Page 22 of The Granddaughter's Irish Secret
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Rose whispered back. ‘I was a bit shaken up to see him, but I’ll be fine. Lovely ceremony and you look so beautiful.’
‘Thank you.’ Louise’s eyes sparkled as she smiled at Rose. ‘I really appreciate that you came. It means a lot to me. We were always good friends.’
‘Yes, we were,’ Rose agreed, and glanced at the long queue behind her. ‘But now I’d better let everyone else congratulate you. See you at the hotel later.’ She smiled at Louise and turned away, coming face to face with Gavin.
They stared at each other for a split second. Then Gavin smiled. ‘Rose. Hi. How strange to see you, I mean…’
The wind blew a lock of hair into his eyes and she wanted to push it away, like she’d always done, but stopped herself in time. ‘Hi, Gavin,’ she heard herself say in a strong, confident voice that surprised her. ‘Why are you surprised to see me? Aiden and Louise were part of our gang in Dublin. And Louise worked at the firm for over two years. Of course I’d be here.’
‘Yes, of course. I should have known.’
‘I should be the one to be surprised,’ Rose said. ‘I didn’t expect you to come over from New York for the wedding. To be best man and all.’
‘Aiden’s brother was supposed to be best man,’ Gavin explained. ‘But he got sick and Aiden asked me to step in. I was planning to go home for a visit anyway.’
‘Oh,’ Rose said. ‘I see. Nice of you to help out.’
‘I was happy to do it.’ Gavin took a step back and looked her up and down. ‘You look great. Are you here on your own?’
‘No, she’s with me,’ Noel said, stepping up beside Rose. He held out his hand. ‘I’m Noel Quinn, a friend of Rose’s.’
Gavin smiled and shook Noel’s hand. ‘Hi, Noel. I’m Gavin Lynch. Rose and I are old friends.’
‘More than friends once, I believe,’ Noel remarked.
Gavin nodded, looking awkward. ‘Yes, we were in a relationship for a while. Still friends though. Our breakup was very amicable. Right, Rose?’
Rose shot him a thin smile, trying to hide her anger. ‘If that’s what you want to call it,’ she mumbled.Amicable?she thought angrily.Is that what he calls leaving me without a word of warning?She looked at him and suddenly didn’t feel anything at all. No attraction, lingering love or even a hint of fondness. She wondered briefly how she could have been so insanely in love with him and not seen how false and in love with himself he really was. ‘No hard feelings at all,’ she added, feeling oddly relieved. She was over him at last, even if not over the way he had behaved. That would never go away.
‘Great. So,’ Gavin said after a moment’s pause, ‘you moved to Kerry, I believe. How is it going?’
‘Grand,’ Rose replied, comforted by Noel standing beside her – a solid wall to lean on if she needed to. ‘I’m handling the family property that’s being turned into apartments.’
‘So you’re busy?’ Gavin asked.
‘Very. How about you?’ Rose enquired.
‘Getting into the New York real estate scene,’ Gavin replied. ‘Tricky, but exciting.’
‘I can imagine.’ Rose hovered on the spot for a minute, glancing at Noel. ‘But now I think we’ll head for the hotel. What do you think, Noel?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I think that would be good. We’ll have a drink in the bar and watch them take the photos against that amazing view up there. Such a lovely evening, isn’t it?’
‘Beautiful,’ Gavin agreed. He started to move away. ‘Well, see you up there then, lads. We could have a dance or two later, Rose.’
‘Maybe,’ Rose said, taking Noel’s hand. ‘If I’m free. See you later, Gavin.’
‘You did well,’ Noel said when they were in the car. ‘Nobody would know you ever had any feelings for him.’
‘I was shaking like a leaf,’ Rose said. ‘But you standing beside me helped a lot.’ She let out a deep sigh. ‘Oh why did I go to this stupid wedding? Why didn’t I say I was going away or my granny was sick or something?’
‘Because it wouldn’t be true.’ Noel started the engine. ‘And you’re not a chicken. In any case, your friend Louise would have been upset if you hadn’t been at her wedding.’
‘Yes, that’s true. She thanked me for coming and apologised about not having warned me about Gavin being the best man. But she would have had more important things on her mind, of course.’
They drove the short distance to the hotel while enjoying the beautiful views of the lakes and the mountains beyond. The late afternoon sun cast a golden light on the landscape. They took a moment to stand in front of the hotel to enjoy the views. The air felt so clean, with a faint smell of newly mown grass mingling with the scent of wild roses just coming into bloom.
‘Such a heavenly spot,’ Rose said, taking deep breaths. ‘The air is like wine here. The perfect venue for a wedding.’
