“That’ll be progress, then, for both of us, won’t it?”
“And peace will reign over all the land,” she declared.
Now it was his turn to laugh. “Now there’s an unexpected bit of optimism it’s a pleasure to hear.” He reached up to stroke a finger along the curve of her cheek. “I’ve missed you.”
“We’ve barely been apart. It’s not like it was with you here and me in Ireland.”
“Somehow it felt as if there was even more distance between us,” he said. “Let’s not let that happen again.”
“Never again,” she said, then tilted her face up for his kiss.
She understood, then, the power of a kiss. Not only could it stir the sort of intense passion that carried people away. It could heal. And that’s exactly what this one did.
15
Jeff had been steering clear of the pub for a couple of weeks now. He knew that he tended to ask too many questions, express too many doubts. Jo had been all over him tonight, trying to make him see that he needed to offer their youngest unconditional support.
“That’s what Luke needs from you now,” she said, pressing her point yet again. “You’ve expressed all your concerns, and if I know you, you’ve done it repeatedly. Either he’s heard you or he hasn’t, but it’s time to move on and let him know you’ll be proud of him, no matter how this turns out.”
He’d frowned at her choice of words. “That sounds as if you have doubts, too.”
“Not doubts, concerns,” she corrected. “I know how important this is to Luke. He wants so badly to accomplish something of his own. There’s a lot of pressure in this family to succeed. It can be daunting. Thankfully, Susie was always immune to it, at least in the sense of establishing some high-flying career, but look at Matthew. He risked your wrath to follow in Mick’s footsteps. And the way I hear it, everyone thinks the student will surpass the teacher. Have you told him how proud of him you are, or does it still stick in your craw that he’s an architect, rather than a Realtor like you?”
“Of course I’ve told Matthew I’m proud of him,” Jeff said, indignant that she could think he’d put his own feelings ahead of what was best for their son. Sure, he and Mick had their issues, but he’d vowed not to let them spill over into Matthew’s relationship with Mick. “I saw those plans for that community he designed in Florida. They’re truly astonishing, Jo. How could I not be proud of that?”
She smiled. “Glad to hear it. Now, rise above your concerns—whatever they are—and be there for Luke. I’m sure he has enough fears of his own without your doubts weighing him down. You see, the thing about all the kids in the entire O’Brien clan is that they’re determined to succeed on their own, but they also desperately need the approval of everyone else—parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins and, of course, Nell.”
“I only want the best for all three of our kids,” he said. “I want them to follow whatever path will make them happy. I’m not setting the standard. They are.”
“I believe you mean that,” Jo said with absolute confidence. “They may not. For a family as outspoken as ours, sometimes we fail to say the words that will be the most meaningful.”
Jeff knew she was right. Jo was always right about things like this. She understood their kids in ways he never had. She understood him, too. Often lost in the shadow of his outspoken, dynamic, powerful older brothers, he’d sometimes felt left behind. She’d seen a value in the quieter traits he possessed and made him see it as well.
“You’re very smart,” he told her.
She grinned. “Isn’t that why you married me?”
“Nope. I married you because you were the only kid in high school who could outrun me. You were a challenge.” He hesitated, suddenly struck by another insight. “Is that the attraction between Luke and Moira? She’s a challenge?”
“I think that’s certainly part of it,” Jo said. “I also think there’s a streak of vulnerability that hides beneath that rebellious, tough facade of hers. Luke, like all the O’Brien men, has a soft spot for a vulnerable woman. All of you like to be our knights in shining armor.”
“I wasn’t much of one when Susie was sick,” he reminded her. “I was scared out of my wits that we were going to lose our daughter.”
“We all were, and you handled it just fine. You were right there whenever she needed you.”
“But you were the rock,” he said candidly. “No question about it.”
“It’s teamwork, love. Don’t you know that by now? I’ll always have your back, and I know with every fiber of my being that you have mine.”
“I do,” he promised. “Always.”
“And you’ll see Luke first thing in the morning so he knows you have his back as well?”
“I will if you’ll put down that book you were reading and come to bed with me.”
She grinned at the invitation, responding as she always had with an eagerness that made him feel as if he was the luckiest man on earth. Just as Susie had with her Mack, Jo had needed to slow down a bit to let Jeff catch her, but from that moment on, the balance of power between them had been perfectly even, dipping and swaying from one to the other depending on who needed the other the most, but always coming back into perfect alignment. It was the kind of harmony a lot of marriages never achieved.
As they headed upstairs, hand in hand, he smiled. Mick might have more in dollars and cents. He might have a larger, more exuberant family. But Jeff had found everything he’d ever needed in this woman and
