Page 111 of After Indigo Irish Nights
Yoda waited.
Declan gritted his teeth.
“What do you think?” Liam finally asked.
“That I fucked it all up, just like she said.” He set his elbows on his knees and lowered his head into his hands. “She doesn’t want to be with someone who won’t tell her things.”
Liam patted him on the back and stood. “Then you’ll have to figure out how to convince her you will. You have the whole plane ride to Boston to think about it.”
“That’s it? That’s all I get from Yoda?”
“Only you can share your heart, Declan.” He smiled. “But I can give you a drive to the airport. Come on.”
“Now?” The butcher shop was closed today, but he’d have to call Seamus and tell him that he was taking a brief holiday. Declan had planned to present the check to him to buy the butcher shop, but he could do it after he returned. Rising to his feet, he said, “Okay, yes, now.”
“Nothing like the present when it comes to making a different choice and forging your future.”
“You really should do something with all that…wisdom. But don’t you have someplace to be?”
“Nothing I can’t postpone, especially with my mother shutting herself off in her proverbial cave right now.”
He had no idea what that meant. “I need to buy a ticket.”
“Then go buy it.” Liam started walking toward the dungeon. “I’ll finish meditating and then grab your suitcase. What a remarkable twist to my day. I love surprises.”
Declan could only stare after his friend. Surprises? Yes, leaving for Boston today was that and more. He went to buy a ticket. There was an early afternoon flight on Aer Lingus that would put him into Boston midafternoon. Even with the three-hour drive to Dublin, he could make it.
When they arrived at the airport, Liam took his shoulder in a friendly clasp. “It’s time to share your full self with someone, Declan. That’s what a true relationship is all about. Wouldn’t you want her to tell you everything?”
He realized he did.
“Think about what she’s said she wants. If you love her, you’ll give it to her. Because I can promise you, she’ll do the same for you. That’s what you do when you love someone.”
He wanted to snarl in frustration. “Liam, you’ve known me your whole life. I’m not a talker.”
His friend laughed. “No, you’ve always been a man of secrets. If not, you would have told your closest friends about Jimmy and Morag. Might be time to change that. When you’re trying to figure out what to say to her—how to show her you’ve changed—put a hand on your heart. I also tucked a journal into your carry-on. I thought you might want to write something down. Good luck, my friend.”
Luck. He should have packed a leprechaun in his suitcase.
When he got on the plane—in a middle seat, no less—he looked at the movies being shown and then sat back and considered his dilemma.
Kathleen didn’t want secrets, and Liam had told him he was a man of secrets. He hadn’t seen it like that. To his mind, he’d only kept things to himself.
He snuck a look around at the two people he was squashed between, but both women were watching some chick flick. God, they probably wanted men who’d share things too.
Well, if that’s what she was looking for…
He almost grimaced as he put his hand over his heart. It felt weird, but if Yoda thought it would help, he’d try it. He would do anything to have Kathleen back.
Falling back on his boxing training, he started breathing deeply and cleared his mind. Secrets. Sharing. An idea filtered through the mess of his thoughts, discomfiting as hell. He dug out the journal Liam had snuck into his bag—God bless, Yoda—and he started writing.
Secrets, huh? Well… He could do that.
When he finished writing, he sank back in the chair. Nothing could be as hard as that.
* * *
He’d been wrong.
