“Not like this, Luke,” she whispered, heartbroken.
“But it’s the perfect solution,” he argued. “We’d have gotten to this point eventually. Why not now, when it can make a difference?”
She regarded him sorrowfully. “Because it sounds far too much like a timely business proposition. If and when you ever ask me to marry you for real, it has to be because you’re in it heart and soul, not just as a matter of convenience.”
He seemed stunned that she’d rejected the idea, but what else could she have done? Neither of them would have been happy with a bargain like this. He’d proclaimed too often that marriage wasn’t yet on that annoyingly predictable timetable of his.
“I think you should go,” she said quietly.
“I’ve made you angry, and I’m not sure why,” he said, his expression charmingly perplexed. “I’m sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“I know you did,” she responded. “And I love you for making such a grand offer. But just because something might seem right for one reason doesn’t mean it’s for the best. Go, Luke, please. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Not just yet,” he said stubbornly. “I thought marriage was what you wanted.”
“It is,” she assured him. “But not like this. Never like this.”
That he didn’t understand why she felt that way left her feeling empty and lost.
When Moira arrived at Connor’s office in the morning, Megan was already there.
“Moira, I don’t want you to worry. We’re going to fix this,” Connor said as soon as she walked in. “Mom and I already have a plan.”
“That’s right, and you’re absolutely not to worry,” Megan told her.
Moira wanted to feel reassured by their confidence, but she was still too hurt by last night’s conversation with Luke.
“I’ll leave it in your hands, Connor,” Moira said. “Whatever you need to do. If I have to go back to Ireland right after the show, it’s okay.”
Both of them regarded her with surprise.
“You’d be okay with that?” Megan asked. “What about Luke?”
“I’m not talking about Luke right now. He’s not part of this decision.”
Even Connor looked flabbergasted by that statement. He exchanged a bewildered look with his mother.
“Connor, unless you need something more right now, I think Moira and I should be going,” Megan said, already standing up and tucking her arm through Moira’s. “She’ll be with me at the gallery if you need her to fill anything out or to sign anything.”
Connor nodded, looking relieved to have his mother take charge, especially since there were things going on here that clearly mystified him.
En route to the gallery, they stopped to pick up large containers of coffee from Sally’s.
“Raspberry croissants as well, I think,” Megan told Sally. “Or would chocolate be better? This may be a chocolate occasion. What the heck. Give us both.”
“I don’t think I can eat,” Moira argued, but Megan ignored the protest and ordered them, anyway.
Once they’d arrived at the gallery, Megan encouraged her to sit, but two seconds later, Moira was up and pacing.
“I know this is upsetting,” Megan began.
“You have no idea,” Moira told her miserably.
“You do understand that Connor will do everything in his power to fix it,” Megan said.
“I know, but I’m beginning to think that going home to Ireland sooner, rather than later, would be for the best. I spoke to Peter this morning, and my old job will be waiting. Perhaps some of the photography assignments I’d declined will still be available, too.”
Megan regarded her with dismay. “Your old job at the pub?” she asked incredulously.
Moira nodded. “Along with a few photography assignments. There were new bookings just yesterday for a wedding and two baby showers, if I want them. I told him I’d take them.”
“But why?” Megan asked. “How can you do this sort of turnaround just when everything is falling into place here for a much more phenomenal future?”
“It won’t matter without Luke,” Moira said. “I’ll be better off on my home turf, living far more simply. I won’t give up on photography, not after this, but I don’t need it to be on such a grand scale.”
“What’s Luke done?” Megan asked bluntly, looking as if she was one second away from heading back up the street to the pub to throttle him if she didn’t like the answer.
“Why would you assume my decision has anything to do with him?”
Megan smiled at what she apparently considered to be a disingenuous question. “Because he’s the reason you came here, and I can only assume he’d be the reason you’re suddenly so eager to leave.”
Moira paused in her pacing and sighed. “He asked me to marry him,” she told Megan. Before her mentor could express her joy at the news, Moira added, “It’s a legal maneuver, nothing more.”
“I don’t believe that, Moira. I truly don’t. O’Brien men are more than capable of the magnificent gesture, believe me, but a marriage of convenience? No, I don’t think so. If Luke asked you to marry him, it’s because he wants to be married to you.”
Moira shook her head. “He doesn’t want me unceremoniously shipped off, that’s all.”
“Why are you so certain of that?”
“Because,” she began, tears stinging her eyes, “he never—not even once—mentioned that he loved me. The proposal was all about the legalities.”
Megan blinked, but remained depressingly silent. Obviously, no amount of optimism was enough for her to find a positive spin for that.
“Okay, what did you do when you saw Moira last night?” Connor demanded when he walked into the pub at midmorning.
Luke stared at him, his temper stirring. He’d been itching for a fight all night, and it seemed that his cousin might be on the verge of providing the perfect opportunity. “What makes you think I did anything wrong?”
“Because I expected Moira
