see what I could do to help them? I still have friends who could easily intercede.”