Kissing Maggie Silver by Sheila Claydon Read Free Book Online Page A

this taxi and I’ll order another one for Mum and me. On the other hand, if you haven’t, then I hope I can persuade you to come back to the hotel with us for a grown up drink. I absolutely promise there won’t be anyone under the age of twenty-three in sight.”
    “You noticed,” Maggie muttered, her temper ebbing away against her will as she realized that, far from taking her for granted, he was trying to make up for the fact she’d spent the entire evening at the kindergarten end of the table.
    “I noticed. Now are you coming with us, or do I need to order another taxi because I think the driver of this one is getting just a little bit impatient?”
    “Coming,” she said. And she slid into the seat beside Mrs . O’Connor without another word.
     
    * * *
     
    The sitting room of Ruairi’s hotel suite was huge and luxurious. With a twinge of envy she sank into one of the comfortable chairs and accepted his offer of a glass of wine. Mrs. O’Connor gave her a conspiratorial smile.
    “If you don’t mind my dear, I’m going to say goodnight and go to bed. I’m not used to all this socializing and although I hate to admit it, it’s beginning to wear me out.”
    She put up a restraining hand as Maggie started to get to her feet again. “No, don’t get up. You stay there and have a lovely long chat with Ruairi. There must be so much you want to talk about after all these years, so much catching up to do. And get him to give you some travelling tips too, Maggie. That way you can persuade your parents that you know what you’re doing when you set off on your adventure. It’ll stop them worrying quite so much while you’re away.”
    So this is when I’m meant to ask Ruairi what is bothering him I suppose, Maggie watched the older woman close the door with a twinge of irritation. Really, Mrs . O’Connor was too obvious for words.
    Besides, as far as she could tell, Ruairi was absolutely fine; in fact he was better than fine. So far she hadn’t seen any sign of the sadness his mother had mentioned. If anything his mood was annoyingly calm and upbeat. She was willing to bet he had never had a tantrum in his entire life.
     
    * * *
     
    Unsettled, she got up and walked across to the window to look at the view. Although the sun had set, there was still just enough light to see the boats on the river and the outline of the trees on the riverbank.
    “ What a lovely view,” she said, and then realized she sounded more like a passing acquaintance trying to make conversation, than a friend. Recognizing that if she didn’t shape up she would look ridiculous, she squared her shoulders and turned towards him.
    He was watching her. When their eyes met he raised his glass. “Here’s to your travels. Are you going to tell me about your plans now or over a meal later in the week?”
    “We’ve just been out for a meal,” she said, knowing she still sounded ungracious.
    If Ruairi noticed, he didn’t comment. Instead he shook his head. “If you mean the dinner date your family hijacked, then that doesn’t count. Nor does the time we spent at the park, because Peter and his children were there too!”
    Against her will, she laughed. “Don’t assume you’ll have any better luck if we do go out for a meal. My family is all pervasive.”
    He leaned forward and topped up her glass. “In that case we need to stay one step ahead of them. Let’s make it lunch tomorrow instead of dinner. Then we can drive out into the country and find somewhere a bit off the beaten track.”
    Reluctantly, Maggie shook her head. “I can’t do that because I’m on call for when June goes into labor. I’ve promised her I won’t go anywhere too far away.”
    “Well in that case….” Maggie’s cell phone interrupted Ruairi’s reply.
    It was her brother Mark.

 
     
    Chapter Five
     
    Mark opened the front door and sprinted down the path while Ruairi was still paying the taxi driver.
    “Don’t let him go,” he called. “Ask him if