Chapter 16 #2
He sat alone in the dining room unable to eat the huge breakfast Dylan set before him. They’d all tried to convince him things would work out if he’d only stay, but he’d put up a wall to the notion that it was alright to let Tina take care of him.
He heard Tina speaking with Edna in the lobby and he got up to see what they were talking about. To his surprise, she stood there with a small, strange looking trunk and he heard Edna say, “I see yer packed and ready to go.”
“Where are ye going?” he asked.
“I’m going home,” she said. “I won’t go back with you and you won’t stay here with me, so there’s no point in my being here anymore.”
He felt as though he’d been stabbed in the heart, but Tina was right. It didn’t seem that they were going to come to any agreement here.
Edna glanced back and forth between the two of them. “I dinnae know how to fix this. Ye ken ye belong together.”
They both shook their heads in agreement.
“Kiss Elena goodbye for me,” she said.
“I’ll get her, ye can kiss her yerself,” Donal said. Maybe if she saw Elena, there’d be a chance she’d change her mind. He turned to leave them, but Tina halted him before he even took a step.
“No. It would hurt too much.”
“Why do ye do this then?” he asked.
“I told you already. I love you Donal and I’ll never forget you or Elena, but I won’t go back there with you.”
A horn honked outside. “That’s my ride,” Tina said. “Goodbye, Edna. Thanks for a wonderful adventure.”
“You’re welcome, dear. I’m so sorry things didn’t work out.”
They followed her out the door, where a car waited. The man driving got out and took her trunk and then Tina got into the car. She looked out the window at them, tears streaming down her cheeks and she waved as the car sped off.
“Ye daft idjit!” Edna said to Donal as they stood together on the sidewalk. “What were ye thinking? She is the perfect lass for ye. And more importantly the perfect mother for Elena. I dinnae know what to say.”
Donal knew she was angry with him. He was angry with himself, but it made no sense that he could see for him to stay and not be able to be the man he wanted to be. He stood there heartbroken, watching the car disappear in the distance.
“I’m sorry, Donal. I know ye love her,” Edna said, taking him by the arm.
They walked into the inn together and were met by Maggie, holding Elena, Dylan and Angus. They all wore expressions of sadness that only served to make Donal feel worse.
“When can we go back?” he asked Edna.
“I think in a day or two. Dr. Ferguson wanted to see Elena one more time to make sure she was completely well. After that I’ll send ye home.” The resignation in Edna’s voice, echoed his own mood.
Donal took Elena from Maggie and went back upstairs wondering if he’d made the right decision.
***
“What can we do Auntie?” Maggie asked.
“I’m nae sure,” Edna said. Everyone was a little teary eyed after seeing what had just occurred. “There must be something.”
“We know Donal just wants to be the provider for his family. How can we make that happen?” It was obvious that Maggie was determined to fix this problem.
“That’s the puzzle we must solve. We’ll keep him here for as long as we can until we have an answer. We all need to work on this. No idea is too crazy,” Edna said.
Angus and Dylan both wore skeptical looks.
“Why do ye look that way?” Maggie asked.
“I don’t think you know what a daunting task this is going to be,” Dylan said.
“Daunting has never stopped us before and it’s not going to stop us now.”
“Alright,” Dylan said. “If I think of anything I’ll let you know.”
“Promise,” Edna said.
“I promise.”
“Angus?” she said, looking to him for support.
“I’ll do whatever I can, my sweet. Dinnae fear, we’ll find an answer.”
But as the days wore on, it was becoming increasingly clear that they weren’t going to find an answer and it was getting harder and harder to find excuses for why Donal should stay.
Dr. Ferguson didn’t care for the idea of lying about little Elena’s health.
“She’s fine. She should be able to go home.
I can’t keep telling him we need to wait,” he said after his last visit.
Edna had just about given up hope, and needed to do something to keep her hands busy. She decided dusting the rooms would be a good distraction and while doing so found exactly what she needed.
“Maggie, I’ve got it!” she cried, running down the stairs.
“What is it?” Maggie came out of the office to see what Edna was yelling about.
As Edna explained her plan, Maggie’s face went from confused to excited. “Ye just might be on to something!”
“Aye. I’m so excited. I think this might be just what we need. Donal has been miserable. He hardly says a word and he has no appetite. Elena is the only thing that keeps him going.”
“Let’s hope this works then.”
***
“If I ever lay eyes on Donal again, I swear I’ll beat him to a pulp,” Hamish said as he watched Tina moving her food around on her plate but not eating.
She’d been home over a week now and had done nothing but mope around. Her eyes seemed to be permanently red rimmed from all the crying she’d done and no one in the family seemed to be able to soothe her. She hadn’t even unpacked her bags.
“Hamish, I don’t think that’s helping anything,” Elle said.
“What are we to do? I dinnae believe I’ve ever seen anyone so miserable in all my years.”
“That’s a bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think?” Elle said, rolling her eyes at him. “Tina, let’s go unpack your bags.”
Tina looked up from the table. She’d heard everything they were saying, but she seemed unable to dig herself out of the black hole she’d fallen into. Maybe Elle was right. The least she could do was unpack. “Alright,” she muttered, heading down the hallway to her bedroom.
She opened her suitcase and started tossing clothes on the floor.
“Laundry,” she said. She handed Elle her shoes and she put them in the closet.
As she neared the bottom of the suitcase, she saw an envelope and remembered that she was supposed to give a note to Zeke, but there was only one envelope and it wasn’t the one addressed to him.
“Oh, no! Sara gave me a letter to give to her brother. I feel terrible about it. She was so nice to me and the one thing she asked me to do, I screwed up.” She scavenged around in the bottom of the suitcase, hoping to find it, but it wasn’t there.
Tina sat on the floor next to her bag and opened the other envelope Sara had given her. Inside she found the recipe for the tea. Ayla’s Blend was written at the top in big bold letters. She held it close to her chest.
“What’s that?” Elle asked.
“A recipe,” she replied.
“For what?”
“Tea. Do you remember Sara? She wanted me to say hi from her,” Elle nodded. “When I was at Breaghacraig, Sara made this wonderful tea and I had an idea that maybe I could open a little tea shop here in town.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Elle said, taking the note from her hands.
“It is, isn’t it?”
If anything was going to get Tina out of this funk, it would be this. She’d throw herself into this new venture and it would help her to forget about Donal, or at least make it so that she could get through a single day without tears.
“Well, let’s get to work on it,” Elle said. “I haven’t got anything to do right now, so it’s perfect timing. We’ll need to check First Street and see if there are any shops available and then we can go in search of the perfect herbs for the tea.”
“What do you think of making it a little book shop, too? You know, maybe used books. People could come in for some tea and scones and they could read books right off the shelf or even buy them.”
“Great idea. And you could do a fancy high tea in the afternoons. You know, with little tea sandwiches and petit fours.”
Tina was actually starting to feel excited about this. “Yes, I’m doing it.”
“I’ll call our real estate agent. Maybe she can help locate a shop.”
“I’ll finish up here,” Tina said, as Elle headed off to tell the rest of the family.