Page 87 of Hot Irish Halloween

She touched his face with gentle fingertips and ran them across his jaw. “Look who’s awake,” she said with a teasing hint of a grin. “You need a shave, silver fox Zaddy.”

Jack smiled. “Hi, angel.”

30

EPILOGUE

PENNY

One and a Half Years Later

Afternoon light streamed through the windows at the far end of the pub as Penny slid into the corner seat of the bench. She was a bit tired from the night before. Baby Finn had refused to go to sleep on time, as usual. Petey, their new puppy from Trixie’s first litter, had barked and wailed until he was allowed in Finn’s room, where he finally settled down. And then there was the most demanding male member of the household, who’d kept her up until close to three in the morning for…other reasons.

Finn wasn’t an arm baby anymore. He’d been big enough to serve as the ring bearer at their wedding in June, carried to the arbor where they’d taken their (third) vows on his Grandpa Bran’s arm. The day had been so beautiful and brimming with the love of friends and family, including every Mayfield in the county, Jade as her Maid of Honor again, Jack’s cousin Matt and his little family, James who showed up alone, Serena Gardner, who also came alone, and Meghan (who would forevermore bereferred to as Mortal Kombat after the fight). Dennis came too, and Squeeze with his fiancé Dax. It had been the most fun wedding Penny had ever attended if she said so herself. Jack agreed.

Finn had taken his first official steps days before the wedding, to all the assembled grandparents’ utter delight. Now, from across the space in the pub, he sat on his Nana Dierdre’s knee, looking around with his big, bright hazel eyes at the noisy patrons, some tourists but mostly locals. Every now and then, the waitress would pass by and fluff his wispy brown curls and tweak his cherubic golden-brown cheek until it was pink.

And who could blame her? Baby Finn was the sweetest, cutest, smartest baby in the universe if Penny said so herself. It had been a smooth pregnancy. The delivery had fucking hurt, but she’d be willing to do it again if they were lucky enough to have another one like him. She could spend hours staring at him and inhaling his sweet baby smell.

Penny waved at him and Dierdre before settling her banjo comfortably on her lap, only needing to tune its four strings a little before strumming with bare fingers. Before long, she was joined by Bran who sat next to her with his fiddle, then his friends on tin whistle, bodhrán, accordion, and mandolin. The same waitress brought over glasses of Guinness for them.

“Look at my grandson over there. Look at him!” Bran urged the others, smug with pride.

“Every time,” the drummer groaned with an eye roll. “We see him, Bran, we see him.”

“I can’t help it. I missed that little raggamuffin. I hadn’t seen him since June. The whole summer.” Bran shook his head sadly.

Penny grinned. “But you’ve got him fall, winter, and spring. Imagine how his other grandparents feel.”

“True, true.”

She and Jack, as they’d planned, had gone through with a top-to-bottom restoration of Ma Mabel’s house, courtesy of Owenville’s best interior designer, Sierra Smith (with input from Dierdre, of course). New additions had been made, including more ensuite bathrooms, a full soundproof gym for Jack, and a second soundproof studio for Penny. The house practically glowed. The summer in her hometown had been fun overall. She’d even managed to convince Jack to buy a Dodge pickup and drive it wearing a plaid shirt. Talk about hot in the country!

He’d left Valentine MMA in Charlie’s capable hands while they’d been away, hiring the best assistant coaches in the improved facility with the €25 million donation that had mysteriously shown up in the foundation’s coffers.

Now that it was September, they were back. Autumn was going to be busy. Her book had been very well received in music circles extending beyond the country/bluegrass/folk world. It was titled “At the Crossroads: A Musical Synthesis of Three Cultural Traditions.” The acknowledgments thanked her family, Squeeze and Dennis, each teacher and elder and musician she’d met or spoken with, and finally, her husband Jack and their then-infant son.

She’d asked Jack what he thought of the dedication before submitting it for publishing: “For Brendan, whose legacy will live on.”

Jack nodded and said, “I think he would have loved that.” And he’d held her and stroked her back for a long time.

Penny had done a few interviews on the book and had even been invited to guest lecture at small universities and music conservatories. It had been so encouraging she came to a decision about what she wanted to do professionally: get an advanced degree in ethnomusicology and then teach. She started classes in one week at Trinity College.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be with an orchestra playing your violin?” Jack had asked while they discussed it over dinner.

“Well,” she’d said after thinking. “I still want to play with other musicians. And I will.”

And here she was, about to play with Bran and the others in this old pub on the North side of the city, not far from home, when the door opened for two newcomers.

“’Tis my favorite son, Jack. Charlie, you old geezer,” Bran called out, his cheeks ruddy just from a few sips of his Guinness.

“I came here to listen to Jackie’s missus, not yer mouth,” Charlie grumbled back. Their little group laughed.

Jack nodded, saying “hello” to everyone, and served Penny a gorgeous grin while he took Finn from his mother and sat down beside her. Turning his attention to his boy, Jack kissed him on both cheeks and blew a raspberry on his neck until Finn laughed.

Ow, her heart. Sometimes, just seeing Jack walk into a room made her desperately happy. That sensation doubled seeing Jack and Finn together. As a husband, he was fantastic, but as a dad? Top tier. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for Finn. He got up with him at night and took care of him during the day when Penny was tired or had other things that needed doing. Finn had a second playpen at the gym; he was there so much the students joked he was their hype man.

And speaking of the gym and Jack’s second retirement from the cage…

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