Dinner time arrived quickly and Grace hear the crunch of Peter's truck on the gravel driveway. As Peter entered he stopped to take a big whiff of all the flavors of the dinner awaiting him.
“Mmmm.... Have to say you have probably outdone yourself today Grace,” Peter knew how much Grace appreciated the compliments.
“Peter, you are so full of it....,” Grace laughed. “Come on it and get the bottle of wine opened for us, will you?”
Peter and Grace felt very comfortable with each other. There was no pressure, and Peter avoided the discussion of the sale of the cottage waiting to see if Grace would bring it up.
“I guess you and Donovan will be having your way, at least for the moment,” Grace started the conversation.
She told Peter about the tough market and how so much money would be lost if she even tired to sell the cottage now. How it seemed like such a shame to just give it away after all the work that had been put into bringing it back to the gem that it once was.
Peter could see how conflicted Grace was about the sale of the cottage and assured her that he and Donovan would be keeping an eye out so that nothing happened while she was gone. This helped Grace with her decision to go back to Dublin for a couple of weeks before she came back to the cottage for a weekend knowing the cottage would be empty.
All this time they had been enjoy their wine and the wonderful lamb pie that Grace made. As they finished dinner, Grace asked Peter if he was ready for dessert.
“How about we let dessert wait for a bit. If this is you last few days here in Swatragh, how about if we go down to Rafter's for a pint and a little music,” Peter seemed to be coming out of his shell with Grace.
Grace agreed and they set off for Rafter's. As they settled in the music started and with a couple of pints in front of them, they joined in with the others clapping and singing along with the musicians. On occasion one of the regulars would come by and say hi to Peter. He would then introduce them to Grace and they all had surprising things to say to her about how wonderful the cottage looked. She was already prepared for all the questions about opening the cottage explaining that she needed to return to Dublin first and would be back in a couple of weeks. That seemed to calm any curiosities about a sale.
Grace and Peter were feeling the buzz of the stout and as it got later decided they had better depart the pub while they were still able to drive back down the road. As Peter drove the truck into the driveway, Grace suddenly remembered about the scones.
“We never had dessert!” she explained.
“Then I guess I'll have to come by tomorrow morning,” Peter chuckled as he opened the door for Grace. “We both need to sleep off our drinking for tonight.” Grace looked at Peter as she hopped down from her seat. Almost a pause, then she turned to head to the porch.
"See you in the morning."
Grace stood at the door as Peter drove off. What a nice guy, she thought as she turned to put the scones away so she could just heat them a little in the morning. This was the first night in a few that Grace slept soundly. The window was open a bit and the cool fresh evening air carried her away to a happy sound sleep.
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