“Sure, don’t we have Ireland’s best wedding planner here? We have every faith that you’ll do a grand job. As for the license, we’re going to have a proper ceremony in the spring. If you like, consider this a ceremony of intent.”
“I… wow… great… I… wow.”
Brendan sat beside me. “Barb and me, well, we’re both closer to sixty than we are fifty. We’re on our own, and we’ve both been through the mill, but this is our chance for a new beginning. I didn’t think it was possible to fall in love with someone I’d just met.”
Me either. My heart reached out for Keegan. I wanted him by my side. Wanted to tell him I was sorry. Ask if he wanted to work things out. But even after all that, I didn’t know if I could forgive him for Shane.
I wasn’t aware of the tears streaming down my cheeks until Brendan offered me a crumpled tissue.
“Don’t cry, pet.” He gave my shoulder a quick, awkward pat. “I’ll never understand women and their tears over weddings.”
I sniffed, gulped, and dabbed my face. “I’m ecstatic for you. Truly. But what about this place? Barb doesn’t seem like the kind of woman who’d give up her career and move into a drafty castle in the Donegal Highlands.”
“She is, and she did.” He puffed out with pride, and I half expected him to beat his chest.
“No way.”
“She’s giving her resignation today, and once that’s accepted, she’s sending an email to her clients. Sometimes you have to follow your heart.”
“When did you propose?”
“After Barb went to see you.”
I took a deep, centering breath. If I couldn’t make myself happy, I’d do all I could to make sure Brendan and Barb were. “Well, what are you waiting for, Mr. McCabe? We have a wedding to plan.”
“One more thing; Barb and I were wondering if you’d like to run your business from here. It makes sense. We could fix one of the cottages up. You could move in. It’d be great to have an in-house wedding planner. You don’t have to move in if you don’t want, but I know you don’t live in the best area. What do you think?”
I lifted my head and stared at him as if he’d told me I’d won the lottery. Living and working at the castle would mean I could stop worrying about someone battering down my door in the middle of the night. I could rebuild my business, my reputation and pay off my debts. “Really? You’d do that for me?”
Brendan wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into a hug. “If it wasn’t for you, I’d never have found the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. It’s the least I, we, can do. What do you say?”
Still stunned, I took a few minutes to reply. “Yes. Of course. Thank you.”
The rest of the day passed in a whirlwind of plans, paparazzi, and phone calls. Tyrone, who’d read the press release, was thrilled his food wouldn’t go to waste. The editor of Celtic Bride magazine got wind of the story and asked to interview Barb. They would spin it so it sounded as if Violet had given up her dream day for her beloved friend, and thanks to Barb’s connections, an up and coming Irish designer had altered a couture creation especially for her.
The dress was exquisite—a red velvet sweetheart bodice, with a raw silk cream skirt embellished with handmade fabric roses. Barb’s raven hair and alabaster skin would make her look like a fairytale queen, and after the wedding, she would be the queen of her own castle.
Everyone would live happily ever after… except me.
By late evening, the castle looked as if it belonged in a Disney movie. Pine trees and fake snow transformed the grand hall into a winter wonderland, and round tables draped in ice-blue tablecloths surrounded a temporary dance floor.
I was busy smoothing the wrinkles from a tablecloth when Barb skipped in like Dorothy on her way down the yellow brick road with Max, her very own Toto, tucked under her arm.
Not wanting to dampen Barb’s enthusiasm, I hid my yawn with the back of my hand.
“Feel like a glass of bubbly?” Barb asked.
“If I even have a sip of alcohol, I’ll fall asleep right now standing up. I still have too much to do.”
“Who’d have thought I’d marry less than a week after I met my husband-to-be?” Barb squealed and leaped around like a teenager at her first concert.
“No one. You don’t strike me as the impulsive type.”
“I’m not. I’m a thinker, a planner, but my Spidey sense says he’s the one. Plus, it doesn’t hurt he has a stocked wine cellar more than a mile long.”
“Wow, that long?” I laughed.
“It stretches beyond the walls. Some kind of hiding place for the lords and ladies back in the day.”
I looked at Barb, truly looked at her. Happiness radiated from her face. She even had a hint of color in her usually pasty cheeks. Love, I guessed, had a way of doing that. I sighed and hoped I’d get through tomorrow without making a fool of myself by crying the entire day. Weddings always made me emotional, but tomorrow would be worse because of what I almost had with Keegan.
Barb placed her hands on my shoulders. “Can I ask you a favor?”
I blinked and focused my gaze. “Sure.”
“I need a maid of honor and someone to walk me down the aisle. Want the job?”
“But I don’t have a dress.”
“Don’t worry about that. I already got one for you. And you’ll die when you see the shoes.”
The tears I’d been holding back flowed
