Kellan slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “I’ve never been to New York. Maybe we ought to take a trip there, after your case in Italy has been dismissed.”
“How did you know it’s going to be dismissed?” she asked.
Kellan stopped short. “It is?”
“We’re working out a deal. The photographer is considering dropping the charges in exchange for some exclusive photographs.”
“What does that mean, exclusive? Does that mean naked?”
“No! It means…exclusive. He’s the only one who gets a chance to shoot.”
“Shoot what?”
“Our wedding.” This time, Gelsey stopped short, grabbing his arm and turning him to face her. “I know that we haven’t really talked about marriage, and I guess that’s why I thought it might be an empty promise. And I don’t want you to be angry, but I had to offer him something worthwhile. A picture like that could fetch a lot of money.” She watched him warily, as if she was waiting for him to explode in anger.
“I think…I think I’m fine with that plan. More than fine. Hell, I don’t care if you invite every photographer in the world. I’m just happy that you might marry me someday.”
“Someday. Maybe,” she said, starting off down the street again. “But don’t get your hopes up too high. I might not be the marrying type.”
“What does that mean? I might not be the marrying type, either.”
When they reached the post office, Gelsey continued to walk, then noticed that Kellan had stopped just one door down. “Right here,” he said. “This is it.”
Gelsey frowned. “What?”
He reached out and grabbed her hand, then led her to the front door. The shop was dark inside and Kellan was glad for the element of surprise. When he turned the lights on, he’d know immediately how she felt. “Did you bring the key?”
She nodded. “What is this place?”
“Unlock the door and see for yourself.”
Gelsey slipped the key into the lock and turned it, then pushed open the front door. Kellan reached for a light switch and the old fixtures hanging from the ceiling flickered to life.
He heard Gelsey draw in a quick breath and he gave her hand a squeeze. “It’s going to take more work than Maeve’s shop, but this way, you can do it exactly like you want to.” He led her over to Jordan’s boards, leaning up against the wall. “You can see a few ideas of what you can do. Jordan drew those.”
“You didn’t buy this, did you?”
“No, you’ll have to take care of that yourself. It’s your business and you should own it, although I have negotiated a rather reasonable price for you. I’ll take care of the renovations. Jordan can help you decorate. And Dealy says they have some tourism money for advertising. The point is, you have friends here in Ballykirk-good friends. And we all want to help you get your business started.”
“I-I don’t know what to say,” Gelsey murmured. “It’s all too much.”
“No, it’s not. It’s exactly what you need. I want you to stay in Ballykirk, I want us to work together on this place and I want you to believe that we have a future together. And when-”
“I do,” Gelsey interrupted.
“You-”
“Do,” Gelsey said. “I’ve been thinking a lot over the past week and I do want a future with you. And I don’t want to wait. I want that future to start right now. I’ve wasted too much time already. I know I love you, Kellan. And it isn’t some silly fantasy love that I think is going to solve all my problems. It’s real and I can feel it deep in my soul. I’m not going to run away from this.”
He smiled, relief racing through him until he wanted to shout for joy. He slipped his arms around her waist and picked her up off her feet, kissing her until they were both breathless. “So, I guess my plan worked.”
“Your plan? It was my plan,” Gelsey teased.
“This? The shop was my plan.”
“All right, the shop was your plan. I’ll give you that.”
“And what do you think you want to sell?” he asked.
“Well, I’ve been doing a lot of research and I couldn’t come up with anything. But then I was walking around Winterhill and I started noticing all the special little things that my grandmother had collected over the years. And I realized that’s what I wanted to sell. Beautiful things that make a home warm and cozy. I’ll have some antiques. And some Irish linens. Maybe some furniture and crystal. But it will all be Irish. I’ve been surrounded by all my grandmother’s things at Winterhill and I didn’t realize how important they were until now.”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” he said.
“I had a plan, too,” Gelsey said, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“You did?”
She nodded. “The plan started long before you found this place, which is perfect, by the way. The plan started the first time I saw you at the cove, when we were kids. I decided that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together and here we are.”
“I guess it’s fate then that I found you on that beach. And that I kept that tin box all these years.”
“Fate or magic,” she said. “Or a bit of both.”
“So, if we’re going to live together, where will it be?”
“I have a house that’s big enough for two,” Gelsey said.
“And I have a flat in Dublin, for those times when you need to go in to the city.”
“Are we going to live happily ever after?” she asked.
Kellan took her face between his palms and gently kissed her again. “Absolutely. What other possibility would there be?”
“There’s always blissfully happily ever after,” Gelsey whispered, pulling him into a long and languid kiss.
“Mmm.” Kellan drew back. “I think I can make that happen, too.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate Hoffmann began writing for Harlequin Books in 1993. Since then she’s published sixty-five books, primarily in the Harlequin Temptation and Harlequin Blaze lines. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys music, theater and musical theater. She is active working with high school students in the performing arts. She lives in southeastern Wisconsin with her cat, Chloe.
