Page 27 of Mistletoe Season
“Hi,” she said when he reached her.
“Hi, lass.” Snow had started to fall again, and the weather had been dicey all the way from Dublin. But if he’d had to paddle his way to Mistletoe, he would have done it.
“Did anyone know you were coming?” she asked.
“I thought about telling Ben, but I wanted to surprise everyone.” Her face looked different under the parking lot lights, and he realized she was wearing makeup. Tastefully done and pretty, but she was pretty without it too. “I’m glad to see you.”The understatement of the year.He waited for her to say the same. He was disappointed when she didn’t, but he also understood why.
“You made your family very happy tonight.” She huddled farther into her coat.
“Good thing, since I made them plenty mad when I left.”
“Is that why you came back? To make it up to them?”
“Mostly. Emmy, I messed things up. When I got the call to go to Dublin, I should have put off the trip. Mum begged me to, but all I wanted was to leave.”
“To get back to Ireland,” she said.
“Nay. No.” He took a step toward her, relieved when she didn’t move away. “I wanted to leave the pain. Not just the memories. I would have dealt with those. But I couldn’t stand the fact that I’d hurt you. I couldn’t face it either. But I know.”
Emmy shook her head. “You sound human to me. I’m sorry I hurt you, Kieran—”
He put his finger on her lips, then removed his hand and held out the gift. “Merry Christmas.”
She took it from him. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“I wanted to.” He put his hands behind his back and grinned. “Open it.”
She carefully removed the wrapping and lifted the lid from the box. “Mittens,” she said, pulling out an almost duplicate pair of the ones she’d spilled coffee on.
He’d searched for over a week in the Dublin stores to try to find them. “They’re not exactly the same—”
“They’re perfect.” She slipped them on. “And better. Mine were on clearance.” She held her hands close to her face. “Do they go with my outfit?”
He laughed. “That they do. There’s something else in the box.”
She gave him a questioning look as she peered inside. “A list?” When she struggled to pick up the paper with her mittened hand, he took over and handed it to her, and she began to read it aloud. “Number one—find a house.” She looked at him. “I don’t understand.”
“I don’t mind livin’ with Mum for the short term.” He tried to keep his tone light, but the emotion was getting to him. “But eventually I’ll need my own place here in Mistletoe.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re moving here?” At his nod she said, “But what about Ireland? You love it there.”
“And it isn’t goin’ anywhere. But my home is here. I realized that as soon as I landed in Dublin, because I kept seeing things.”
“Things?” she asked, confused.
“Candles.” He smiled. “Single candles were everywhere. Store windows, house windows, apartment windows. Every time I saw one, all I wanted was to come back to Mistletoe.”
She half smiled. “To be with your family.”
“And with you, lass.” He leaned toward her. “Don’t tell Sheryl and Mum, but you edged them out by several kilometers.”
Her smile brightened, then immediately disappeared as questions filled her eyes. “Are you sure?”
Kieran closed the space between them. “I don’t know what the future holds for us, Emmy Banks. I just know I want to discover it with you.Támochroíistighionat.”
“What does that mean?”
He took her hand and put it on his chest, over his beating heart. “My heart is within you.”
