“Liam here yet?”
“Yeah. He’s in the kitchen. Door’s unlocked. Go on in.”
For as long as he’d known the O’Learys, he’d never just walked into their house. In fact, he’d only gone into the building when he’d been tagging along with Jimmy and Liam. He knocked and twisted the knob. No one was in the living room, so he walked through toward the kitchen. “Liam?”
“Yeah.”
The layout was the same as his dad’s house, but it somehow felt foreign. In the kitchen, he said, “Hey, man. Wanted to see if you needed help with anything.”
Liam turned with a confused look on his face. “Jimmy okay?”
“Don’t see why not. He’s not here yet. I brought some ground beef since we always con you into making our food.” He set the bag on the counter where Liam was making patties.
“Thanks.”
“Thank you. You feed us every year.” Kevin leaned against the counter while Liam dug his hands back into the meat. “I also wanted to make sure you’re really okay with me being best man.”
Liam lifted a shoulder. “He’s your brother. I get it. No hard feelings.” He paused, leveled a stare at Kevin, and then added, “Just don’t fuck it up.”
He’d been hearing some version of that his whole life. While it had been warranted when he was a teen, he’d had his life together for a long time; unfortunately, no one seemed to notice. “I won’t.”
Liam nodded. As much as Liam and Moira looked alike, his personality was nothing like his little sister’s. Liam was fine working in silence.
Straightening, Kevin said, “I’ll be across the street. Holler if you need anything.”
As he walked back out into the stifling air of summer heat, a motorcycle rumbled down the street. Sean and his girlfriend, Emma, rode up and parked in front of the house. They dismounted and took off helmets with a smile.
Even though he was envious of what his brothers had found—and so much earlier than he had—his heart swelled with pride. They had grown into good men. Their mom would be proud.
“Hey,” Sean yelled. “What’re you doing here so early?”
Kevin crossed the street. “Figured I’d help set up. Don’t know why everyone is so surprised. I was here early last year.”
He’d shown up early last year to help because he’d hoped Moira had invited Kathy. He was like a lovesick kid. This year, however, he knew what to do. He had an approach. If he won Moira over, Kathy would give him another chance. Their chemistry still clicked, so he only had to jump over the hurdle of his past stupid actions.
In his gut he knew that if Kathy gave him another shot, he’d have the chance to have what his brothers did.
* * *
Kathy sat in her car and stared at her phone. Moira had texted her at least three times this morning telling her she didn’t really have to come unless she wanted to. She shouldn’t feel pressured.
But Kathy did feel an obligation to Moira. When they had met in college, Moira had broken through all of Kathy’s carefully constructed walls and taught her how to be a friend. To be part of a real friendship with ups and downs.
It had been Moira who suggested Kathy go see a therapist. Moira had seen past the face of calm and peace Kathy projected to the world. And without that little shove from Moira, Kathy wouldn’t be in the relatively sane place she was now. Until she had started talking to a therapist, she hadn’t even really understood that her childhood had been traumatic. Not the kind laced with violence and physical abuse or addiction, but one of passive-aggressive barbs and hurled insults. The kind of place that taught her that if she could keep the peace, everything would be okay.
Except it never was.
And her learned behaviors created an obstacle for her in establishing healthy relationships.
So, yeah, she owed Moira. And spending time with Kevin wasn’t torture. She could put those walls back up to protect herself in order to help a friend.
Grabbing the container of cookies she’d bought, she tucked her phone into the pocket of her shorts and walked toward Moira’s mom’s house. From down the block she heard kids yelling and laughing. At the corner, she took in the scene in front of her. A group of adults huddled in front of the O’Leary house, so Kathy waited until she saw Moira’s red hair.
Nearing the group, she heard Moira’s brother Ryan say, “Who else is playing? We’re pretty even splitting up by family.”
Jimmy stepped forward. “Moira’s with us.”
Moira laughed. “I’m still an O’Leary, babe. For the next two weeks anyway.”
“That’s not even right,” Jimmy grumbled.
Moira caught sight of Kathy and squealed. “You made it. You’ll play, right? We get Kathy.”
Before she even knew what was happening, Kathy found herself thrust toward the crowd of O’Learys and someone took her cookies. “What am I playing?”
“Football. Annual game.”
“Well, if Moira stays with you, I guess we get Cupcake. She’s an O’Malley,” Tommy O’Malley said.
Moira lifted her chin. “Fine. But Shane’s ours.”
Kathy had no idea who Shane was, but the man was big. Then she remembered Moira talking about Maggie’s boyfriend. He moved to the O’Leary side. Definitely the kind of guy you wanted protecting you in a football game.
“We get Kai. He’s mine,” Norah said from the O’Malley camp. She held on to the arm of a man who was the size of a wall. So much for having Shane on their team.
“Hey, O’Malley,” another woman said. She was much shorter than Jimmy, who was the only O’Malley to turn to look. She pointed at the woman across from her. “You sure it’s okay for me and Carmen to play?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“We’re adding a bit of color to this group. All this white is kind of blinding.”
Moira’s brother Liam started laughing. Carmen stared at the ground, a hint of pink filling her cheeks. Kathy had only met her a couple of times,
