The Emerald Isle Read Free Page B

everything else they could do, but nothing helped. The doctors estimate he has less than a year to live.”
    A rush of sweet sympathy poured through my soul. “Oh, Taylor, that’s awful.”
    Nodding, Taylor turned the fork upside down. “Maddie hasn’t been able to afford the trip back to see him, but she’s going to have to go soon.”
    My sympathetic smile froze into position. What followed could be good news or bad, depending upon whether Maddie would return to Ireland alone…or with Taylor.
    “So…she wants to go home?”
    “She hasn’t said so, but I know she’ll want to go soon. The thing is—” He paused and blew out his cheeks. “Honestly, I never dreamed it would be so hard to say this. I feel like I can tell you anything, Kathy, but I don’t know how to tell you I want to take Maddie back to Ireland, marry her there, then bring her back to New York. And I want you to go with us so you can be in the wedding.”
    My breath caught in my throat. He wanted me to go to Ireland with him and Maddie? To be in their
wedding?
    Something automatic took over, and I think I managed to give him a strained smile. “I can’t go with you to Ireland.” My voice soundedfalse and unnaturally bright in my ears. “Haven’t you ever heard that three’s a crowd?”
    He hauled his gaze from his fork and returned his attention to me. “Kathleen”—a warning note lined his voice—“don’t be silly. You’re my friend, and you’re Maddie’s friend, so of course we want you in the wedding. You brought us together.”
    How blind men are! I lowered my arms to my lap so he couldn’t see my hands clenching and unclenching beneath the table. “Have you asked Maddie about this? Most women like to plan their own weddings.”
    “I haven’t asked her anything yet”—his gaze fell to the tablecloth—“but I’m ninety-nine percent sure she’s going to say yes when I propose. And I know she’ll want you in the wedding. She’s been away from Ireland for a while, so I don’t think she’ll have many girlfriends for attendants, and she has no sisters, only a brother. But she wants a big Irish wedding, and I want you there even if I have to make you the best man.”
    An odd coldness settled upon me. My best friend was about to wreck his life, and he wanted me to witness the head-on collision.
    “Taylor, you’ve only known Maddie two weeks. That’s not nearly long enough to make a decision about marriage.”
    “I’ve thought of that. That’s why I want to spend several weeks in Ireland confirming our feelings and getting to know Maddie’s family. I was thinking we could leave as soon as our passports come through, and stay through October.” He looked at me with dewy moisture in his beautiful blue eyes. “I thought it’d be nice to be married on October 16; Maddie has mentioned that’s her father’s birthday. Then we can honeymoon in Ireland and come back to New York in time for Christmas and the beginning of the winter semester.”
    Ripples of shock spread from an epicenter in my heart, sending waves of numbness to the crown of my head and the tips of my toes. Quickly I counted on my fingers. “You want me to go to Ireland for four
months?”
    I noted a familiar softness around his mouth and knew he was about to smile. “By the time we get our passports, it won’t be that long. And Maddie and I will need a few weeks to arrange the wedding details.”
    I swallowed the scream of frustration that had risen at the back of my throat. “And what am I supposed to do all that time? I can’t just go hang out in Ireland—”
    “You can finish your work on Cahira.” Taylor dropped his fork and leaned over the table, dangerously close to me. “Think of it, Kathleen—you’ll be right
there.
Right where Cahira lived and died, on the same ground, beside the same hills, under the same skies. You can visit libraries and museums and look at ancient artifacts. You can soak up local color until you’re as green as a