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EPILOGUE
THREE YEARS LATER…
Finally—after all the struggles and setbacks, after all the heartache, Bets took a deep breath and cut the red ribbon across the doors of the Sorcha Fitzgerald Museum.
Cheers erupted from the crowd who’d come for the opening ceremony. She turned to Linc, and they grinned at each other like little children.
“We did it!” she cried out, launching herself at him as the press greedily snapped up photos.
“Whoa, watch those scissors, sugar.” He kissed her sweetly on the mouth, holding her gaze in the brilliant sunlit day, surely a gift from the art gods. “Youdid it. We all just jumped on board and helped you push this baby where you wanted her to go.”
“Revisionist history, but I can’t argue with anything today,” she said with a laugh. “Wealldid it.”
Ghislaine handed her a microphone, satisfaction dancing around her. “But you laid it down. Great work, Bets! Now, do your thing.”
“The Sorcha Fitzgerald Museum is hereby open!” The mike gave feedback over the loudspeaker, making her and probably everyone else wince. “Sorry, folks. I got carried away. I know you guys want to get to touring the museum and starting the party, but I wanted to thank a few people who’ve made today possible. I’m Bets O’Hanlon, by the way.”
Laughter spilled through the crowd.
“You are?” some upstart called. “I thought you looked like my cousin Patricia from County Kerry.”
She groaned along with a few others. “Reporters—and most especially people in my village, the beautiful Caisleán, like to call me the founder of what you see here. Truly, when I first had the idea to start an arts center in the wilds of Ireland to serve our community and bring in new people and ideas, I only thought to ask my family for help. My son, Liam, didn’t roll his eyes at his crazy ol’ mum when I asked him to remodel one of the sheds at my house. Thanks for that, Liam.”
Taylor nudged him with her elbow, prompting him to give her a thumbs-up.
Bets grinned as her other two boys jostled their younger brother. Rhys and Wyatt had come up from South Africa for the opener, and seeing all three of them together filled her heart with joy.
She had to pull her gaze away from them to continue her speech. “Then I called my cousin, Angie Newcastle, who’d just lost her job heading up an arts center in the U.S. I thought maybe I could help a girl out while kick-starting my arts center with some painting classes. That worked out pretty well, didn’t it, Angie?”
Her cousin juggled her newborn and pointed at Carrick. “I got more than I bargained for.”
Didn’t we all?she thought, as she gestured to the rolling hills around them. “That’s Ireland for you. Well, for those of you who don’t know, we secured our second artist at the same time because she tagged along with Angie. They’re sisters, in case you can’t see the resemblance. Megan Bennet went back to teaching ceramics, much to the delight of our own Keegan O’Malley, best known for the Kindness Sheep, who connected with his wife in one of her classes.”
A few people let out a whistle as Keegan turned to Lisa Ann and kissed her enthusiastically on the mouth.
“That’s love and art in action,” she called, stopping to applaud as people joined in.
“Where are the sheep?” someone shouted.
Bets shielded her eyes and pointed off toward the left fields. “That way. Watch the muck if you take the now famous Kindness Sheep tour. Yes, in case you didn’t know, we have one. And it’s free to the public—just like our museum. Moving on…”
She took a moment to gather herself, reaching out a hand to Linc, her love, her cowboy. “This next part gets even more personal for me. Angie sent out a want ad of sorts for artists to come to our center, and that’s when we got Ellie Buchanan. She blew in with a ton of passion and a burgeoning cred in stained glass. Make sure you see her incredible work in our arts center, okay?”
Her most emotional moment was here at last, and she took a deep breath before saying, “Ellie brought one of the best gifts of my life—this man right here. Linc Buchanan wasn’t part of my plan, which only goes to show how you never know who might show up and what they can do to enrich your life.”
He muttered, “Aw, shucks,” and she met his gaze as her heart thundered in her chest.
She saw in those sparkly baby blues not only the passion they’d shared last night but what they were going to share every day for the rest of their lives—love, commitment, fun, partnership, and purpose. God, she was so lucky!
She cleared her throat and turned back to her speech. “Linc’s been by my side ever since, and his incredible skills and resources have helped us take this place to where we are today. He started in windows, and now he’s helping with everything at the arts center. A round of applause for my cowboy, Linc Buchanan.”
He ducked his head like usual and waved off the cacophony of praise from the crowd before gesturing for her to continue.
She pointed next to Kathleen, who was holding hands with Declan. “There’s no mistaking the historic metal sculpture we’re also unveiling today. Kathleen O’Connor’s gigantic pirate ship can be seen for miles across Ireland. It’s taken three years to build, but it’s going to wow people for decades and more—like everything else our arts center builds. Which includes another work of art, also three years in the making, by Sophie Giombetti. Once we clear the path to the museum, her gorgeous goddess glass installation with the Celtic tree is going to be the first thing you see. Let me give you a hint. It will leave your jaw hanging open.”
She made a show of dropping said jaw and then rolling it back up, wanting to keep the crowd entertained. “Inside the museum, you’re also going to see the work of other artists such as Hans Shumaker. I’m going to stop there so I don’t spoil any more surprises. But one work Idowant to mention upfront is the masterpiece by our beloved resident artist, Eoghan O’Dwyer. Eoghan, hold up your hand.”
The little man was grinning and blushing as he waved to the crowd with one hand, holding Sandrine’s hand with the other.
