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Placing a hand behind her head, I pulled her into my chest. Not so much to comfort her, but so that she wouldn’t see the secret I held inside, written all over my face.
CHAPTER 25
Daisy chatted excitedly about our new house the whole time after we left the property, until we had made it back to the main road. She was so wrapped up in the thrill of having a property in Ireland for us to live in that we’d almost made it to her parents’ place before she noticed.
“Are we going to my parents’ house?”
Clutching the steering wheel tighter, I made a silent prayer that she wouldn’t object to the other huge risk I had taken. Schooling my face, I glanced quickly away from the road to look at her. “I thought we should pop in and let you show them your ring before you lose it. You always take your rings off when you wash your hands.”
“I’m never taking it off,” she assured me. My heart squeezed when she held her hand out toward the windshield and wiggled her hand until the sunlight caught the cut of the diamond on her ring. The gem made little glittery patterns inside the roof of the car and her excited eyes scanned the tiny shards of light. “It’s absolutely gorgeous, Jamie,” she gushed. “And it’s exactly the kind of ring I’d have chosen for myself … the diamond could have been a wee bit smaller, but I can live with it,” she joked, before she stretched over and kissed my cheek.
Fortunately, we reached her parents’ house and Roslin opened the front door as if she’d been waiting to pounce on us. Daisy opened the passenger door before I’d had the chance to cut the engine. I used the moment to catch a deep breath to calm my nerves. As I sat watching the love of my life show her mom her engagement ring, I briefly wondered if she would reject my plan to marry me so soon after I’d proposed to her. Shoving my insecurities aside, I climbed out of the car and made my way over to Daisy.
When we entered the house, the first thing she noticed was how groomed Dermot appeared.
“Oh, Da, are you going to see your bank manager or something? What’s with the clean shave and the hair gel?” she asked. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’d been to the barbershop.”
“Since when did I raise you to insult your father,” her dad teased back.
Daisy chuckled. “I’m serious. Ma, will you look at him? If I didn’t know how much he dotes on you, I’d say he had a floozy on the side.”
Roslin laughed and slapped a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “Don’t be daft, it’s sowing season, Daisy. By the time your da is done ploughing the fields, he’s hardly the energy needed to plough me, never mind another woman.”
“Ma!” she exclaimed. I let out a hearty laugh. “That’s a filthy thing to say,” Daisy snapped as she scolded her mom.
“I’m filthy? You should see your da when he gets back after a day out in the fields.”
“I love you, Roslin,” I stated, totally enthralled by how she and Dermot took great delight in yanking peoples’ chains.
“Well, that might be so, but there’ll be no mother and daughter action in this house,” Roslin retorted.
“What am I going to do with you two?” Daisy asked with her hands on her hips, as if she was the parent scolding her children.
“Now in all fairness, Daisy, you started her off with that comment about cheating,” her father replied.
“Right, that’s it, we’re out of here. We only stopped by to show you both my ring. Now that we’ve done that, I’m going to find out what’s happening at the pub.” She turned and looked at her mom. “Did Poppy tell you there’s a wedding function there later?”
“So I heard. Anyone we know?”
“You know what, Ma? I was so focused on it being perfect, I never thought to ask.”
“I think I might know them,” Dermot mused, and Daisy shook her head.
“Da, you think you know everybody in Dublin, but let me tell you, you don’t.”
“Actually, come to think of it, I really do know them. Well, I know her more than him.” Dermot tapped his chin and looked thoughtful. It took everything I had not to crack up laughing at him.
“Who is it then, smart arse?” Daisy goaded. Roslin and I exchanged glances and although I was grinning, every nerve in my body vibrated as my heart pounded wildly inside my chest.
“It’s you, Daisy. It’s yours and Jamie’s wedding.”
My girl chuckled and shook her head. “Yeah, like Jamie could pull something like that off without me knowing.” She stole a glance at me and did a double take. “Tell me he’s joking,” she ordered. I guessed my face must have shown my concern by the shocked look on her face.
I shook my head and slid my hand around her waist. “I can’t. I’d never joke about this,” I whispered in her ear. She leaned back to take me in and the look on her face was priceless. “You already said yes, so,” I shrugged. “I figured since I was bringing you home…”
For a few beats my girl stood looking speechless before she laughed. “Ah, good one. You almost had me there. Is it the first of April?” she asked, like she’d considered the likelihood of us all fooling her, and figuring it was too ridiculous to contemplate.
“Belle,” Roslin called out and her youngest sister appeared at the door. Dressed in a terry cloth robe, she had her hair styled in an updo with little daisy flowers threaded through her hair.
