Chapter 4 #4
“Hey, hey. Dat is naught what I meant. Ye act like I could bring dis up later. Ye go home and dere is no way I was going to ’ave dis conversation over de phone.
I would ’ave no idea when ye would be back or even if ye would be back.
History says I probably wouldn’t see ye for another twelve years.
Dis is Charlotte’s ’ouse, and I don’t know ’ow yer family dynamic is.
As far as I know ye are only ’ere to use dat key dat Ray left ye. ”
“Look, I get what you’re saying. I’m sorry I got so upset. Right now, I can’t give you an answer. I need to have a clear head when I make the decision, and I need to know that I’m doing it for the right reasons if I decide to.”
I wasn’t even sure what the right reasons were.
“The not seeing me for twelve years has a back story. Why would I keep coming here as a fourteen-year-old girl who was head over heels in love with you? You being four years older than me meant either you were going to get bored hanging out with a child, or you were going to find a girl your own age who wanted to do things that weren’t so childish.
I didn’t want to watch it happen. I broke my own heart, so you didn’t have to. ”
“I can appreciate ye not wanting to make a decision right now. I don’t want ye to make a ’air trigger decision.
I want ye to be a hundred percent sure when ye decide.
I just ask dat ye let me know when ye know.
Don’t leave me wondering what is going on.
I am sorry dat I keep giving ye shit about not coming around.
I didn’t know ’ow ye felt about me. I would ’ave never intentionally ‘urt you. I guess neither of us will ever know what would ’ave ’appened if ye hadn’t stopped spending summers ’ere.
What I can say is dat ye would ’ave grown up and I wish I would ’ave gotten to see de amazing woman dat Ray always talked about sooner. ”
I just stared at him. It was a beautiful sentiment, but I knew nothing of this Ronan and apparently, he knew a lot about me.
I placed my hands on the sides of his face and pulled his lips to mine.
I kissed him like I meant it, and I didn’t want him to pull away.
When the kiss ended, I went about the conversation as though it hadn’t happened at all.
“As soon as I reach a decision, you will be one of the first to know.”
“After ye use ye key tomorrow, we can grab some lunch, and ye can ask me any questions dat ye may ’ave thought about between now and den. I will maintain total transparency wit ye at all times. If ye want to know something, anything, just ask.”
“That sounds like a good idea. I feel like getting to know you all over again will help me to decide. You seem to know far more about me than I know about you. Thanks to my grandfather you seem to have an unfair advantage over me, and I would like to even the playing field a bit.”
“It could be considered a disadvantage just as much. At least when Ray poured ’is ’eart out about ye to me, ’e let me know I could trust ye. I ’ave to gain ye trust on my own.”
“You are not wrong,” I said this even though I didn’t think it was going to take Ronan long to regain my trust at all.
He really did seem to know a great deal about my grandfather, and I trusted my grandfather probably more than any other person that I had ever known in my life. If he trusted Ronan, then why wouldn’t I?
“Well, let me help ye wit de clean-up,” Ronan said, getting up from his chair with his plate in hand.
“No, you don’t need to help me. I made a huge mess in the kitchen earlier baking. Let me take your plate.”
“No, I insist.” He reached down and snatched my plate from the table with his other hand. Heading toward the kitchen, he looked back over his shoulder. “Maybe I can steal some baked goods to take ’ome if I ’elp de baker wit de dishes.”
“I bake to relax and help clear my mind.”
“It’s still early and if ye want to bake more, I will do dishes and ’elp ye grieve properly.
” I laughed and followed him into the kitchen.
He stopped as soon as he entered through the swinging door.
“Ye weren’t kidding, were ye?” Across the kitchen counter were four loaves of bread, two pies, muffins, cookies, and a partial cake that we had for dessert.
“I know, I got carried away. Please take whatever you want. Take some for your aunt, or your neighbor.” I started laughing, realizing how comical the number of items was.
“I do ’ave Aunt Maeve.”
“I remember.” I knew that Ronan’s parents had both passed when he was just little. He had lived with his aunt for as long as I knew him.
We made small talk while we cleaned up the kitchen together.
When the dishes were dried and stowed in the cupboards, I found a plastic container and filled it with muffins and cookies.
I put plastic wrap over one of the pies and packed everything into a reusable grocery bag.
I turned and presented him with the bag. A huge smile spread across his face.
“Dis bag is ’eavy. I ’ope I don’t gain another person worth of weight overnight.”
“Better you than me,” I said, teasing him. “Thank you so much for your help.”
“Tank ye so much for a delicious meal and de care package.” He took the bag from my hands. “I should probably get going so dat ye can ’ave some time to yeself. I will see ye tomorrow.”
We walked toward the door, and I kissed him goodnight. We agreed that he would be back around eleven in the morning to pick me up. Ronan thanked me again, turned and exited the manor. I shut and locked the door behind him as he walked toward his truck.
I spent the rest of the night tossing the idea of taking over for my grandfather around in my head. Then my brain would shift, and I would think about Ronan and kissing him. That was something that I wanted to do again. When I finally fell asleep, I still hadn’t figured anything out.
In the morning, I woke up and went downstairs to brew coffee and allow my body to wake up before I needed to get ready for the day.
Once the coffee was finished and I made myself a cup, I headed up the stairs to Charlotte’s room and knocked on the door.
There was no answer. I cracked the door and peeked inside.
Nope, she never came home last night. I wasn’t really that surprised.
She was tiny, beautiful, and with her blonde hair and fair features she was difficult to not notice.
Maybe blondes were more prominent in Ireland, but I doubted it.
I needed to get stuff done today. Heading to my room, I showered and got dressed in a fitted pair of jeans, a tank top, and an oversized sage-colored sweater.
Curling my hair, putting on minimal makeup, and a pair of brown leather boots finished the look I was trying to achieve.
I didn’t usually care so much, but Ronan was single, hot, and interested.
I was interested too—had been for a very long time.
Who knows, I might be seeing him again or maybe even on a regular basis.
It was always spring or fall in Ireland, so at least my wardrobe never really needed to change.
I tried to remember two things about this country: always have rain boots and an umbrella on hand.
I grabbed my—now cold—coffee and headed back downstairs to get a fresh cup.
As I was descending the stairs, there was a heavy knock on the door.
When I reached the bottom, I looked through the window on the side of the door; it was Ronan.
I smiled widely and opened the door. “You’re early.”
He held up a white paper sack. “I didn’t see any doughnuts last night when I was in de kitchen, so I thought I would return de favor.”
“Ooh, I love doughnuts,” I squealed as I snatched the bag, leaving him standing in the doorway as I walked toward the kitchen.
Ronan closed the door and followed me. I set my cup on the counter and opened the bag—cake doughnuts, chocolate, and blueberry.
He leaned down and planted a kiss on my cheek.
“Yum, my favorite. There is coffee in the pot if you want some. Cups are in the cabinet above.” I pulled a blueberry doughnut from the bag. “Do you want one?” I asked, offering Ronan the bag.
“Nope, I ’ad some really outstanding muffins dis morning wit me coffee at ’ome.” He smiled coyly as he tipped the cup of coffee he had just poured to his lips. We drank and I ate while we chatted a little before we headed out the door.
After a short scenic drive, we reached the city. He pulled over in front of a historic-looking, stone building with large double doors in the front.
“Dis is it.”
He put the vehicle in park and turned toward me.
I smiled at him and the smile I received in return calmed me a little.
I opened the car door and slowly stepped out of the truck.
Shutting the door behind me, I reached into my jacket pocket and felt the key, running my fingers over the metal.
Feeling the small sharp edges, trying not to overthink the situation.
Why be worried about something before I even knew what it was?
I walked to the set of doors and pulled on one of the handles.
Stepping into the lobby of the bank, I looked around the immense room.
I approached a desk on the far right-hand side.
I explained that I needed to gain access to one of the safety deposit boxes.
A stern-looking woman behind the desk asked to see my identification, and obviously the key was required too. She then instructed me to follow her.