The Summer Garden Read Online Free PDF Page A

request as the perfect excuse to claim other plans and hightail it away, but tonight she had no desire to meet her friends for an evening of the same old conversation about the lousy men in their lives. The man in her life wasn’t lousy, for one thing, she thought, then sighed. If he was even in her life. She’d been a little muddy on that point since Luke had left.
    So, at loose ends and restless, she sat as her grandfather had asked. He studied her with a knowing expression.
    “This boredom you’re experiencing wouldn’t have anything to do with a young man who’s gone back to America now, would it?”
    She regarded him with astonishment, startled that this man she barely knew could read her so easily when her own mum seemed completely oblivious to what was going on in her head.
    “You think this is about Luke?” she asked.
    He smiled. “Is there another young man who was taking up most of your time from the new year until just recently? I’m fairly certain I have him to thank for your moving to Dublin. Am I wrong?”
    Moira sighed. “No. It’s Luke.” The pictures, for all her excitement about them, were secondary.
    “You miss him,” her grandfather concluded. “I saw the way of things before he left. Did you speak of the future?”
    She shook her head, oddly humiliated by the admission. “That makes me a total ninny, doesn’t it? I shouldn’t be pinning so much on a man who’s said nothing about tomorrow, much less the future.”
    He laughed. “You’re hardly a ninny. Speaking about feelings, especially when a relationship is new and not fully tested, doesn’t come easily. For what it’s worth, I saw the same sparks in his eyes that I saw in yours.”
    She wanted so desperately to believe him, but even she knew that sparks didn’t always lead to something more. From everything she’d heard, her mum had been totally gaga over her dad and vice versa, but their marriage had lasted only until her mum came home from the hospital with her, their third child, and apparently her dad’s breaking point. She’d seen him once or twice over the years, but there was no bond, just some shared DNA.
    “Have you spoken to Luke since he left?” her grandfather asked.
    “Just once. He called to let me know he’d arrived.”
    Dillon frowned. “And nothing since?”
    “Emails, of course, but it’s not the same as hearing his voice, if you know what I mean.”
    “I do,” he admitted. “Nell’s been sending letters and postcards from Chesapeake Shores, but it’s an unsatisfying substitute. After a week or two of that, I started calling simply to hear the sound of her voice.”
    Moira was surprised that he understood so well. “I imagine her letters are full of news about the family,” she suggested tentatively.
    Her grandfather smiled. “She’s mentioned Luke a few times, if that’s what you’re asking. It seems he’s totally absorbed in this plan of his to open a pub.” He regarded her curiously. “You knew about that?”
    “We talked about it. It’s the reason we traveled, so he could do some research.”
    “Has he been keeping you up-to-date on his progress?”
    “He mentions it but, to be honest, he doesn’t say much about anything. He sounds busy and distracted.” She regarded her grandfather worriedly. “Do you think I was nothing more than a passing fancy, then?” she asked, unable to keep a note of fear out of her voice. Normally, it would have taken torture for her to admit to even a hint of insecurity, but she sensed that her grandfather wouldn’t judge her. She could let down her guard with him in ways she never had with anyone else. “Will I just fade in his memory as time passes?”
    Luke was the first man ever to fight through that wall she’d built around herself, the one meant to keep everyone out. He’d done it with patience, persistence and kindness, teasing her unmercifully until she’d no longer been able to maintain the angry, rebellious facade that she’d worn