Page 16 of Destined Lovers

She nods her head in agreement.

“Earth to Agnes.”

“Out of everything you could tell me, I wasn’t expecting that. After all this time, you finally run into him.” she sighs.

“Exactly!” I practically yell. This is what I’ve been saying the whole time.

“If you don’t meet him, don’t you think he’ll keep coming back since he knows where you work?” She asks.

“Aye…but I have almost two weeks off from the pub, and he lives in London. He can’t possibly stay around that long, could he?”

“Nora, I don’t know, child. From all your stories, I wouldn’t expect him to give up so easily.”

She’s right. I don’t think he will. Like I said though, he can’t possibly wait until I’m working again. He has to go home at some point.

As much as seeing him made me miss him even more than I ever have, I know my end goal is to settle everything in my life. Then when I’m ready to see him again, we can start fresh without interruptions.

There is a knock at the front door, and I turn back toward Agnes before I answer it.

“Not a word, I’m not kidding. You know how he is. He’s gotten paranoid over the years and will wonder and worry too much about Declan.”

She pats my cheek. “My lips are sealed. I’ll always be on your side, child. You know this.”

I smile softly at her and open the door when Bennett knocks again.

“Good morning!” he chirps and kisses me on the cheek.

Always too perky in the morning for me.

“Ready to go?” he asks.

“Actually, would you mind staying in today? I wanted Agnes to join, and she’s not feeling up to going into town yet,” I ask and widen my eyes at Agnes when she looks confused at my plan.

“Oh yes, yes,” she stutters when it finally hits her. “I’d much rather stay here on this lovely day. We can have breakfast in the garden.”

Smooth, Agnes. She’s shite at lying.

Bennett looks between us suspiciously because Agnes loves going into the village. Unfortunately, it was the best I could come up with on a whim.

After another beat, he shrugs. “Okay, it is an unusually warm and dry day outside for December. Might as well make the best of it.”

Thankfully, he doesn’t press the issue. I’m not sure how much energy I have today to deal with him in general, so I’d prefer not to argue about where to have breakfast.

After we set up the table with a spread of assorted fruits and pastries, I brought out a tray with tea, coffee, and juice for Agnes and set them on the beautiful wrought-iron table Agnes got from her late husband in the nineteen fifties.

I run back inside quickly to grab her a blanket because although it’s seasonally warm, I don’t want her to catch a cold. I’m not even back outside for more than five seconds before Bennett is at it with the questions.

“So, will you tell me what the craic is about that fella you recognized the other night?”

“Bennett,” Agnes chides. “Can we at least take a bite of food before you annoy the girl with questions?”

He shrinks back in his chair and apologies, never wanting to upset Agnes.

As we eat our breakfast, I look around the garden Agnes loves so much, and I think it would be a beautiful day to paint outside. It will take my mind off standing up Declan, and the fresh air wouldn’t hurt after being cooped up in the pub for the last few weeks.

“What are you thinking? You look lost in thought,” Bennett asks.

“I was just thinking how I want to paint the winter landscape with the horses in the background. I haven’t been able to paint outside in a long time, and with the weather tolerable, I think I’ll spend my afternoon doing just that.”

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