“Carsick? I didn’t know that, either.”
“’Tis why I live in a village where I can walk to everythin’ when the weather’s good. Wherever ya plant me over there, Wagon Train or New Jersey, I won’t be leavin’. Be sure of that. Not goin’ through that plane trip more than once.”
“I’ll not beplantingyou anywhere. This is crazy. You’re where you need to be.”
“You’re not hearin’ me, my boy. I’m pushin’ ya out of the nest. And I’ll be jumpin’ out with ya. Sara, luv, don’t know if I’ll be meetin’ ya in New Jersey or Wagon Train, but it’ll be a grand day either way. I’ll be hangin’ up, now.” She disconnected.
Kieran laid his mobile on the bar. Then he looked at Sara, his head spinning. “What just happened?”
“I think that’s called throwing down the gauntlet.”
“She’s never talked like that before. She never said she was worried that I wouldn’t get married. I didn’t know her only problem was carsickness, for God’s sake! I thought she was afraid to leave her comfort zone.”
“Vomiting in the car isn’t in anybody’s comfort zone.”
“Don’t they have stuff you can take?”
“Now they do, but I doubt they had it when she was a kid. She probably had a traumatic experience when she was young and another one when she took a chance by going on her honeymoon.”
“How can I ask her to suffer through a major trip, then?”
“You have no choice. She sees you stagnating where you are and she knows you won’t go without her. You’ll have to slay this dragon together. With the help of a strong anti-nausea drug.”
“Why now?”
She reached over and took his hand in both of hers. “You know the answer. You showed her Rowdy Ranch. And Lucky. She wants that life for you, and maybe for herself.”
“Or New Jersey and a granddaughter-in-law. She’d go with that option, too.”
She shook her head. “It’s not an option and you know it.”
“Do I?” His gut tightened. “My skills would get me hired there. I haven’t studied the immigration laws but I think marrying you would allow me to stay in the country.”
Her gaze softened. “You don’t belong in Trenton. And neither does she.”
“I belong with you, damn it. If that means living in Trenton, I’ll do that. Your folks are selling their house, right? Granny and I can buy it.”
“How? Didn’t you use all your savings for this trip?”
“That I did, but she’ll be selling her house. I doubt it’ll bring enough to buy your folks’ place free and clear, but it’ll do for a downpayment. What do you say? Will you marry me?”
She didn’t answer, but she didn’t have to. The sadness in her eyes told him all he needed to know.
He dragged in a breath. “I can guess why you won’t, but please tell me, anyway.”
“The thing is, I want to say yes.”
“Then say it! We can be happy there. You’ll have your great job, I’ll surely find work in such a massive city, and we’ll take holidays at Rowdy Ranch.”
“And what about Granny? She’d never get to Rowdy Ranch.”
“I suppose that’s true. Unless I drive her the whole distance with the windows down.”
“She’d have no one but us there and have to make new friends in a city environment, which she isn’t used to. Everyone drives or takes public transportation. Riding with the windows down would be cold in winter, hot in summer and in heavy traffic she’d be breathing car exhaust.”
“She’d have the open window problem at Rowdy Ranch, too.”
“But not as much. No fumes to speak of, and I can picture Rance giving her a ride with the windows down and the heater on in winter, or the A/C in the summer. She’d have a built-in social group from the get-go and the town will feel something like her village back home. Plus her grandson’s here.”
