Chapter 23

Stevie knocked on the cottage door as she walked in. She walked to Claire's room and knocked on the door.

"Claire! Are you up? It's Stevie!"

Stevie opened the door and walked into Claire's room. Claire was dead asleep in her bed.

"Claire, it is time to wake up!"

Claire grumbled and groaned. She rolled over and squinted at Stevie.

"Aunt Stevie? Where's my mom? Is everything okay?"

"She's fine. She's out doing her chores. I said I'd come get you. You missed breakfast again. It was blueberry crepes. I've got this for you instead."

Stevie pulled a protein granola bar out of her pocket and put it on Claire's night stand.

"Thanks. Why are you here? Don't you have to do chores on Killarney?" asked Claire.

"Xander's helping with the chores. Terry and Matt are going to help me out with the safety requirements for the Demo derby. I decided Killarney should also enter a car. I'm a little early for their car work." explained Stevie.

"Oh. Okay."

"I also wanted to ask you a question," said Stevie.

"Is it about last night?" ased Claire.

"It sure is. What was up with you last night? I've never seen you act like that before."

"I know. It was stupid. I thought I had an idea, but it was stupid. I shouldn't have done it. I hope I didn't stuff up Mom's business deal," said Claire

.

"Well, the jury is still out on that and you weren't alone. Did you have some sort of plan with Xander by any chance?" asked Stevie.

"No. I didn't have a plan with Xander. He actually was stuffing up my plan," Claire explained.

"Can I guess what your plan was?"

"Yeah," said Claire glumly.

"Were you trying to set your mom up with Mr. O'Hara, like, so they would start dating?" Stevie asked.

"Yeah, but I'm so embarrassed. It didn't work at all. I just embarrassed her and Mr. O'Hara."

"You embarrassed me as well." said Stevie.

"Sorry Aunt Stevie. I know I stuffed up royally," apologized Claire.

"It's okay, but why did you want your mom to start dating Mr. O'Hara?"

"I think Mom's lonely. She's awesome, but she never goes out on dates. I think Mr. O'Hara likes her, and he seems nice, and he's very handsome. And, well, I know Mom likes American accents and it's not like there are many of those around Gungellan," said Claire.

"What made you think Mr. O'Hara likes your mom?" asked Stevie.

"Well, when he was here before, he stayed for lunch with all of us. The whole time during lunch, he kept looking at her and he made this kind of goofy look whenever he did. Plus, whenever she smiled, he would then smile. When I saw him at the pub last night, he was making the same goofy look and staring at her across the room. He did the same smiling thing a lot during dinner. I reckon he has a crush on Mom." said Claire.

"Well, you've been very observant the last few days." replied Stevie.

"I don't know why, but Mom just won't date. I thought if I could just get them to spend a little time together then, maybe, Mom might start to like him too. That's why I said that she might like to go for coffee with him, or riding, but Xander stuffed it up. He kept trying to get Mr. O'Hara to spend time with you." said Claire.

"So you got frustrated with Xander and forgot about your original plan and just tried to one up him."

"Sort of. No offense Stevie. If I thought he liked you, I'd have been trying to set you up, but I saw how he looked at Mom. It's her he likes. I'm certain of it." Claire said confidently.

"Don't worry about me, okay? I can get my own dates when I want them. But I think you owe your mom and Mr. O'Hara an apology. You put them in a pretty awkward position." said Stevie.

"Ugg." groaned Claire.

"I know you are new at dating and stuff, but when you start dating someone, you don't tell them all your secrets at once. You tell them just a little bit at a time, and they tell you a little bit, and you kind of go back and forth until you know if you can trust each other." explained Stevie.

"I told all of mom's secrets, didn't I?" said Claire, realizing how much of a mistake she had made.

"Well, most of them. At least parts of most of them. You told some of mine too," reminded Stevie.

"Oh God.. Poor Mom, sorry Aunt Stevie. I'm so embarrassed I could die"

"Don't do that. You're still a kid, Claire. Figuring out boyfriend and girlfriend stuff is really tough, even for adults."

"I thought my plan was perfect. I just want Mom to be happy. Why doesn't she want a boyfriend? A boyfriend would make me really happy." admitted Claire.

"Well, I can't answer that for her, but I can say this. Playing matchmaker can be a very dangerous game, especially if you aren't honest about it. I think you should talk to your mom. Be honest about why you want her to have a boyfriend, and you should also tell her about the looks you saw Mr. O'Hara giving her, but you have to let her make her own decision on if she wants to spend time with him or any other man. You wouldn't want your mom making you date someone she picked out." explained Stevie.

"No. I wouldn't. I know it wasn't a good plan. I just saw the opportunity and the way he was looking at her in the pub and I just went for it. I'm sorry I embarrassed you, as well, Stevie," Claire said.

"It's okay, Claire, but I'm glad we had this talk. I'll have to have a similar chat with your cousin when I get home."

"Did Mom say where she was headed for her chores?"

"I'm not certain. Sorry kiddo. She should probably be back for lunch or you could try her phone. Depending on where she is, she might have service."

"Aunt Stevie? Are we okay?"

"Of course, kiddo. Now come give me a hug. I love you."

Stevie smiled to herself. She had noticed the exact same look on Finn's face last night and agreed with Claire. She thought Finn was interested in Tess, too.