“Seriously?” Kiera said. “That seems to me to put an optimistic spin on things. My father wasn’t always there for me.”
“Did you give him the opportunity?” Nell asked gently. “Most of us won’t go where we’re unwelcome, family or not. Most of us can only have the door slammed in our faces so many times before we give up.”
Kiera sighed. “I suppose you’re right. I did shut him out—literally and figuratively—more than once.”
“But that door is open now,” Nell pointed out. “Make whatever effort it requires to keep it that way. I know it’s what your father wants. His whole face lights up when he talks of you and your children.”
Kiera gave her a rueful look. “Even Moira? There are days when even I don’t like her much. I should be ashamed to say such a thing about my own child, but it’s true.”
Nell laughed. “She’ll grow out of it. You did, didn’t you?”
After a startled pause, Kiera laughed. “You’re not the first to draw the comparison, and it’s true. I suppose I did.” She looked around the kitchen, which was littered with boxes of food left by a caterer. She appeared surprisingly daunted.
“I’ve no idea what to do with this,” she confided. “I’ve never managed a meal for so many before, not even when the cooking has been done by someone else.”
“Do you have serving dishes?” Nell inquired, seeing an opening to take charge as she’d been longing to do.
“Cupboards full of them,” Kiera told her.
“Okay, then,” Nell said decisively. “We’ll need several platters, a half dozen large bowls.”
“Now, those I can find,” Kiera said, obviously relieved to have someone knowledgeable take over.
They worked in companionable silence transferring the abundance of food to serving dishes. When Laila joined them, they started carrying everything into the dining room to a buffet table that had been set up along one wall. Fine china and silver had been laid out at one end and the long table had been covered with an exquisite antique cloth trimmed in Irish lace. Candles of every size lit the room with a soft glow.
“It’s going to be lovely in here,” Nell said appreciatively. “There will be room enough for all of us with some to spare.”
“When I was small, my parents had dinner parties often,” Kiera said, her expression suddenly nostalgic. “I used to sit on the stairs and listen to all the talk and laughter drifting out of this room and wonder what it would be like to host such a party.”
Nell patted her arm. “Well, now you know. It’s a bit chaotic, but the result will be well worth it. The key to successful entertaining is not allowing yourself to be intimidated. Take a deep, calming breath before the guests arrive.”
Kiera gave her a pointed look. “Too late for that. Some of you are already here.”
Nell chuckled. “Ah, but you’ve made me and Laila your helpers now. You’ve the two of us as backup.”
“But I’ve done none of the cooking,” Kiera said, looking over the steaming food.
“You’ve created a welcoming atmosphere,” Nell corrected. “The food is secondary.”
She noticed Laila gave her a surprised look and knew she was thinking of what a point Nell made at home to provide home-cooked meals for these family celebrations. At her warning glance, though, Laila said nothing.
Nell listened to the sounds of conversation and even the occasional laugh coming from the living room. “It seems peaceful enough in there. Shall we get everyone in here for the meal before there’s trouble?”
Kiera regarded her curiously. “What sort of trouble?”
“My sons aren’t sure they approve of me spending time with your father. One of them is particularly outspoken about it, though I’ve warned him to mind his manners tonight.”
Kiera uttered a genuine, unfettered laugh for the first time since they’d met. “Then it truly isn’t just my father and me who’ve difficulties from time to time. I thought perhaps you were saying those things before just to be kind.”
“Oh, no,” Nell assured her. “You’ll see for yourself before the night is over, I’m sure.”
“Then this is an evening I can look forward to, after all,” Kiera said. “Now, if only my Moira doesn’t spoil it with another of her rebellions.”
Laila gave her a sympathetic look. “I doubt you need to worry about that. Nell’s grandson has that situation in hand.”
Nell regarded Laila with surprise, quickly deducing which grandson was likely to have taken on Kiera’s troublesome daughter. She’d seen for herself just how beautiful Moira was.
“Luke, I imagine,” she said, knowing he was the one who would have been unable to resist such a challenge.
Laila nodded. “Of course.”
Nell smiled. That was a turn of events she definitely hadn’t anticipated, but she couldn’t deny it was a welcome one. She’d worried about Luke for a while now, seen how restless and unhappy he was now that everyone else seemed to be settled—or nearly so, she amended, thinking of Matthew and Laila.
Though she’d been scandalized when Luke had brought Mack’s ex-girlfriend, Kristen Lewis, into Mick’s home, she’d never once voiced an objection. Still, she’d seen it for the trouble it was likely to cause. Susie would never make peace with having that woman as a member of the family. No amount of time or mediation was likely to change that.
She recalled her two-minute introduction to the challenging Moira and thought there was just the right amount of fire there to keep Luke fascinated, perhaps even enough to distract him from the problematic Kristen.
“Kiera, why don’t I go with you to make the introductions to my family,” Nell suggested. “Laila, you go ahead and remind them to be civilized.”
Laila chuckled. “Now, what are the odds of my word meaning a thing?”
Nell laughed with her. “Then you’ll see that Matthew behaves. I’ll handle the rest.”
And she would keep a close eye on Luke and Moira while she was at it. Wouldn’t it be a lovely thing to leave Ireland with both of her grandsons’ futures assured?
Laila closed her eyes and settled against Matthew’s side on the taxi ride back to the hotel, his arm around her shoulders.
“It turned out to be a wonderful evening, after all, didn’t it?” she murmured. “Nell has a way of putting people at ease and keeping the conversation flowing. Even Mick eventually relaxed and stopped his scowling.”
“Don’t think he’s been won over just yet,” Matthew warned. “I heard talk of him hiring a private investigator.”
“Not to look into Dillon’s background?” Laila said, sitting up to give him a shocked look. “Surely Mick no longer thinks Dillon is some sort of schemer where Nell’s concerned.”
“Oh, no,” Matthew said, a smile on his lips. “Now he’s convinced the man is living on some kind of ill-gotten gains.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Laila said. “I know he’s just being protective, but isn’t that a little far-fetched?”
“I’d say so,” Matthew agreed, then regarded her thoughtfully. “Is it really so different from the way your father looks at me, as if I’m about to ruin his daughter’s life?”
“Totally different circumstances,” Laila insisted.
“Is it really?”
“Matthew, he’s not really worried about me,” she said with conviction. “He’s worried only about his precious bank’s reputation.”
“I’m just saying that, perhaps in his mind, it’s the same thing.”
She regarded Matthew curiously. “Why are you suggesting this now?”
“Listening to Mick tonight gave me a different perspective on protectiveness, for one thing,” he said. “For another, I still hate being the cause of this rift between you and your parents. I’d be happy to find a new spin that might allow you to make peace with them. I don’t want to be the reason they’re not in your life.”
“It’s not up to you to broker peace,” Laila said. “I doubt it’s even possible. I think things have gone too far this time.”
“You still breathing?” Matthew inquired.
She studied him with a furrowed gaze. “What’s your point?”
“As long as you’re all still here on earth, there’s always a way to fix things.” His expression sobered. “Don’t wait too long, Laila. It will only get harder and harder to swallow your pride.”
“I’ve no intention of swallowing my pride,” she said, knowing she sounded as stubborn as any O’Brien. “I’ve done it my whole life, tried to mold myself into the daughter my father would respect. No more. Let him swallow his this time.”
“Didn’t he do that by calling?” Matthew suggested.
She sighed at the memory of that terse message. There was no denying it had been an overture, particularly when combined with Trace’s revelation that her father was having second thoughts about letting her go from the bank.
“I suppose,” she conceded reluctantly.
“Maybe you should call him. It’ll be Christmas day after tomorrow. I’m sure your parents would love to hear from you. I imagine it’s the greatest gift you could give them this holiday season.”
She frowned at him. “When did you start worrying about my parents’ feelings?”
“I’m not,” he said. “It’s yours I care about. And, no matter how you deny it, I know you’ll not be happy until this whole mess has been resolved, and you’re all at least on speaking terms again.”
“Isn’t it enough that you and I are speaking again?” she asked wistfully, knowing he was right about the need to mend fences with her family. She just wasn’t ready yet to take the steps necessary to do it.
Matthew chuckled and pulled her closer. “Indeed, things seem to be working out very well for me recently. Maybe that’s why I want to see the whole world happy and on an even keel again. I’ve even become a big booster of Gram and Dillon and, though I think it’s likely he’s lost his mind, I could summon up some enthusiasm for Luke and the insufferable Moira, as well.”
“Now, that one’s a stretch even for me,” Laila said with a laugh. “Serves him right, though, to be falling for an impossible woman. She’s just what he deserves. Where is Luke, by the way? Why didn’t he ride back with us?”
“He claimed he wanted to give us some privacy,” Matthew said. “And that he wanted to help with the cleanup at the house.”
Laila stared at him, openmouthed with shock. “Now you’re just making up stories. Luke is washing dishes and throwing out the trash?”
“Last time I saw him, he was,” Matthew confirmed. “With Moira grumbling at him the whole time about how badly he was doing it.” He grinned. “She did seem to have a bit of a twinkle in her eyes when she said it, though. Perhaps there’s hope after all that she’ll turn out to be a lovely woman.”
“Hopes and dreams are beautiful things,” Laila agreed, then grinned. “Then there’s pure fantasy.”
“Well, I’m just happy that Luke’s fantasy kept him at Dillon’s, so you and I can be alone.”
Laila regarded him with amusement. “Have I reduced you to being content with a few stolen moments of privacy in a taxi?”
“I was thinking more of the time we could spend together at the hotel without my brother waiting up to offer his thoughts on my comings and goings.”
“Luke’s been keeping track of you?”
“He has,” Matthew confirmed. “It amuses him that you’ve sent me back to my lonely bed every night since we arrived.”
“We agreed,” she reminded him.
“Is this one of those promises that people regret the minute they’re uttered?” he inquired, his expression hopeful. “It certainly is for me.” He studied her. “How about you? Any second thoughts?”
“A ton of them,” she confessed.
His expression brightened. “Well, then…”
“Don’t be getting any ideas, Matthew O’Brien. You were right to suggest this time-out from sex. It’s been a revelation.”
“In what way?”
“We haven’t been bored to tears.”
He smiled. “Were you thinking we would be?”
“To be honest, I wasn’t sure.” She gave him a pleased look. “You actually went shopping with me and hardly grumbled about it. I never expected that.”
“Well, don’t be thinking that it’s likely to happen on a regular basis,” he said with an exaggerated shudder. “Women shop. Men buy. It’s a whole different experience.”
“In what way?”
“It takes a lot less time.”
She nodded. She could see his point. Truthfully, she could buy all of her Christmas gifts in one whirlwind expedition most of the time. There’d been something about shopping here, though, that was different. She’d wanted each gift to be memorable and meaningful, and there’d been so much to choose from. And she’d had to select one thing for herself, a lasting reminder of the trip. In the end she’d chosen a pair of Waterford crystal champagne flutes, hoping they’d someday find a purpose at anniversary celebrations. She’d smiled even as she’d signed the outrageously high credit card slip.
“Well, you get points for tolerating it, anyway,” she told him. “And for being so supportive of Nell and Dillon. I think for the longest time I insisted on thinking of you as this shallow playboy.”
At his hurt expression, she touched his cheek. “Sorry, but I did. Thinking of you any other way would have been too terrifying. I’d have had to consider the possibility that I could fall in love with you.”
His eyes brightened. “Is that so? And now?”
She hesitated, reluctant to say the words aloud even now. Still, he deserved to hear them. “And now, I have,” she said quietly.
“Have what?” he prodded, a twinkle in his eyes.
“You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”
“I am.”
She drew in a deep breath, met his gaze, then said, “I’ve fallen in love with you.”
At her words, Matthew let out a whoop of undisguised joy that had the taxi driver hitting the brakes and turning around.
“Sorry,” Matthew said. “She just admitted she loved me.”
The man gave him a smile, then once again eased forward in the traffic.
“I heard,” he told them, glancing briefly into the rearview mirror. “One of the best parts of this job is hearing such a thing from time to time.”
He made the tricky turn around the corner and pulled to a stop. “Now here you are at your hotel. Enjoy the rest of your evening. Happy Christmas to you, too.”
“And to you,” Laila said, exiting the cab and walking swiftly into the hotel lobby.
Matthew caught up with her in front of the elevators. “You in a hurry?”
“No, but I thought maybe you would be.” She held his gaze and asked solemnly, “Do you want to come to my room with me?”