Chapter 36
“The texts stopped,” River announced.
They were still snuggled up in the sunroom nook, the rich scents of soil and green not as comforting as usual. They were palming their phones like the bits of flat metal were precious objects. Not Nan. She was cooing at her great-grandson.
She grinned at her granddaughters then, looking quite satisfied and not in the least concerned about the communication interruption.
“The men are planning. Raven and River were purposefully vague on what you were doing here and about how long you planned to stay. Bran and Pat wouldn’t like that. Rowan,” Nan continued, “you told Hugh, in not so many words that you might not live with him. You also told him you weren’t going to chase him again.”
“Nan’s right,” Raven agreed. “None of the O’Faolain men sit on their hands. They’re much more prone to action. Me and Riv are married, so Bran and Patrick have security in that. Hugh doesn’t have that insurance. He’ll come to you,” she predicted.
“I guarantee he’s coming,” River grinned.
Nan patted Daniel’s back and stood, stretching her back and giving Daniel a smacking kiss, making the little boy grin. “Get off your lazy bums, girls, most likely we have two hours before that ornery boyfriend of yours arrives, Rowan. Let’s all go to my house and get started on an early dinner feast.”
She blushed sweetly when she told them she’d love for them to see the kitchen table Devlen had built her. “He knew how much I loved my old table here and wanted me to have one that he made with his own hands for all our new memories.”
“Oh my,” Rowan sniffed.
Raven smiled and kissed Nan on the cheek before lifting her son from her arms.
River dabbed her eyes. “You scored with that one, Nan.”
“Why do we need to make so much food?” Raven asked as they made their way from the sunroom.
“You didn’t seriously think Hugh would come alone? How absurd. Those three are as thick as you three.”
Her sisters all grinned, anticipating seeing their men. Rowan tried to grin back. Her family was so sure Hugh would be overjoyed with a baby. She wasn’t so sure. Ah well, it was too late to turn back now. The plan to draw Hugh to Boyle had already begun.
“Why doesBran always get to sit in front? It’s bullshit,” Patrick moaned from the back.
“The same reason it’s always been, dumbass. I’m older.”
“You’re such a dick.”
“I don’t care what you call me. I’m in the front seat,” Bran crowed.
“River told me that Raven said your bedroom game’s gone downhill, bro. Have you considered vitamins?”
“The hell she said that!”
Before Bran could jump in the backseat and start a fight with his brother, Hugh warned them, “If I have to tell you boys to shut the fuck up one more time, I’ll pull this car over and leave your asses on the side of the road.” Hugh sighed when they both laughed. Did God truly never give someone more than they could bear? He’d pondered that over the years. Many, many times.
“Lighten up, Dad. You’re just nervous,” Bran offered yet more unsolicited opinions.
“She won’t say no. Remember the rules,” Patrick reminded. “Happy. Humble. Hugs. Happy. Humble. Hugs,” he repeated.
Dickhead.
“Right,” Bran chimed in. Again. “No growls, grimaces, or glares.”
His boys must have decided today was the day for alliteration.
The truth was, he was too nervous to even yell at them again. His hands were white-knuckling the wheel. He’d be pulling into Bébhinn’s in five minutes. Rowan didn’t know he was coming. He didn’t know if she would speak to him or be pissed that he came.
He’d taken the ring out of its fancy box and stuffed it down his front pants pocket.
He was going to do this. He was going to ask Rowan to marry him. In front of their family.
He was most comfortable with his sons and the Byrnes. This should not be a problem. It would not be a problem.
His first instinct was to ask Rowan to speak with him privately, but he knew this wasn’t the time to hide his feelings. Everyone knew he loved Rowan. She was the only one who had doubts, and he was about to fix that, which was why he was currently sweating and having hot flashes like a menopausal woman.
Bran and Pat were still insulting each other when they pulled over the wooden bridge leading to the Byrne plot. As the trees thinned and the quaint Irish two-story surrounded by an explosion of flowers came into view, the vehicle became silent. He almost wished the boys had continued their inane chatter. Putting the car in park, he tried to breathe through the panic.
A hand came down hard on his shoulder. “Dad, Bran and I agree that Raven and River would have told us to keep you away if that’s what Rowan had really wanted. They didn’t. She wanted you to come here. There’s no other explanation,” Patrick encouraged.
“Our sister loves you, Dad,” Bran thumped him in the arm, smirking as he hopped out of the car so Hugh wouldn’t retaliate.
Sister.Jesus. Hugh got out of the car with a sigh. He wasn’t ready, but if he waited any longer, he’d lose his nerve.
The house was empty. Used mugs in the sink and one of Daniel’s blankets were the only thing to show they’d been there.
“I bet they’re at Devlen and Nan’s house,” Pat offered.
Hugh grunted in response. They exited the house and walked to the abutting property.
“You’re already forgetting the G’s. No growls, grimaces, glares, or grunting,” Bran reminded.
Hugh ignored the giant blonde mosquito buzzing in his ear and took long-legged strides to the neighboring house. As his feet hit Devlen’s drive, his boys at his back, he spied Rowan and her sisters through the full-picture window facing them.
The three women froze at the sight. Eyes wide they placed hands on Rowan’s shoulders almost simultaneously as his boys did the same. His heart actually struggled to produce its normal rhythm. She was breathtaking. Stunning. And she would be his wife.
“They’re here,”Rowan whispered. They’d been setting the table for dinner—and it was a lovely table, which she’d told Devlen, who’d blushed and left for the barn. It was then that she spied three gorgeous modern warriors striding across Dev’s grounds. Good Lord, she forgot what a powerful image they made together. Her sisters obviously felt the same. Their eyes were glued to the trio.
“Get in the kitchen, girls, and do something besides trip over your slack jaws.” Nan said, popping them lightly in their rears with a damp kitchen towel.
Three squeals later, they ran back to the kitchen, adjusted their aprons, and had just picked up three identical blue flowered mixing bowls when someone knocked at the front door. Nan gave them a stay there look before going to let their guests in.
This was it. Baby reveal time.
Bébhinn opened the door,raised eyebrows and disapproval flattening her lips.
“Hugh, boys,” she nodded and smiled, stepping aside to allow them to come in.
The smile was only for Bran and Patrick. Hugh tipped his head in thanks as he moved by the Byrne matriarch, his eyes scanning the open floor plan for any sign of Rowan. He barely repressed a smile at finding three sets of hazel eyes glued to him and his sons.
If he had his phone in hand, he would have loved to have had a picture to preserve this moment. Rowan, Raven, and River held mixing bowls in varying stages of spilling the contents—except the bowls were clearly empty. They wore matching aprons, one green, one blue, and one yellow, all with #1 Granddaughter embroidered on the chest.
They were so similar in appearance. It still startled him. Except he knew them all very well now. Raven’s lips were fuller. River’s eyes held a curious cat slant. Rowan, his Rowan, had deep dimples. Dimples he’d worshipped with his tongue more than once.
He felt his sons at his back, giving him the strength to move. He walked with purpose toward the one woman he couldn’t live without. The girls each set their bowls on the counter before them. Sure enough…empty. They’d counted on them showing up. Raven and River weren’t even pretending to be surprised.
Rowan looked…scared. That put him on high alert.
The kitchen was nice but by no means spacious. Seven people crowding around the narrow center island was putting the space at or past capacity.
Rowan finally met his eyes. His focus had never wavered, so he knew the moment she decided to look at him. He saw her breath shudder, her shoulders stiffen. He wanted her in his arms. He wanted every reservation she’d used to build this wall between them destroyed.
She cleared her throat and brushed her hands down the yellow ruffled skirt of her apron. “Hugh, would you step outside with me?”
Alarm bells went off. Her demeanor was screaming endings. He was only interested in beginnings. The five sets of eyes currently ping-ponging between him and Rowan was a test of endurance and one he planned on acing. He wasn’t holding back. Not anymore.
“You can tell me whatever you need to in front of everyone. I have things to say to you too.” Her eyes widened in surprise and then panic. Not good. When she looked at her sisters for help, and they shrugged, his nerves started blowing fuses.
“I would rather do it in private,” she countered.
“I promised that I would try harder to show everyone in public how much I love you. I screwed up last night. I’m not doing that today or any day from now on.” She appeared shocked. Her mouth opened and closed several times. Nothing ever came out—yeah, he had definitely shocked the hell out of her. He crossed his arms and continued to watch her, waiting for her to realize he was dead serious.
“Okay…you’re sure?” she asked. At his nod, she said, “I’m pregnant.”
His mind took a nap. He could only stare and sway, sway and stare. Pregnant. “But…I don’t understand.” Even in his shocked state, he knew how dumb that sounded.
“One of the times we had sex the first night we were together—totally together—remember, we didn’t use?—”
A brief glance at Bébhinn had him cutting her off. “Okay, transparency doesn’t have to mean full disclosure,” he winced at the poorly covered cough-guffaws exploding around them.
He took a step closer to her. She was watching him closely, clearly trying to decipher how he felt about the news. If she discovered what that was, he hoped she would share her thoughts with him. He wanted to walk out of the kitchen and take some time to digest the news but knew to do that would hurt her. He would stay. Of course, he would stay. He and Rowan were going to have a child together. A zing of nerves pinched his chest, but so did excitement.
“Hey, Pat, do you remember all those safe sex talks Dad forced on us in high school?”
“Yeah, wear a condom, or I’ll kill you. I guess practice what you preach doesn’t mean what I thought.”
“Boys,” Bébhinn scolded. To the rest of the occupants, she said, “Let’s give these two a moment.”
Once everyone had filed out, he asked, “Why didn’t you come home? Why did you run?” She blushed at that, clearly not impressed with her actions, but she didn’t look embarrassed.
“I won’t apologize. I got the news and panicked. I panicked because you made it clear more than once that you weren’t interested in having any more children.”
All true. He frowned, thinking about what an unbending ass he’d been. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He stepped closer, close enough to take her hands into his own and hold them to his chest. He blew out a breath, not wishing to discuss what he knew he needed to.
“Helen was never kind to me. When she was pregnant, she was vicious. The results, the boys, was worth it, but it didn’t make me want to repeat it,” he explained. Rowan’s eyes were glassy when he finished. She knew how much Helen had hurt him during their marriage. She was the one to close the last of the distance separating them.
“I will only ever love you, pregnant or not.”
“I know that. This was all on me.”
“I…I want the baby, Hugh. I wish we could have discussed it together and decided the right time. You know I would have worn you down, and you would have eventually agreed,” she grinned up at him before sobering again, “but I do wish you’d had a choice.”
Hugh pushed the empty bowls back the girls had been holding and lifted Rowan to sit on the counter, where he stepped between her legs. He bent and whispered against her lips. “I had a choice, baby, and it was to be balls deep in you without a condom. We made this child, and I sure as hell am not giving either of you up. Ever.”
When her mouth parted on an exhale, he took advantage and kissed her. Something slow and sweet, a kiss that spoke of everything in his heart he wasn’t poetic enough to speak. He broke away long enough to fish the engagement ring out of his front pocket. Her eyes were still dazed from the kiss, and it took her a moment to see what he held pinched between his fingers.
“I came here today to ask you to marry me, well, I would have apologized for last night first but…Rowan Clary Byrne, will you marry me?”
Will you marry me?Looking between Hugh’s grim face and the ring, she felt her face flush with pleasure. Rowan was pretty good at reading his expressions, or lack thereof, and the blank one he was rocking in that moment was nervousness. As if he had any reason to doubt her answer.
“Yes, and it’s about damn time, Mr. O’Faolain,” she laughed as he slipped the—holy cow!—yellow diamond on her finger. Oh my. The cheers coming from the dining room made her smile and Hugh shake his head. His eyes were laughing, though.
“I picked it out in Tulsa after you agreed to give me another chance. I knew I couldn’t let you get away again. I picked it because I know yellow’s your favorite color, and I wanted you to smile whenever you saw it on your finger,” he added quietly, his cheeks pinkened at the admission.
“I love you,” she said, placing a kiss on the corner of his mouth.
“Christ, Row, I love you.”
He was just about to kiss her when Nan and Devlen walked into the kitchen, followed by a grinning Bran and Raven and Patrick and River.
Nan hugged and kissed Rowan. Tears were swimming in both their eyes. Nan had known the longest how desperately in love she’d been with Hugh. Devlen gave her a brief hug and pat on the back—the man was finally getting the hang of hugs. He shook Hugh’s hand in congratulations before stepping back, letting Nan hug…her fiancé.
“You’re the best of men, Hugh. I couldn’t have asked for a better match for my granddaughter. Rowan’s grandfather, Sean, and her father, my son, Daniel, would have approved heartily. Her mama, Lily, would have loved you immediately because her daughter did.”
“Thank you, Bébhinn,” Hugh accepted the high praise solemnly.
With that, the rest of the family swarmed the newly engaged couple to give their own well wishes and hugs. Hugh pulled Rowan against his side and kept her there. It was one of the best moments of her life.
“We’d better call your mom, or we’ll both be in trouble,” Rowan suggested.
“And Jo,” River reminded.
“Have you thought of wedding venues?” Raven asked.
Rowan cleared her throat and squeezed her arm tighter around Hugh’s waist. “Is this a good time to let everyone know that I would like to get married at the courthouse and have a destination honeymoon with our family and friends?”
“The courthouse,” Nan gasped.
“Really?” River wondered.
“Are you sure?” Raven asked.
“Sounds like a great idea to me,” Bran said.
“Thank fu—” Patrick cut off the curse word at Nan’s sharp look, “heavens,” he continued. “I think we should all write down our honeymoon ideas and pick the best,” Patrick grinned, patting his wife’s behind. “Riv and I will have the best ones.”
Hugh bent to whisper in her ear, placing his big palm over her flat stomach. “I’m praying the baby’s a girl.”
Rowan snorted in amusement.
Addressing the crowd, Hugh announced, “I knew you’d want that. You mentioned it once during Raven’s wedding. In the hope you’d say yes, I called my attorney and had him start looking into the paperwork for an expedited wedding license. We can get married as soon as you want and take our honeymoon next year once our baby is born. What do you think?”
“I think this is why I said yes.” She stepped close, her body flush with his, and placed her palms against his broad chest. She melted even more when she felt the heavy thud of his heart. This man…her man had crushed his inhibitions and claimed her in front of everyone. Even if today was the only day for grand, public gestures, it was enough. Way more than enough. It was a story she would tell their child one day.
“Kiss me like you mean it, Mr. O’Faolain.” His dark eyes shone brightly as he grasped her waist, pulling her into his body before claiming her mouth—thoroughly and irrevocably, like he’d already claimed her heart.
When he finally set her back on her feet, she was breathless. They smiled at each other, soft and secret. Let me have a moment alone. At his nod of understanding, and before she stepped away, she whispered, “You were always mine, and I’ll always be yours.”
“Until the end of forever,” he whispered back.
Hugh released her waist as Rowan stepped away and went to take her sisters’ hands. She noticed the men left the room, followed by Nan who blew her granddaughters a kiss as she passed.
Together, they formed a circle holding hands. Unbreakable. Never-ending.
“I love you,” Rowan said, looking at the two most important women in her life.
“I love you,” Raven echoed.
“I love you,” River answered.
“We did it. We found our forever,” Rowan grinned through her tears.
“We did.”
“Hell yeah, we did.”
Hand in hand in hand. Always.