Page 28 of An Irish Hope

“Really? You’d do that?” Rory asked.

“Of course I would.” He turned to face Aisling and Mam. “I told Rory this, but last year I was told to contact an office in Killarney if I was to return, and I’ve been keeping in touch with them. They’ve told me about a position that’s likely to become vacant in the next year or so.”

“Wow. That sounds like an answer to prayer, doesn’t it?” Aisling said.

Rory nodded, her eyes glowing as she gazed at Aidan. “An answer to prayer before we’d even prayed.”

“Indeed it does sound like God’s hand was in this.” Mam’s smile was soft. “And as sad as that news would mean concerning your grandmother, it would be nice to know my daughter doesn’t need to live on the other side of the world.”

“It is a wee distance, isn’t it?”

“I’d be very happy to go to Australia, you know, if you decide to live there one day,” Aisling offered. “I could be the super cool Aunty Ash, and your kids could take me surfing or to pat a koala. I think that’d be grand.”

He smiled. “You know you’re welcome any time you want to come.”

“Really?”

“Aidan, don’t encourage her. She’ll be on a plane before you can say tomorrow.”

Aisling laughed, and glanced across the room to where two others had entered. Her heart thudded, and she offered a small smile.

But either Andy didn’t see her or he was too busy thinking of something else, because his gaze drifted straight past her. Her heart sank.

“What is it?” Rory asked her.

“Nothing.” She wouldn’t let her susceptibility for a certain man get in the way to cloud a second of Rory’s happiness. “So, tell me what happened. Where did he propose? Did he get down on bended knee? I want to know it all!”

Rory and Aidan did exactly that, sharing about a beach and a restaurant nearby where they’d eaten the most perfect meal last year. “We went for a walk on the beach while it was sunset, then Aidan got on one knee and proposed.”

“Ah, that sounds grand,” Aunty Aine said. “It’s a beautiful ring.”

“It was my mother’s,” he admitted.

“Oh, how special.” Aisling picked up her sister’s left hand and examined the ring more closely. Three round diamonds glinted in a simple, elegant band.

“She would have loved you, you know,” he murmured to Rory, side-hugging her. “Even my sister and Gran said so.”

“Aww.” Aisling placed a hand on her heart at the perfect romance of it all.

“Well, this certainly is a weekend for happily-ever-afters, isn’t it?” Aine said. She patted Aisling’s hand. “Don’t worry, your time will come.”

She nodded, pretending the words didn’t sting. She knew it would happen eventually, even suspected she knew who it would happen with, but after yesterday he seemed to be avoiding her. Which certainly didn’t make a woman feel too confident about this Fairall legacy and whether it was as good as it was cracked up to be.

Her heart wrenched a little more. How was she going to steer these feelings into something real? It was one thing to feel emotion, quite another to see a way to make this work. She pasted on a smile, not wanting the others to see her turmoil, and doing her best to not let the man who she suspected might be her perfect match see her either. He wanted to ignore her? Two could play at that game. Besides, she needed to concentrate on what was happening here, what was real. Not what seemed more the realm of imagination.

“Um, do you have any idea when you might get married?”

“A lot depends on his Gran’s health,” Rory reminded.

Oh, that’s right. “I don’t suppose you’d want to get married then live apart in different countries?”

Aidan sighed. “I haven’t looked into all of the fine print, but it seems both Australia and Ireland have various legal or residency requirements. It does look like it might be easier here than there.”

“Ireland for the win!” Aisling cheered. From the corner of her eyes she noticed two heads swivelled to look her way. She aimed a smile in their general direction but swiftly returned her attention to her family.

“I’m happy to do whatever I can to make your dream day come true,” she added in a sing-song voice for her sister. “Actually, do you know what would be fun? If you got married here at Christmas, then honeymooned in Australian when it’s summer there.”

Rory laughed. “You’re just saying that because you want to come too.”