Shamrocks and Secrets by Cayce Poponea

let's talk."
    He didn't give me an opportunity to argue as he led me to the kitchen. There were already two place settings on the bar with glasses of wine at each. Patrick pulled out my chair and motioned for me to sit.
    "I hoped you'd be by tonight, I'm glad you're here," he smiled as he took a sip of wine. "So, you said you wanted to return my gifts?"
    I had just taken a sip of my wine, so he surprised me by diving right in.
    “ Yes, ” I choked. “ But it's not that I don't like them, I really love them, actually."
    "Then keep them," he said matter-of-factly.
    "Patrick, you know I can't do that," my tone was defiant.
    “Shannon told me the significance of the bracelet. We aren't dating, so it isn't fair for me to keep that."
    "Did she tell you about the shamrock?"
    "No, she didn't know."
    He smiled as he took another drink from his wine glass.
    “ Well, there are many old stories about the history of the shamrock. I could name at least fifteen different businesses that use it on their logo. However, the history behind why the Malloy men give them is a lot less corporate and a lot more of tradition. When my great-grandfather left Ireland and came to America, he left behind my great-grandmother. He came here because he wanted a better life for his future family. He had three dollars and a ticket for his passage on him when he left. When he was telling her goodbye, he gave her a shamrock that he had picked from the hill where they were standing. He told her that someday he would come back for her and he would take that shamrock from her and give her one that was made with emeralds that matched her eyes. He swore to her that he was going to come back to her as the man she deserved.”
    “After he left, the women of her village told her he would forget all about her and he would find a woman in America. She waited for him for two years, and when he did come back, he presented her with a pendant cut from the same emerald that one is and asked for her hand in marriage. She had kept the real shamrock and placed it in her shoe. She had it in her hand when they buried her in our family plot."
    I had tears in my eyes when Patrick finished telling me his story.
    "Christi, I've not begun to show you the type of man I can be, a man you truly deserve, I'm asking you to be patient and let me show you I can do it. I know you say we aren't dating and I respect your feelings on that. However, that's not how I feel. I'm devoted to you; I just need to prove that to you."
    Patrick placed his hand over mine and gently squeezed.
    "I know I've gone about pursuing you all wrong. You made my Ma's day at lunch today by the way."
    I had to laugh at him . A s powerful as he was, his mother still called the shots.
    "So I promise to show you I'm the right guy for you, and I swear I'll cut back on the gifts," he chuckled as he spoke, his eyes pleading with mine.
    "You moved your office."
    "Believe it or not, there's a history behind that as well."
    I cocked my head and turned my entire body toward him. He smiled and then took both of my hands into his.
    "When my Da took over the business and was told he was going to marry my ma, he paid for her to come to America and see where she would be living. She had brought her sister along and they spent the day shopping. My Ma was having a hard time getting my Da to answer the phone, so she hopped in a taxi and gave the driver the address she knew for his office. When she found out it was in a strip club, she told him in no uncertain terms that she was going to return to Ireland and for him to never call her again."
    Patrick's face looked excited and his eyes were sparkling as he continued his story.
    "So, picture my Da, the most feared man in Chicago at the time, chasing this woman out of his club as she's cussing him out in Gaelic. He's begging her to calm down, and all the while, his men are watching this go down. He swore to her that he'd move all of his dealings out of the club if she'd agree to stay and