Hideaway

by Nora Roberts

Daughters are the thing. —J. M. BARRIE A little child loves ever’body, friends, and its nature is sweetness—until something happens. —FLANNERY O’CONNOR

He, the farm boy from Clare, had an agent, a contract, and began in that Golden Age of Hollywood what would be a career that spanned decades and generations.

Movies, he said, had given him the grandest of adventures, so this, he felt, was a perfect cap for the genie bottle of his life.

“I do. Here, New York, Boston, Clare, Mayo, and, bless us, London now as well. God, but we’re far-flung, aren’t we, my darling?”

“A life’s marked along the way, darlin’, by the deeds we do, for good or ill. Those we leave behind judge those marks, and remember.”

“If that kid was of legal age, I’d buy her a beer. Hell, I’d buy her a goddamn keg. That’s guts right there, Mic. Let’s do her proud and catch these fuckers.”

“Everything’s going to be all right. All right can take a little time, but we’ll get there.”

“life’s a series of turns. This is another one for you.” She stood, dark hair damp with rain, eyes as blue as a summer sky. And as sad as a broken heart. “How do you know where it’s going to take you?” “You never do. That’s part of the adventure.”

Don’t devalue yourself,” she told Cate again. “Too many women tend to underestimate their own worth. I learned from the master to believe in myself and work toward what I wanted in life. You should have, too.”

“B-Buster’s Burgers?” The sound that came out of Cate started as a squeak, rolled into a helpless laugh. “You’re not kidding?” “I wonder how many Triple B’s with the magic sauce she had to scarf down to rope him in.

🤣🤣🤣 the brassy women in this family are my heroes

To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition … —SAMUEL JOHNSON

“You were a key point in my life. I’ve been thinking about key points lately. How they all intersect or diverge. Being with you, then not. Key points. I’ve been to see every play you’ve been in since.”

Even a year before she would have said, without hesitation, New York was home. Years before that, she would have said Ireland. Didn’t it make her lucky to finally understand she could put her heart into so many homes? And to find herself absolutely ready to come back to this one.

Did they still leave a light on low at night, she wondered, in case some lost soul wandered in?

“How do you expect to survive the zombie apocalypse if you can’t make your own pizza?”

What sort of human being came knocking on a woman’s door at eight-thirty-five in the morning?

Why, she wondered, did a child crave the attention and affection of the very person who routinely withheld both? Like cats who wanted the lap of someone averse to them.

He took her hand, the way he had when she’d been a little girl. And she shortened her gait for him—as he’d once done for her.

😭😭😭

If you didn’t test the waters, you never got to swim. Problem there? Every time she decided to swim, really swim, she ended up sinking.

Seriously, it’s just really lovely to have friends that go back so far with you, who’ve shared so much with you. And are still willing to open the door to new people.”

“Oh my God.” Then her hands fisted in his hair; her mouth covered his like a fever. “Every man should be raised by women. Upstairs. First room on the right.”

“Can we save slow for the second round?” Possibly, just possibly, he fell the rest of the way in love with her at that moment. “I’m a hundred percent behind that.”

“Really? You want to cook?” “Tonight I do, because I want to see you again. Like this. And going out takes too much time.” “You’re going to have to seriously think about marrying me.

Maybe he’d toss out that marriage thing, all casual, now and then. That way she might not be shocked when he actually asked her. She really needed to marry him. Not only because he was crazy in love with her, but because they just worked. If she needed time to fall for him, well, he had time.

Awwwww

“I see her, Mom, who she is. She sees me. She might need some time to see us. I can wait.”

Love sought is good, but given unsought is better. —WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

She wasn’t ready to look past today, or maybe tomorrow on that part of her life. But she began to see that maybe, just maybe, it could roll like the sea. It could roll into forever.

“If love isn’t stronger than pride, it isn’t love.”

“Do you think your ladies need a man to look after them? And I need one to look after me?” A man could navigate a minefield if he knew where to step. And where not to. “I figure my ladies can handle just about anything that comes. And you’d do a good job with that yourself. And yeah, everybody needs somebody, or ought to, who’ll look after them.”

“You cover your bases, Dillon.” “I take care of what’s mine.” He looked into her eyes in that way that always hit her heart. Right into them, right into her. “You have to know you’re what’s mine.”

“Yes. God, this is a lot of talk.” She pushed at her hair, wished she’d tied it back out of the way. “I thought we’d get all that other business out of the way, eat, then have a lot of sex.” He lifted the beer, drank. “I said it before. The perfect woman.”

“You’re never going to lose her, or any of us.” “No?” She whirled around. “And what if I said I didn’t love you? That I couldn’t? That I wouldn’t?” “Then you’d break my heart. And the pieces of it would still love you.”

Awww 😭

“What if I hadn’t come back?” “You were always going to come back, but waiting for it was starting to wear some.”

“I was always going to come back,” she agreed. “Even when I didn’t know it.” She laid a hand on his cheek. “I’ve got pictures of you, too, Dillon. I’m sorting them out.”

“I love you, Caitlyn.” So much spilled into her she didn’t know how to hold it. “Give me time to say it back. It may be crazy or superstitious, or both, but I really do believe when I say it, when I mean it, it’s forever.” “Since I want forever, and forever’s what I’m going to have, take your time.” “That kind of confidence could be annoying.” “Be annoyed later.”

“There’s no revenge sweeter than a happy life.”

“Go after one of her chicks, my girl will kick a dozen asses, and won’t bother to take names.”

He lowered his forehead to hers in a gesture she found as sweet as the ponies’ eyes. “I have to wash my hands because I need to get ahold of you.”

“I’m going to take care of her, even when she doesn’t especially want me to. She’s a hell of a lot tougher than she looks, but she still needs someone to take care. We all do. I’m going to do my damnedest to make her happy, to work with her toward building the kind of life we can both be proud of. When she settles into all that, I’m going to marry her. We’re both of age, but I’m hoping you’ll give your blessing on that.”

What the hell does it matter? It’s you I want, and I’m goddamned if you’re going to tell me you love me, and it’s forever, then make half-assed excuses about marrying me and building a life together.”

What do you see?” She tapped her hands on her heart. “What do you see when you look at me?” “I see a hell of a lot, but I’ll cut that down for now. I see the woman I love. I see you, damn it. I see Cate.”