Page 38 of Tee’d Up For Trouble

He raised his glass of Irish Whiskey (from my good stash, mind you). “You certainly are.”

I stared out at the quiet street past where Ronan stood. The village was asleep; the only sound was the occasional rustle of wind in the trees and the distant bark of a dog, probably Finn.

Angus had told me they both were suffering from insomnia. Where would Angus go? Where would Seamus and Paddy? They’d lived here their whole life. So many of us had. Where would we go? Would we disperse to Cork or Limerick? What wouldIdo? I’d have to find a job. I couldn’t afford the taxes on my farm, and the bar was barely hanging by a thread. Once I sold them, I’d probably have enough to start over somewhere else. But I didn’t want to leave. This was my home. I felt fresh pain ram into me. I shivered, and Jax slid his arm around me and rocked me against him.

“I have an idea of what’s going on. But can someone give me details?” Jax asked.

I hesitated, my fingers curling tightly into his sweater. I wanted to tell him it was nothing, that I was fine, that I could handle it. But the words stuck in my throat. The truth sat heavy on my chest, and maybe it was the silence or the late hour, but for some reason, I sighed and gave in.

“As you know,” I started. “The county has sided with the developers. Cillian and his lot have their green light, and now he’s going to be breathing down our necks about the land.”

“What does that mean?” Jax looked from me to Ronan.

Ronan shrugged. “They’re gonna start buying up property. They already have bids out, but no one wanted to sell until they knew what the council planned to do.”

“And now?”

“Now, they won’t have a choice. The land valuation that Cillian had done was inflated, and that increased our taxes. Some of us can pay it, but many of us can’t,” I added.

Ronan straightened. “Cillian is going to come after the Gallagher Farm.”

“Your family’s?” Jax stroked my shoulder.

“Aye.” I leaned into him, taking what comfort I could.

Why this man, of all people, made me feel both strong and utterly vulnerable at the same time was a mystery I didn’t have the energy to solve. “We’ve owned the farm for generations. Maggie and I inherited it after our parents passed. I thought….” My voice faltered, and I swallowed hard, forcing myself to push through. “I thought it’d be safe. But now, with the taxes coming due….”

I trailed off, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to keep it steady. I hated how small I felt, hated admitting what I couldn’t bring myself to say out loud. Generations of my family had kept that farm safe, and now I was going to be the one to lose it. I’d have to sell it off to someone who’d tear it apart, throw up a bloody twenty-one-hole golf course, and let rich arseholes come there to swing clubs and sip overpriced shite whiskey.

“When are these taxes due?” Jax asked, his voice careful, like he was bracing for the answer.

I pulled away from him. “Summer,” I whispered. “I’m going to lose it all, aren’t I? The land, and eventually, the pub…everything.”

Jax didn’t say anything for a moment, but I could feel the tension rolling off him in waves.

“I get what the problem is. What can we do to fix it?” he asked.

Ronan grinned. “What do you want to do, Yank?”

“Save Ballybeg,” he said artlessly.

“It’s not that simple, Jax,” I protested, but God, I wanted someone to step up and work with me, save the feckin’ village, keep it as it was, but still keep it economically sustainable. I might as well want him to bring down the moon and set it at my feet.

“Of course, it’s not. If it were simple, you’d have already taken care of it,” he stated annoyingly, factually,andlogically.

“I don’t know what we can do.” Ronan crushed his cigarette against the rubbish bin and threw it in. “I’m gonna head home, Dee. You get some sleep. Tomorrow…well, it’ll be here, and we’ll get with it.”

Get with what?I wanted to ask: How long would it take for everything to change? Six months? A year? Two? At what point would we forget who we are and become someone else? Ballybeg was a community, not a business—but that’s what Cillian and his lot were going to make it. They were going to take the heart out of my village and put in a vault of money instead.

Once Ronan left, Jax turned to face me. He looked me in the eyes intently. “Dee, what if I?—”

“No,” I cut him off immediately, turning away from him. “Don’t even finish that sentence.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to say,” he growled.

I gave him a look that could’ve melted steel. “You were going to offer money. Weren’t you?”

He hesitated, then shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “I’ve got money. If it’s just the taxes, tell me how much, and I can?—”

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