Page 7 of Over Verdant Irish Hills

But his mind up and ruined the sentiment by bringing up the image of Bets in her lipstick red dress. Somehow she’d made the color work with her reddish-orange hair. On anyone else with that hair color, the dress probably would have clashed. But that was part of Bets’ charm—she was constantly putting together two things that shouldn’t work, and yet, by some magic, they did. Like them, he thought, as his head cleared suddenly. Maybe they shouldn’t fit, but somehow they were perfect for each other.

“No one is ever too old for love, Linc,” she said with her green eyes aglow. “You’ve been waiting for the right woman for a long time.”

“My three ex-wives make a liar of you.”

She clapped her hands. “Is he always this witty, Lupe?”

“No,” she said wryly, her lips curling up. “Sometimes he manages to listen. Given time, he might even admit he has been waiting for the right woman his whole life. He just jumped the gun with those other women.”

“Three times.” He shot his housekeeper a look before giving the woman in white his full attention. “Lady, I’m sure this is a mistake. I have no soulmate.”

“Don’t you?” She cocked her ear. “She’s coming now.”

Bets appeared in the kitchen doorway as if scripted by that destiny Donal had mentioned.

Oh, hell.

CHAPTERTHREE

Bets stopped short as Linc held up a hand and ambled over to the kitchen table.

“Been a long day,” he explained as he dragged out a chair and sat down hard in it. “Land sakes.”

And mercy me, she thought, her mind supplying the rest of the phrase he liked on occasion. “You don’t look so good, Linc.” She’d come inside hoping to catch him alone. Now all she wanted to do was head back the way she’d come. Had she made him look this sick and unsteady? That would totally suck.

“I’ll be fine.” He cleared his throat as the soft-spoken woman she knew to be Lupe bit her lip to keep from laughing. She’d walked in on a joke or something. Only Linc wasn’t the one amused.

“Let me get you something to drink, Bets.” Lupe grabbed a glass and filled it with water with a speed Bets couldn’t have managed at this late hour. The woman placed it in her hand and led her firmly to the table. “You can keep Linc company while he sits a spell. Too much sun probably. I’ll go check on things outside. Don’t you worry none, Linc.”

Linc’s square jaw locked as he watched Lupe hustle out of the kitchen.

“Are you in some kind of pain?” Bets asked, all thoughts of leaving disappearing as worry wound through her.

“Whyever would you ask that?”

“Your mouth looks pinched, and you’re a little pale.” Yet, the sight of him in his tuxedo still made her heart beat faster, even more so because he’d pulled the bow tie free and opened the button at the top of his shirt. “You don’t look like you had too much sun.”

“You did though,” he said with a smile before his frown returned.

“Gardening.” She winced at the reminder of her lobster state. “I have the rose competition coming up next month, remember?”

“I remember. You mind if I have some of your water? My mouth’s as dry as the Mojave.”

She slid her glass his way and watched as he downed half of it. “Is this because Ellie got married? I thought you were happy about it.”

“I’m tickled pink,” he said, making a face. “But it was a big day, and it caught up to me. What can I do for you, Bets?”

She felt a pinch in her heart. Leave it to him to cut to the chase. Well, so could she. “You can stop ignoring me. It’s getting awkward, and I’m sick of it.”

He sighed heavily. “Are we really doing this now?”

“Yes, we are. You look too tired to walk out on me, so I figure it’s as good a time as any.”

A chuckle spurted out. “God, that makes me feel old. As for ignoring you… It seemed prudent given everything.”

Uncertainty wrapped her up in its sticky embrace. “Because of Donal?”

She’d thought it would be awkward to see Donal again, but it hadn’t felt that way. They’d easily settled back to being friends, same as they’d been all their lives. He’d told her about his time in the south of France, and she’d filled him in on the state of her roses. She’d walked away from the conversation wondering what had worried her so. Liam was right. Her time with Donal was over. She loved him, but she wasn’t in love with him anymore.

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