Grace and Quinn started talking about wedding possibilities on their drive back to the cottage. Suddenly Grace's life was becoming complete. She and Quinn would live at the cottage and Quinn would open a second small office in Swatragh where he didn't have to commute back and forth to Dublin all the time.
If things went well, Quinn wanted to start a biking group in the area and schedule regular group rides on several weekends a month. The cottage would be offered as a place for the bikers to book their stay. He and Grace would put together package deals that included meals, or vouchers for meals at Rafters. In between Grace would be booking musicians playing locally and any other guests who were interested.
Along the way Grace mentioned how she had been organizing Aine's and her recipes, and was considering the possibility of writing a cottage cookbook since she had been asked by guests to share so many of the recipes. Se also felt this was a way to pass on Aine's memory. So many ideas, but first they had Peter and Chloe's wedding to attend to.
When Grace and Quinn arrived back at the cottage Quinn pulled his weekend bag from the car. There was this strange uncomfortable moment between the two when Grace was faced with the fact that Quinn would be at the cottage for the weekend. Now that they were engaged, would things change?
Quinn immediately realized why Grace stood at the bottom of the porch stairs frozen like a statue.
“I assume the upstairs room is all set for me?” Quinn stated to ease Grace's tension.
“Oh, oh, yes, it's all ready,” Grace nervously replied with a nervous smile.
“Then up the stairs it is for me. I'm not going to put you in a situation that makes you uncomfortable. We've waited this long. When the time is right we'll both know it,” Quinn dropped his bag at the bottom of the stairs and walked over to Grace pulling her close. “ I don't want to mess this up. You are too important to me.”
Grace wrapped her arms around Quinn and all her fears disappeared. She smiled up at him and put her cheek in his shoulder as they stood there for a moment just enjoying each other's warmth.
Grace changed into some comfortable clothes from her skirt, and Quinn did the same. When Quinn came back downstairs it was late, but time for some more discussion and a last cup of tea for the evening.
They worked on a list of things that needed to be taken care of in the next couple of months. First was dealing with Peter and Chloe's wedding and all the guests who would be staying at the cottage. Grace had already made arrangements with Rafters to work together on providing all the food needed for the few days the cottage would be packed. Quinn would help with the logistics of getting the food transported, and how it could all be set up.
Next was working on a date for their own wedding. They decided to actually have two weddings. Grace and Quinn had most of their friends and families in and around Dublin, so they would have a church wedding near the Dublin area along with a reception there also. A second smaller ceremony would be held at Ardtara with special guests invited and some locals. There would be a reception there also. This would all take place over a weekend in October with the Dublin wedding on a Friday night and the Ardtara wedding on Saturday afternoon.
Grace thought this might be a little frivolous, but Quinn found it to be the most efficient way with guests coming from various places, and some not being able to travel very far. His Dublin business associates would not be traveling to Swatragh, and Donovan would certainly not travel to Dublin. It would cost a little more, but Quinn promised they would be conservative with costs, and Grace would actually get to wear her wedding gown more than once!
Quinn asked Grace to see if Chloe would be able to take care of the cottage for that weekend and a few additional days so there would be time for a short honeymoon. Otherwise she would just have to shut down the cottage for a few days. Grace had no idea what Quinn had in mind but she trusted him.
It was difficult for Grace to sleep that night. So much had happened, and knowing that Quinn was just 2 floors up was a huge distraction. As she thought about the many things they had discussed during the evening, she finally relaxed and fell asleep.
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