An O'Brien Family Christmas (12 page)

“Nell certainly seems very happy,” Laila added. “They were so cute together the other day. When Matthew and I joined them at the café, they were actually holding hands. The minute they spotted us, they pulled away, as if we’d caught them misbehaving. Nell looked really guilty, but Mr. O’Malley just winked at us.”

Jess continued to look worried. Connie frowned at her.

“Out with it, Jess. What’s on your mind?” Connie asked. “Has Mick gotten to you?”

“No,” Jess insisted. “I guess I can’t help thinking, though, about what would happen if Gram really does fall in love—or back in love—with this old flame and decides to move to Ireland.”

The suggestion, which hadn’t even occurred to Laila, silenced all of them.

“I never even thought of that,” Susie admitted. “What would we do without Gram? She’s so much a part of all of our lives.”

“Lots of people have no relationship at all with their grandparents,” Connie reminded her. “Jake never knew ours. Only our mom’s mother was still alive when I was born, but she died before I turned two, so I barely remember her.”

“But this is
Gram,
” Jess said. “She practically raised me, Abby, Bree, Kevin and Connor. And what about Sunday dinners and holidays? You know she’s the only reason my dad, Uncle Jeff and Uncle Thomas have managed to stay civil all these years.”

“They’re all on better terms now,” Laila said, trying to soothe her. She could see that Jess was genuinely terrified of things changing so dramatically. Even Susie looked shaken.

“And it’s way too soon to be thinking about any of this,” Connie added. “Nell’s bringing him to dinner, not announcing an engagement.”

Jess’s eyes widened with alarm. “Oh, no, what if that’s it? What if she insisted on everyone being there tonight so she could announce her engagement? Remember what she said right before the trip, Susie, that she was going to make sure someone walked down the aisle.”

Susie gave her a pointed look. “I think she was referring to someone else,” she said, nodding in Laila’s direction.

Though Susie probably thought she was being subtle, Laila caught on. She regarded Susie with shock. “Me? She wanted Matthew and me to walk down the aisle?”

“She was
hoping,
” Susie corrected. “We all were.”

Laila immediately went from trying to sympathize with their concern over Nell to protecting herself from their scheming. “That’s why you’ve been pushing so hard for Matthew and me to reconcile. You want a wedding?” she asked, her voice climbing. “Here? While we’re in Dublin?”

Susie shrugged. “It seems romantic.”

“Oh, sweet heaven,” she murmured. “Does Matthew know what you all are up to?”

“It was his idea,” Susie blurted, then winced. “Before.”

“Before what?”

“Before you broke up with him,” Susie explained. “That sort of put a damper on the plan.”

“He had a plan?” Laila asked, her mind reeling. “An actual, formal plan?”

“He
did,
” Susie corrected. “I’m not sure about now. Maybe. I don’t know. I’ve been trying to get a fix on things, but you’ve both shut me down.” She gave Laila an accusatory look, as if her lack of insight were all Laila’s fault.

Jess shook her head. “Way to muddy the waters, Suze. Get your foot out of your mouth and let’s focus on Gram.”

Connie ignored her and focused on Laila. “You okay? You look a little pale.”

Laila forced a smile. “I’m just swell,” she lied. People were planning her entire future behind her back, but no big deal, right? They were planning a
wedding!
She’d always known the O’Briens had a certain amount of audacity, but this was too much. She’d never heard of a surprise wedding, but if any family had the outrageousness and confidence to try to pull one off, this one did.

Wishing it were something much, much stronger, she picked up her tea and finished it in one long swallow. When that didn’t help, she picked up the Devon cream and a spoon and finished that off, too.

“Um, usually that goes on a scone,” Connie suggested gently.

“And usually people ask the prospective bride before they plan a wedding,” she retorted.

“It’s not planned,” Susie told her hurriedly. “It was just an idea, a wish, something we all knew Matthew wanted.”

“And, of course, O’Briens always get what they want,” Laila said, not sure whether to laugh or scream. She stood up. “I need to go.”

“To your room?” Connie asked hopefully.

“No, home, or maybe anyplace in the entire world where there are no O’Briens.”

Susie stood up and blocked her path, looking genuinely scared. “You can’t. Please, Laila. Matthew will kill me if you leave now. Don’t punish him because I’ve got a big mouth.”

Laila understood her concern. Matthew would be furious if Laila took off and he discovered why. That, however, was not her concern.

All she cared about right now was getting as far away from Dublin as humanly possible before Matthew so much as hinted at a quickie wedding right here in Ireland. She was very much afraid that if the subject came up, she’d be powerless to resist the whole wonderfully impulsive, romantic, crazy idea of it.

And as much as she relished the impulsive side of her nature that Matthew drew out, she knew with every fiber of her being that marriage was definitely not something to be rushed into or taken lightly.

Matthew was a little taken aback when Mack and Luke tracked him down just as he was returning from doing some last-minute Christmas shopping. With the holiday only two days away and a family the size of his, shopping was a time-consuming task. They actually cornered him on the street and steered him directly into the hotel bar.

“What has gotten into the two of you?” he demanded.

“Why haven’t you been answering your cell phone?” Luke countered. “We’ve been trying to call you for the past hour.”

“The battery’s probably dead,” Matthew admitted. “I forgot to charge it last night. What’s so urgent?”

“It’s Laila,” Mack said.

Matthew stilled. “What about her? She didn’t step off the curb into oncoming traffic or something, did she?” It was all too easy to do with cars whizzing past on what for them was the wrong side of the street. He’d done it himself to near-disastrous results a time or two.

“She’s fine,” Luke said. “Alive, anyway.”

He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“She may be packing up to go back to Chesapeake Shores,” Mack said.

Now Matthew was glad he was sitting down. He only wished the drink he wanted was handy, but the waiter hadn’t even checked on them yet. “Home?” he repeated. “What the hell happened around here today? Why would she want to go home? Everything was fine the last time I saw her. Better than fine, in fact.”

“Don’t freak out, now, okay?” Mack said soothingly. “It’s not as if Susie were trying to get into your business or anything.”

His blood started to simmer. Whatever was going on, it couldn’t possibly be good if his sister was involved and Mack was trying to come up with excuses for her even before he offered an explanation.

“One of you needs to start talking,” he said tightly. “Or I swear I will strangle both of you without a second’s hesitation.”

“Which means you’d never get answers,” Luke pointed out, then winced at Matthew’s fierce scowl. “I’m just saying…”

“The girls,” Mack began.

“Susie, Connie, Jess and Laila,” Luke added, suddenly eager to fill in the blanks.

“They went out for tea this afternoon,” Mack concluded.

Matthew drew in a deep breath. That didn’t sound so awful, but from the expressions on his brother and brotherin-law’s faces, whatever had happened wasn’t some innocent little gabfest.

“And?” he prodded.

“It sort of came out that everyone was hoping you and Laila would get married in Ireland,” Luke said in a rush.

Matthew looked from one man to the other. “How the hell does something like that sort of casually come up in the conversation?”

Mack sighed. “I’m not real clear on the details. Susie was too upset, but I gather once it was out there, Laila freaked.”

“Big-time,” Luke confirmed.

“She says she’s going home,” Mack added. “Or maybe to some O’Brien-free zone.”

Matthew was immediately on his feet, all thoughts of a drink and everything else forgotten. “Has she left the hotel?”

“I don’t think so,” Luke said. “I’ve been hanging out in the lobby keeping an eye out for her and for you.”

“And I stopped at the front desk,” Mack said. “She didn’t check out of the room.”

Matthew nodded. At least there was some good news. Still, he cast a hard look at Mack. “Tell my sister I will deal with her later.”

Mack shook his head. “No, you won’t. She’s beside herself as it is. Stress isn’t good for her.”

Matthew thought of the cancer she’d beat only recently. He thought Susie was far tougher than Mack was giving her credit for, but he had no desire to test that belief. Nor did he especially want to physically tangle with his brother-in-law, an ex-jock who remained in excellent shape. Not that he wasn’t in good condition himself, but a brawl would only give him momentary satisfaction. It wouldn’t win Laila’s heart.

“I’m going to Laila’s room,” he told them, shoving his packages at Luke. “Take these upstairs for me, okay?”

“Done,” Luke said at once.

“And I’ll hang out down here a little longer just in case Laila comes down while you’re heading up,” Mack offered.

Matthew nodded. “Thanks.”

Even as he crossed the lobby, he wondered what on earth he was going to say to calm Laila down. He could hardly deny that the idea of a wedding here in Ireland had crossed his mind. He’d brought the engagement ring with him. His grandmother had assured him she knew all about getting a special license. Heck, he’d even enlisted his own mother to check out a few bridal stores. The plan had definitely been in place. It was a true testament to hope over reality.

The one thing he hadn’t counted on was someone else springing the idea on her. Laila was making strides in becoming impetuous and daring, but this was some sort of giant leap in the unpredictability department. She was still taking baby steps.

Just as the elevator doors opened on her floor, he saw the door to her room open a crack. She poked her head out for a quick look in each direction, then sighed heavily when she spotted him.

“You wouldn’t be trying to sneak off, would you?” he inquired lightly, walking right past her into her room and closing the door behind him. He eyed the suitcases by the door. “I guess that answers my question.”

“Coming to Ireland was a mistake,” she said.

“Have you been having a bad time?”

“Of course not, but—”

“Are you mad at me again?”

She hesitated over that one.

He smiled. “Let me rephrase. Are you furious with me for something I’ve actually done?”

She peered at him doubtfully. “You’re making some kind of distinction there. Explain what you’re getting at.”

“I’ve made a few mistakes with you since we met. I’m sure you could probably list them all. But most of those happened before this trip, and I was under the impression we came here with a clean slate. Clear enough so far?”

She nodded, though she didn’t look especially happy about it.

He nodded as well. “So, have I done something specific since we arrived that upset you? If so, I’d like to set it right.”

“You’ve been planning our wedding behind my back,” she accused in a huff. “Who does that? Aside from an O’Brien, I mean. No one else on earth would have that kind of audacity.”

“I haven’t exactly planned our wedding,” he replied. “Haven’t even proposed, as a matter of fact.”

“No, you haven’t, which is precisely my point. People do not go around planning weddings for people who aren’t even engaged. It’s ridiculous.”

“A few people in the family might have gotten a little ahead of themselves,” he admitted. “They love you. They like me enough to want me to be happy. They got carried away. It’s hardly a crime. It’s not as if they could make either of us do anything we haven’t agreed to, now, could they?”

She sat down on the edge of the bed, a scowl firmly in place. “I just don’t like it, that’s all.”

“Understandable. Hearing about it must have been a shock.”

“It was infuriating, if you must know.”

“I can imagine.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “Are you trying to placate me?”

“Pretty much. I’d hate to have you let some offhand comment from my sister ruin the rest of this trip for you.”

“How’d you find out about this anyway? Did Susie confess?”

“Actually Mack and Luke found out. They’ve been staking out the lobby waiting for me to get back and hoping to keep you from leaving before we talked.”

“Ah, the infamous Brotherhood of the O’Briens.” It didn’t sound complimentary the way she said it.

Still, Matthew laughed. “We do stick together. It can be a good thing, Laila.”

“It can also be annoying and intimidating. I felt as if I were just minutes from being stuffed into some lacy white dress and marched down the aisle.”

He gave her a thorough once-over that brought color to her cheeks. “Nah, you’re not the lacy type. I see you in white satin, something all sleek and sensuous.”

She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut and stared at him. “You’ve been thinking about how I’ll look on our wedding day?”

“Of course I have. It’s quite a vision.” He held her gaze. “You’re beautiful. You take my breath away under normal conditions. In a wedding gown, there’s a good chance you could stop my heart.”

She blinked, then sighed. “You have to stop saying things like that, Matthew. I can’t think straight when you do.”

“Thinking straight can be highly overrated,” he said.

“Not about this,” she retorted firmly. “Marriage is serious. It’s forever. People need to think it through. If more people did, there would be fewer divorces. Ask Connor.”

“Connor’s currently on the happily-married bandwagon,” Matthew reminded her. “His particular brand of cynicism is a thing of the past. Want me to call him so he can give you a testimonial?”

She frowned. “You’re not taking me seriously.”