Page 91 of Beneath Pearly Irish Skies
The new Megan wasn’t quite ready for eloping, she told him, although she could see the wisdom in it. Since both of them wanted to live together and start their lives together sooner rather than later, he’d agreed, saying he’d handle the details like the officiant and the wedding supper as she was preoccupied with the final preparations for the St. Stephen’s Day fair.
He would start building their home in the new year, but until it was ready, their family would reside in his cottage. He couldn’t wait to see what touches Megan would bring to his very basic living space. His granny would be pleased, looking down from heaven.
December rolled in with more pearly skies, colder weather, and rain. The wind had its way with the remaining leaves on the ash, hawthorn, and oak trees. Their bare branches rose up like bones, giving the land a mournful feel. The days grew shorter, and he both awoke and went to sleep in darkness. But he didn’t mind. Angie and Carrick had offered to have Ollie stay with them two nights a week, which meant Kade had at least two mornings of waking up next to Megan, and they found other moments alone in the early afternoon hours. But her scent was always with him.
Legend basked in the artificial lights in her new stall, as if she were one of the girls in town lying on Lacken Strand Beach hoping for more color. His father proclaimed he’d never seen a mare so ready for covering, and Kade had to agree. Before long, Legend would be an expectant mother like Angie.
Soon Megan would be one too.
The holiday season blew in like an Irish storm, soft and gentle one moment and tough and bracing the next. Megan loaded kilns for herself and the class and suggested people bring in holiday treats for their last class, which fell mid-December. He had to tell her the Irish didn’t really prepare the kinds of cookies and holiday baked goods she and Angie had been making since the beginning of the month. So she’d pivoted and told people to bring in their favorite drink. That had worked. The Irish knew how to drink, after all.
No one actually made anything new that last night. Lisa Ann and Keegan sat holding hands, their affection clear, and everyone collected their fired pots. Kade was pleased with his takeaways. He’d made bowls for his mother and sister, a mug that would fit his father’s large hand, a cocktail stirrer for Ryan (as well as one for himself), and candlesticks for his cottage as he loved seeing Megan in candlelight, whether at his table or in his bed.
The week leading up to Christmas found him and many in their community setting up for the fair. He and his friends hauled in tables and chairs and constructed booths where baked goods and Megan’s pottery would be sold. She had nearly a hundred pieces, all stunning to the eye, and he had a good feeling she was going to sell all of it. Siobhan had also knitted up a storm, producing a variety of hats, gloves, and even a few blankets.
He walked the horse racecourse with his father, Eoghan, and Donal, and they all agreed the course was wet but not unsafe. Cormac O’Sullivan’s betting book was packed full, with Kade’s father as the favorite to win.
The joy of the season had never been more palpable.
That is, until he met Megan’s father for the first time with the rest of the family.
When Colonel Dan Newcastle strode into Bets O’Hanlon’s parlor after arriving from the Dublin airport, he approached Megan, looked her up and down, and said, “You’re still too skinny, and that haircut and those clothes only make it worse.”
And Kade, who’d always been a man of peace, had the shocking urge to punch Dan Newcastle right in the face.
