Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Maisie tried to keep her focus on Daphne, but a ringing reverberated in her ears, making it difficult to pay attention to anything but Finn’s figure growing smaller and smaller as he left the beach behind.
“Are you okay, hon?” Daphne asked, still wincing as Maisie had yet to respond.
Maisie cleared her throat. “Yeah, I just…You’re sure?”
Turmoil stretched across Daphne’s features. “Yes. Briggs said there’s nothing else to do but come back. Mr. Johnson is just not convinced that I’m taking it seriously. He thinks I’ve just been playing around in Europe for the last few months.” She rolled her eyes. “Briggs says that if I drop everything and make a good show of leaving this ‘vacation,’ Johnson will be more convinced that I’m all in. He’ll see that I have every intention of being hands-on with the entire project.”
Maisie only heard about half of what Daphne was saying, but she got the gist of it—they had to leave.
“I’m so sorry, hon,” Daphne said. “I wouldn’t do this unless I thought it was absolutely necessary. I know how much you were looking forward to being here. I was, too.”
Maisie nodded, pulling on a tight smile. “ I know. I get it.”
And she did. Neither of them could throw away years of work to stay. What that meant for the menu, Maisie could only guess. Would Daphne just forgo the Northern Irish aspect altogether?
The hollowness in her chest expanded, giving way for disappointment to fill the empty chasm within her. She looked back out across the beach, Finn nowhere in sight.
She just couldn’t believe it. All those years of longing to come here. All the months she’d spent planning, researching, and preparing. All the locations she’d wanted to see—gone in the blink of an eye, or rather, in a phone call.
She’d had disappointed dreams before this one—relationships falling through, marriage nowhere on the horizon, a lonely life and future ahead of her. And she’d have plenty more disappointments in the future. Even still, tears pooled in her eyes, blurring her vision. She swiftly blinked them away and faced the steps down from the bridge, not wanting Daphne to see her emotion. It wasn’t her aunt’s fault. It was just…one of those things.
“Well, I guess we should get back and pack, then,” Maisie said, taking a step away, ready to rip off the bandage.
But Daphne’s hand caught her softly in her grasp.
Maisie turned to look at her, and a sad smile touched her aunt’s lips. “You misunderstood me,” she said. “Or rather, I misspoke.”
“What do you mean?” Maisie asked.
“ I have to go back to Boston,” Daphne clarified.
Maisie said nothing. Her thoughts zipped around her mind, preventing any complete sentence from forming.
“And you,” Daphne said with a soft look, “are gonna stay here.”
Finally, Maisie scoffed. As if she’d stay here alone. “Yeah, nice try. Come on. Let’s go.”
“No, Maisie,” Daphne said, shaking her head and remaining on the bridge. “I’m serious.”
Maisie’s lips parted as she struggled to find a response. “That’s ridiculous. I’m not going to stay here alone while you’re being forced to work on our dream by yourself.”
“Yes, you are.” Daphne reached forward, holding her gloved hands to Maisie’s cheeks. “Besides, you’ll be working, too. But this way, you’ll be able to have the best time eating all the foods, seeing all the sights, and exploring all of Northern Ireland. Just like you had planned. Just…sans a crazy, business-centric aunt.”
Maisie looked away, overcome with guilt. Flickers of the day flashed through her mind, moments of the fun she’d had on her own. She cringed as she recalled how nice it had been without her aunt’s business-centric actions tainting her slower-paced day.
“I’m not dumb, Maisie,” Daphne continued with a knowing look. “I’m not the best person in the world to travel with. Honestly, you’ll probably have more fun without me, and I’m totally okay with that. I want you to.”
“But…I’ll be alone for two weeks,” Maisie continued.
“Not really,” Daphne said. “It sounds like the group is super nice. They’ll have no problem keeping you company.”
Maisie held her tongue, thoughts of Finn frolicking through her mind. She’d had the best time with him today. Leaving would mean she never got to see him again. Staying meant that she would get the chance to know him better—to enjoy more time with him.
But how could she rely on perfect strangers to keep her from feeling lonely? She wasn’t going to encroach on everyone else’s vacations just because she was being ditched.
She gave her head a little shake. Not ditched. That sort of negative thinking wasn’t going to help either of them. Daphne had to do this for the restaurant to succeed.
“I dunno,” Maisie mumbled.
“There’s no point in protesting anymore,” Daphne said. “I’ve made up my mind. Anyway, like I said, you still have work to do. You only found one item for the menu here, and we have to have at least four more ideas, so there’s nothing else to be done.” She smiled encouragingly. “It’s time for us to divide and conquer. We’ve spent months together. Now you can continue doing your favorite part—sampling food and setting up the menu—and I’ll be able to do my favorite part—whipping ridiculous men into shape so they don’t dare remove their investments.”
She gave a challenging smile, and Maisie laughed. She had no doubt in her mind that Daphne would accomplish her goals. And honestly, if today had proven anything, Maisie knew she, herself, would be fine on her own, too.
But two weeks was different than a single day.
“What if I just took an Uber around to all the restaurants I have on my list?” she suggested. “I’d be done in half the time, then.”
Daphne pulled a face. “And miss out on the sites you’ve wanted to see for years? No, you take the bus tour, see all the sites, visit the restaurants you can get to, and have the time of your life. Anyway, I don’t want to lose money on two payments for the tour.”
That made sense. Honestly, her whole plan made sense. Still, Maisie wanted to make sure Daphne was taken care of.
“Are you sure you don’t need me to go back with you?”
Daphne raised her eyebrows. “I know how you are with business, Maisie. You’re hopeless.”
Maisie laughed at her blunt words. Blunt—and so very true.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Daphne continued. “Obviously I’m going to miss you like crazy, but we’ve got the rest of our lives to run this business together. What’s two weeks apart, right? Just don’t go falling in love with this place so deeply that you don’t want to come back.”
She ended with an easy laugh, but Maisie looked away and faced the sea. The waves in front of her, the dark skies above, the green hills behind—they all called out to her, beckoning her heart closer and entangling her soul in their webs of ethereal beauty.
She couldn’t leave them. Not yet. Because truth be told, she’d already fallen in love with Northern Ireland .
Hope wrapped itself around her like a warm hug, and her lips curved. “Okay,” she breathed with a sigh. “I guess…I’ll stay, then.”
As soon as the words were spoken aloud, the reality of the situation settled around her. Sure, she was nervous with Daphne not being with her. But with how busy her aunt had been over the last few months, how much of a difference would it make anyway?
“Perfect,” Daphne said, clearly pleased with her powers of coercion. “The only thing I want is to receive a full download from you at the end of each day, okay?”
Maisie nodded. “You got it.”
Daphne beamed. “Excellent. I already can’t wait to hear the updates.” She leaned in. “And that includes anything that happens between you and that tasty tour guide.”
She winked, though just as Maisie expected, a flicker of fear shone in her aunt’s eyes.
“Okay,” Maisie said.
“I mean, you do think he’s cute, right?” Daphne urged, clearly trying to get a read on Maisie’s feelings.
“Yeah, I do,” Maisie replied, and Daphne’s lip twitched. “But he’s just the tour guide here. And that’s all he is to me.”
Daphne nodded with a smile, though she chewed her lowered lip aggressively.
Maisie’s heart reached out to her. She understood her aunt’s fear—had seen it the second Daphne had looked down at Finn when she’d first come over on the bridge. But there was nothing to be afraid of.
With outstretched arms, she reached for Daphne, giving her a long embrace. “Thank you,” she said, “for encouraging me to stay. But you don’t have to worry about the tour guide or anything else. In two weeks, we’ll be together again, and soon after that, we’ll be setting foot in our new restaurant, eating all the international soups and enjoying all the splendor of our hard work. Just the two of us. That’s your dream, right? ”
Daphne pulled back, worry wrinkling her brow. “ My dream?” she questioned.
Maisie shook her head, cursing her misspoken word. “No, our dream. Of course. Why wouldn’t I want to eat soup for the rest of my days with the coolest aunt in the world?”
Daphne still hesitated, but a look of tentative peace crossed her features. “I mean, you have a point there.”
They shared a smile, then the two of them walked toward the steps as Daphne recounted all the things they needed to do for her departure tomorrow morning.
All the while, Maisie listened and nodded at the appropriate times, though her thoughts lingered on the hollow words she’d spoken before.
Our dream. Our dream.
The restaurant was their dream. Or rather, Maisie had tried to make it so. She’d given up any other dreams she’d had long ago, recognizing that she wasn’t entirely in control of having them realized.
So she’d found different ones. Working alongside Daphne, creating a menu for a restaurant, seeing the world and tasting the world. These were all amazing things, too.
And yet, a thread of doubt began to unravel from those second-tier hopes within her heart, revealing what she really wanted—what she was afraid she could never have—a life and a family of her own.
After all, Daphne never did, and she was an incredible woman. Who was Maisie to think her life would turn out any different?