Page 47 of Fix You

I took a reluctant seat between Gianni and Kellan. I gave Callum a reluctant nod when he managed to look up from his iPad for a moment. Although I’d fully expected the breakfast spread to be all Irish foods, my brows popped at the sight of a basket of Brioche col tuppo.

Turning to Gianni, I asked, “Did you run out to get these?”

As he shook his head, the silver-haired cook spoke from the head of the table. “That was my doing,” she replied, as she sat down a platter of eggs.

I smiled at her. “My brothers and I thank you. I never imagined a Sicilian treat in the middle of an Irish spread.”

With a wink, she replied, “It’s your sister you should be thanking. She had me make a run to the bakery this morning.”

Of course she had. Caterina had the kindest heart of any woman I’d ever known. She certainly hadn’t inherited it from our mother. Growing up, my mother had handed off her maternal duty to our nanny, Talia. Whatever goodness and kindness there was within us was because of Talia.

At that moment, Caterina entered the dining room with a pitcher of orange juice. When she saw me, a beaming smile lit up her face. “There’s the sleepyhead!”

Caterina then threw her arms around me and squeezed tight. “I hate our visit was so short. I’m going to miss you guys so much.”

Leo grinned at her from across the table. “Don’t worry, sis. Just as we promised now that you’re stateside again, you’ll get sick of seeing us.”

“I can’t wait,” she mused with a wide smile.

Callum motioned to the chair next to him. “Come back and eat, Kitten.”

Wanting to needle him a little, I scooted over. “Pull up a chair between me and Gianni.”

Inwardly, I chuckled at the pissed look that Callum shot me. With a huff, Caterina pushed away from me. Her lips turned down in a pout as she glanced between me and Callum. “I meant it when I said I wanted you both to be friends.”

Callum gave Caterina a tight smile. “We’ve barely been face to face for twenty-four hours. There’s a lot of years of animosity to get over before that can happen.”

Easing back in my chair, I countered, “Especially since you didn’t even trust me to dance with your sister.”

My words caused not just Callum to stiffen around the table. “Maeve is a special case,” Callum bit out.

“So is Caterina,” I countered.

With a shake of his head, Callum countered. “It’s not the same. Your sister wasn’t–”

A cheerful voice bellowed from the doorway, cutting him off. “Good morning!” Orla called comically loud. Considering my hangover, the tone was irritatingly painful.

As the others' attention went to Orla, I noticed Caterina’s slight shake of her head at Callum to which he nodded. I couldn’t help wondering what they were trying to hide about Maeve.

Behind Orla was Eamon. Once they all sat down, I noted Maeve’s absence. Chewing my Brioche col tuppo, I fought the urge to ask about her.

Thankfully, Callum addressed it for me. “Where’s Maeve?” he questioned his mother.

Orla’s cheerful expression slipped slightly before she playfully tittered, “The naughty minx must’ve celebrated a little too hard last night. I couldn’t drag her from the bed no matter how hard I tried.”

Her words sent a pang reverberating through my chest. Maeve had barely had more than one flute of champagne. Unless she had gotten drunk after I left, it was all a ruse to keep from seeing me.

Throughout the rest of breakfast, I feigned interest in the conversations around me. Luckily, no one pressed me for what was wrong. There was also the fact that most everyone around me was epically hungover.

Despite sitting around the table for almost an hour, Maeve never came downstairs. With time ticking to get to the airport, I rose from my chair. “We better get going.”

After making goodbyes with the Kavanaugh brothers, we started to the front door. I couldn’t help craning my neck up the stairs. More than anything, I wanted to go find Maeve to check on her. But I knew if her brothers found me anywhere alone with her in a bedroom all hell would break loose. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask Caterina to check on her, but I knew that would raise suspicion as well.

In the end, I fell into step behind the others as we headed out into the Boston sunshine. When we got to the waiting SUV, I wasn’t surprised to see tears in Caterina’s eyes. “Don’t cry, Kitty Cat,” Gianni implored.

She hiccupped a sob. “I’m sorry I’ve been so emotional.”

“It’s not surprising considering the ordeal you’ve been through,” I said.

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