“I don’t need you to plead my case,” Aidan told her.
She smiled at him. “Yes, you do, but even if you didn’t, you’re an O’Brien now. You get the full-court meddling all the rest of us have been treated to over the years. And you should know right now that Dad’s already planning a big welcome-to-the-family dinner for Sunday. Gram will be making every Irish specialty in her repertoire, so you’ll get a complete introduction into your heritage, at least on the culinary side.”
That sense of being overwhelmed washed over him again. “Do I have to?” he asked, already knowing he was wasting his breath. Of course he had to go.
“Yes,” Bree said emphatically. “Unless you want to risk offending your grandmother. Trust me—you do not want to do that. Nell doesn’t make a habit of heaping guilt on us, but she can do it with one disappointed look.”
Aidan sighed. He knew declining to come on Sunday would only be postponing the inevitable. Besides, a part of him wanted this, wanted to discover the other half of his heritage, to have family ties again.
“I’ll be there,” he said.
Bree smiled. “Good decision.” She pumped her fist. “I must have gotten a few of those guilt-inducing genes from Gram.”
“You might not want to brag about it,” Aidan said. “It’s annoying.”
She laughed. “Spoken exactly like one of my brothers. You’re an O’Brien, all right.” Her expression sobered as she held his gaze. “Welcome to the family, Aidan. I mean that.”
“Thanks, Bree. And I mean that.”
“Get some sleep. I’ll do what I can with Liz tomorrow, but you might want to give her some space, let her come to you.”
“Sure,” he said, but he knew better. Liz wasn’t going to come to him. For better or worse, she’d made her decision tonight and he doubted there was a thing Bree could say to change her mind. After all, the last time she’d been hurt this deeply, she’d left her hometown and her family to get away from the memories.
* * *
Pleading a summer cold she was determined to nip in the bud, Liz called her part-time employee first thing in the morning and asked her to cover the shop for the whole day. Tess was delighted to have the extra hours. She was saving up to buy her own car.
With that cowardly decision behind her, Liz went back to bed and pulled the covers up. The worried dogs hovered nearby. Her cat sprawled across her feet and purred loudly in what Liz supposed was meant to be a comforting gesture. Instead the noise was just getting on her last nerve, probably because she knew somewhere deep inside that she didn’t deserve to be comforted.
The things she’d said to Aidan the night before had been unkind and unwarranted. Sure, he’d kept a big secret from her, even knowing how much she hated secrets, lies and deceptions, lumping them all into one basket with her cheating ex-husband.
But, she was forced to admit, this wasn’t exactly the same. Aidan’s secret might have shaken her confidence in him, but it wasn’t about her, not really. It was about him having a father he’d never met before coming to Chesapeake Shores. She tried to imagine what that must have been like and couldn’t. And now that the news was out and he was ready—and able—to share it with her, she’d shut him down. It was probably the most dramatic, life-altering news of his life and she wouldn’t even listen. How had she allowed Josh’s big lie to harden her heart like that? And, she wondered, how had she forgotten just how many secrets of her own she’d been keeping since coming to Chesapeake Shores?
Even though she’d reached the conclusion that she’d been wrong, she had no idea how to correct her mistake. The most obvious answer was to go to Aidan and apologize. A mature, rational women who wanted a relationship with him would do exactly that. A woman who was scared to death of taking another risk, especially with a man who’d held back something important, no matter how valid his reasons—well, that was something else entirely.
The pounding on her door wasn’t entirely unexpected, but it surely wasn’t welcome. She dragged herself out of bed, pulled on a robe and padded to the door. She found Bree, Shanna and Susie on her porch.
“You’re not at work,” Shanna announced as if Liz might not be aware of the fact.
“It’s about Aidan, isn’t it?” Susie said. “You’ve broken up with him. Don’t you know that hiding out at home won’t help anything? I tried hiding out from Mack more than once. It was a waste of time. He always found me and then I just felt foolish.”
Liz’s gaze narrowed. “Are you saying I’m foolish?”
“Not at all,” Bree said, aiming a warning glance at Susie, even as she pushed right past Liz and headed for the kitchen.
By the time the rest of them trailed along behind, Bree already had coffee brewing.
“Make yourself at home, why don’t you?” Liz muttered.
Bree grinned. “Already have,” she said, going into the refrigerator for cream, eggs and butter. She emerged and reached for a loaf of bread on the counter. “I’m thinking French toast. That’s good comfort food.”
“Ooh, I love French toast,” Shanna said, then patted her belly. “So does the baby.”
Liz just pulled out a chair, sat down and rested her head on her arms on the table. The chatter swirled around her. Oddly enough, she found it comforting. Clearly they didn’t hate her for sending Aidan away, though she knew sooner or later she’d hear what they did think about it.
“Liz, any syrup?” Bree asked loudly, as if she feared Liz might have fallen asleep on them.
“Cabinet to the left of the sink, middle shelf,”
