Lucky leaned toward the phone. “I’m off to the bookshop, Granny. I’ll bring Oksana tomorrow.”
“Ya do that, my boy. Give her my love when ya see her.”
“I will.” He squeezed Kieran’s shoulder before following Desiree.
Sara slipped off her bar stool, mouthedgood luckand started after them.
Grabbing her hand, he shook his head.
Her eyes widened as he drew her closer. “Granny, your instincts are right, as always. I’ve met someone. Her name is Sara Armstrong, and she’s standing right here beside me.”
“I knew it! Sara, you say? ’Tis a grand name. Tell me about yerself, Sara, luv. How old are you?”
She cleared her throat. “I’m twenty-six, Mrs. Haggerty.”
“Ah, no, call me granny. Or Bridget, but if you’re twenty-six I’m old enough to be your granny.”
“Then granny it is.” Her voice was a little wobbly. “I live in New Jersey and I work for a travel company. I met Kieran because I’m in town visiting my brothers.”
“Do ya fancy him, then?”
“I do, but there’s a problem. I need to stay in New Jersey for my work and Kieran needs to stay in Ireland for… his work.”
“Not just his work, luv. It’s me keepin’ him here. He’s been a comfort, until I see the years slippin’ by and he’s thirty-two and no prospects. Not even a nibble.”
He’d had enough of such talk. “Thirty-two isn’t old. I have plenty of time to?—”
“’Tis me, too, laddie. I want ya settled before I step out for tea. Wouldn’t mind a great grandchild along the way.”
“Lucky and Oksana might help you with that.”
“So they might. Would be grand to be around if that happens. Is Wagon Train near to New Jersey?”
He’d recently looked it up in case driving was an option. It wasn’t. “It’s almost four thousand kilometers.”
“So if ya lived in New Jersey with Sara, then?—”
“I’ll not be living in New Jersey, Granny.” He caught Sara’s attention and held her gaze. “I’ll be living in County Kildare. I’ll visit Rowdy Ranch. I’ll stop by and see Sara, but?—”
“That’s no good, my boy. Do ya fancy Sara?”
“Yes, but?—”
“Would she marry ya, then?”
He soaked up the compassion in Sara’s eyes and gave the best answer he could come up with. “Under different circumstances, I believe she would.”
Her smile told him he’d done a decent job.
“You’re a smart fella, as smart or smarter than yer mum. Find a way to change the circumstances.”
“I won’t leave you, Granny.”
“Looks like ya hafta take me with ya, then.”
He gasped. “What?”
“Won’t be a stroll through the rose garden, lad. Get carsick something awful unless all the windows are down. Can’t put the windows down on a plane.”
