Kate Hoffmann - The Mighty Quinns - Dermot-Dex

“All right,” she said. “You’ll kiss me goodbye and that will be it.” She glanced at her watch. “We have some time yet. Why don’t we go inside and get a bite to eat? Then I won’t have to sit at the dinner table tonight, missing you.”

The town’s café served as the bus station, and before they got a table, he rechecked the schedule. Dermot ordered a large coffee and two ham sandwiches to go, and Rachel ordered a slice of pie. They shared the pie in a booth at the window, teasing and joking with each other in an attempt to alleviate the emotion between them.

When the bus pulled up in front of the café, Dermot reached out and took her hand, then pressed his lips to her fingers. Then they both got up and walked outside, her hand in his. Dermot was almost afraid to let her go, afraid that by doing so, the connection between them would be broken forever.

The bus driver looked at them. “Are you both traveling today?”

Dermot shook his head. “Just me.”

“Can I stow your bag?”

He shook his head. “I’ll carry it.” He turned back to Rachel. “So, I guess this is it. You’ll be all right on your own?”

She nodded, gently untangling her fingers from his. “I will. Don’t worry.”

He bent close, then pulled her body against his and kissed her. What began as a frantic meeting of lips and tongues softened into a kiss filled with longing and regret. Suddenly, he didn’t want to leave anything unsaid. He needed her to know exactly how he felt. “I love you, Rachel.”

She looked up at him with a wide-eyed gaze. “I—I love you, too.” She threw her arms around his neck. “I do.”

Dermot grinned, then kissed her again. “Good. I’m glad we have that settled.”

“Have a safe trip. And call me when you get home.”

He kissed her once more, then turned and walked onto the bus. When he found an empty seat, he looked out the window to find her watching him. Rachel blew him a kiss, then gave him a little wave as the bus pulled away from the curb.

Dermot watched her as long as he could, looking over the back of his seat to see the last glimpse of her through the rear window of the bus. When there was no longer anything more to see, he sat down again, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes.

With every mile that passed, the ache grew a bit deeper. It was as if his heart was being torn out of him, one molecule at a time. Dermot wasn’t sure there would be anything left of it when he got back to Seattle.

He loved her. There was no doubt in his mind. And though Dermot wasn’t sure how it had happened, he’d managed to find the one woman in the world who could make him blissfully happy. And he was on a bus, driving in the opposite direction.

“No one ever said you were the smartest guy on the planet,” he muttered to himself.

RACHEL STARED AT THE PHOTO that Dermot had sent her, the image smiling out at her from her laptop screen. He was standing in front of his house with a silly looking cheesehead hat on his head. He’d obviously spent a few of his hard-earned dollars on a memento before he got across the state line.

He was so handsome. Even after a month apart, she could still remember every detail of the time they’d spent together. They spoke every day, sometimes two or three times, over video chat on her computer. At night, before she fell asleep, they talked about their day, Rachel recounting everything that had happened on the farm.

Without the ability to be distracted by physical pleasures, they were getting to know much more about each other. Most of the questions she’d had about his life in Seattle had been answered and discussed in great detail. She’d learned the full story of his parents’ death, about their childhood before and after they became orphans.

She learned that his grandfather had come from a tiny fishing village on Bantry Bay in Ireland and that Martin Quinn had been a widower with a son when he arrived in the U.S.

She fell asleep to his handsome face and watched him sleep in the early hours of the morning when she got up. It was almost like having him with her again. But the daily routine on the farm had become far less exciting without him there to talk to her, to help her with the work.

The boys had more than made up for his absence when it came to the farm work. For some odd reason, they seemed to delight in the early mornings in the barn. And the moment they got home from school, they were back at work, Eddie now advising them on the proper way to do things.

After a late dinner, Trevor and Taylor did homework at the kitchen table, then were off to bed by nine. Rachel kept asking if they wanted to go into town to hang out with friends, but they seemed to be most comfortable with each other. Dermot had told her that the bonds between brothers were strong and she was seeing it firsthand with her nephews. Still stinging from the upset in their living arrangements and the breakup of their parents’ marriage, they were wary of strangers.

Still, they had found a few things of interest at school. They’d both joined the chess club and the math team. And Trevor was still playing on the junior varsity football team, staying late for practice every night after school. Once football was over, they planned to join 4-H so they could learn more about showing goats at the fair.

Rachel didn’t have the heart to tell them that they might not be at the farm next summer for the county fair. They needed to know that they had found a permanent home for as long as their mother wanted them living at Clover Meadow.

At least Rachel’s life had become more interesting. She’d baked cookies for a booster club bake sale and she’d cheered Trevor on from the stands at the game. But she couldn’t help but feel that her life was incomplete without Dermot.

There was a big empty spot in her heart where he’d once resided. And though they spoke every day, she felt the overwhelming need to touch him and kiss him, to crawl into bed naked and make love to him.

Home was supposed to be where she was happy. And the only way she could be happy now was if she were here with Dermot. And since he wasn’t on the farm with her, the farm didn’t feel like home anymore. Rachel closed her eyes and tried to remember when Dermot was with her, when they had all the time in the world together. Six weeks didn’t seem long enough, and yet it was all she’d needed to fall hopelessly in love with him.

Rachel stood up and carried her plate to the kitchen and rinsed it off. Closing her eyes, she braced her hands on the edge of the counter and drew a deep breath. The screen door squeaked and she felt a flutter in her stomach.

How long would it take before she realized that he wasn’t the one entering the kitchen? She turned around, ready to greet the boys arriving home from school, then realized they were fifteen minutes early. Instead she found her sister, Jane, standing at the door. Her face was haggard and she had deep shadows beneath her eyes. She looked as if she was ready to collapse from the effort of holding her suitcases.

“Hi,” Rachel said. “What are you doing here?”

Jane set the suitcases down on the floor and looked up, her eyes filling with tears. “I— I’m—” She wiped the tears away and forced a smile. “Sorry, I was just—” A sob tore from her throat.

Rachel crossed the room and gathered her in her arms, rubbing her hand across her sister’s back. Jane had always been thin, but Rachel could feel bones beneath her starched white blouse. “Don’t worry. It’s going to be all right. You’re home now. Everything will be fine.”

Rachel gently moved Jane to a chair and sat her down, then took the place next to her at the table. Holding her hand, she tried to soothe her weeping.

“I don’t know why I’m crying now,” Jane said. “I haven’t allowed myself any tears, even when he told me about the affair. I’ve been a freaking rock.”