“Hell, if you don’t know, I’m not going to tell you.” Sean took another sip of his beer, then slid off his bar stool. “I’ve got to go. Tell Da I can tend bar tomorrow night.”
“And you and I are going to look for a wedding present for Brendan and Amy tomorrow, right? And we have to go get fitted for our tuxes, too.”
Sean nodded and waved as he strode out of the bar. Seamus wandered down to the end and picked up Liam’s nearly empty glass. “Another?” he asked.
Liam shook his head. “Nah. I better get going. Sean said he’ll work tomorrow night. And I think I’m good for the weekend.”
“Ah, you’re a pitiful sight, boyo,” Seamus commented, wiping the bar with a damp rag. “Ya sit here every night moonin’ over that girl and where does it get ya?”
“Da, I don’t need advice on my love life from you. We all know where you stand on the subject of women. Except, of course, for Ma.”
“I’m just sayin’ that ya got to stand up and be a man. Get busy livin’ or get busy lovin’. This in-between makes ya look like a bleedin’ gombeen.”
Liam grabbed his jacket. “Are you going to tell me one of those Mighty Quinn stories now?”
“Maybe you could use one,” he said.
Shaking his head, Liam started toward the door, then heard Seamus softly call his name. He glanced over and saw his father nod his head toward the other end of the bar. Ellie stood next to a bar stool near the door, her hands clutched in front of her. Liam stopped dead in his tracks and his breath froze in his throat. He’d seen her just once in the past month, those few precious seconds outside the conference room in New York. But in the days that had followed, he’d imagined this moment over and over again, dreamed about it at night, carefully considered what he might say.
He slowly approached her, his gaze fixed on hers. God, she looked pretty. She wore a cotton dress with a little sweater. Her dark hair fell in waves over her shoulders. “You’re here,” he said.
Ellie nodded. “I wasn’t sure if I should come.”
“No,” Liam said. “I’m glad you came. It…it’s good to see you, Ellie.”
She stared down at her fingertips, painted a pretty shade of pink. “I’m just in town for the day and I had a few things to say. I thought I’d get a chance to see you at the trial.”
“Yeah, the trial. I guess I’m kind of glad we didn’t have to go through that.”
“That’s what I came to tell you.” She risked a glance up at him. “I want you to know that there are no hard feelings. I understand now that you were just doing a job and that your only concern was putting Ronald Pettibone in jail-where he belonged.”
“That wasn’t my only concern, Ellie.” He reached out to touch her arm. “And it wasn’t just a job. I was with you because I wanted to be with you, not because I had to be.”
A blush stained her cheeks. “You don’t have to say that. I’m really all right with everything that happened.”
“Well, I’m not,” Liam countered. “Ellie, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
She stared at him for a long moment and Liam was sure she was about to turn and run. But then she swallowed hard and attempted to smile. “And I haven’t stopped thinking about you, either,” Ellie said. “I made a mistake and-”
“No, I’m the one who made the mistake.” Liam couldn’t contain his excitement. She still cared! “I never should have let you go.”
“I never should have gone.”
Liam glanced around the pub, then grabbed Ellie’s hand and pulled her toward the door. They stepped outside into the late-afternoon sun. A warm breeze blew from the south and summer was in the air. He pulled Ellie along the sidewalk until he was sure they were completely alone. “What does this mean?”
“I don’t know,” she said, her voice trembling. “I just feel like we left things unfinished.”
“Me, too,” Liam said. “Like there’s more to us than what we had. That if we just had a little more time, we would realize how great it really was.”
“So what
Liam’s gaze skimmed over her pretty face. “It means that I want to be with you, Ellie. I want to see where this could go.” He reached up and cupped her face in his palms, then kissed her, lingering over her lips for a long time. “I love you. I don’t think I really knew that for sure until this very moment. But I can’t even think of a future without you in it.”
“That’s a good thing,” Ellie said, her mouth curving into a warm smile. “Because I just accepted a new job at the Boston branch of Intertel. I thought I might come here and get a new start.” She reached up and brushed his hair back from his eyes. “And just so you know, I love you, too.”
Liam tipped his head back and laughed. Then he grabbed her again and pulled her into his embrace, this time kissing her like a man in love. He’d spent so long avoiding a real relationship and now he understood why-he’d been waiting for Ellie Thorpe to come into his life.
“You know, I’m going to ask you to marry me,” Liam said. “And we’re going to have a family and we’re going to live happily ever after. Are you all right with that?”
“You’re not proposing to me now, are you?” Ellie asked, looking slightly alarmed.
“No. I’m just warning you that I will. And it will be great. And you won’t be able to say no.”
“You’re pretty confident, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I am. I’ve been doing a little reading.
Ellie blushed, then wriggled in his arms. “I think I have. But you know, I’ve decided to give up the self-help books. Instead I’m just going to listen to my heart.”
“And what does your heart say?”
“That I’m glad you came to my rescue that night. And that I’m glad I decided to come to Boston today.”
Liam chuckled, thinking back to all the tales of the Mighty Quinns he’d been told as a child, to the Quinn “curse” that had befallen his three oldest brothers. He smoothed his hands over Ellie’s shoulders and kissed her forehead. Now he knew why Conor and Dylan and Brendan had laughed when their father brought up the curse. It wasn’t a curse at all. It was a gift.
And Liam was going to spend the rest of his life thankful for the gift, for the fateful events that brought Ellie Thorpe into his life…and for the love that would keep her there.
Epilogue
“ARE YOU READY YET?”
Ellie stared at her reflection in the mirror, then touched her fingers to the string of pearls that circled her throat. Liam had given them to her as an anniversary gift, in honor of one month together. She smiled. One month and so much had changed. They’d settled into a life together. Liam’s career had begun to flourish and Ellie had a brand-new job at Intertel Boston. They’d begun a search for the perfect apartment, living at Liam’s place while they looked. And she’d fallen more deeply in love with the man of her dreams.
“Perfect,” she murmured, pleased with how the necklace looked with her gown.
Liam knocked impatiently on the bathroom door. “We’re going to be late, Ellie.”
“I’m coming,” she said. “Just give me a few more minutes.”
“Amy told me that I have to be there at exactly six p.m.”
“It’s five-thirty,” Ellie called. “The wedding doesn’t start until seven. We have plenty of time. The church is only fifteen minutes away.”
Ellie smoothed her hands over her gown. The pale blue silk had a strapless bodice that fit her perfectly. The beading gave it an elegant look and the narrow waist flared into a full skirt that rustled when she walked.
“Are you dressed?” Ellie asked, picking up her earrings.
“All but the tie. I can’t get it straight. And these studs are too small to work. Why don’t they just put buttons on the shirt?”
