EPILOGUE
Three thousand miles away, Shane entered the St. Paddy's Inn.
"Orin? Where are you?" he called out.
The bar man appeared from the store room. "Morning, Shane. I thought you'd have left Lisdoonvarna by now. Want to have breakfast?"
Shane agreed and Orin put some bread in the toaster.
"Keira's article has gone live," Shane told Orin. "Look."
He showed the elderly man the Viatorum magazine website, where the Love Letter to Lisdoonvarna was proudly displayed. The comment section was now running into the thousands. The piece had been shared a multitude of times.
"Fabulous," Orin gushed. "Look, there's us!"
He pointed at one of the candid shots Keira had had Nina include, the one of her, Shane, and Orin at the bar on her last night in Ireland.
"She's raving about the B&B," Shane said. "And the festival."
Just then, Orin's phone rang. He answered it. Shane listened to his half of the conversation curiously. When Orin was finished he sat back down.
"A booking," he said. "From an American lady who wants to attend next year's festival."
Shane looked surprised. "She's planning a bit far in advance, isn't she?"
Orin nodded. "She said she wanted to get a room before they all sell out." He chuckled. Shane laughed too. The B&B had never been fully booked in its entire history of existence!
Orin went to take a bite of his toast when the phone rang again. He looked puzzled as he went to answer it. Shane listened in again, aware that Orin was taking another booking.
Orin came back looking even more surprised than before. "Another booking from America," he said.
Shane beamed. "This must be because of Keira's article!" he said.
"I think you're right," Orin replied. The phone started to ring again. He leapt up eagerly this time and hurried off to answer the call.
Shane felt overjoyed by what was happening. Orin deserved it, he'd worked hard all his life. He felt incredibly grateful to Keira for making that change happen.
He realized then just how much he missed her. Contact between them since she'd left had been minimal. Just a message to say she was home safe. He hadn't wanted to bombard her but to give her space to readjust to New York life. Now he wasn't sure if he could keep holding off. He desperately wanted to speak to her, even if only to congratulate her on the success of the piece.
While Orin was busy taking booking after booking, Shane decided to call Keira.
"Oh hi, Mr. Lisdoonvarna," she said brightly when she answered the call. "I was about to call you."
"You were?" he replied. "The Queen of the Burren wanted to call lowly old me?"
"Yes," she replied, giggling. "My article has gone live. I thought you might want to read it."
"Already have," Shane said. "It's brilliant. And Orin's phone has been ringing off the hook all morning with bookings."
"Really?" Keira exclaimed. "That's wonderful news!"
"That's why I was calling, actually," Shane said. "I wanted to congratulate you. Everyone's buzzing about the article online. You deserve it."
"Thanks," Keira replied in a sunny voice.
Shane suddenly found himself lost for words. He felt like he should ask her how New York City was treating her, how she was doing camping out on Bryn's couch. But instead, he realized there was only one thing he wanted to say.
"Keira, I love you."
There was a long pause. "You do?"
"Yes," Shane said, and he realized he hadn't felt this certain about anything for a very long time. Since Deidre, even. "I can't stop thinking about you. I miss you like crazy. I know we sort of spoke about carrying on once you went home without really deciding, but I think we can make it work. If I save up enough money to, can I come and see you in New York City?"
"Actually," Keira began, and Shane felt a crushing sensation in his chest. She was going to turn him down. Of course she was. For her, this was just a fun little fling in a foreign country. He'd been an idiot to think it was real.
She continued. "You might not need to save up at all."
Shane paused, frowning with confusion. "I don't get it."
"My boss gave me a bonus," Keira said. "Enough to fly you out to New York. I have a week off. What do you think?"
Shane almost dropped the phone with surprise. "You can't spend your hard-earned bonus on me. It wouldn't be right."
"Would you feel less guilty if I told you it would only be about fifteen percent of what I was given?"
Shane couldn't believe it. Keira must have been given a hefty bonus if flights to New York City from Ireland were such a small percentage of it! He still felt bad about accepting it, but at the same time, there was more than one way he could think of to repay the favor.
"Well, the festival's over," he said. "There's nothing in the way of employment keeping me in Ireland at the moment."
"Is that a yes?" Keira asked, brightly.
Shane felt a tingle of excitement race through him. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. "You really want me to come to New York?" he asked. "This isn't a trick?"
Keira laughed, her voice like a tinkling bell. "No trick! Shane, there's nothing more I want in the entire world. I love you and miss you like crazy too. It's kind of unbearable. So, what do you say?"
Shane exhaled the breath that had stuck in his lungs. The thought of reuniting with Keira filled him with joy and excitement. "Yes. Yes, of course!"
"Then it's a date," Keira replied.