“I haven’t heard a word about marriage,” John said, defying her.
Ryan looked him in the eye. “And you’re not the one I’d be proposing to, either.”
Katie and Colleen smothered laughter at John’s look of indignation.
“I’d say he has you there,” Matt said, relenting a little. He looked back at Ryan. “Just know that we’re keeping an eye on things.”
“That’s as it should be,” Ryan agreed, accepting the warning.
Maggie’s father had kept silent through the entire exchange, but he gave a nod of satisfaction now. “That’s that, then. I’ll have a glass of your finest ale. Can you join us, lad?”
“I’m needed at the bar just now, but I’ll be back,” Ryan promised. “Maggie, why don’t you join your family for dinner? It’s on the house.”
“You cannot be giving away dinner to a crowd like this,” she retorted, thinking of the dent it would make in his bottom line for the night. “What kind of business practice is that? Next thing you know, all your regulars will be coming in with their families and asking for the same deal you gave the O’Briens.”
Her brothers hooted. “Now isn’t that what every man needs, a woman with a head for business standing beside him?” John said.
“But at the moment, it is my business,” Ryan said, his gaze clashing with hers in a test of wills with which she was increasingly familiar. “And I’m of a mind to buy dinner for your family.”
“Then we’ll be grateful for it,” her mother said, giving Maggie a pointed look. “Won’t we, Maggie?”
Maggie uttered a sigh of resignation and pulled up a chair beside her mother. She knew better than they exactly what Ryan was doing. He was hoping to pacify the wolves with a hearty meal…and just in case it didn’t work, he was throwing her to them.
Keeping Maggie from learning the truth about his meetings with Jack Reilly was getting to be increasingly difficult for Ryan. When the P.I. came to him a few days later with the news that he had a lead on Ryan’s brother Sean, Ryan was relieved on several levels. If nothing else, it meant he finally had something concrete to share with Maggie.
“What did you find out?” he asked the detective as an image of his dark-haired brother came to mind. “Where is he? Is he okay?”
“He’s right here in Boston, working as a firefighter,” Jack told him. “The trail led to his last foster family, but I had the devil’s own time getting a word out of them. They were afraid that you’d just be stirring up bad memories. Finally I convinced them to contact him. I gave them my number, and he called earlier today.”
“And?”
“He wants to see you. Here’s the address and the phone number. The number’s unlisted, so don’t lose track of it.”
“Did you tell him anything about me?”
Jack shook his head. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to, so I just said you’d been anxious to find him and that I was sure you’d be in touch soon.”
Ryan sighed. So, this was it? he thought, staring at the piece of paper with Sean’s address. It was only a couple of miles away. It was hard to imagine, but they could have passed on the street a thousand times and not even known it.
“You going to call him now?” Jack asked.
Ryan shook his head. “I need to tell someone first.”
“Maggie?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’ll leave you to it, then. Do you want me to keep looking for the others?”
No matter how this reunion went, Ryan knew he needed to find the rest of them now. He had to play this out to the end. “Of course.”
“I’ll be in touch, then.” Jack glanced toward the door and smiled. “And here comes Maggie now. Just in time, I’d say.”
He waved to Maggie, then took off. Maggie’s gaze followed him from the bar before she came over and joined Ryan. “Another of those top-secret meetings? It must be quite a case he’s handling.”
Ryan slipped the piece of paper in his pocket. Despite Jack’s advice, he wasn’t ready to share the news yet. He needed to absorb it.
“Where have you been off to?” he asked, deliberately ignoring her question.
She regarded him with disappointment, but let the matter drop. “I went to see Lamar,” she said.
“How is he?”
“Getting stronger every day. He wants to see you.”
“I’ll get by there this week. Is the new apartment okay?”
“A little small, but it’s clean and in a nice neighborhood. Letitia says it’s a palace compared to the place where they were forced to stay before she gave up and moved to the shelter. We looked over her budget and found a way for her to put a little aside from Jamal’s paycheck each week toward a down payment on a house. Once Lamar is back on his feet, she’s going to look for work, too.” Maggie eyed him speculatively. “I suggested she find a book of Irish recipes at the library and practice a bit, then invite us over for dinner.”
Ryan shook his head. “As if Father Francis weren’t bad enough, now you’re going to be bringing me new employees?”
“I never said anything about you hiring her,” Maggie said, her expression perfectly innocent. “But it’s a great idea, don’t you think? Besides, Rosita will be having her baby anytime now, so there’ll be an opening in the kitchen.”
“As if Rosita has done a lick of work since she came,” Ryan grumbled.
“Only because Rory is a gentleman,” Maggie replied.
“Okay, fine. Whatever. If Letitia needs a job, we’ll work it out.”
Maggie studied him with a narrowed gaze, as if she suspected his capitulation had been too easy. “Is everything okay? Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Ryan frowned at the question. “Who says I’m keeping anything from you?” he asked defensively.
“Nothing’s really changed, has it?” she asked. “You still can’t
