Moira appreciated Jess’s attempt to give her a different perspective, but she wasn’t quite ready to embrace it. “But—”
Jess cut her off. “Everything you want, or at least that you’ve indicated you want, is right there for the taking, Moira. Sometimes it’s not about the pretty words. It’s about the guy being right there when you need him most, proving his love with his actions. Isn’t that what Luke, in his own misguided way, has been trying to do?”
Laila nodded. “He’s made no secret about that timetable of his and his reasons for it. All of them valid, at least to him. But he’s willing to toss that aside to step up for you, to keep you here because he doesn’t want you to be forced to go and because he can’t bear the thought of losing you.”
Moira couldn’t deny that they were giving her an entirely different take on Luke’s actions. She’d been looking for the pretty words, just as they said, when what mattered far more was that he was willing to put his heart on the line, to do something he hadn’t planned for now because the thought of her going wasn’t acceptable to him. There was only one reason why that would be—because he loved her.
“Okay, you’ve made your point,” she told them.
“Then you’ll accept his proposal?” Jess prodded, a gleam in her eyes as she clearly jumped feetfirst into making plans. “We’ll have the wedding at the inn. I think that’s best, don’t you? I can pull it together in no time.”
Moira laughed at her enthusiasm. “Hold on. I haven’t even spoken to Luke yet.”
“Well, what on earth are you waiting for?” Laila asked. “Get over to the pub and straighten this out now.”
“I’d planned to clean up the cottage before Nell gets home,” Moira protested. “While I’ve been hiding away here the past few days, I’ve let dishes pile up in the sink. She can’t come home to that.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Jess promised. “The cottage will be spotless by the time Gram gets here. Just go.”
Moira regarded them both with a mix of gratitude and dismay. “Is anyone ever able to get out of the way once the O’Brien bulldozer kicks into gear?”
The two women exchanged a look, then chuckled.
“I haven’t met anyone yet,” Laila said.
“Me, either,” Jess added. “You’d be the first.” She grinned. “But only if you’re a lot more foolish than I think you are.”
“Am I allowed time to shower and change?”
“I suppose that would be okay,” Jess said. “But don’t dawdle. We want to have an announcement ready when Gram gets home. The prospect of another O’Brien wedding will be the best medicine possible.”
Moira smiled at that, but she didn’t blow Nell’s news—that Nell had a wedding of her own in the works. Unlike the rest of this family, she at least knew how to keep a secret.
Luke was conducting job interviews when Moira walked into the pub. He’d decided he couldn’t put off hiring extra waitstaff or a potential new manager. Though he’d scheduled these interviews before Moira had twice turned down his proposal, he saw the inevitability of needing the help as more critical than ever now. With the photography show on the horizon and then her likely departure, he had no choice.
Startled, he watched as Moira eyed the assembled women with a malevolent look that probably should have scared them off, but none of them appeared smart enough to notice. He’d grown weary of their stock replies to his standard questions. It would have been all too easy to dismiss the entire lot of them, especially with the prospect of settling things with Moira right here in front of him.
Instead, though, he went ahead and started to call for the next candidate. Moira held up a hand, then stepped in front of him.
“A moment, please,” Moira said quietly.
“I’m in the middle of interviewing prospective employees,” he told her, mostly to be obstinate.
“I can see that. This is more important.”
He took heart at that. “Okay, then.”
He excused himself and followed Moira outside, where presumably they’d have more privacy than they would in the pub in front of a suddenly attentive audience.
“I wasn’t sure I’d see you again,” he began. “You’ve seemed determined to put an end to things between us.”
“And would it have mattered to you if you hadn’t?” she asked, then waved off the question. “Don’t answer that. I’m here professionally, not personally, right at the moment.”
He frowned. That didn’t seem to bode well. “What exactly does that mean?”
“It means you’re wasting your time talking to all those women in there. The job is filled.” She held his gaze. “Unless you intend to rescind your offer.”
Luke’s heart skipped several beats. “Which offer are we talking about?” he inquired hesitantly. She’d said she was here professionally, after all.
“It’s a package deal,” she told him. “You get a wife, a partner and a consultant, all rolled into one. It remains to be seen if you’ll have some famous superstar photographer in the bargain, so you need to focus on the first three things. Those are the ones that matter.”
As she spoke, she gave him a challenging look. He had to look closely to see the hint of uncertainty behind it.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“I’ve been sure from the beginning,” she said. “It’s your certainty that’s been in question. I don’t want to stay if it’s only to beat off immigration. I don’t want to be in your life if it’s only to please your grandmother.”
Luke smiled at that. “Those were just the excuses I needed to do what I’ve longed to do since
