Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
S ara had no doubt that Kieran belonged at Rowdy Ranch, and his hysterical first experience on Pie gave her a great sneak preview of what awaited him as he became part of the McLintock clan. That episode was only the beginning of what would be a lifelong adventure.
Soon after the tolerant Sweetie-Pie was turned out to join the herd in the pasture, Clint arrived to give Rance a ride to the Buffalo.
Kieran grabbed the opportunity to give Clint the news, which he received with enthusiasm. He gave a cheerful tap to the horn as they pulled away.
“He’s really happy you’ll be joining the family.” Sara turned and started back toward the house.
Kieran fell into step beside her. “Seems he is, yeah.”
“Looks like Angie’s back from taking my folks to the cabin site. They must have driven in while we were hanging out watching the horses in the pasture.” She checked her phone. “And it’s lunchtime already.”
“And here I was hoping we’d have a wee moment alone.”
She met his gaze. The fire in his blue eyes took her breath away. Inside the house everyone was gathering for lunch and all she wanted was to run away with Kieran.
“I miss you.” Already his accent was shifting back, no longer a perfect echo of his granny’s.
“I miss you, too. But today’s all about your exciting announcement. Angie and my folks will want to hear it.”
“And I want to share it. I just….”
“I know.”
He paused before going up the porch steps. “Rance asked how soon we’ll be coming over. I said we’d be here for Christmas.”
“You will?” She’d see him then. What a lovely surprise. “You can make it happen that fast?”
“Granny may be getting on in years, but when she’s on a mission, she’s up to ninety.”
“Go, Granny!”
“I’ll not be holding her back. The idea of seeing you at Christmas… it’s grand to think of, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“We won’t be sneaking over to Rance’s cabin.”
“Well, probably not, but… the logistics will be….”
“Leave it to me, lass. Just know that we’ll be sharing a bed and it won’t be a secret anymore.”
“Fine with me.” She’d go along with anything, but how in the world could he create a temporary love nest?
She couldn’t picture it. Or much of anything beyond this week. She used to be able to look ahead and anticipate at least the next few months on the calendar. Now it was a jigsaw puzzle with huge sections missing.
A while ago Rance had tossed in a few random pieces from a completely different puzzle and she couldn’t make those fit either. But there was one piece, an idea that had come to her when she’d ridden back from town with Kieran.
In the rush of recent events, she’d lost it. That idea might be critical, but she wouldn’t know unless she remembered what it was.
“Sara?”
“What?”
“You were staring off into space, like you had a vision.”
“I didn’t, but I could use one. Listen, when we go in, I’d like to peel off and slip into the library for a little while.”
“With me?” His eyes lit up.
“No, sorry.” She touched his cheek to soften the rejection. “I need time alone. I have some thinking to do. If anybody asks, just say….”
“The truth, yeah? That you need time alone?”
“Sure. That works.”
Dipping his head, he brushed his lips over hers. “To hold me until tonight.”
She almost grabbed him.
He smiled. “Makes my heart sing when you look at me like that.”
And now she was a puddle of goo. If he swept her up and carried her off to his car, she wouldn’t stop him.
Instead he gestured toward the steps and she marched up to the porch because it was the right thing to do.
Sam greeted them at the door and followed Kieran when he patted his thigh and made for the living room and the sound of animated conversation.
Ducking into the library, Sara quietly closed the door. The peaceful environment drew a sigh of relief from her tight chest. She’d been on emotional overload ever since Kieran had walked into Hannigan’s.
She cherished every moment of being with him. But after non-stop drama, she needed to catch her breath, order her thoughts, figure out where the hell she was headed and whether a course correction was called for.
She browsed the shelves, finding many old favorites from classics to current popular writers, from Jane Austin to Nora Roberts, Edgar Allen Poe to Stephen King. Stephen King. That was it! The missing piece!
Excitement shot through her as she pulled out her phone and searched for Stephen King tours. Adventuring Travel came up, but so did several boutique operations. She zeroed in on one that advertised intimate tours limited to six people.
A pleasant sounding woman named Sybil answered and launched into a long list of the services they offered, from the lowest tier to the highest. Sybil suggested that a meet and greet with King himself might be arranged under certain circumstances. No guarantee of course.
Sara took notes on her phone and was about to thank her and hang up, but Sybil was clearly having a slow day. She kept talking. Sara didn’t mind. This was exactly the type of information she was looking for.
Sybil told her they were creating similar tours all over the country involving well-known authors, both living and dead. Features would include visiting the author’s hometown, exploring various book locations and touring the author’s residence if they or their heirs were amenable.
“You need to check back in a month or so,” she said. “We recently learned M.R. Morrison’s secret identity and we’re determined to have a presence in Wagon Train, Montana.”
Sara almost dropped her phone. “Oh, really?”
“Our preliminary research tells us there’s a bit of local flavor and the town’s name is great, but otherwise Wagon Train needs to step it up. Their western wear store is called Hannigan’s, if you can believe it. Sounds like an Irish pub, not a place where you buy boots and cowboy hats.”
“Maybe so, but I doubt the owners would?—”
“They will if they want to be featured on the tour. Oh, and it gets worse. A little bookshop in town features M.R. Morrison, but they call it L’Amour and More. Hel- lo. Call it Morrison’s , right? These people need help with a capital H.”
“Interesting.”
“We wouldn’t lead with those suggestions, of course. We just need to get our foot in the door and then gradually bring the town up to speed. We can assume that the author, who’s a woman it turns out, will be looking for someone to manage the tourist angle now that she’s come out of hiding. And we’ll be there to offer our services.”
“I see.”
“We’ve run into some trouble getting in touch with her, but we’ll break through that slight roadblock soon. We’re persistent.”
“I can tell. And thank you so much. This has been very informative.”
“Would you like to book a Stephen King tour?”
“Let me check on my friend’s schedule. Thanks for all your help. Have a great day.” She disconnected.
Was Desiree in her office? It was on the other side of the revolving bookcase, but the unspoken household rule was that only an emergency justified disturbing her.
Smiling at her ridiculous self, she moved back, opened her arms and used her deepest voice. “ Open sesame .”
Laughter came from the other side and the bookcase revolved. Desiree stood there grinning. “The kids used to do that all the time. I haven’t heard it in years.”
“Did I disturb you?”
“Not really. I heard you on the phone and I wondered who you were talking to. Or not talking to. Whoever was on the other end must have been a chatterbox.”
“They were. I’ll give you the name of the company and if you ever hear from them, show them the door. They’re terrible.”
“Oh? What do they do?”
“They create tours revolving around well-known authors — the settings for their books, their hometown, maybe even a tour of their house and exclusive meet and greets. You don’t want to have anything to do with them.”
“Not if you don’t like them. Out of curiosity, why’d you call them?”
“Just an idea I had.” And it was still half-baked. Was she crazy to suggest it before she’d worked out the details?
“I wonder if we’re on the same page. Lucky, Oksana, Trent and I have been talking about doing something similar. The tourists will come, and if we don’t organize things for them to do, they may get up to mischief, like trying to find Rowdy Ranch.”
“You mentioned something to me about that. You said you were worried about loss of privacy.”
“So you decided to research tour companies for us? That’s so kind of you. If you’re willing to keep looking, I’ll pay you for your time. After all, this is your area.”
“Actually, I called to gather ideas. I was so horrified by what that woman said that my first thought was oh, my God, what if Desiree accidentally hires someone like that? ”
“What was your second thought?”
“Now that I’m talking to you I feel a little presumptuous saying this, but my second thought was I should do it .”
Her eyes brightened. “It was?”
“Please understand that I’d need time to come up with a workable plan, but after listening to Sybil, I got excited about generating similar ideas for?—”
“Would this be a side gig? In addition to your regular job?”
“No. It’s too big, too important to be a side gig. If it’s done right, it’ll be a fulltime job.”
“Oh, Sara.” Desiree looked ready to explode. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying? That you’d quit your job and do this instead?”
“Yes, but maybe you don’t envision having someone handle it fulltime. Your budget might not?—”
“Are you kidding? This is a dream come true! We’ve wanted you from the beginning, but you’ve been so enthusiastic about staying in your current job that it seemed pointless to ask.”
“You talked about hiring me?”
“Weeks ago, but after all you’ve said about loving Trenton and your job, the idea had to come from you. The most I allowed myself was mentioning we need to deal with the tourist situation. You didn’t pick up on it. You were still focused on moving up in your company and finally getting to Ireland.”
“Ireland.” Sara laughed. “I was fixated on that, but instead, Ireland came to me.”
“I suppose it did. He did.”
“And now I still want to see Ireland, but I want Kieran as my tour guide. We can plan to go sometime in the future.”
“Are you sure about all this?” Desiree looked her in the eye. “Because I’d hate for you to wake up tomorrow and realize you’d been hijacked by the emotions swirling around today.”
“It’s been a lot. By the way, Granny was willing to move to New Jersey so I could keep my job and marry Kieran.”
“Wow.”
“After she hung up, we discussed both scenarios and I couldn’t see Granny thriving there. She will thrive here, though.”
“Please tell me you didn’t decide to take on this project to please his granny.”
“I didn’t. But I won’t lie. The prospect of living in the same zip code as Kieran is a major draw.”
“You’d be giving up your job to be with him. I thought that violated your principles.”
“I’m giving up the job but not the career. This morning Rance was talking about self-employment as an option and I couldn’t see it.”
“That boy! I’ll bet Lucky told him we wanted you but it had to be your idea. He was hoping to steer you toward it.”
“To be fair, he didn’t come out and suggest this idea.”
“If he had I would have blistered his ears.”
“He didn’t. I had to work it out on my own. It’s a fabulous challenge for a travel planner — orchestrating tours that please your readers and protect your privacy at the same time. I can’t wait to brainstorm with you guys.”
“I can tell you’re excited. I can see it in your face. But let’s do this, just to make sure it isn’t adrenaline talking. Give it twenty-four hours.”
She shook her head. “It’s not just adrenaline. This is it. Lani’s the only person who won’t like it, but she’ll be happy for me in the end. I don’t need twenty-four hours.”
“Then take the time for me, so I won’t worry that you’ll wake up tomorrow with a change of heart.”
“I won’t.”
“Please. Let’s keep this between us at least until tomorrow morning. If you’re still excited about this prospect, we’ll go with it.”
She dragged in a breath. “Okay. I’ll bow to your wisdom. It’s probably a good idea.”
“I promise you it is. Let the concept settle in your mind and in your body. A week would be better, but we don’t have a week.”
“I couldn’t stand to wait that long, but I can handle one day. I assume you’ll tell Andy, though.”
“I will, but only him. And obviously you can tell Kieran, but… I advise you not to. Not until you’re sure. This means too much. You don’t want to tell him and then change your mind.”
“Sure don’t.” But not telling him would be extremely difficult, especially if they ended up alone today. She’d make sure that didn’t happen until tonight. Then all bets were off.