Empress of Ireland Read online

  “This is good… because I know I’ve fallen in love with you.” He cupped her cheek. “I was angry back at the bluff, because I thought I’d finally found someone special. I didn’t think my heart could take it if you left. Please stay. I beg ya. Stay. If you find a better job as a chef, I’ll go wherever you go, if you’ll have me.”

  “You’d leave Ireland?”

  “If it’s necessary to stay with you, then yes.” He grinned. “Besides, Gran’s proved once again, she can run this place on her own and I have no doubt she will for the next hundred years.”

  “I don’t want you to leave Ireland.”

  “Then you’ll stay here with me?”

  “I’ll stay.” Laila’s heart thudded like crazy as he tugged her to him and kissed her.

  His mouth was hungry and gentle all at the same time. He clutched her to him and ran kisses down her cheek and to her ear. He whispered, “I love you, Laila.”

  For a long, illogical moment, Laila wished that she could stay fused in Alasdair’s embrace forever. This moment was too perfect. He lightened the kiss, and turned it into a seductive tease. He caught her bottom lip with his teeth, gave it a tug, and then captured her sigh in another kiss.

  When they finally broke apart, she said, “This is crazy!”

  “Completely daft, isn’t it? You were only on vacation.”

  “Janelle was right.” Laila smiled when she thought of her friend. “If you get out of your safety bubble and see the world, you never know what you’ll find.”

  Máire came through the already open door. Her gaze traveled from Laila to Alasdair. “So, Alasdair, did ya finally shut your trap long enough for Laila to talk?”

  “Yes, Gran, I let her finish what she was trying to tell me earlier. I’m an eejit and many more things I won’t add in the presence of ladies. It looks like you have a cook to share your kitchen.” Alasdair kissed the top of her head.

  Máire laughed. “Laila has to stay. I told her the secret ingredient in the fish stew.”

  “I have been sworn to secrecy.” Laila crossed a finger over her heart. “It was the one ingredient I couldn’t guess on my own.”

  “And I also assume, Alasdair, that you’ll be moving out of that vampire dungeon downstairs you call a flat, and back up to this floor in the light?” A devilish grin sprung to Máire’s lips.

  “Possibly…” Alasdair let his sentence trail away.

  “This is an old place. The walls are very thick… I can’t hear a thing.” Máire winked.

  Laila felt her cheeks heat, as Alasdair said, “Gran!”

  “I’m only saying that I am very happy that the two of you are together.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “And happy that I’m not too old to remember what love looks like when it’s written all over your faces. Love’s a grand thing, don’t waste a moment of it.”

  “We won’t,” Alasdair said.

  Epilogue

  Three Months Later

  Laila fell into her daily routine. The time she spent in the kitchen beside Máire was more fun than she could ever have dreamed. She found that she loved cooking once again, but she loved the nights even more… in Alasdair’s arms.

  Alasdair hit the nail into the wall with a hammer and hung the wood and brass plaque. Laila stepped back and read the etched words out loud, “May God grant you always...A sunbeam to warm you, a moonbeam to charm you, a sheltering Angel so nothing can harm you. For Janelle— a Guardian Angel.”

  “Every time someone walks by, they will read this old Irish proverb and see Janelle’s name.” Alasdair straightened the plaque which now hung below the other. “Like myself. Even though the others here and I never knew Janelle, she will be in our thoughts every day.”

  “It’s a proud place of honor with my grandma’s, God rest her soul,” Máire added, as she came to stand beside them.

  “If it wasn’t for Janelle, I wouldn’t have traveled to Ireland.” A tear skitter down her cheek. She sniffed as she touched her friend’s engraved name.

  Alasdair kissed her gently and took her hands. “An bpósfaidh tú mé,” he said in a gentle tone.

  Máire let out a whoop and clutched her hands over her chest.

  Confused, Laila looked from Máire back to Alasdair.

  Máire pushed his arm and grinned. “Oh for goodness sake, you need to ask her in English. And make sure you wait for her answer this time!”

  “Gran, can you please give us a minute?”

  “For this, I will let you have the last word.” The old woman stood on her toes to kiss Alasdair’s cheek and then moved to do the same to Laila’s. She moved off toward the bar and made a circle in the air with her finger. “Drinks are on the house!”

  When Alasdair turned, Laila said, “I’m confused… did I miss something?”

  “No, you never miss a thing. But what I realized is that I’d miss you if you weren’t a permanent part in my life.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a ring and dropped to one knee. “Janelle brought the two of us together, so here by the plaque we hung today in her honor, I ask again. Once for my mother in Gaelic, an bpósfaidh tú mé, and once for you in English. Will you marry me, Laila?”

  Laila looked down into Alasdair’s face. His eyes were filled with so much love, for a second she couldn’t breathe… so she nodded. Finally, when she found her voice she cried out, “Yes. Yes. Yes!”

  “That was the answer I hoped for.”

  A shudder went through her body as he snaked an arm around her waist, pulled her close, and molded her to him. He cradled her face with his hand and thoroughly kissed her.

  The patrons in the bar cheered.

  When they finally broke apart, Laila said, “I love you, Alasdair.”

  “And I will love you for the rest of my living days.” He slipped the ring onto her finger. “This is my gran’s ring. She wanted us to have it.”

  As Máire came to join them again, she said, “It brought me fifty-five years of happy marriage.”

  “The Gaelic inscription on the gold band reads, Mo Shíorghrá… my eternal love.” Alasdair kissed her finger where the ring encircled it.

  Laila admired her hand. “I can’t wait to share the news with Amy, Sofia, Ellie and Meg. I hope they will be as lucky in love on their travels as I was on mine.”

  “Welcome permanently to Ireland,” Alasdair said and then laughed. “Erin Go Braugh – Ireland forever… that is, as long as you’re here.”

  At that moment, Laila thought she felt Janelle smiling down at her and ready to pop open a bottle of champagne in Heaven.

  Irish Fish Stew & Soda Bread

  For the soda bread

  7oz wholemeal flour

  9oz white flour, plus extra for top

  1 tsp baking soda

  pinch of salt

  7 oz buttermilk

  1 large egg

  1 tsp honey

  For the chowder

  1 large potato

  9oz smoked haddock fillets, skin on

  1 bay leaf

  1 shallot, halved

  22fl oz milk

  1oz unsalted butter

  1 onion, chopped

  1 clove garlic, sliced

  5oz corn kernels & a handfull of peas. Fresh or frozen.

  6 scallops, sliced

  12 steamed clams

  7oz pollock fillet, diced

  5oz king prawns

  1 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

  freshly ground black pepper

  Preparation

  Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease and flour a 2lb loaf tin.

  Combine the flours, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl.

  In a measuring cup, combine the buttermilk with the egg and honey.
/>   Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and then pour in the wet mixture. Add a little extra flour if you find the dough is too wet and sticky.

  With a spoon, bring the mix together to form a dough. Shape into a rough oval and place in the loaf tin.

  Dust a little flour on top and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Turn the loaf out on a wire rack to cool before slicing.

  For the chowder, place the potato in a saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until tender. Cut the cooked potato into small pieces and set aside.

  Place the smoked haddock, skin up, in a pan with the bay leaf and shallot and cover with the milk. Bring to a simmer for a few minutes. Then take off the heat and leave in the milk to finish cooking.

  In a large pan, fry the onions in the butter until softened. Stir in the sliced garlic, cooked potato and corn.

  Lift the haddock out of the milk with a slotted spoon and place on a plate. Peel away the skin and tear into pieces. Strain the milk through a strainer into the onion potato mixture and simmer for about 20 minutes.

  Add the cooked haddock, sliced scallops, steamed clams, pollock and the prawns and warm through, then stir in the parsley and season with lots of black pepper.

  To serve, ladle the chowder into bowls and serve with thick slices of soda bread.

  About the Author

  Jennifer Conner is a best-selling Northwest author who has forty short stories and books in print. She writes in Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance, Historical Romance, and Erotica.

  She has hit Amazon’s top fifty authors ranking and her books have been #1 in sales.

  Her novel Shot in the Dark was a finalist in the Emerald City Opener, Cleveland, and Toronto RWA contests.

  Jennifer is an Associate Publisher for the indie e-book publisher, Books to Go Now who resides in the Seattle area. They pride themselves in helping new authors get their foot in the door with well-edited manuscripts, professional covers, and platforms uploads.

  She live in a hundred year old house that she grew up in. Her semi-small town holds an interesting mix of resident hillbillies, yuppies and Navy Seals. And of course Seattle, only a few miles away, is the birthplace of Starbucks so coffee is always on the check list. She blows glass beads with a blow torch, (which relieves a lot of stress and people don’t bother you) and is a huge fan of musicals.

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