Page 14 of On The Rocks

“You know Mammy means business when she pulls out the middle names,” Aislynn said with a laugh. “You better call Patrick.”

“When are you going back to Colorado?” I snapped.

“In a few days.” She laughed again, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. “Though, if there’s going to be a wedding, I’ll have to extend my stay.”

Mam’s eyes gleamed with happiness, and despite myself, I smiled.

It had been a long time since I’d seen her so happy. Dad’s illness had taken a toll on her. She’d nursed him for two years, never leaving his side, even when he went for chemo treatment over at Baines Memorial. She’d wiped his brow, cleaned him when he was weak, and even took him to the bathroom and helped him in there.

Over time, she’d lost her spark, and her smile became almost nonexistent. Then Da passed, and for a while there, she lost her spirit completely.

That was until now.

Seeing her this way brought home to me how much she needed something good, and suddenly, it became less about the bar and more about her. Mam loved Maeve the same way Da always had, and I knew marrying the girl would give her a new lease of life.

My folks, and even Aislynn, saw something in Maeve that I didn’t, but maybe I needed to look deeper. The thought of getting married still left a bad taste in my mouth, but Donny was right; it wasn’t a love match, so I didn’t need to treat it as such.

As long as I was clear with Maeve, maybe we could reach an agreement, and nothing would have to change. If her life with Paddy’s family was as bad as Donny said, wouldn’t she be grateful to come here and be left alone?

Mam would be happy, and I’d have a year to save the bar. Maeve’s dowry would help, and all I’d need to do was get the bar jumping again, the way it used to. I had so many ideas to get people through the doors. I just needed time to put everything into action.

My stare met Mam’s. “Could you two give me some privacy, please? I gotta call Patrick.”

She beamed.

Aislynn threw me a smirk and threaded her hand through the crook of Mam’s arm. “Come on. Let’s leave him to it.”

They turned for the door, but just before they walked through, my mam craned her neck, her eyes meeting mine. “I’m proud of you, Callum, and I know your Da would be too. Good luck, and I hope you get the girl.”

An ache pulsed through my chest. My dad should have been here for this, even if it wasn’t real.

“I hope so, too, Mam,” I croaked.

Her eyes glittered with moisture, and she gave me the sweetest smile before disappearing through the door with my sister.

“You’ve really done it this time, eh, Da?” I muttered to myself. Then, with a heavy heart, I sat back at my desk and took my cell phone in my hand, scrolling to Paddy’s number.

There was no other choice.

I had to save my bar.

CHAPTER 4

MAEVE

ONE WEEK LATER

Horrified, I stared into the full-length mirror. “They’ve put me in a shit-colored meringue, Em,” I cried. “I’ve got to go downstairs and eat a family dinner with the man I’m about to marry. Incidentally, the same man who looks like Henry Cavill’s better-looking brother, and I’m wearing a shit-colored meringue.”

“Take it off,” my best friend Emily suggested through my cell’s speakerphone. “Wear that green skirt and shirt you wore when you gave that lecture on the assigned gender roles of women in the eighteenth century. It was pretty.”

I collapsed on the bottom of my bed. “It’s not. Nothing I own is pretty.”

“I know,” Emily agreed gently. “But you’ll be out of there soon. You’re gonna move to a beautiful rural town in Wyoming, ride horses with your titian red hair blowing behind you, and your alabaster skin will glow with all the pure country air.”

I couldn’t help but giggle. “I think we both know my hair doesn’t move that way, Em.”

“Your hair’s gorgeous,” she insisted. “You just need to learn how to deal with it.”

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