The Summer Garden (25 page)

Connor gave him a commiserating look. “Do you really want to marry Moira?”

“I think so,” Luke said, then cringed at the lack of enthusiasm in his voice.

“No wonder she didn’t fall on her knees in gratitude if you sounded that enthusiastic last night,” Connor said with a shake of his head. “Look, if you’re not ready to get married, then you shouldn’t do it. Period.”

“I have this timetable,” Luke said.

Connor stared at him incredulously. “How do you envision that working? Were you going for a head count of women? So many dollars in the bank? What exactly?”

“It sounds ridiculous when you put it that way,” Luke said.

“Because it
is
ridiculous. Either you know in your heart that Moira is the one or you don’t. Which is it?”

Luke didn’t really have to think about it. “She’s the one,” he said with conviction. “I knew it the night we met.”

“Then maybe you need to consider scrapping that timetable of yours and grabbing her before she gets away, because if her mood earlier was any indication, she
will
go away, Luke.” He held Luke’s gaze, then added, “And once she’s gone, with all that physical
and
emotional distance between you, it’ll be that much harder to win her back.”

Luke sighed as Connor left him alone to ponder what a mess he’d made of everything.

He might have spent the entire afternoon in a funk if Dillon hadn’t called just then to let him know that they’d just returned home and he was taking Nell straight to the hospital.

“The hospital? Why?”

“She’s had a bit of a spell,” Dillon said, sounding shaken. “She fainted at the train station. She came around right away and wanted to continue on home, but I persuaded her she needs at least a night in the hospital to be checked out. Mick’s already alerting the others, but I need you to find Moira and let her know where I am.”

“I’ll tell her,” Luke promised. “And we’ll be there within the hour. Tell Gram I love her.”

“Will do,” Dillon promised.

“You’re okay?” he asked worriedly. The stress of watching Nell pass out couldn’t have been easy for Moira’s granddad.

“I’ll be a lot better once the doctors have confirmed that Nell is okay,” Dillon said. “I’ll see you soon.”

Luke hung up the phone, told Bryan to take over for him and headed to the gallery in search of Moira. But when he arrived, Megan told him she wasn’t there, and she wasn’t a hundred percent certain where she’d gone.

“Back to Gram’s?” he asked.

“Possibly.” She studied him curiously. “Is this about making things right with her?”

“No, it’s about Dillon and Gram. They’re at the hospital. I thought for sure Mick would have called you by now. Gram’s had a fainting spell.”

Megan muttered a surprisingly vehement curse. “I knew she was trying to do too much, but she wouldn’t let any of us pitch in. Okay, you go and try to track down Moira. I’ll head for the hospital. I’ll be in touch on your cell phone if there’s any news.”

“Thanks, Megan.”

Luke had never felt a greater sense of panic as he headed for Gram’s cottage. He had huge fences to mend with Moira, but right this second all he could think about was what the O’Briens would do if they lost Gram. It just couldn’t happen. Not yet. Not like this.

Moira had walked and walked despite the surprising level of heat and humidity on the June day. She wasn’t used to weather like this. It certainly didn’t help to clear her head the way a chilly breeze might have.

She was almost back at Nell’s when she spotted Luke coming toward her, his expression grim.

“We need to talk, Moira,” he said when he was close enough for her to hear him.

She shook her head. “Not now. My head is already spinning from our last talk.”

“This isn’t about you and me or whether you go or stay. It’s about Gram.”

Alarm shot through her. “What’s happened to Nell?”

“I’ll tell you what I know on the way. We need to get to the hospital. Your grandfather’s asking for you, and I need to be there for Gram.”

They practically ran back to the house, where she paused only to grab her purse and put on a pair of shoes. Then they were driving to Baltimore.

She listened as Luke told her the little he knew. She could see the fear in his eyes, hear the distress in his voice. She reached across and rested a hand on his leg just long enough to give it a reassuring squeeze. “She’s strong, Luke. She’ll be fine. And didn’t my grandfather say it was only a fainting spell?”

“People don’t faint for no good reason,” he argued.

“But sometimes it’s nothing more than needing to eat or being overly tired. The trip to New York may have been too much for her.”

“I told you, didn’t I, that she almost passed out right in front of me once before? I put my mum on the case, but Gram managed to convince her, too, that there was nothing to worry about.”

Moira fell silent then. After all, what could she say that could possibly boost his spirits when neither of them knew the truth about the situation?

At the hospital waiting room, they found most of the family already assembled. Abby had apparently gotten there first, coming straight from her Baltimore office. Thomas had been hard on her heels, coming from Annapolis. Mick and Jeff had arrived soon after, thanks to using back roads and speeds that likely defied the limits.

Moira went straight to her grandfather, who was sitting by himself, looking distraught and pale. She sat beside him and took his hands in hers. His were ice-cold.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I will be when they tell me Nell is fine,” he said. “I’m glad Luke found you, though. It’s good to see a friendly face.”

She frowned at his words. “Don’t tell me the family is blaming you for what happened?”

“Oh, they’re not saying as much, but I’m sure they think Nell’s been overdoing it during my visit and that this trip to New York was too much for her. How can I argue about that under the circumstances?”

“But she wanted to go,” Moira protested. “It was her idea, wasn’t it?”

He nodded. “But I should probably have thought better of it. I knew she’d had a couple of spells. She dismissed them as nothing, blamed it all on adjusting to a new medicine, and I let her get away with it. What was I thinking?” he asked miserably.

“You were thinking that Nell is a woman who knows her own mind and body and is perfectly capable of making decisions for herself,” Moira told him firmly.

He smiled at her fierce words. “I’m not entirely sure if that defense was meant to be of me or of Nell, but I appreciate it either way.”

“Well, I meant every word. This isn’t your fault, and I’ll take on anyone who says it was.”

Just then Mick joined them. He’d apparently overheard at least some of their conversation, because he gave Dillon an apologetic look. “I had a feeling you might be thinking that we’re all over there ganging up to cast blame on you. That’s not the case, Dillon. I know Ma’s stubbornness as well as anyone. This trip was something she wanted, and none of us would have been able to discourage her.”

“But I should have tried,” Dillon said.

“And wasted your breath?” Mick said. “Why? And none of this matters, anyway, because she’s going to be up and running things back in Chesapeake Shores in no time.”

Moira saw her grandfather draw in a relieved breath and in that moment she felt a surprising surge of gratitude toward Mick. “Thank you for saying that,” she told him.

Mick nodded, his expression filled with understanding. “Let me go and rattle a few cages and see if I can get some information. We could all use a bit of good news, I think.”

When he’d walked away, Moira turned to her grandfather. “You see, if Mick can be so understanding, then for sure no one else is blaming you.”

He smiled tiredly. “Perhaps not, but if this doesn’t end well, sweetheart, I’ll blame myself.”

23

M
oira’s grandfather had refused to leave the hospital, even after everyone had been reassured that Nell’s dizzy spell had likely been caused by a combination of low blood pressure and low blood sugar. Her blood pressure medicine had apparently been working too well, according to the doctor. He’d recommended they all go home.

“You should all get a good night’s rest,” the doctor told them. “If she does well on the new blood pressure medication overnight, she’ll be released in the morning.”

“I intend to be right beside her when she wakes up,” Dillon had responded stubbornly. “The rest of you should go.”

With obvious reluctance, the family had taken him up on his offer to stay. And because Moira refused to leave her grandfather here alone, Luke had stayed with her.

It had been a long night. They’d already consumed more cups of god-awful coffee and stale vending machine junk food than he’d imagined was humanly possible. If they kept it up, they were likely to wind up hospitalized right next to Gram.

Each time Luke had tried to broach the subject of their own differences, Moira had shaken her head and silenced him.

“Not now,” she said. “This isn’t the time.”

“When will be the time?” he’d asked in frustration. It had only earned him another shake of her head.

So he’d settled for sitting beside her, fetching coffee, checking occasionally on Dillon, who was at Gram’s bedside, and letting Moira’s head rest on his shoulder when she risked falling asleep for more than a heartbeat.

Morning light was streaming in the waiting room windows before they knew it. Luke looked up to see Dillon regarding them with a benevolent smile.

“You’re a thoughtful man,” he told Luke.

“I doubt Moira would concur at the moment. She’s annoyed with me.”

“Then perhaps a visit with Nell is just what the both of you need,” Dillon suggested. “She’s asking for you.”

Luke frowned. “Both of us?”

“She insists on it,” Dillon told him. “I’ll tell her you’ll be there in a minute.”

Luke nodded, then gently tried to rouse Moira.

“What?” she murmured, snuggling closer.

“Time to wake up. Gram’s awake and she wants to see us.”

She blinked at that. “You and me? Why?”

“I’ve no idea, but your grandfather says she’s determined to have a word with us.”

Moira nodded and stood, stretching in the slow, sinuous way that always captivated him in the morning…and made him want to crawl right back into bed with her.

“Okay, then,” she said, then frowned at his expression. “What?” Apparently, she noticed a giveaway glint in his eyes, because she said incredulously, “Now? You’re thinking about sex now?”

Luke grinned. “I always think about sex when we’re together.”

“Even here? In the hospital?”

He shrugged. “Can’t help it.”

She shook her head, but there was the tiniest hint of a smile on her lips as she walked away. They walked down the hospital corridor, which brought back way too many memories of the hours Luke had spent here when Susie had been so ill. He’d hated it then, but at least there had been a good outcome. He hoped this incident would turn out just as well.

To his relief, Gram was sitting up in bed, her cheeks filled with color, her eyes sparkling.

“Well, you certainly did stir things up yesterday,” he teased her as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“Oh, you know how I enjoy being the center of attention,” Nell responded. “I just wanted to see who’d show up if they thought I was on my deathbed.”

Luke frowned. “That’s not even close to being funny, Gram. You scared us.” He leveled a look into her eyes. “And it’s not the first time you’ve taken ten years off my life recently.”

She reached for his hand. “I know, darling, and I am sorry,” she apologized, then gave him a stern look. “Don’t think I don’t know that you’re responsible for your mother suddenly hovering over me, either. It was thoughtful of you, but entirely unnecessary.”

“Unnecessary?” Luke scoffed. “Look where you are.”

“That’s not important, except for the fact that it’s giving me the perfect opening to say a few things that I think the two of you need to hear. Perhaps under these circumstances, you’ll actually listen. Moira, come over here, please.”

Luke risked casting a glance at Moira, who inched cautiously closer to the bed. She seemed stunned that she was about to be lectured by a pint-size woman in a hospital bed. He knew better than to try to silence Gram, even though he suspected the bulk of her words were likely to be directed at him.

“Okay, Gram, what’s on your mind?” he prodded reluctantly.

She gestured for Moira to come even closer, then reached for her hand and held it tightly, probably anticipating the moment when Moira would decide to bolt from the room. But even as she clung to Moira, her gaze was directed at Luke.

“Timetables are a fine thing,” she began, “especially for a young man who had no real sense of direction when he graduated from college. But a smart man recognizes when it’s time to let them go, when they’re no longer relevant.”

“But—” Luke began, only to be cut off.

“Let me finish,” she commanded. “You’ve had me as an example that life can be long, that it can be full and rich with love and wonderful memories. Now let me be the example that it can also be entirely too short. Dillon and I have just found each other again. We have a second chance at happiness, but these little episodes of mine are proof positive that we’ve no way to know whether that chance will be for days, months or, blessedly, years. The same is true for you and Moira. You may be young, but life is uncertain. We’re not put on this earth with a timetable,” she said, obviously using the word deliberately.

“I know that,” he said.

“Then act as if you understand the meaning of it,” she scolded. “Seize what’s important when it’s there for the taking. Don’t wait for the perfect moment. There will always be challenges that can be offered up as excuses. What’s important is to understand that love and family are the only things that matter. I know you’ve heard that from me so often that it washes over you like background music, but stop just this once and listen to my advice, Luke. Heed the meaning of those words.”

She looked from Luke to Moira and then to Dillon, where her gaze lingered. “Love and family are the only things that matter in the end,” she repeated quietly. “Jobs come and go. Careers come and go. Love is the one constant, the one thing that makes all the rest worthwhile.”

Luke knew then just how stupid and mule-headed he’d been with his determination to stick to a plan. As Gram had just said, plans were all well and good. Risks and unexpected twists were what kept life interesting.

Gram gave them both a hard look. “Have I gotten my point across?”

“I heard you, Gram,” Luke said.

“And it’s nothing I’ve not said and thought myself,” Moira confirmed, giving Luke a defiant look.

“Okay, then,” Gram said, looking pleased. “It’s time for the two of you to run along home. Mick will be back soon. I’m being discharged in an hour or two, and he can drive Dillon and me home. I’ll see you both there later.”

Luke nodded, then bent down to press another kiss to her forehead. “I’m glad to see you’re back in fighting form,” he said.

“And intend to stay that way,” she retorted with conviction.

Moira gave her a hug as well, then followed him from the room.

“We should stop for breakfast somewhere and talk,” Luke said as they left the hospital.

Moira shook her head. “I’d rather go straight home and straighten up the cottage,” she said, avoiding his gaze.

Luke frowned. “Moira, what she said made perfect sense. I get it. There’s a proposal still on the table. We need to discuss it.”

“I’ve turned it down,” she reminded him. “My reasons for that haven’t changed. An immigration snafu and a lecture from Nell may have given you some kind of change of heart, but you’ve said nothing to me to change my mind.”

“Which is why we need to talk,” he repeated impatiently.

She regarded him with the same sorrowful expression she’d worn the other night when she’d kicked him out of Gram’s cottage. “Not today, Luke. I’m exhausted. You must be, too.”

“This is more important than catching up on a few hours of missed sleep,” he argued.

She finally met his gaze. “Yes, it is, which is why you need to be giving it more than a few minutes’ thought. Whatever you say could change the course of both our lives. It’s too important to be tossed out impulsively, then regretted for years to come.”

Luke understood what she was saying and, thinking of Heather’s reaction to Connor’s sudden epiphany, he grasped why she wanted to be cautious. What he didn’t know was whether a few hours or even longer would give him enough time to come up with all the right words to prove that he was finally ready for the life she’d wanted all along.

Apparently, word had spread like wildfire along the O’Brien grapevine not only that Nell would be home by early afternoon, but that Moira had once more turned down Luke’s attempt to persuade her to marry him. How they knew about the latter was anybody’s guess. Luke himself might have sought commiseration from his cousins for all Moira knew.

What she did know was that first Laila and then Jess magically appeared at the cottage not fifteen minutes after her return from the hospital.

She’d barely settled Laila in the kitchen with a cup of tea when Jess arrived.

“Not that it’s not a joy to see you both,” she said, her tone wry, “but I’m wondering why exactly you’re here. It will be a while before Nell’s back.”

“It’s not Gram we’ve come to see,” Jess said. “We’ve come to try to talk some sense into you.”

“You turned down Luke’s proposal,” Laila said incredulously. “Not once, but twice. Who does that?”

Moira couldn’t help it—she laughed at the question. “You, of all people, would ask me that? How many times did Matthew try to persuade you to marry him before you said yes? I’ve heard the stories, so please don’t pretend otherwise.”

Jess chuckled. “She has a point, Laila.”

Moira whirled on her. “And you? It’s my understanding that Will jumped through hoops for years before you even agreed to a date with him.”

Laila flushed. “Unlike Jess, there were extenuating circumstances in my case,” she insisted defensively.

“And in mine,” Jess said, just as defensively.

Moira nodded. “There are quite a few in mine as well.”

“But you don’t have the luxury of waiting around,” Jess said. “Not if you expect to stay in Chesapeake Shores. Connor was very clear about that.”

“So Connor’s the blabbermouth who filled you in?” Moira asked.

Jess shrugged. “One of them. Mum’s worried about you, too.”

“Lovely to know my future is a hot topic among the O’Briens.”

“Your future and
Luke’s,
” Jess emphasized. “He’s one of us, so naturally we’re concerned with how this turns out. This is what O’Briens do.”

“Luke is the one who, up until a few days ago, wanted no part of marriage,” Moira reminded them.

Laila leveled a solemn look directly into her eyes. “But he’s always wanted
you!
That should count for something, don’t you think? Men don’t always know their own minds the way Matthew did with me or Will did with Jess.”

“Oh, yeah,” Jess confirmed. “They get all tangled up when marriage is mentioned, even when they’re crazy in love. If you went through our family one by one, there would be a lot of different variations about what it took for the men to make a commitment, but the one thing never in doubt was that they loved the women.”

She glanced to Laila, who nodded confirmation.

“Sometimes it took a gentle push to get them to say the words,” Jess continued. “Sometimes it took a crisis, as it did for Connor and Heather. Sometimes it even took a divorce, as it did for my mum and dad, but in the end the love itself was a constant.”

Moira appreciated Jess’s attempt to give her a different perspective, but she wasn’t quite ready to embrace it. “But—”

Jess cut her off. “Everything you want, or at least that you’ve indicated you want, is right there for the taking, Moira. Sometimes it’s not about the pretty words. It’s about the guy being right there when you need him most, proving his love with his actions. Isn’t that what Luke, in his own misguided way, has been trying to do?”

Laila nodded. “He’s made no secret about that timetable of his and his reasons for it. All of them valid, at least to him. But he’s willing to toss that aside to step up for you, to keep you here because he doesn’t want you to be forced to go and because he can’t bear the thought of losing you.”

Moira couldn’t deny that they were giving her an entirely different take on Luke’s actions. She’d been looking for the pretty words, just as they said, when what mattered far more was that he was willing to put his heart on the line, to do something he hadn’t planned for now because the thought of her going wasn’t acceptable to him. There was only one reason why that would be—because he loved her.

“Okay, you’ve made your point,” she told them.