“You need more?” Moira said, her heart sinking. She’d been counting on getting back to the pub—and Luke—tomorrow.
“Yes,” Megan said firmly. “And this is only the beginning of putting the show together, Moira. I’ll be able to do most of it, but there will be mounting the pictures to be done. You’ll want a say in that, and in how they’re hung in the gallery. And I’m anticipating a lot of publicity, so you’ll have to be available for interviews.”
In the back of her mind, Moira had known all that, but it hadn’t seemed real to her. Even on her most hopeful days, she hadn’t envisioned things going so far, that expectations would be so demanding and time-consuming.
“It’s part of the job,” Megan said, when she was silent for too long. “An important part. You have to be willing to commit to all of it.”
Moira nodded. “I know that. And I won’t quit now. It’s just given me a lot more to think about, that’s all.”
Megan smiled. “It’s all going to be worth it,” she promised. “Now get back out there and take more pictures. At our next meeting, we’ll start to narrow them down and make the final selections.” She reached over and touched Moira’s hand. “And try to look a bit happier about this, okay? I’d hate to think I’m forcing you into something that’s making you miserable.”
Moira managed a tight smile. “I’m grateful,” she said. “More than grateful.”
“But you’re still uncertain,” Megan said. “I can understand that. You won’t know if all the sacrifices have been worth it until the show actually opens. If it goes as I anticipate, that’s when you’ll have the really tough choices to make. I’ve already shown a few of the sample prints to my former boss in New York. He’s very interested, and he’ll be here for the show. I’m fairly certain he’s going to want to do something at his gallery.”
New York? It seemed inconceivable to Moira. And much too far away from Chesapeake Shores and Luke. If a show like that actually happened—and she had no reason to doubt Megan’s optimism—Moira wasn’t sure what she would do.
Luke looked up from his spot behind the bar and saw Moira coming in, her expression dejected. He knew she’d been planning to see Megan today, so he immediately worried that the meeting had gone badly.
“You okay?”
“Fine,” she said, slipping onto a bar stool.
“Want something to drink?”
“A diet soda will do.”
He poured the drink, then came around the bar and sat beside her, turning her to face him. “Didn’t things go well with Megan? Wasn’t she happy with the latest pictures?”
“She loved them,” Moira responded gloomily, “but she wants more.”
“And that’s bad?” he asked carefully, trying to see it the way she obviously did.
“It means I won’t be back here tomorrow or the day after that or the one after that,” she said miserably. “I don’t know when I’ll be back, and you can’t hold a place for me forever. You’ll need to fill the position.”
“I can hang on awhile longer,” he reassured her. “This place should be the least of your concerns.”
“But I miss you. I miss this,” she said.
“You’re here now, and I’m right here with you. We’re together most nights.”
“I know I sound like a whiny five-year-old who wants it all, and wants it now,” she said. “I know I’ve accused you more than once of having your priorities all mixed up, but just look at mine. I thought I was so superior because I knew exactly what I wanted. And now, it turns out, I’m a total mess. I have no idea what I want from one minute to the next.”
Luke risked a smile. “You can have it all, you know.”
“That’s what Megan says. I’m not sure I believe her. Just look how this show in a small town has taken over my life. And now she’s talking about a show at a gallery in New York.”
Luke’s eyes widened. “She’s talked to her old boss about you?”
Moira nodded. “She’s even sent him a few prints.”
“That’s amazing. You can’t walk away now.”
“I’m not going to,” Moira said irritably. “I’m no quitter. But I feel as if I’ve crawled onto this bloody treadmill that’s going faster and faster and I’ve no way to get off. Or perhaps not the sense to, even if I could.”
Luke put his hands on her arms and waited until she’d looked him in the eye. “What is it you really, really want? What is your heart telling you?”
She gave him a look filled with such sorrow it almost broke his heart.
“I can’t hear it anymore,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “Every time I think I know, someone tugs me in another direction.”
“I have an idea,” he said. “Gram and Dillon were in here earlier. They’re thinking of taking a day or two and going sightseeing in New York. You’d have the cottage entirely to yourself. Maybe that’s what you should do. Stay there in the peace and quiet until you can hear yourself think again.”
“Away from you?” she said, sounding alarmed.
“Just for a few days, Moira. I think you need that time to get your bearings. I’m bound to be one of those who’s been tugging you in one direction or another. So has Megan, and who knows who else has, given this family’s tendency to meddle. I’ll make sure no one bothers you there. It can be totally restful.”
“I’m not sure I know how to do restful,” she said. “I could go completely stir-crazy.”
He laughed at that. “Then you’ll come looking for me, won’t you?
