Page 81 of Beside Golden Irish Fields
“Well, I’ll be off now. Enjoy your evening.” He was striding off before she could say anything.
Coming down the lane to the cottage, she spotted Liam on his motorcycle heading up toward the house.
“Fine night for a ride,” he called out as he drew closer.
She thought about Ollie, out with Kade, and wondered if he was enjoying the night—probably so. “Glad you enjoyed it.”
“Hey, you want to have a drink?” he asked, pulling his helmet off. “Even though she’d kill me if she knew, I came home early to wait for my mum to come home. She’s out for her first date since she met my dad. Bound to be a big night. Moving on tends to unlock lots of emotions.”
There was that phrase again. “Bets is dating?”
“Yeah, she doesn’t want anyone to know.” Liam shook his head ruefully. “I’m imploring the heavens to keep everything steady. She’s chosen a good match for herself, but I promised my brothers I’d keep an eye on things.”
“You approve?” She wanted to ask who the person was, but held back. Liam was usually very open, so if he wasn’t saying, there was a reason.
“He talked to me about dating my mum and asked me to tell my brothers he’d have spoken to them, too, if they weren’t abroad. He’s also being very good to her. Better than she even knows. We’re all glad for them. They’re two vital people. Just because they lost their spouses doesn’t mean their lives should be over in the romance department.”
Why was everyone talking like this? Like there was something wrong with staying loyal to a dead spouse. The earlier agitation she had on the beach rose up within her.
“I don’t think not dating someone means you’re acting like your life is over. It only means you loved the person you married and can’t ever imagine wanting to be with anyone else.”
Liam cut the engine and hopped off the bike, unwinding the kickstand. “I can see this talk upsets you. I’m sorry for that. We all heal at different rates. You’ve only just begun.”
Her rage broke like a rotted stick. “I don’t want to heal, and I’m sick of everyone telling me it would be good for me. I don’t want to move on, dammit. I want my husband back.”
I want him to tell me he likes me.
An anguished sound punctuated her sentence, a hot, scary sound. She pressed her hand to her mouth as the pain in her stomach shot through her. She doubled over with it. Liam had his arm around her before she could do anything and gathered her against his chest.
“There now,” he said, his voice soft as he stroked her back. “You cry it out. Scream if you want to. There’s no one but me to hear.”
She tunneled her face into his chest, tears streaming down her face. The anguished sounds coming from her throat were feral, foreign.
“I know it hurts,” he whispered, cradling her gently. “And I know you don’t want to let him go.”
She shook her head against his chest, the pain squeezing the life from her. “I don’t. I can’t.”
He soothed her hair with his hand, like she would have with Ollie.
Ollie. He had no father. She had no husband.
“Come on, love. Just let it all out.”
Ty was gone.
Angie was right.
She unleashed her grief in a single sound, the force of it echoing through her bones. Then she fisted her hands in his shirt and cried her heart out.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The high heels were a mistake. She knew it as soon as she left the car.
What had she been thinking, wearing fuck-me pumps? No one wore shoes like this in their village. She wore these when she was traveling in Paris or Rome with her boys. Here in County Mayo, she might as well have worn a T-shirt that saidTake Me. But she’d told herself she wanted to wear clothes she normally didn’t. Only that was a lie.
She’d wanted to look good for him.
“You dressed up for me,” Donal said with a smile, looking her up and down with slumberous green eyes when she found him waiting for her on the street outside the restaurant.
