“Would you like me to repeat it on opening day?” Jeff offered.
Laughing, Luke shook his head. “Now that’s a day I think it will take more than kind words to calm me down. I can’t wait, though. I still have a long to-do list, but Moira swears we’ll be ready. I’m trusting her judgment on that.”
His father gave him an awkward hug. “You need anything at all, give me a call. The same with the rest of the family. We can pitch in on anything, large or small, okay?”
“I know that, Dad. It’s the best part of being an O’Brien.”
Moira had heard Jeff’s voice when she arrived at the pub in the morning, so she went around the corner to Sally’s for a cup of coffee to give Luke some privacy with his father. She knew things were often contentious between them. She also understood from living with her grandfather that the best way to solve that was through spending time together.
She’d been seated for barely a minute when Bree appeared and slid into the booth opposite her.
“Did Luke apologize?” she asked Moira at once.
Moira stared at her. “How did you know about Luke needing to apologize? Was it the infamous O’Brien grapevine?”
“No, I got this straight from the horse’s mouth,” Bree said with a grin. “Luke called asking for my help with flowers.”
Understanding dawned. “And you’re the one who told him to sneak into Nell’s garden?”
“I did,” Bree said proudly. “I thought it was inspired. Did it work?”
“Actually, I forgave him before he had to risk Nell’s wrath.”
Bree immediately looked disappointed. “Now what fun is that?”
Moira regarded her with amazement. “You wanted him to get caught?”
“Well, sure,” Bree said unrepentantly. “When we were kids, all the others were constantly getting into mischief. I was usually hidden away in my room reading or daydreaming. I made a great target for their pranks. Now it’s my turn to get even, because I know Jake won’t let them hurt me.”
Moira laughed. “This family is just a little nuts.”
“More than likely,” Bree agreed. “So you and Luke are okay now?”
“I hear she’s going on the payroll as his Irish consultant,” Heather said, joining them with an amused expression.
“I know where you heard that,” Moira said. “Isn’t Connor supposed to keep his clients’ business to himself?”
“Oh, he was quiet as a church mouse when I tried to find out why you were at his office yesterday. It was my mother-in-law who filled me in.”
Moira winced. “Megan already knows about this?”
“And before you ask,” Heather said, “I have no idea who spilled the beans to her, but she is married to Mick, who finds out everything.”
“Is she upset because I’m going to be working at the pub, rather than taking pictures for my portfolio?” Moira asked.
“You can ask her that yourself,” Heather said, already slipping out of the booth as Megan came into the café. “Come on, Bree. We need to go to work.”
“But all the excitement is going to be here,” Bree protested.
“Come on,” Heather insisted, pausing to give Megan a hug before dragging her sister-in-law away.
“I’m sorry,” Moira said at once. “I wanted you to hear about all this from me.”
“You mean the fact that you’re giving up the opportunity of a lifetime to be a waitress?” Megan asked quietly as she signaled Sally for a cup of coffee.
“Not a waitress,” Moira objected. “A consultant.”
Megan lifted a brow. “Seriously?”
“Okay, yes, I’ll be waiting on tables and cooking from time to time, but it’s what I want,” she told her, her jaw set stubbornly.
“If it truly is, then you have my blessing,” Megan said. “But if this is because of Luke, you’re making a terrible mistake. Are you afraid he can’t handle you becoming a huge success?”
“Absolutely not,” Moira said, then frowned. Megan sounded so sure that what she was doing was something she’d come to regret. “Do you think he’ll never want me the way I want him? Is that why you think I’m making a mistake?”
“No. What I fear is that you’re walking away from a career that could give you fame and creative satisfaction, to say nothing of great financial rewards.”
“Do I have to choose?” Moira asked wistfully. “I mean, right at the moment? I know you’re an expert and I respect your opinion, but there’s no certainty that I could be a success at photography, is there? I know it’s a world that can be capricious, especially at the artistic end of it, as you’re proposing.”
“So you’re scared of failing?” Megan asked, looking disappointed.
Moira shook her head indignantly. “Not at all,” she insisted. “Luke asked the same thing, but it’s not that. I swear it isn’t.”
“Then explain it to me, because I honestly don’t understand,” Megan said.
“It would mean giving up a certainty, something I know and love, for what could be no more than a pipe dream,” Moira told her earnestly. “It’s as if I’m at this fork in the road and I’m choosing the one that feels right, familiar to me.”
“But it’s only when we take the other fork that we grow,” Megan said. “I’m sure you’ve heard the story of me walking out on Mick all those years ago. If I’d listened solely to my heart, I’d have stayed right here with my family, even though I was terribly unhappy. By choosing to take the risk of losing, look at all I gained. I have a career that truly fulfills me.”
“But you came close to losing your children in the bargain,” Moira reminded her. “Was it worth that sacrifice?”
Megan’s face clouded over and, for a minute,
