Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
S weat trickled down the back of Kieran’s neck as he stared at his mobile and tried to find a way out of this without telling an outright lie. That wouldn’t work, anyway. She knew him too well.
Desiree tapped him on the shoulder and motioned for him to turn the mobile in her direction. “Bridget, I think you and Kieran need to continue this conversation in private, so Lucky and I will say goodbye for now.”
“Ya have the right of it, luv. I’ll talk to ya again soon. I’ll never forget the nice things ya said about my Freya. I wisht ya could’ve been friends.”
“We were friends. Not for long, but friends all the same. Take care.”
Lucky leaned toward the phone. “I’m off to the bookshop, Granny. I’ll bring Oksana tomorrow.”
“Ya do that, my boy. Give her my love when ya see her.”
“I will.” He squeezed Kieran’s shoulder before following Desiree.
Sara slipped off her bar stool, mouthed good luck and started after them.
Grabbing her hand, he shook his head.
Her eyes widened as he drew her closer. “Granny, your instincts are right, as always. I’ve met someone. Her name is Sara Armstrong, and she’s standing right here beside me.”
“I knew it! Sara, you say? ’Tis a grand name. Tell me about yerself, Sara, luv. How old are you?”
She cleared her throat. “I’m twenty-six, Mrs. Haggerty.”
“Ah, no, call me granny. Or Bridget, but if you’re twenty-six I’m old enough to be your granny.”
“Then granny it is.” Her voice was a little wobbly. “I live in New Jersey and I work for a travel company. I met Kieran because I’m in town visiting my brothers.”
“Do ya fancy him, then?”
“I do, but there’s a problem. I need to stay in New Jersey for my work and Kieran needs to stay in Ireland for… his work.”
“Not just his work, luv. It’s me keepin’ him here. He’s been a comfort, until I see the years slippin’ by and he’s thirty-two and no prospects. Not even a nibble.”
He’d had enough of such talk. “Thirty-two isn’t old. I have plenty of time to?—”
“’Tis me, too, laddie. I want ya settled before I step out for tea. Wouldn’t mind a great grandchild along the way.”
“Lucky and Oksana might help you with that.”
“So they might. Would be grand to be around if that happens. Is Wagon Train near to New Jersey?”
He’d recently looked it up in case driving was an option. It wasn’t. “It’s almost four thousand kilometers.”
“So if ya lived in New Jersey with Sara, then?—”
“I’ll not be living in New Jersey, Granny.” He caught Sara’s attention and held her gaze. “I’ll be living in County Kildare. I’ll visit Rowdy Ranch. I’ll stop by and see Sara, but?—”
“That’s no good, my boy. Do ya fancy Sara?”
“Yes, but?—”
“Would she marry ya, then?”
He soaked up the compassion in Sara’s eyes and gave the best answer he could come up with. “Under different circumstances, I believe she would.”
Her smile told him he’d done a decent job.
“You’re a smart fella, as smart or smarter than yer mum. Find a way to change the circumstances.”
“I won’t leave you, Granny.”
“Looks like ya hafta take me with ya, then.”
He gasped. “What?”
“Won’t be a stroll through the rose garden, lad. Get carsick something awful unless all the windows are down. Can’t put the windows down on a plane.”
“Carsick? I didn’t know that, either.”
“’Tis why I live in a village where I can walk to everythin’ when the weather’s good. Wherever ya plant me over there, Wagon Train or New Jersey, I won’t be leavin’. Be sure of that. Not goin’ through that plane trip more than once.”
“I’ll not be planting you anywhere. This is crazy. You’re where you need to be.”
“You’re not hearin’ me, my boy. I’m pushin’ ya out of the nest. And I’ll be jumpin’ out with ya. Sara, luv, don’t know if I’ll be meetin’ ya in New Jersey or Wagon Train, but it’ll be a grand day either way. I’ll be hangin’ up, now.” She disconnected.
Kieran laid his mobile on the bar. Then he looked at Sara, his head spinning. “What just happened?”
“I think that’s called throwing down the gauntlet.”
“She’s never talked like that before. She never said she was worried that I wouldn’t get married. I didn’t know her only problem was carsickness, for God’s sake! I thought she was afraid to leave her comfort zone.”
“Vomiting in the car isn’t in anybody’s comfort zone.”
“Don’t they have stuff you can take?”
“Now they do, but I doubt they had it when she was a kid. She probably had a traumatic experience when she was young and another one when she took a chance by going on her honeymoon.”
“How can I ask her to suffer through a major trip, then?”
“You have no choice. She sees you stagnating where you are and she knows you won’t go without her. You’ll have to slay this dragon together. With the help of a strong anti-nausea drug.”
“Why now?”
She reached over and took his hand in both of hers. “You know the answer. You showed her Rowdy Ranch. And Lucky. She wants that life for you, and maybe for herself.”
“Or New Jersey and a granddaughter-in-law. She’d go with that option, too.”
She shook her head. “It’s not an option and you know it.”
“Do I?” His gut tightened. “My skills would get me hired there. I haven’t studied the immigration laws but I think marrying you would allow me to stay in the country.”
Her gaze softened. “You don’t belong in Trenton. And neither does she.”
“I belong with you, damn it. If that means living in Trenton, I’ll do that. Your folks are selling their house, right? Granny and I can buy it.”
“How? Didn’t you use all your savings for this trip?”
“That I did, but she’ll be selling her house. I doubt it’ll bring enough to buy your folks’ place free and clear, but it’ll do for a downpayment. What do you say? Will you marry me?”
She didn’t answer, but she didn’t have to. The sadness in her eyes told him all he needed to know.
He dragged in a breath. “I can guess why you won’t, but please tell me, anyway.”
“The thing is, I want to say yes.”
“Then say it! We can be happy there. You’ll have your great job, I’ll surely find work in such a massive city, and we’ll take holidays at Rowdy Ranch.”
“And what about Granny? She’d never get to Rowdy Ranch.”
“I suppose that’s true. Unless I drive her the whole distance with the windows down.”
“She’d have no one but us there and have to make new friends in a city environment, which she isn’t used to. Everyone drives or takes public transportation. Riding with the windows down would be cold in winter, hot in summer and in heavy traffic she’d be breathing car exhaust.”
“She’d have the open window problem at Rowdy Ranch, too.”
“But not as much. No fumes to speak of, and I can picture Rance giving her a ride with the windows down and the heater on in winter, or the A/C in the summer. She’d have a built-in social group from the get-go and the town will feel something like her village back home. Plus her grandson’s here.”
“I can’t argue with any of it. She’d be treated like a queen.”
“And you’ll be treated like a prince. Angie wanted to offer you a fulltime job if you’d consider moving. I asked her to hold off.”
“Why?”
“I was afraid it would stress you out. You’d want to take it but couldn’t because of your granny.”
“That was kind of you.”
“But you’ve ended up stressed out, anyway.”
“How about this? I settle Granny in at Rowdy Ranch where she has folks around her and her other grandson. Then I come live with you in New Jersey.”
She groaned. “Don’t do this to me!”
“Do what?”
“Keep tempting me with scenarios that would almost work.”
“What’s wrong with this one? Granny’s happy and we’re both happy.”
“Granny’s used to seeing you all the time. She won’t be happy if she only has you a week or two during the year.”
“But she’d have Lucky and everyone else.”
“She wouldn’t have you. You’re irreplaceable. And you wouldn’t have her. Don’t tell me that wouldn’t be tough on you because I know better.”
“What will be tough on me is not having you.”
“Look, if you’re living here, I’ll figure out a way to visit more often. I’ll find you cheap fares to come and see me. This ranch is where you both belong.”
She was right that Granny would be happy here. He’d tried to tell himself she’d be fine in Trenton but she wouldn’t.
Sara was also right about him. He’d always preferred small towns to big cities and he loved Rowdy Ranch. But how much of that was the ranch and how much was Sara? He dreaded finding out the answer.