Since the trip was family-oriented, the hikes today and tomorrow morning were shorter with little to no difficulty. The location was chosen for the picturesque trails and lakes for the kids to play in and explore.
The leisurely pace was exactly what he needed. He and Bébhinn could sit by the lake and talk, smiling and laughing at the kids having fun. She would touch her fingers to his as if by accident, like she’d done during a hike last year.
He watched her at night and imagined kissing and touching her body—like her ex-boyfriend used to do to her. Except he would be better at it. She would praise him for how good he made her feel.
He finished mixing the batter for the sweet biscuits he made for the trip and placed dollops of dough on the waiting baking sheets before putting them in the oven. While they baked, he would load his gear and then check the group messages. He’d heard it ding several more times.
He let himself into the apartment just as the buzzer went off. He set the sheets on the counter for the biscuits to cool, grabbing one as he sat at the table and opened Facebook.
“No. No!” His mangled cry was one of disbelief and anger as he read the messages.
The Ramblers Hiking Club Community
Bébhinn
Hey everyone! Sorry to be posting last minute, but I won’t be able to make it today. I hope everyone has so much fun. Post plenty of pictures here so I can see them! Happy hiking!
He stood so fast his chair tipped over and slammed against the tile. He fisted the half-eaten biscuit in his hand and, in a fit of rage, swiped the two baking sheets from the counter.
He read the message again. And again.
That suitcase had never been for the hiking trip. She was going somewhere, and it wasn’t with him.
He didn’t want to believe that she was intentionally ruining his plans, but he was having trouble seeing an alternate motive.
And where was she traveling? Who was she traveling to see?
He had to stop attempting grand gestures. In trying to create a special, perfect moment, he was taking the chance of losing her.
He couldn’t lose her. He wouldn’t.
thirty-seven
DAGR
Dagr was alreadyat the airport, pacing nervously in the lounge provided for private jet customers. Bébhinn should be landing in four minutes.
He couldn’t believe he’d asked her to come. Even though it was a charity event, it felt very much like a date.
“Because it is a date, you pillock,” he chided himself.
Had he given himself thirty extra seconds from the time he climbed out of her Jeep that night to when he opened her driver’s door, he might have kept his mouth closed.
All he could remember was that he didn’t want the night to end. He didn’t want months to pass before he could see her again. He wanted to walk by her side and feel her warmth on his arm.
So, he’d asked her out and not to a simple dinner. A black-tie affair that would have many people wondering about who she was and what she was to him.
He’d looked up the O’Faolain family, and though they were more well-known in the States, their business dealings inIreland were impressive enough that once Bébhinn’s name was discovered, there were many people who would recognize who she was.
A good friend of his, Lee Whiten, a London-based solicitor with a second office in Dublin, mentioned to Dagr a few weeks back when they’d met for drinks that his biggest clients in Ireland were looking to buy a considerable tract of land. He would like to hire Dagr’s firm to oversee that the wildlife preservation compliance laws were followed.
When he found out the clients were Bran and Patrick O’Faolain, he’d about shit himself. The thought of entangling himself further in Bébhinn’s family had him breaking out in a cold sweat.
He knew from the hundreds of conversations he and Bébhinn had shared that her family was close and clearly loved one another, but if he were to help Lee on the case, he feared that they might think he was attempting to ingratiate himself into the family once they found out that he and Bébhinn were good friends.
And they would find out. He hadn’t told Bébhinn about the offer to work with Lee because he knew what she’d say. She would ask him to do it because her family deserved a solicitor who cared about the land.
Consequences—he was currently reaping them with his spontaneity.
