The Summer Garden. Sherryl Woods

“And you’ll be leaving when exactly?”

       “In a week. Back a month after that, so photographing the wedding’s not possible,” she said with genuine regret. Was she making a mistake turning down such an opportunity when there were no guarantees about what she’d find when she arrived in Chesapeake Shores?

       She shook off her doubts. There was only this one chance to test the waters with Luke. If Peter was right, there would be more opportunities for photography.

       “I’d have to know the date of the baby shower. I might be back for that,” she told him. The thought of having actual jobs lined up for her return was astonishing. What an amazing, exciting prospect!

       Peter nodded. “I’ll check on that and confirm it if the date works. I imagine I’ll be needing a calendar to book all your jobs for your return,” he said. “I’ll be your official agent—how’s that?”

       She grinned at his enthusiasm. “You’d do that?”

       “I discovered you, didn’t I? I can’t let you lose business before you’ve even begun.”

       “You won’t go crazy, though, right? Just a few jobs, till we know for sure if I’m any good at this. You could be biased, or half-blind, for all I know.”

       Peter laughed. “I’m neither, Moira. Just a smart businessman, who likes to think he’s able to spot talent when he sees it. Go and have your adventure, then hurry back. Leave the rest to me.”

       “Can I finish out this week?” she asked. “I’ll need some spending money for the trip.”

       “Of course you can. In fact, I think Kevin’s in need of another pint and the couple in the corner are looking a bit bemused by the menu. You might stop and explain it to them.”

       “Will do,” she said eagerly. She turned away with Kevin’s Guinness, then whirled back so quickly she almost spilled it. “Thank you, Peter.”

       “For the work? It’s nothing.”

       “For the inspiration,” she corrected, thinking of his faith in her photography. Encouragement had been rare in her life. She felt the glow of it all the way through. “I’m excited about going, but now I’m almost as excited by the prospect of coming home.”

       Luke was exhausted by the end of the day. Between meetings with potential suppliers, hours in the kitchen with Gram, who’d turned out to be an exacting taskmaster, and pitching in on some of the actual construction work, he came home ready to fall directly into bed.

       He forced himself to take a couple of minutes to switch on the computer, check his emails to see if there was one from Moira, then send a reply. One of these days, he vowed to take the time to sit down and call her. Judging from her increasingly terse responses, she was feeling left out and abandoned. He could hardly blame her, when the most he managed was a two-sentence capsule of his day. He knew her well enough to understand that in her mind that could easily be construed as a lack of interest. As Gram had hinted, Moira wasn’t the kind of woman to put up with neglect for long.

       Tonight he managed to keep his eyes open long enough to add a line pleading with her for understanding. “I want to tell you about all of this one of these days, but right now I hardly have two minutes to myself all day long. Hopefully, this will be enough to let you know that I’m thinking about you. Be patient with me. Luke.”

       He’d barely hit the send button and signed off when his cell phone rang. Without even looking at the caller ID, he knew it was Kristen. She’d grown even more impatient with him lately than Moira had. He debated letting the call go to voice mail, but knew it would only buy him one evening of peace. She’d call again tomorrow and the day after that. She might not be the love of his life, but she didn’t deserve to be ignored any more than Moira did.

       “Hey, Kristen,” he said, injecting a note of forced cheer into his voice. “How are you?”

       “Lonely,” she said at once. “What are you doing?”

       “I just got home and I’m about to fall into bed,” he told her.

       “Why not come to my place and fall into my bed?”

       A few months ago, he would have eagerly taken her up on the offer. Right after he’d finished college and was at loose ends, their casual, no-strings understanding was exactly what he’d wanted in his life. Kristen had seemingly been content with it as well. He’d only grown dissatisfied after the trip to Ireland when their few days together after the family had left had felt awkward and vaguely unsatisfying, as if he were doing something wrong, rather than something mutually agreed to. That reaction had been magnified because he’d already sensed that he could have real feelings for someone else, for Moira.

       Once Kristen had left Dublin and he’d stayed on, spending more and more time with Moira, he’d known that he’d have to end things with Kristen as soon as he returned to Chesapeake Shores. So far, though, he’d done nothing about the situation beyond avoiding her when he could. Yet another bit of cowardly behavior that wasn’t fair to anyone.

       “Luke, have you fallen asleep with me on the line?” she asked, a mix of amusement and impatience in her voice.

       “Just about, I’m afraid,” he said. “Not tonight, Kristen. I’m wiped out.”

       “You’ve been wiped out a lot lately.”

       “You know I’ve been totally consumed with turning this pub into a reality. It’s going to be a real crunch to pull it off on time. I’m not going to have a lot of free time for a while.”

       “And then?” she asked pointedly.

       He sighed. “And then we’ll see, I guess. Look, Kristen, we’ve never been exclusive. I can’t ask you to sit around and wait for my schedule to lighten up. That’s not fair to you.”

       “Why do I get the feeling that this brush-off has less to do with your demanding schedule than it does with that woman you met in Ireland, the one everyone but you has mentioned. Moira, is it?”

       He closed his eyes. He should have guessed someone in the family would have filled her in. Because of Kristen’s past history with Mack and her blatant attempt to win him back despite his marriage to Susie, none of the O’Briens approved of Luke’s relationship with her. They’d be all too eager to let her know he’d found someone else and dent what they considered to be her massively self-absorbed ego.

       “It’s not really about Moira or anyone else,” he insisted, trying to cushion this with a half truth. “It’s about my priorities right now. Opening this pub is my first chance to prove myself. I have to stay focused and get this right. There’s no time for distractions.”

       “I suppose I should be flattered that a few hours in my bed would be too great a distraction for you,” she commented wryly. “Okay, I get it, but I’ll keep in touch, Luke. Eventually, you’ll realize what you’re sacrificing and want me back.”

       He realized that she had the confidence to believe every word she was saying. “Take care of yourself,” he said, rather than arguing with her.

       “See you soon,” she replied, clearly undaunted.

       Yes, he thought wearily, she probably would. Kristen was not the sort of woman to take rejection seriously, much less accept that it was irreversible. More’s the pity.

      3

      “Have I made a mistake in inviting Moira to come along?” Dillon asked Nell when he called to let her know about his change of plans.

       Nell laughed. “Absolutely not. I think it’s delightfully devious. I think I’ll keep it to myself so Luke is caught completely by surprise.”

       Dillon hesitated, then asked worriedly, “You don’t think he’s put her out of his head, do you? I don’t want her to get there and be humiliated.”