Chapter 24
At the first opportunity the next morning, Deanna stole away from Kiera’s and made her way to Nell’s cottage. Before knocking on the door, she stood outside, drawn by the cottage’s charm, its spectacular garden, filled now with the colors of fall, and its view of the bay, which was even better than the one from her father’s deck.
Just as she was about to tap on the door, it swung open to reveal an older man with a shock of thick white hair, slightly stooped shoulders and a broad, welcoming smile.
“Something tells me that you’re the long-missing daughter of our favorite chef,” he said. “And I’m Dillon O’Malley.”
“Kiera’s father,” Deanna concluded. “I’ve been hearing stories about you.”
“At least some of them good, I hope.”
“All of them,” she assured him. “It’s your own wife and daughter sharing them, after all.”
“Ah, but Kiera hasn’t always spoken so highly of me. I’m sure she’s told you that, as well.”
“She mentioned it,” Deanna admitted. “But only to help me see that father-daughter relationships could be complicated. In my particular circumstances, I found that to be comforting.”
“Indeed. Now, come in. Nell’s expecting you. She’s in the kitchen taking fresh scones from the oven right now,” he said, gesturing toward the back of the house. “I’ll leave the two of you to your tea and visit.”
“Don’t let me chase you off.”
“You’re not. Don’t tell my wife, but this is the time of day I sneak away in search of a decent cup of coffee,” he confided.
Laughing at the idea of him needing to keep his caffeine habit from Nell, Deanna let him go and headed in the direction of the kitchen that he’d pointed out, though she honestly didn’t need his directions. The aromas would have drawn her exactly this way.
“There you are,” Nell said. “Sit down and tell me what’s happened since yesterday. I sensed you had a bit of news when you called.”
“You have no idea. I think our meddling days are at an end.” Barely containing her own excitement, she announced, “My father’s proposed to Kiera. I was right there for every word. Well, almost. He threw me out at the end, but to be honest, I lingered just outside the kitchen door.”
Nell looked stunned. “You’re sure of this? As stubborn as the two of them are, I thought it would take more of an effort.”
Deanna nodded. “So did I. I was looking forward to conspiring with you. After all, my father’s gone all these years since my mom left without replacing her, though there were complicated reasons behind that. They could have been overcome, if there’d been someone important, though. And, from what you told me yesterday, Kiera’s been hesitant about commitment, as well.”
“But she said yes this time, of course,” Nell said confidently.
Deanna chuckled. “How well do you know Kiera? Weren’t you the one who repeated just now how stubborn she can be?”
Looking even more startled, Nell sat down. “She turned him down?” she asked with evident disbelief. “Stubborn is one thing, but this...” She shook her head. “I never expected this.”
Deanna explained the deal that had been reached the night before. “Thank goodness I eavesdropped, even though I know it’s a very bad habit to get into. I stood there rooting for her to say yes right away, but I have to admit, I thought this was pretty clever on her part. It ups the ante for your competition, too, by the way, whether that was her intention or not.”
“Clever to make him wait, perhaps, but awfully risky. What if something goes wrong? What if she wins, your father is humiliated and withdraws his proposal? Men can do some incredibly stupid things when their pride’s been hurt, especially in public.”
“You probably know a lot more about that sort of thing than I do,” Deanna admitted. “I suppose it’s up to us to see that my father wins this contest.”
Nell nodded. “Yes, of course. And that’s exactly what we’ll do, even if some people conclude that I especially am being a traitor to a family member to suggest such a thing. I can hardly reveal why it’s so vital, now, can I?”
Deanna regarded her worriedly. “I hadn’t thought of what people might think of your role in this. I can do all of the campaigning. No one will think a thing about it if I’m trying to rally people to my father’s side. The only trouble is, no one in town knows or respects me as they do you.”
“I’ve been called worse than a traitor from time to time,” Nell said, waving off the concern. “In the end everyone will see why it was necessary for me to take Bryan’s side. Besides, he works for my grandson and has been using my recipe at the pub. Some will think that I’m defending that out of my own sense of pride and loyalty to Luke.”
“Will they forgive you for taking sides against Kiera, though?” Deanna asked worriedly. “Especially Dillon?”
Nell shrugged. “I’ve had to earn forgiveness a time or two in my life. I can do it again.”
Deanna nodded slowly. “Then where should we start?”
Nell’s expression turned thoughtful. “First we have to determine what we’re going to tell people. Perhaps we should use the truth after all. A subtle whisper here and there should spread the word in no time. Everyone likes knowing they’ve played a part in the outcome of a good love story. That might be our best tactic.”
“I agree,” Deanna said with enthusiasm. “What next?”
She wasn’t at all surprised when Nell got a sheet of paper and began making a list, divvying up people they could contact and making notes for Deanna on the best approach to take with each of them. Deanna concluded military strategies were probably decided with only slightly more attention to detail.
“If you handle these, I’ll get to the rest, either directly or indirectly,” Nell said, handing her a sheet of paper. “Once word is out that I’m campaigning for the enemy and how high the stakes are, word will spread through town like wildfire.”
“Will you tell Dillon what you’re up to? It is his daughter you’ll be campaigning against,” Deanna said. “I’d hate for there to be a rift between you, even for a cause that he’ll consider a good one in the end.”
“You’ve no need to worry about Dillon. I’ll explain what’s going on and swear him to secrecy. No one wants Kiera to stay in town and find happiness with your father more than he does.”
Deanna beamed at her. “I wish I’d had a grandmother like you,” she told Nell. “My own grandmother on my mom’s side died long before I was born and, needless to say, I never knew my father’s mother. Ash’s mother is very sweet, but she would never engage in something so devious.”
Nell regarded her with concern. “Perhaps you shouldn’t, either. Meddling is considered by some to be a very bad habit.”
“But it’s so much fun,” Deanna said. “I can hardly wait.”
Nell studied her for an instant, then laughed. “Deanna, you’ll make a fine addition to the O’Briens, even if the connection is a couple of degrees removed.”
Amazingly, though the complex family ties Deanna had appreciated all her life had been extraordinary, the very loose ties to the O’Briens promised to bring something very special to her life.
* * *
Bryan found Luke and Mick O’Brien huddled together in the pub two days before the fall festival. Their whispers were a dead giveaway that something was going on, and their expressions suggested they didn’t like it.
“What’s wrong?” Bryan asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee and joining them at the bar.
“Nothing,” Luke said, backing away quickly, his expression suddenly neutral.
“Not a thing,” Mick confirmed, though he wasn’t nearly as quick to hide his troubled expression. The paper he’d hurriedly stuffed into his pocket suggested otherwise.
“Is this about the bets you’re taking on the cooking contest?” Bryan demanded. “I know all about those, and I know Moira doesn’t approve. Nor do Nell or Kiera.”
“If they knew what we know, they’d be even more upset,” Mick said. “I suggest you pretend you haven’t seen or heard a thing.”
“Now there’s a comment deliberately designed to stir my imagination,” Bryan said. “Since I’m at the center of this, I think I deserve to know what’s going on.”
The two men exchanged a long look.
“I think we ought to tell him,” Luke said. “He is one of the competitors, after all.”
Mick looked less convinced. “This could mean nothing, though. There’s no reason to stir the pot, so to speak.”
Bryan met his gaze and waited. Mick had never been known to keep a secret for long. And, contrary to his statement, he liked nothing more than to stir the pot.
“Okay, then,” Mick said at last. “Up until a few days ago, the bets coming in were in Kiera’s favor. After she had that tasting at her cottage for the women in the family, they started campaigning on her behalf. Everywhere I went, it seemed women were shoving a handful of bills at me and putting it all on Kiera to win the contest.”
Bryan wasn’t at all surprised by the support. Those women had come to consider Kiera one of their own. He’d heard the raves about her stew and assumed they were well deserved. That only made him want to try harder. Now, of course, he had an added incentive that even Mick and Luke couldn’t possibly know about.
“Judging from your expressions, something’s changed,” he said.
“In a dramatic way,” Mick confirmed. “I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Practically overnight, the tide turned in your favor. Those very same women were coming to me with new bets and adding more money. Their husbands were, as well. It’s as if they know something.”
Bryan frowned at that. “You don’t suppose someone’s planning to sabotage Kiera’s stew, sneak in and dump a box of salt in it or something like that to ruin the taste of it.”
“Not in Chesapeake Shores,” Mick said adamantly. “People here might love to place a bet from time to time on the craziest of things, but none have so much money at stake that they’d stack the odds in their own favor.”
“Besides, we’ve heard rumors that Nell is behind it,” Luke admitted. “She might campaign hard, but she would draw the line at cheating. She and your daughter have been going all over town rallying support for you. I can’t understand it. It makes sense that Deanna would want you to win, but my grandmother? She’s cheerleading against her own husband’s daughter. I imagine Dillon’s fit to be tied.”
“She could be doing it for the sake of the pub,” Bryan suggested, though he was beginning to think it wasn’t about that at all. He could easily envision his daughter blabbing about the proposal to her new ally and the two of them forming a misguided team to back him. “I am the chef here, after all. Our reputation is at stake.”
“That doesn’t sound like Gram, though,” Luke said.
“No, this seems more personal,” Mick agreed, though it was evident he hadn’t a clue about what she was up to or why.
Trying hard not to laugh, Bryan debated enlightening them. He knew exactly what had spurred this sudden campaign on his behalf. That deal he’d made with Kiera that would guarantee that she’d accept his proposal of marriage if he won the cooking contest.
Luke studied him with a narrowed gaze. “You don’t seem that surprised about any of this,” he told Bryan. “Do you know what they’re up to?”
“I have an idea,” he admitted.
“Then, please, tell us,” Mick said. “If there’s some conspiracy afoot, I need to know about it. Did you put them up to it?”
“Absolutely not,” Bryan said. “If I win, I want to do it fair and square.”
“Can you get them to back off, so people will know that whoever wins did it fairly?” Luke asked. “The last thing we need is rumors that there was cheating of some kind going on.”
“Much as I hate to admit it, I don’t know my own daughter well enough yet to have much influence over her. She seems to be under your mother’s spell, Mick. Perhaps you’re the one who should be taking a stand. Will Nell listen to you?”
Mick sighed heavily. “There’s little chance of that. If Ma has some mission she’s dedicated to, especially one that might put her at odds with her own husband, then she’s not going to listen to me.”
“Then I guess we’ll just have to sit back and see how this plays out,” Bryan said. “Luke, you might want to tell the folks in charge of parking, setting up chairs and the like to be prepared for record-breaking crowds this year. And if it was your brother-in-law Mack who made those tickets people will use to vote in the cooking contest, let him know he should probably double or triple the original order. Something tells me that we’re going to be selling a whole lot of Irish stew.”
* * *
Kiera hadn’t intended to eavesdrop, but she’d overheard just enough of the intense conversation Bryan was having with Mick and Luke to understand that there was a conspiracy going on to ensure that Bryan won the cooking contest. And since Nell and Deanna were involved, she knew precisely why they were determined to affect the outcome.
Letting the door close quietly, she went right back through the kitchen and out into the alley, then headed to Sally’s. When she found none of the O’Brien women there, she moved on to Bree’s Flowers on Main shop next door.
She found Bree arranging a mix of orange, gold and bronze mums in a tall vase with branches of fall leaves. The effect was stunning.
“It’s for the front table at the inn,” Bree told her. “What do you think? Is it impressive enough?”
“It’s breathtaking,” Kiera said honestly. “I thought your real talent was writing, but you have quite a knack for this, as well.”
Bree beamed. “To Gram’s despair, I grew up yanking the wrong things out of her garden, but the one thing I did learn to her satisfaction was how to arrange flowers. It’s a nice counterpoint to staring at a blank computer screen when I’m having writer’s block.” She studied Kiera intently. “What brings you by? Something tells me you’re not here for a bouquet of flowers.”
“I overheard something at the pub just now. I think there’s a plan in place to ensure that Bryan wins the Irish stew contest.”
Dismay spread across Bree’s face. “Who’s involved?”
“Well, it was Bryan, Luke and Mick talking, but they were saying that Bryan’s daughter and Nell are behind it.”
Bree’s expression turned thoughtful. “I suppose that makes sense. Deanna was bound to support her father, and Bryan is using Nell’s recipe.”
“If that were all it was about, so be it,” Kiera said. “But there’s something you don’t know.” She explained the deal she’d made with Bryan. “I didn’t think he’d get a bunch of allies to try to steal the victory right out from under me. It should be about the best stew.” She regarded Bree intently. “Shouldn’t it? That’s why you all were spreading the word about mine, because you liked it, right?”
To her dismay, Bree laughed. “Ah, Kiera, surely you know that none of this was ever about the stew. It was a way to keep the sparks flying between you and Bryan. Now that the job has been done effectively and a marriage proposal’s on the table, do you honestly think there’s a single O’Brien who won’t do whatever it takes to seal the deal?”
“But how on earth can I marry a man who’d win by cheating?” Kiera asked.
“I doubt Bryan, Deanna, Nell or anyone else sees it that way. They’re only trying to ensure your happiness. It’s a little mixed up.”
“A little?” Kiera asked incredulously.
“Okay, a lot, but it’s the O’Briens we’re talking about. Love and family trump everything else.”
“Well, our deal is off if that’s the way he wins,” Kiera said stubbornly. “And that’s the last I intend to say about that.”
She marched out of the flower shop with her chin up and her temper ready to take on anyone who crossed her today, including Bryan and every one of the sneaky O’Briens, starting with Nell. What she’d do about Deanna, who was staying under her very own roof, was something she’d have to consider very carefully. The girl was, after all, just trying to support her father, and even Kiera was wise enough not to want to tamper with that bond.
* * *
Attendance at the fall festival had never been higher. Though the crowd milled about the various booths buying crafts and jars of homemade preserves, it was clear that anticipation for the cooking contest was running high. It was all anyone was talking about. And while people were sampling desserts and other specialties from the participating chefs, the lines for the Irish stew were the longest. Kiera watched in amazement. It was clear everyone in Chesapeake Shores now knew about the outrageous bet between Bryan and Kiera. Despite Kiera’s declaration to Bree, the O’Briens were now oddly unified in telling every person they met on the town green that a vote for Bryan was a vote for love.
Dillon pulled Kiera aside as she was about to start the preparations for making another gigantic batch of her stew. “Do you want to win this wager?”
“You know my stew is the best,” she said.
“Not what I asked. Do you love this man or not?”
She shrugged. “I just don’t want to make it easy for him, which it seems everyone in town has conspired to do now. Nell and the others have turned it into some romantic fantasy. It’s not about the stew at all, anymore.”
“Kiera, my darling girl, you don’t make loving you easy on anyone,” her father said, his tone wry. “What will you do if your stew wins? Will that make you happy, to win the prize and lose this man you’ve come to love? And don’t be denying to me that you love him, because it’s been plain as day for a while now.”
“I wasn’t going to deny it. As for what I’ll do at the end of the day if I happen to win, you’ll have to wait and see. Given the way the O’Briens are trying to stack the deck against me, it seems unlikely to come to that.”
At six that evening, as the sun was setting and the final votes were being counted, she and Bryan stood nervously on the stage on the town green waiting for Nell to announce the winner of the Irish stew cooking contest.
Eventually Nell stepped to the microphone, her expression shaken. “Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the first annual fall festival cooking contest by one vote is...Kiera Malone!”
The announcement was greeted by a hesitant mix of cheers and stunned silence.
Kiera wasn’t sure what she expected to find when she looked into Bryan’s eyes, but it certainly wasn’t the gleam of satisfaction she found there.
“You wanted me to win?” she asked, shocked.
“You deserved to win. Even I voted for you. A whole bunch of times, in fact. I wasn’t entirely sure if I’d bought enough tickets, but then Dillon said he’d buy a few more.”
Kiera was thoroughly confused and not entirely sure what to make of this turn of events. “But the stakes...? Didn’t you want the victory?”
“If you’re asking if I didn’t want you enough, the answer’s no. I didn’t want you this way. I want you because my love is enough for you, not because my Irish stew is better than yours.”
She felt a smile spread across her face then. Her own very large gamble had paid off, after all. “In that case, then perhaps you can steal that microphone from Nell’s hand and make an announcement of your own.”
“What announcement would that be?”
“One that’s sure to please this crowd, even the sneaky O’Briens, who believe that love conquers everything. You can tell them that I might have won the trophy, but you won an even better prize. You got the woman and her trophy.”
Bryan laughed, exactly as she’d intended, proving that he understood her as few men did.
“You’re a very complicated woman, Kiera Malone,” he declared.
“But life with me will never be dull.”
“That’s the bonus I’m counting on,” he said, taking the microphone from Nell.
He repeated exactly the words she’d suggested, then went down on one knee in front of her with a ring in hand. Kiera saw the satisfaction on her father’s face, on Nell’s and on Moira’s. Even Deanna was cheering as Kiera let him slip the ring on her finger.
Bryan rose and drew her to him for a long, lingering kiss that stirred the crowd as nothing else had. With her heart filled with joy, she couldn’t help thinking that a little of that Chesapeake Shores magic she’d heard so much about had indeed rubbed off on her.
* * * * *