Page 68 of Welcome Home, Katie Gallagher
I hate that my face is so easy to read. Aiden laughed. “Oh, didn’t he tell you that I’d be joining you?” He took the napkin off the table and placed it on his knee. “I wanted to apologize for—well, too many things—most recently for being rude the other night. Buying you dinner seemed like a good way to do it. Pops is just tagging along for the free food.” Connor nodded and ate another mushroom.
I felt my face flush. I hoped Connor didn’t ask what Aiden was apologizing for. Gah! It was like accidentally watching an R-rated movie with your parents. Oh, are people having sex? I hadn’t noticed. I was just looking through this magazine right here.
I waved my hand. “Please, forget about it.” I gave him a significant look. “Really. Never speak of it again.” I took another sip of my drink while he chuckled at my discomfort.
“So.” Aiden’s eyes shifted back and forth between Connor and me. “What are we discussing tonight?”
“It’s funny you should ask,” Connor began, but I cut him off.
“This restaurant. Isn’t it interesting that it used to be a boardinghouse for sailors?” Hey, I covered that up pretty well for once.
“Yeah, that’s what they say. And a speakeasy during prohibition. I think they also had an illegal gambling operation in the back at one point. This is a great place.” Aiden took a drink from Connor’s beer. “So, what were you two really talking about?” Aiden tried using his silent cop mojo to break me, but I wasn’t going down. Connor, however, was apparently not the mojo-deflecting badass I was.
“You know my vacant property right up the street?” Connor asked him.
Aiden nodded. “Sure.”
“Well, Katie and I were just discussing her renting it to open a breakfast diner.” Connor was clearly tickled with the idea and seemed to be waiting for Aiden to mirror his enthusiasm.
Aiden tilted his head and regarded me for a moment before looking down at the table, nodding absently while his thumb rubbed back and forth across the white tablecloth.
Kenny reappeared with our food, breaking the tension. “Here we are. I hope you enjoy your meals. Please, let me know if there’s anything I can get you. Chief, would you like something to drink?”
Aiden nodded again without looking up from his plate. “Thanks, Kenny. I’ll have whatever you’ve got on tap.”
After a minute, I felt the table jolt and saw Aiden wince. “What the hell was that for?” he demanded of Connor, who merely stared at him.
I tried to swallow the huge lump in my throat. I wasn’t sure if it was disappointment or humiliation, but it didn’t matter. I took a long drink.
“I know. It’s stupid. I was just explaining to Connor that it would never work.” I smiled too brightly around the table. “Well, doesn’t this look delicious?”
Aiden shook his head disgustedly at Connor before turning back to me. “I don’t think it’s a stupid idea. I was just wondering how much weight I was going to gain, eating there every morning. I was also thinking about Kimberly, Jack’s oldest girl.”
At my blank gaze, he clarified, “Jack’s the mayor. His daughter could be your waitress. She’s taking classes at the university, but maybe she could wait tables in the morning before going to class. Might work out better for her than trying to find a night job. Also, Bear could do the reno work. He knows the place well.” He turned back to me. “Yeah, this could be real good, Katie. Start slowly, just doing breakfast, and then once you have everything down and a good staff in place, you can start doing lunch, too.”
He nodded, picked up his fork, and dug into his potatoes as though that was that. It had all been decided. Connor hid a grin behind his sip of beer, but nothing could hide the twinkle in his eyes. I felt like I’d been poleaxed. I took a deep breath and waited for an offhand comment that would highlight my flaws, but nothing came. Aiden and Connor were eating companionably, discussing the renovation.
I ignored their chatter, breaking into my bright red steamed lobster, dipping a glistening piece into the garlic butter. I let the feeling settle. Both of them seemed unreservedly convinced that I could do this and do it well. I was floored and then horrified that my reaction to kindness and support was shock. In spite of that revelation, a huge grin pulled at my face.
Aiden glanced over. “Lobster good?”
A gasp of insane hilarity wanted to burst out, but I locked it down. I nodded solemnly before responding. “Yep. Very good lobster.”
Connor reached under the table to give my knee a quick squeeze, all while continuing his discussion with Aiden. I took another drink and dug in to my most excellent meal.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Aiden
Katie was a little tipsy, and it looked good on her. I’d told myself I would leave right after dinner. Instead, I found myself watching Katie. Again. Damn it. After dinner, we’d moved to the lounge. Katie stood at the bar, chatting with Jane, our waitress, who had often hung out with her and Daisy when they were kids.
She scampered back and dropped into her chair. “Oh, my goodness, did you know that Jane married Michael? They have a set of twelve-year-old twins.” She paused to look up at the ceiling, her fingers twitching. “Wait; I don’t think the math on that works.” She turned back around to look at Jane, a mischievous grin on her face. “Why, that little hussy. And with Michael.” She leaned forward to take Pops and me into her confidence. “He was my first kiss,” she whispered. “Ah, well. C’est la vie.” She leaned back. “So, who else got knocked up in high school?”
Pops stood, chuckling. “You’d have to ask this one,” he said, pointing to me. “I prefer to believe everyone is pure as the driven snow when they get married.” He winked at Katie. “Including his grandmother and myself.”
“Thanks, Pops. That’s a thought I really needed floating around in my head.” I fake shuddered.
“Then my work here is done and it’s time for me to go home.”
