Darren continued along what was known as the Connemara Loop stopping at the Kylemore Abbey. Once an abbey, then a private girl's school, and now just a tourist stop. The abbey sits up against a mountain at the edge of a beautiful lough surrounded by incredibly lush gardens. Just outside the entry is a place to sit and have some lunch. As they got out of the car, Darren opened the truck and pulled out a picnic basket.
“And when did all this happen?” Cailin queried Darren.
“I told you this morning, for me to know and you to find out!” Darren chided and let out a laugh followed by that amazing smile. “Let's eat, I'm starved.”
Darren pulled out slices of homemade brown bread, butter, and local cheese, and a thermos of tea. It was not a lot, but just enough to satisfy their hunger from the ride along the bay and out to the ocean's edge earlier in the day. When they finished, they walked around the abbey and through the gardens. Cailin, as always, was still speechless over the beauty of this area of Ireland.
After some time at the abbey, they headed back into the car. The time was moving quickly along and they started their way back to Spiddle with the Twelve Bens on their right heading south to Recess. Here they made one last stop at the Connemara Marble Factory where the 9 million year old stone is quarried, and made into jewelry and decorations. The varied green colors of the stone had been ground into crosses, sliced to decorate earrings, and made bracelets.
“I want to get something for you, Cailin,” Darren said as they looked at all the items in the display cases.
“That really isn't necessary Darren,” Cailin replied.
“I know, but it will be just a memento of your visit here in Connemara.” And off Darren went to talk to the sales person. He returned a few minutes later telling Cailin to close her eyes and turn around. Cailin did as told and could feel Darren place something around her neck.
“Okay, now you can look,” Darren seemed to be very pleased with himself.
Cailin turned to see Darren holding a mirror. She looked at her reflection to see a beautiful green Connemara marble heart hanging from a black leather rope. It was more than she expected, and suddenly realized her eyes were welling up with tears. As he always did before, Darren sensed Cailin's emotions, and pulled her close until she buried her face in his shoulder.
After a moment he asked, “I take it your like it?”
As Cailin looked up from Darren's shoulder she responded, “It's absolutely lovely. Perfect.” And Cailin tilted he head up to Darren to give him a loving kiss.
Darren slowly pulled back to tell Cailin they had better be going as they were drawing a lot of looks from the customers in the shop. Hand in hand, they left the shop and back in the car, headed down the road to return to Maam Cross and then to Spiddle. Darren explained that he didn't want to be late for dinner and the interrogation that would be part of dinner from his mum.
Cailin realized that the mood in the car as they head back to Spiddle was very different from when they had left that morning. She had found a very special man and as much as she tried not to, she was falling in love with him. As they drove back Cailin recognized the familiar clock tower that at Maam Cross that they had passed early in the morning. Knowing that this was a weekend, and that Darren had to return to work on Tuesday, as Monday was a Bank Holiday, and she had to continue her tour, but more modified now, she asked Darren what he had planned for Sunday.
“Well, since tomorrow is Sunday, we'll probably be going off to church with the family. I hope that's okay with you. We'll be going to Mary Immaculate Queen in Barna. We passed it on the way to my parent's house. Mum would be very disappointed in me if I didn't go.”
“Darren, that would be perfect. I don't mind at all. I'd love to go with you and your family. So what will we do after that?”
“It's off to Cong for us, and a ride around Lough Corrib. We'll leave right from church so we don't have to backtrack. We'll check out the ruins of the Cong Abbey, and Ashford Castle. And have a little walk through Cong Wood. I'm sure you'll love the scenery. It will be a long day, and we'll get back late, but it's one of the best rides around.”
As Darren finished with all the details of the day, they arrived back at this parent's house. Cailin reached to the door handle to open the car door and Darren stopped her.
“Wait,” he said, as he leaned over pulling her in close for a long loving kiss. “Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed today before we went in.”
“I enjoyed this day immensely too. It goes down in the book as a very memorable one,” Cailin said smiling back at Darren, knowing there would be none of this affection in front of his mum.
They headed into the house, both smiling, and perfectly content. Darren's mum knew something was up, but didn't ask. Their faces told the whole story, and she had very mixed feelings. Happy that Darren had found someone very special, and very sad that this girl was American and would break his heart. And then there was this Connemara marble heart hanging around Cailin's neck. She new it was not a purchase that Cailin made. She had one very similar that she was given by Philip when they were first going together. Darren knew all about it. This was an intentional purchase for Cailin.
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