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Irish Moonlight
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| from: Irish Moonlight |
| by Kate Freiman |
County Sligo Airport, Ireland, Monday, 29 August 2000: 10:30 a.m.
Heaving a sigh, Erin adjusted the weight of her shoulder bag and stared at the almost empty conveyor belt. Any second now, Nolan's suitcase would appear. A watched kettle never boils, her mother always said. Casually looking away from the luggage belt, she scanned the area and people around them. When her gaze returned to Nolan, she smiled brightly.
Nolan frowned. "It's lost."
He was such a pessimist. "It's not lost."
He gave her a quizzical look. "Think one of the Little People made off with it?"
She gaped at him. How could Nolan, of all people, seriously talk to her about Leprechauns and magic? Had he forgotten their childhood liberally salted with broken promises blithely blamed on The Little People? Had he forgotten the mania of their father's impractical schemes, stubbornly entrusted to those same unreliable Faeries. Had he forgotten the disappointments and lies, or their solemn vow, on their eighth birthday, to shun anyone who took The Little People even a little seriously?
No, he couldn't forget, any more than she could. He was just teasing her; he and Con were always on her case for taking things too literally. She gave him a frown of mock disapproval. "It was a mistake to ever let you start eating Lucky Charms cereal."
Nolan snorted. "Aw, c’mon, Miss Cranky-Pants. It's manly, but you like it, too." He spoke in an awful stage-Irish accent.
She tried not to laugh, but failed. "How can you be such a doofus?"
"It's a gift." He deftly dodged her playful swat."Well, think about it. We're in Ireland. It feels different. Maybe some Leprechaun is trying on my new underwear right now."
Now she frowned in genuine disapproval. "Are you trying to embarrass me?"
"No. Did you want me to? You used to believe in Faeries."
"I did not!" she snapped, but her cheeks grew warm. "Never."
His grin widened. "Yeah, you did."
"I didn't." Her frown deepened.
"Did too." Nolan's teasing grin became a gentle smile. "We both did, once upon a time."
Her own answering smile felt grim. "I learned better, didn't I? We both did."
Nolan's expression turned thoughtful, and then he pulled her close for a quick hug. "Yeah. Sorry. I should shouldn't tease you like that. You're right, it isn't funny. And my accent stinks." They were now the only passengers waiting for luggage. "I told you, it's lost. Go find some place to sit and I'll file a claim."
Erin made a face at him, but he was already on his way to the lost luggage desk, dragging her rolling duffle bag behind him. Dashing after him, she grabbed the strap from him.
"I can handle it. Go file your claim and I'll get the car."
"Erin, wait. Don't get the car yet. We have to talk." Her brother's voice sounded urgent, but he was always so serious. "We have to talk now, before we leave the airport."
Now she knew what he was trying to do. "I'm serious, Nolan. I can drive the rental car, too."
"Sure. Fine. But I'll drive until we can find a quiet road for you to learn on. Just forget about it for now."
God, he was so patronizing! "I know how to drive a shift."
"It's different on the right side than on the left. But just drop it, okay? Come with me. We can talk while we wait in line."
He tugged her along with him as he approached the airline desk, holding her by the wrist like a runaway toddler. They were third in the line lost luggage claim line. She preferred to stand to one side while he took care of business, but he didn't release her wrist.
"I'm worried about you, Erin. I've been getting weird vibes from you since Con announced his engagement. What's going on in that cluttered little head of yours?"
" I don't have a cluttered little head, you condescending oaf. I don't know what you're talking about, and neither do you."
"I think you do." Briefly, Nolan closed his eyes, then opened them and gazed earnestly at her. "Please tell me you're as happy for Con as I am, and you're not planning to do anything to interfere. Please tell me that."
She shrugged off his plea. "I'm really concerned about Con. He's like you, always methodical, never impulsive or careless. Now, all of a sudden, he's engaged to a woman he met three weeks ago. That's way too fast for him to think things through." At Nolan's grunt, she said, "You know damn well, it's not like Con to do something so irrational, like marrying a total stranger.”
“She’s not exactly a stranger any more.” Nolan’s wry tone made his meaning all too clear, but Erin didn't dare let herself flinch. He touched her cheek gently. "Besides, no matter what you and I think about the eventual outcome, falling in love isn't supposed to be rational."
"But Nolan, he hardly knows her. This is Con we're talking about. The same Con who dated dozens of women in the fifteen years we've known him, and never once mentioned love or marriage. How can he fall in love so fast when it takes him a half an hour just to decide what he wants on his pizza?”
“Apparently, he's more interested in Aisling than he's ever been in pizza." Erin opened her mouth to call her brother a rude name, but he spoke again and she lost the opportunity. "Give it the benefit of the doubt, Erin. Maybe he’ll be lucky.”
“Lucky? Nolan, look at the timing, for pity's sake. We just completed a well-publicized multi-million dollar deal. Even Mom read about it before we told her. Scores of people come sniffing around, trying to separate us from our assets. Guys from places like Bulgaria want to marry me! Con is too trusting to protect himself, especially if Aisling is blinding him with sex."
Nolan's burst of laughter attracted curious glances. "Jeez, Erin, that's not the kind of sex that makes guys go blind."
Erin scowled fiercely; Nolan could be so dense. Acutely aware of people watching them, she moved a little closer and spoke with quiet urgency. "You know what I mean. We can't let this woman empty his bank account, then break his heart."
“Slow down here, Erin." All traces of Nolan's laughter had faded. He spoke in low tones, but his disapproval came through loud and clear. "Con's an adult, capable of making his own choices and assessing his own risks. If he thinks he's in love, and believes she's in love with him, that's his risk to take.”
She exhaled in impatience. “Con is my... our best friend. We wouldn’t let him drink and drive, even if he were so inclined. How can we arbitrarily draw the line between one kind of dangerous behavior and another?”
“Regardless of what we grew up with, getting married isn't exactly drunk driving.”
“Close enough. They both involve impaired judgement.”
Nolan gave a mirthless laugh. “God, Erin, you sound just like Mom, and I don't mean that in the nicest possible way."
Erin winced. “Don’t you think we have a responsibility to protect the interests of our best friend?”
“Of course I do. But we have no right to interfere in his engagement. Let a pre-nuptial agreement protect his interests.”
Again, Erin shook her head. “That would take way more cynicism and forethought than he’s exercising right now. I bet she's rushing him into marriage just to make him forget about a pre-nup. I bet she read some of those juicy stories about us in international business journals. We're poster children for millionaires with modest lifestyles, for pity's sake. The papers quoted us over and over: More money than we know how to spend."
Her brother opened his mouth, shut it again, and groaned.
She pressed her point. "Say hypothetically, a clever young Irish woman who had a fondness for money, could fall for Con's impressive net worth in record time. A clever, conniving Irish woman could convince him she was totally in love with him. And a clever, beautiful young Irish woman could convince him that he was equally in love with her. I'll bet that's what happened."
Nolan made a noise that sounded like a growl. “Erin, get a grip. You’re jumping to conclusions again. How about cutting Con some slack until you actually have a fact or two?”
She sent him a mirthless smile. "How about a divorce statistic or two?" She sighed. "Nolan, I won't stand by and watch Con get hurt if I can do anything to prevent it."
“Erin, honey, listen to me very, very carefully. This is a guy thing, as well as a love thing. Con isn’t going to appreciate your efforts. In fact, I'll bet he gets royally pissed off if you try to explain your theory about Aisling to him."
Nolan could be so overbearing when he was playing the big brother. She lifted her chin and huffed in irritation. "Not true, not with Con. He's always open to outside comments and advice, especially from me. You know he always trusts my judgement."
"Erin, think this through more carefully, please." His voice was hushed but his was tone sharp. "The three of us have been together, partners, practically family, for fifteen years. Don’t do anything rash and impulsive that might ruin all we've got.”
"Damn it, Nolan! Con's the one taking this big, insane step. Why aren't you telling him to think things through, instead of me?" Her voice was quavering a little, threatening to betray the film of tears she tried to blink away.
Nolan bent his head close to hers and spoke very quietly. "I hate to ask you this: You haven't been thinking someday you and Con...?" She jerked back from him as if he'd slapped her. "Aw, baby, is that why you never want to get serious with anyone?"
"Are you accusing me of... of coveting Con for myself?" It wasn't easy to be so indignantly angry and keep her own voice pitched so the rest of Ireland didn't know their business. "You, of all people! We have the same parents, remember? I thought you knew how I feel about getting married, which is no thanks!"
At least he had the good grace to look sheepish. "Well, I just thought... You seemed so distressed at Con's news. I was afraid you might be secretly in love with him. You're my better half, remember? I don't ever want you to get hurt. But if you question his decision, Con will be hurt, and that could be the end of a perfect friendship... not to mention partnership."
His lack of faith in her stung, but she was determined to make him understand her fears. "I'm trying to save us, not hurt him. Of course I want Con to be happy. I love him almost as much as I do you, like another annoying, patronizing brother." Nolan failed to smile, which wasn't a good sign. "If his marriage turns out to be a mistake, he'll be devastated, and that's going to impact our friendship and our partnership."
Nolan put his hand on her shoulder and pressed his forehead to hers. "Erin, for God's sake, ask yourself: what if you’re wrong? Good intentions can only lead you so far, and we both know where. Con might never forgive you if you ruin this for him.”
Pulling back, she glared at him through a film of scalding tears. “I’m not wrong. You and Con are so much alike: cautious and conservative. Ask yourself if you could fall in love and marry a virtual stranger in the span of a few weeks. I'm the impulsive one of this partnership, and I would never do anything so... so dangerous." Her voice cracked but she went on, speaking quietly but urgently. "Look at our parents. Do you want Con to go through the kind of misery they had — the misery they shared with us every day since our unplanned birth?"
She turned away to stare blindly at the blur of colored posters on the walls. It was Nolan's turn to make his claim. Then they had to do the paperwork for the rental car. But that was the last of the delays. According to the map, O'Hara House, Con's grandfather's estate, was about thirty, maybe forty miles away, less than an hour's drive. If Aisling Ahearn was as clever as she suspected, she would need every minute available convince Con to at least postpone the wedding and give himself what contract law calls a "cooling-off period."
"All done." Nolan gave her a smug look. "Told you it was lost. My suitcase is visiting counties we don't have time to see this time, but should be here late today, or early tomorrow."
Linking her arm through his, she smiled. "Today, for sure."
Nolan sighed. "Now I really hope you're right. I've been wearing the same clothes for, what, almost eighteen hours?" He grinned a little sheepishly. "I kinda don't want to stink when we meet Aisling."
"Why not? The whole set up doesn't smell so good to me."
"Erin, please, be cool. Give them a chance. Con's all grown up, just like us. If you really want him to be happy, respect his decisions and let him go." He spoke quietly, but sharply. "Let him go, baby. Let him go," he said more gently.
For the sake of peace, she decided not to inform him that he'd been wasting his breath.
Copyright 2000, Kate Freiman
All rights reserved.
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Updated Monday 24 February 2003 3:55pm EST
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