‘So, he came across as an arrogant, bullying, money grabbing arse instead, who dragged his sulky self back to Los Angeles.’
‘Pretty much, but guess what?’
‘What?’
‘He’s been going to therapy.’
‘No!’
‘Yes.’
‘He’s a proper American now, so he is.’ Roisin tried to imagine her brother sitting on a white sofa talking about his emotions, but couldn’t.
‘I know. I think Cindy’s good for him. She obviously brings out his softer side because he finally seems to have realised there’s more to life than making money and driving flash cars.’
A leopard didn’t change its spots did it? Therapy or no therapy, Roisin thought. Patrick would always have a hankering for the finer things in life and chasing after the almighty dollar. Appearances mattered a lot to her brother. She glanced at Cindy making her way back from the Ladies and rested her case. He’d never go for a wallflower type simply because she was a nice person. Still Daddy’s death had obviously hit him hard, just as it had all of them. Roisin sighed into her glass of cola. Grief and the way they’d reacted to it hadn’t been straightforward. They’d all acted out in different ways, his passing leaving a gaping hole in all their lives. Patrick had been the only one seemingly untouched, blustering in and pushing for O’Mara’s to be sold, although apparently it had been just that, bluster. A cover for the rawness he felt from Daddy’s passing.
‘Anyway, I’ve decided Christmas is a time for forgiveness so I’m going to give Pat a second chance.’ Aisling stated, and Roisin noticed her cheeks were flushed the colour of the wine.
‘Good for you, Ash. We all deserve second chances.’ She said as her sister announced she was going to have to forfeit dessert and make tracks back to the guesthouse. Second chances was a theme that kept popping up and her mind drifted back to Shay. She looked up and blinked, not sure whether she was hallucinating or not because there like a mirage, walking toward their table, was Shay.
Chapter 25
‘I called in to see you at O’Mara’s. I wanted to catch up with you before I head to Castlebeg later this afternoon. See how you were feeling. Bronagh told me you were here for lunch and it’s only around the corner,’ he shrugged. ‘So here I am. I hope you don’t mind me gatecrashing like this?’ He grinned apologetically at Roisin and then at the others. She blinked again several times, still not convinced she hadn’t dreamed this moment into reality. She flinched as a foot connected with her ankle, Aisling’s way of reassuring her she was very much in the here and now. She was reminded too that she owed this man an apology for her behaviour the previous night. The memory of her waffling on made her squirm but before she could speak Mammy leapt in.
‘Oh no, she doesn’t mind at all, do you, Roisin? I’m Roisin’s mammy, Maureen, by the way, seeing as my daughter’s forgotten her manners. We’ve not had the pleasure. How do you do?’ Mammy beamed holding a hand out. Shay took her outstretched hand and for the briefest of seconds, Roisin thought he was going to kiss it but he didn’t. He shook it, smiling at her mam in a way that made her blush. Mind, it didn’t take much to make Mammy blush once she was on her second glass of the red.
‘I can see where Roisin gets her good looks from.’
Maureen looked like one of those specialty Japanese fish you take your life in your hands by eating at this, and Roisin couldn’t help but smile. It was cheesy but coming from Shay it didn’t seem clichéd. It came across as genuine. She’d have words with Moira later too, she decided seeing her sister going red from the effort not to laugh at Mammy’s puffer fish impersonation. They were so embarrassing the lot of them. Even Aisling and Cindy were looking eagerly at Shay as though he were going to bestow them each with a compliment like some sort of fairy godmother who’d rocked up in battle-worn denim. She couldn’t blame them, she supposed, because he did look gorgeous. Not in the clean-cut coiffed way of her brother but in a rugged, earthy way, that made her think things that would definitely make Mammy tell her to get her mind out of the gutter. She couldn’t understand why she kept picturing him with a Stetson on his head, though. She’d no idea she had a thing for cowboys until she met him. Cindy, clearing her throat daintily, galvanised her and she introduced the blonde bombshell to him.
As she held onto his hand longer than necessary, Roisin gave him a mental ten out of ten for keeping his eyes trained on her face the whole time. No mean feat given the heaving bosom just under his nose. She bit her bottom lip as Aisling elbowed her and whispered, ‘She’ll start singing Happy Birthday Mr President in a minute.’
‘Bunch up, girls,’ Mammy ordered, giving Cindy a look that made her drop Shay’s hand like a hot potato. She scanned the room for a spare chair but Shay stopped her.
‘Actually, Maureen, I wondered if I might be able to borrow Roisin for a few minutes.’
The puffer fish was back and was just about jumping up and down on her seat with the excitement of it all.
Roisin got up from her chair, feeling the hot stares of her family on her back as they excused themselves, and she followed his lead past the toilets and out the backdoor. What had he come to say? The door led outside to the car park which, although full of cars, didn’t have a soul in sight. There
