“What do you mean?” she asked, focusing all of her attention on scrubbing out the baking pan she’d used for the honey ham.

  “I mean you’ve been a zombie for the last three weeks.” He paused, then added, “I mean you miss Burr.”

  She blinked, the suds in the sink suddenly blurring. “I really…” She gulped before continuing. “God, I miss him so much, which is crazy because I barely knew him, right? We only…I mean, we only spent a couple of weeks together. It wasn’t enough time to—”

  “Yeah,” said Ian. “It was.”

  “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Have you thought about going to Boston?”

  Only every minute of every day! She used the sleeve of her cardigan to swipe at her tears, scrubbing the pan with renewed vigor. “I can’t go live in Boston, Ian. It would eat me up and spit me out. I’d be miserable.”

  “Even with him?”

  “Especially with him! He’s an inner-city cop. I’d always be scared for him. I’d stay up every night waiting for him to come home, half-crazy that someone had hurt him. I can’t love him like I do and bear that life. I…I can’t.”

  Ian raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you should give it a try before you make that decision.”

  She turned on him. “Do you think it’s easy for me to let him go? It’s not! It’s torture. It’s fucking misery every day since he left. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to forget him. I don’t know how to stop loving him. I hate where I am. I hate where he is. I don’t know how…I don’t…I don’t…”

  Her tears were falling so fast, she couldn’t speak anymore, and she rested her sudsy hands on the side of the sink, her head bowed, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

  Suddenly Ian’s arms were around her. “I’m sorry, Tier. I know how much you care about him. I have no right to judge you.”

  She relaxed in his arms, bawling against his solid chest as he rubbed her back. Finally, little by little, her tears subsided and she hiccupped, looking up at her brother’s face. “It s-sucks. I don’t—I d-don’t know what to do. And b-besides, he hasn’t invited me to come to B-Boston.”

  “Would you go to him if he did?”

  “I d-don’t know. Maybe I’d t-try. Even B-Boston’s got to be b-better than this.” She shrugged halfheartedly. “Sorry for crying all over you.”

  “Nah. It’s fine. I love having your snot on my shirt.”

  She chuckled softly, grabbing a paper towel and wiping her cheeks. “Tears are useless.”

  “I wish I knew what to tell you. I wish I could help.”

  “You can’t,” she said, taking a shaky breath. “Just be patient while I try to figure it out.”

  “Well,” said Ian, rinsing the pan before drying it, “if you don’t cheer up soon, I’m going to have to resort to drastic measures.”

  She shook her head, giving him a warning look. “No drastic measures. I’ll be okay. I promise.”

  “Okay,” said Ian, pulling the drain from the sink and hanging his damp drying cloth on the oven handle. “I have to get going. Meeting at eight.”

  “I’m proud of you.”

  “I know,” said Ian, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “Be good, huh?”

  She nodded, telling him she loved him in Irish before closing the back door behind him.

  Alone in the quiet of her cottage, she turned off the kitchen lights and stepped into the living room, remembering the dark and stormy night so many weeks ago when Burr had arrived on her doorstep.

  She’d had no idea then how much her life would change: the rush of falling for someone, the delight of learning that they longed, in turn, for you. The way it felt to touch him, hold him, kiss him, and give herself to him. The way it felt to love him. The lump in her throat doubled, and she sat down on the couch despondently.

  Have you thought about going to Boston?

  She thought about it, but she’d seen Suzanne’s house in that close-knit Dorchester neighborhood. People living on top of each other. For happily reclusive Tierney, the idea made her skin itch. Not to mention, it was Burr who’d insisted that he return to Boston alone—that his life was there and hers was in New Hampshire. More than anything else, that’s what was keeping her from him. She knew that he cared for her—or he had—but maybe not enough to change his life for her, which made her hesitant to consider changing hers for him.

  And it left them both in a terrible, awful place.

  A stalemate.

  Which might be okay if her feelings would just go away. But they wouldn’t. Her heart was fixed on him. Her body longed for his touch. Her ears coveted the low hum of his voice. It was hell, and there was nothing she could do to stop the yearning.

  A knock at her front door made her sit up. Ian. Sighing, she slid off the couch.

  “Ian!” she exclaimed, stepping over to the door and turning the knob, “I said that there was no need for drastic…”

  Her voice trailed off, the breath knocked from her lungs as she looked up into the clear blue eyes of Burr O’Leary. She pressed her palm to her chest, trying to take a deep breath, but unable, her eyes shuttering, blinking back tears, and wondering if he was real.

  “Tierney.”

  His voice.

  Oh, God, his beautiful, familiar voice.

  She tried to get control of herself, but she couldn’t. Her face crumpled, and her shoulders shook as a sob she tried to swallow escaped from her lips.

  “Aisling,” he said, reaching for her. “Can I come in?”

  Unable to speak, she nodded, grabbing at his forearms and pulling him inside.

  He pushed the door closed with his foot and stared down at her, his eyes searching her for a second before he pulled her against his chest urgently, his lips against her hair, his voice gritty and soft with emotion.

  “I missed you. Fuck, I missed you, Tierney. I missed you. I missed you so much.”

  The words were a soft litany as he kissed her head, reaching up to cup her cheeks, his lips landing on her forehead, her cheeks and finally, flush on hers, where she wanted them, where they belonged. He kissed her desperately, like it had been far longer than three weeks since they’d last been in each other’s arms, and Tierney closed her eyes, tears running down her cheeks as she remembered the taste of him, the perfect feeling of being in his arms.

  “Are you here?” she sobbed, looking up at him. “How are you here?”

  “I drove,” he said simply, grinning down at her.

  “A visit will only make things harder,” she lamented, then shook her head, holding him tighter. “No. I don’t care. I needed this so badly. I missed you so much.”

  “It won’t make things harder. I promise,” he said. “Come sit with me.”

  He took her hand and led her to the sofa, pulling her down on his lap and clasping his arms around her. He kissed her again, slower this time, like he had time. Gently exploring the crevices of her mouth, he slid his tongue alongside hers, groaning softly before leaning away.

  “I love you, Tierney,” he said, looking deeply into her eyes. “I love you so much, it was hell to be away from you.”

  “For me too,” she murmured, caressing his cheek. “I missed you so much. I love you too, Burr. I tried to let you go, but…I couldn’t. I waited.”

  “I left Boston,” he said. “I don’t—it doesn’t—it’s not my home anymore.”

  “But your job, Suzanne—”

  “I quit my job,” he said.

  “What?” she gasped. “But you love your job!”

  “No, Tierney. I love you,” he clarified, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. “And yeah, I loved being a Boston cop, but the New Killeens took that love away from me. I don’t want to be there anymore. I don’t feel like I can do good there.”

  “But you’re a great cop!” she insisted.

  “And I still can be,” he said slowly and carefully. “Somewhere else.”

  “Somewhere…else?”

  He nodded. “Uh-huh. Somewhere like Wolfeboro…or Meredith…or Gilford…or—”

  Her heart started thumping and her breath caught with a mixture of hope and caution. “Those are towns in New Hampshire!”

  He chuckled, his eyes glistening as he nodded at her. “And all of them will have my resume by tomorrow.”

  A sob broke free from her lips and she buried her face in his neck. “You’re moving here? You’re staying!”

  “I’m staying,” he confirmed, his voice breaking.

  “I’m not a crier,” she insisted, her voice muffled as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I’m not. I promise.”

  “I don’t mind,” he said, rubbing her back as she wept. “You cry all you want, aisling. I’m here now, and I’m not leaving you ever again.”

  “Promise?” she asked, drawing back to look in his eyes.

  “I’ll stay as long as you’ll have me.”

  “What about Suzanne and Bridey? You just got them back in your life. I don’t want to be the reason you—”

  “Oh, yeah! I almost forgot. Suzanne, Connor, and Bridey want to come up for a weekend in October. Think Rory could reserve a cottage for them?”

  “Yes!” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck as more tears spilled from her eyes. “Yes, yes, yes! Rory could reserve anything for them!”

  “Know what else?” he continued, whispering near her ear. “I’m going to need a place to stay.”

  “No, you’re not,” she said, leaning back and cupping his cheeks. “You have a place. With me. This is your home too, Burr.”

  He grinned at her, his eyes sliding to her lips and lingering there for a hot minute before he seized her eyes again. “You’re sure? Our story began on a dark and stormy, night, aisling. Those tales don’t always end well.”

  “This one does, a chéadsearc,” she said. She smiled at him with all the love in her heart. “This one has a very happy ending.”

  “I believe it does,” he said, lowering his lips to hers. “In fact, I’m sure of it.”

  EPILOGUE

  A Thanksgiving Wedding

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” intoned Pastor Clarke of the Center Sandwich Congregational Church. “You may kiss the bride.”

  As Rory leaned down to kiss Brittany, Tierney looked over the heads of the happy couple to catch Burr staring back at her, an intense expression in his light-blue eyes.

  I love you, he mouthed.

  Her lips wobbled a little, trying not to cry for her brother’s happiness or her own.

  I love you, too, she answered.

  Since Burr’s return, they hadn’t spent a night apart, which added up to a lot of perfect nights in his arms, their bodies slick with sweat and their hearts beating as one.

  When Rory asked Burr to join Ian as his other groomsmen a few weeks ago, it hadn’t surprised Tierney too much. Burr had secured a job at the Center Harbor Police Department within two weeks of his return, impressing Rory and Ian with his commitment to Tierney by putting down roots. Besides, his slap shot was already leading the Gilford Griffins to victory. At this point, he was pretty much considered a member of the family.

  Speaking of family, Burr’s sister and her family had come up for a weekend in early November and stayed at Summerhaven. Rory and Brittany were in one cabin, Tierney and Burr in another, Ian in his own, and Suzanne, Connor, and Bridey in another. Surrounded by the Technicolor glory of autumnal New Hampshire, they’d fished and hiked—and toasted marshmallows around a bonfire, much to Bridey’s delight.

  Well, actually…Bridey and Jenny’s delight.

  As Rory and Brittany finished their kiss, Tierney slid her eyes to Ian, who looked like a thundercloud, staring at the woman standing next to Tierney, wearing an identical black bridesmaids’ dress: Halcyon Gilbert Silveira.

  Hallie, and her daughter, Jenny, had moved back up to their Squam Lake summer cottage just before Halloween, and since then, Ian had been just about impossible. Tierney wasn’t talking about his sobriety, which seemed intact, but his moods. Dear Lord, he’d been a grumpy bastard since Hallie had appeared, grunting and growling at everyone, with barely a smile for anyone.

  Well, actually…anyone except Jenny.

  For little Jenny? Ian’s frown was neutralized. And Jenny adored Ian. With her dark-brown braids trailing down her back, Jenny followed Tierney’s gruff brother all over the camp like a wee duckling, talking his ear off.

  Rory and Brittany took hands and stepped down the stairs of the church altar, followed by Ian and Hallie, who, Tierney noted, were careful not to touch as they walked side by side in stoic discomfort. Finally, Tierney turned to face her escort, and as her eyes smashed into Burr’s, she felt it again—as she always did—BAM.

  His hair had grown out a little bit, as jet-black as hers, and less edgy than his gangland buzz cut. As handsome as the devil in a tuxedo, today was the first time she’d ever seen him dressed formally, and good Lord, it had taken her breath away.

  She grinned at him, clasping the hand he offered.

  “Look at you, now, Smilin’ Irish,” he said in a light brogue, winking at her. “I mentioned you look a picture in that dress, right?”

  “You did,” she said, her cheeks flushing from his compliment.

  “An’ do ya’ know where that dress will look even better?” he asked.

  She knew what was coming but shook her head back and forth, looking up at him with pursed lips. “Where?”

  “On the floor of our bedroom,” he said, chuckling as she rolled her eyes at him.

  “You’re insatiable.”

  “That’s because you’re delicious.”

  “Burr, stop it. We’re in a church.”

  “Not a Catholic one. Doesn’t count.”

  Giggling quietly, she squeezed his hand as they swept up the aisle, her happiness filling her heart to overflowing.

  ***

  Tierney stood in the receiving line in front of the church, shaking hands with the departing guests, while Burr stood off to the side with Hallie Silveira and her little girl, Jenny. When Suzanne, Connor, and Bridey had visited Summerhaven in October, Bridey and Jenny had become “besties,” spending the whole weekend together.

  He squatted down in front of the little girl. “Hey, Jenny. I was talking to Bridey yesterday, and she said to say hello.”

  “I miss her,” said Jenny. “When’s she coming back?”

  “She misses you, too,” said Burr, “but I think she’ll be back for Christmas.”

  Jenny’s whole face brightened. “Bridey’s coming for Christmas? Oh, my gosh!” She looked up at her mother. “Mommy! Bridey’s coming for Christmas!”

  Burr stood up, looking into Hallie’s blue eyes. “Think you’ll still be here?”

  “We have nowhere else to go,” she said softly, sliding her eyes to her daughter and adding in an animated voice, “I heard, baby! What great news!”

  “I’ma tell Mr. Haven!” Jenny exclaimed, running over to the receiving line and tugging on the hem of Ian’s tuxedo jacket.

  Burr watched Hallie’s eyes follow her daughter, her lips tightening into a thin line when she stopped in front of Ian. As he squatted down to talk to Jenny, celebrating her news with a huge hug, Hallie’s face softened, her head cocking to the side as she watched them.

  “She likes him,” said Burr softly. “Ian.”

  “She’s crazy about him,” said Hallie, her face still troubled as she watched Ian lean away from Jenny, still grinning at her from behind his trimmed-back beard.

  “They say that kids are good judges of character.”

  She looked up at him, her lips unsmiling, her eyes flat. “Kids are naïve.”

  He nodded. There was no sense arguing with her, especially since Jenny was already running back to them, her smile wide and eyes sparkling with excitement. “Mr. Haven said he’d take me and Bridey sledding if there’s snow over Christmas!”

  “I can take you, too, baby.” Hallie forced a smile, pushing a lock of her daughter’s dark hair behind her ear. “Remember what we talked about? We don’t always have to bother Mr. Haven, right?”

  “Okay, Mama,” said Jenny, her smile dimming.

  Hallie turned to Burr. “I think we’ll go freshen up before the reception. See you there?”

  Burr nodded at the young mother and daughter as they took hands. “See you there. Save me a dance, Jenny, okay?”

  “Okay, Mr. O’Leary,” said Jenny with a gap-toothed grin.

  He watched them walk to their car, no doubt headed for their little cottage before proceeding to Summerhaven for the reception. He felt bad for Hallie. He didn’t know her very well, but from what he gathered, her ex-husband had been a regular fucker, running up enormous debts before leaving Hallie and their daughter for a woman barely out of high school. Aside from the humiliation of his betrayal, Hallie had been left flat broke, with nowhere to go except a dilapidated summer cottage, adjacent to Summerhaven, that her parents had left her.

  It was clear that something simmered between her and Ian, though Tierney and Rory swore they had no idea what had happened between them, and Brittany refused to spill the beans. Burr sighed, turning back to watch Tierney say hello and thank you to the last of the guests still filing out of the church. He hoped the best for Hallie and Jenny, but today he had other things on his mind…important things that wouldn’t wait anymore.

  He’d only known Tierney Haven for three months, but he’d known himself for over twenty-eight years, and she was it for him. He’d felt it in his bones the moment he’d woken up on her bed, those emerald eyes staring back at him and the honeyed words I’m not scared of you falling from her sweet lips.

  A montage of Tierney played in his head like a movie: the first time he kissed her in her living room, the second time he kissed her in front of the fire pit in her backyard, the way she leaned over a pool table pocketing balls like a boss, the abysmal way she’d first lied for him to Dr. Weasel, and the way she looked all decked out for her date. The way she’d stood up at his sister’s house and told off his father, and the way his heart exploded every time he slid inside of her.

  He loved her.

  He loved her so hard and so well, it didn’t matter that there were still plenty of mysteries about her for him to unravel. It didn’t matter that he’d never spent a winter or spring with her. It didn’t matter that he didn’t know the answer to every question he had about her. None of it mattered, because he would do whatever it took—bend, mold, learn, change, flex, and adapt—to make her happy.