Page 34 of Beneath Pearly Irish Skies
“Okay, let’s get you guys started.”
She went around to all the students as they began their work. Some had taken notes from her demo, she realized. Others just waded in. Kade, for example, was efficient and fearless. While her other students struggled to center the clay, he was the only one who got it on the first go-around. Somehow she wasn’t surprised.
“Well done,” she said, meeting his brown eyes. “I wasn’t sure you’d take to it.”
“I’ve always liked to build things,” he said with a smile. “And I had a good teacher.”
She grinned and made sure to move on to help Sarah, who had discovered using too much water could be a disaster. Her clay disc had ended up in her freshly laundered lap. Megan suggested people might consider wearing an apron like Eoghan and Lisa Ann if they worried about soiling their clothes, although the clay did come out, she assured them.
By the end of the three-hour class, a few of her students—Liam, Kade, Eoghan, and Hollie—had managed to make a cup or a bowl. Liam’s was gorgeous, of course, while the others were thick and a bit misshapen. But she knew they would always remember their first pot. She’d kept her first creation and used it as a candy bowl.
Not everyone left with smiles after cleaning up. The determined or competitive ones who’d struggled with the craft weren’t happy with their results. She’d been like that with everything except pottery. Learning anything new had always been excruciating for her, and the new craft or subject would be unappealing until she managed to accomplish something worthwhile. If that didn’t happen quickly, she’d give up, thinking she couldn’t do it. That pattern had become a way of life, one she was eager to break out of.
With pottery though, once she’d graduated high school and stopped living with her parents, she’d taken to it so easily. Funny, she hadn’t realized how much being out from under their roof had made a difference.
“We’re headed to the pub for a late drink,” Liam said, putting his arm around her and squeezing her sweetly. “To celebrate our first class. Want to come?”
She thought about Ollie, and how Angie and Carrick would be waiting up for her. They were newly in love. She didn’t want to keep them from alone time. She shook her head. “Another night.”
“I’m buying the first round,” Eoghan said with tears in his eyes. “It’s not every day a man learns something new he loves. I could feel my brother helping me from heaven.”
“That gave me chills,” Lisa Ann said, brushing her arms.
Oddly, it had given Megan goose bumps too. “I’m glad you enjoyed it so, Eoghan.”
“Megan, it was grand,” he said, clutching her hand for a moment before releasing her.
“Wasn’t it?” Liam said. “I love feeling the clay in my hands again.”
She hugged her cousin. “You’re so good at it.”
He chucked her under the chin. “You are as well, cousin. Well, we’re off.”
She waved at the group. She was aware of Kade remaining behind, and she was happy for it. When the studio was finally empty, she turned to him. He was sitting on a stool, resting his hands on his long, open legs.
“First class in the bag!” She blew out a breath. “I can’t thank you and Liam enough for being here. I wasn’t sure if you were serious students when you told me you were going to sign up.”
He rose and walked over to her. “I thought I might take to it, and I wanted to learn more about what you love.”
That rolled through her, making tears fill her eyes. “I don’t have enough words to say thank you.”
Her journal was filled with such words. After their first walk on the beach on Friday, she’d written three pages on all the things she loved about Kade under the headingGratitude. Afterward, she’d drawn hearts and smiley faces in the margins, needing to express more of her emotions. She had a lot for this man.
He gazed down at her quietly, his eyes traveling over her face. “It’s a joy to see you coming alive again. Every day I wake up, I know I’m going to see another facet of the amazing Megan Bennet.”
The amazing Megan Bennet.Her heart raced at the compliment.
“Come on,” he said, cupping her elbow. “I’ll walk you out.”
She locked up, aware of him following her progress.
When they reached the gravel parking lot, he shifted on his feet in the cool fall night. “Megan, you did wonderful tonight. When you go home, make sure to savor it. Come, let’s get you into your car. Then I’ll follow you home.”
The stars were brilliant overhead and the night so dark she felt a twinge of nerves about driving home, although her cottage on her cousin’s land was barely five minutes away. They drove on the other side, and she was still getting accustomed to that as much as the narrow roads.
“You don’t have to do that,” she said, but she liked that he’d offered. The men around here were like that, and there was a part of her that appreciated it.
“You’re still new to driving in Ireland. It will make me feel better to see you home safe.”
