Every little bit, she would check her phone to see if she’d received a response to her email to Patrick. Her father. It was such a strange coincidence that the man she’d been pursuing for business was her father.
Opening the closet door, she gazed at the clothes still hanging there. School uniforms her mother wore in school. There was an old trunk in the closet that she began to go through. Ancient dolls, little dresses, games, and then she found the first journal. With a gasp, she opened the book and read about her mother winning a writing contest in school.
Her mother once told her that she wanted to be an author and was studying literature in college. But the entire time Aisling was growing up, she never wrote anything of value.
The second journal was filled with the scribblings of short stories she’d written as a child. The third journal, the very last one, was more like a diary of her time in college.
Flipping to the back, she read an entry.
Today, I learned the truth. Patrick is married. The man I’ve fallen in love with has a wife and two kids back in the States. He told me his marriage was falling apart, and that’s why he took the summer job in Dublin.
I’m devastated.
Here I believed he was single, and now I learn, after I’ve slept with him, that he’s promised to someone else.
Did he think I was just some summer fling?
All I know is I’ve given him my heart. My love for him is as wide as the sea and deeper than the ocean.
And now I learn he’s married.
She turned the page. It was a month later.
I’m pregnant. How can it be? This child’s father is promised to another. He keeps telling me that he’s going to leave his wife, but how can he? I haven’t told him yet I’m pregnant. I’m afraid.
I don’t know what to do. I love Patrick with all my heart, but when my mother learns I’m pregnant with a married man’s child, she will not accept the news kindly.
And yet, I can’t get rid of this baby. It’s the union of our love. I haven’t seen Patrick in a week, except in class. It’s like he’s avoiding me. I haven’t decided whether or not I will tell him about the baby we created.
Just then, one of the workers called up to her.
“Miss O’Byrne, you have a visitor.”
Getting up off the floor, she put the journal back in a safe place and went to see who had come to call on her.
When she walked down the stairs, she all but growled. Some men believe that women are just waiting for them to make their lives perfect.
Declan stood in the great room below.
“Aisling, I love the changes you’re making to the house. When it’s done, it will be beautiful,” he said.
“Thank you,” she said politely, wishing he would go away. She wanted to check her emails again. There was more cleaning to do upstairs, and she longed to sit down and read more of her mother’s journals.
“I just came by to let you know I have a new couple looking for a house in Mountshannon. I told them you were remodeling this home, and they want to come see it.”
“Declan, you know I’m not certain if I’m going to sell the place or not. I’ve been here a month and I just don’t know yet.”
He walked over and lifted her hand to his lips. “Oh, Aisling, if you decide to stay, we could explore Ireland together. You’d be my girl.”
She pulled her hand away. Why did this man feel like he oozed charm and seduction? In so many ways, he reminded her of Michael. And Lord knew she didn’t need another scalawag like that in her life.
“Thank you, but no, Declan. I’m just getting over a breakup. One where I ended the engagement by locking my engagement ring on the cock ring of my fiancé. I’m not your girl and never will be.”
His eyes widened, and she heard snickers from the workers in the kitchen. Oh, Lord, she’d just given the gossips more fodder.
“Well,” Declan said, taking a deep breath. “I guess I’ll just tell these people that they should look elsewhere. But if you decide to sell, you have my card.”
He would be the last real estate agent she would use if she decided to sell.
