Luck of the Irish: Complete Edition (9 page)

“Goodbye,” she walked to the tow truck and tried to climb on.

The cabin was a little high for her, but she didn’t wait for help. Putting a foot on the running board, she started to boost herself up, when a pair of strong hands seized her tiny waist from behind, lifting her in the air and settling her down on the passenger seat. Paul let his hands linger on her a second or two more than necessary. Keira frowned at him but he gave her a wide, apologetic grin and bowed his head.

“A lady shouldn’t have to do this by herself. I’m here to help you.”

He closed the door, with yet another wink, and climbed behind the wheel. In no time, they returned to the road, heading for Waterford.

“So, is this your first time in Ireland, Keira?”

“Yes, it is.”

“And are you traveling alone?”

“Actually, I’m meeting some friends in Waterford.”

Inexplicably, she felt an impulse to lie. Even though Paul was friendly and very polite, it didn’t seem wise telling a stranger that she was traveling around the country by herself. He nodded and kept his attention on the dark, deserted road. Keira took the opportunity to study his profile. Paul O’Hallon was a good-looking young man whose job consisted of helping people out. She was the one at fault. She should be more grateful and stop acting like a frightened little mouse. He mother had told her so many times to be careful during her adventure in Ireland she was feeling over cautious. Maybe Paul was just another nice, helpful Irish trying to get her out of a bad situation. She sighed and shook her head to get rid of those gloomy fears.

“What about you, Paul? Are you from around here?”

“From Limerick, actually. I’ve moved here a few years ago,” he gripped the wheel tighter without looking at her.

The winding road made slippery by the light falling rain required his full attention and Keira was glad he kept his eyes on the road while talking to her.

“Is there anything interesting for me to see in Limerick?”

That was the right question to ask because Paul’s face lighted up, “Oh, yeah! There’s plenty to see, milady! Limerick is the best city in the world!”

Ask any Irish about their hometown, and they’ll fill your ears with stories about
, Keira thought as she observed his enthusiasm.

Paul spent the rest of their ride describing the sights, the cultural events, and the places she should visit in Limerick. He also told her stories about his childhood and his huge family. When he pulled over in front of the B&B, she felt like she had known him for most of her life. She got out of the truck before he reached her side and he got her baggage from the trunk, taking it to the B&B’s lobby.

“Here you are, Keira. What time should I pick you up tomorrow?”

“Pick me up? What for?”

“To take you to our office.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll take a taxi. Thanks, though.”

“Nonsense. It’s no big deal. I live nearby and I’ll have to take the car there tomorrow, anyway.”

He made a reasonable point, and she had gotten more comfortable around him, but she didn’t want to be a burden, “Thank you so much, Paul, but there’s no need for that.”

He looked disappointed but didn’t insist, “I think it’s goodbye, then,” he grabbed her hand in both of his. “I don’t suppose you’d give me your phone number, either, would you?”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she blushed, looked down at her feet, and added. “My boyfriend is a very jealous guy.”

He laughed and pretended to be scare. “Whoa! We don’t want him smashing my face up, do we? I’d better be going. Take care, Keira.”

“You, too, Paul. Good bye.”

She was so exhausted by the time she got to her room that she forgot about calling her parents or Declan. She took a shower, to wash away the weariness, and slept until almost eight in morning.

After a delicious breakfast at the B&B, she took a taxi to the car rental office. While she was signing the papers, Paul pulled the tow truck over, with the broken car still on top of it. He waved at her but didn’t approach her; and she nodded back in reply.

When the clerk gave her the keys to the new rental car, Keira looked around to say goodbye to Paul, but he wasn’t there. She shrugged, got inside the car, and drove away. She had booked a tour with a local agency, so she drove there, and spent the rest of the day visiting many interesting places, including Admore and St. Declan’s stone.

* * * *

Declan checked his phone for the thousandth time that day. He wasn’t surprised to find out there were no missed calls or messages from Keira. It had been three days since they last spoke. In fact, three whole days, and three miserable nights, since she had hung up on him. He had called, sent messages but hadn’t gotten any replies. He was worried sick, he couldn’t sleep or concentrate on anything.

Irish roads could be quite dangerous. Besides, she was a young woman traveling alone. All sorts of things could go wrong in a situation like that. She could have gotten involved in an accident. After all, they drove on the wrong side of the road in America. The car could have broken down, in the middle of nowhere. Maybe she had a flat tire, and didn’t know how to change it. She could have been mugged or worse. He ran his fingers through his already messed up hair, as those gloomy thoughts went round in his head, and he added up the bill for table ten for the third time. He got yet another number and smashed the paper in frustration.

She may have found another man. Someone better than you,
his conscience poked fun at him and he felt the blood draining from his face. His hand trembled slightly as he stared at the numbers on the new slip of paper without seeing anything.

“Earth to Declan,” called Harry behind him, tapping on his shoulder.

“What’s up?” he asked pretending he was busy with the bill.

“How difficult can it be to add up two pints of Guinness and an order of chips?”

Declan’s face flushed violently and Harry just laughed louder as he yanked the paper from his coworker’s dead fingers.

“Oh, give me that, will you? You’ve been pretty useless for the last couple of days or so, you know? I mean, more useless than you normally are,” Harry’s playful tone turned to sincere concern before he asked. “What’s going on, man?”

Declan felt tempted to tell Harry about his worries but changed his mind, “There’s nothing wrong, Harry. I’m just tired. I haven’t been sleeping well, that’s all.”

“Well, I don’t buy it but I won’t push you, either. If you need to talk, you know where to find me. I’m right here behind the bar,” he laughed and handed the bill back to Declan. “There you go. Now, take it to table ten and get the hell out of here. It’s almost eight and your shift is about to finish, anyway. Go home earlier and get some rest, if that’s what you need.”

“Do you mean it?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fine. It’s a slow night and Màire will be here soon. Shoo! Go!”

Declan smiled and followed as his friend’s suggestion. When he arrived home, his phone rang, and he picked up quickly because it was Keira’s ringtone. He smiled when he saw she had started a video call. He had missed her and it would be great seeing her face again. She looked worried, though.

“Hello, Keira. Are you all right?”

“We need to talk,” was her curt reply and his heart skipped more than a couple of beats.

“I know that, Keira. That’s why I’ve been calling you for the past three days. I’m worried sick! What happened?”

She remembered everything she had gone through in the last couple of days. It was a long story, which she wasn’t sure she wanted to tell Declan, at that point. Besides, there were more pressing issues they needed to discuss. She decided to take them on first.

“I’m fine. I’ll tell you everything later. We need to talk about something else, first.”

“I’m relieved just to hear your voice and see your face again. Are you going to tell me what was that all about? I mean, last time we talked? Why did you hang up on me, Keira?”

She closed her eyes and gripped the phone harder. Her palms were sweaty and she felt sick. She had chosen the video call because she wanted to look Declan in the eyes when he explained himself. She never thought she’d be so uncomfortable confronting him face to face. Losing her courage fast, Keira just blurted everything out.

“On my last day in Dublin, I went to the car rental to get a car, and was driving out of town, when I stopped at a traffic light in front of this quaint little coffee shop. It was so lovely that it distracted me from the GPS I was trying to figure out. Then, I saw a beautiful young couple hugging and kissing when they left the building. The gorgeous woman turned and went away while the guy ran past my car, crossing the street. That was you, Declan! Why were you having breakfast with another woman the morning after you almost made love to me? After you asked me to go back to Dublin to give us a chance to know each other better. Why were you kissing her? Why did you do that to me?” her voice broke off and she made a huge effort to keep her tears from falling.

Declan felt his heart weighed a ton inside him. What were the odds of Keira running into him at that particular moment? Was the universe conspiring against them? Was that a sign their relationship was doomed? Was it some kind of cruel trial the gods of love had conceived to test their resolve? Or was it his usual bad luck? He took a deep breath and put his sincerity and his feelings into his voice. He needed Keira to believe him.

“I wish I were beside you to look you straight in the eyes so you’d see the truth in mine. I guess this video call will have to do the trick. Jennifer is a very old and dear friend. I needed advice and she agreed to meet me for coffee.”

“You kissed and hugged her. Do you kiss all your friends on the lips like that?”

“She’s my oldest friend, Keira.”

“So?” she raised an eyebrow at him.

That was a very bad sign and he was afraid she would be mad at him when she learned he had met with an ex-girlfriend, that was why he had avoided the issue, but his explanations so far hadn’t been enough. He hesitated before deciding she needed to hear the whole story. At least, the whole story regarding Jennifer.

“You deserve to know everything but, please, listen to me first. Let me tell you the whole story before jumping to conclusions. Is that all right?”

Keira just nodded.

“I’ve known Jennifer all my life. We grew up together. My brothers and I went through some pretty rough times, when we were kids, which I intend to tell you all about, by the way, but I’d rather do it in person. Do you agree?”

“Yes, Declan.”

He relaxed visibly because she sounded less distant and cold.

“Anyway, Jennifer was always there for me and helped me through a great deal. She also stood by me the first times I had my heart broken by girlfriends. Come to think of it, she did so every time, actually,” he laughed and it sounded a little bitter. “She would offer her shoulder for me to cry on, some advice to help me get back on my feet, and wouldn’t hesitate to kick my ass if I kept the pity party going for too long. Later, when she moved to Dublin, I was devastated. When things in my house got unbearable, I decided to try my luck in Dublin, and she offered me a roof and food for over six months until I was able to be on my own.”

He stopped and waited for Keira to say something. When she didn’t, he continued, “Well, you see, I kept trying to have a stable relationship with one girlfriend after another, and got disappointed every time. One day, I had the stupid idea that dating my best friend would be the answer. Up to this day, I don’t know why the usually smart and sensible Jennifer agreed with me. We dated for a short while. It didn’t work out and we almost destroyed our lifelong friendship in the process. She broke up with me, more than a year ago, and that morning was the first time we met after the break-up.”

Keira pondered this story, but she took so long to do it that Declan started to worry. He thought the screen had frozen, or something; but, he saw her blinking and pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. He felt chills running up and down his spine because he knew she did that when she was nervous.

“Keira, say something, please. You’re freaking me out.”

“Why did you call her that morning? Why did you need her advice?”

He knew that part of the story was potentially disastrous. He silently said a prayer, hoped for the better before telling Keira the truth, “I got cold feet. I went jogging early that morning and started thinking about us, about the things we had going against us. I panicked.”

Keira’s face fell, “I knew it! You’ve got second thoughts, too.”

“No, no. I
had
them. Past tense, Keira,” then her meaning sank in. “What do you mean by ‘too’? Are
you
having second thoughts?”

It was his turn to get pale as her face got red. Keira was struggling, feeling torn between her mind and her instincts. Her head told her his story sounded too convenient, but her guts told her he looked sincere. Her sister had told her to go with her instincts.
Time for a leap of faith!

“I was, Declan. Past tense, too. I called my sister before I left Wicklow and talked to her. She helped me see I had let my insecurities got the better of me when I jumped to conclusions. She pointed out I hadn’t heard your side of the story before calling you a cheating bastard.”