Page 87 of One Night Only
“I run two bars actually. And no, not really. I’m planning to step away in a few months. I’m an owner in name only and that’s mainly for family reasons. Harry’s the real man behind the pubs.
“Harry?” I think of the cheerful, red-faced man at the wedding. “Your uncle?”
Declan nods. “He’s got the brain for these things. But he’s getting older, doesn’t like to travel so much. I’ve been pulling pints since I was fifteen and have a degree in business management, so he asked me to keep an eye on things. When I’m not there, I’m here, and vice versa. With the bars, I help out on busy nights, see what our staff needs.”
Two bars. The Greenery and… “You own O’Shea’s.” The place where I first met him. “That’s the other one?”
He nods.
“It’s my favorite bar in the city.”
“I know,” he says simply. “I saw you there a lot.”
I turn back to the wall, unnerved by the look in his eye. Instead, I examine the large maps of Ireland and Britain tacked to it. Gold stickers are dotted around the islands along with photos of smiling people in anoraks posing on cliffsides and wet green forests.
“What’s this?” I ask, picking up some blueprints.
Declan had been watching me silently from the desk but now moves forward to stand beside me. “It’s the cottage. I took your advice, got someone back home to draw up the plans.”
“You’re actually doing it?”
“We’re branching out. There are loads of these sites derelict around the country. We’ll buy them cheap, do them up and rent them out at a decent price when we’re not using them for tours. I still expect the whole operation to come crumbling down. Mika’s practically assured of it. She’s always going out for job interviews and turning the offers down. She says she wants to make sure she can get out when I run this thing into the ground. I’m really good at inspiring confidence like that.”
“How are you even managing to do all of this?”
He knows what I mean. “Energy-wise, I’m hanging on by a thread between this and the bars. I’m traveling a lot more than I used to, meeting diaspora societies around the country, seeing what the competition is back home. But now we have the money, it means I can start stepping away to concentrate fully on this.”
“Fully? You’re not going to run them anymore?”
“No. I enjoy the work, but again, it’s Harry’s thing. I want something of my own.”
And the business is it.
There’s a little click in my mind, like another piece of the puzzle has fitted in.
“Well?” he asks casually. “What do you think?”
“I get it.”
“Yeah? Keep going.”
“Are you fishing for compliments now?”
“Believe it or not, Sarah, you’re a hard woman to impress.”
“Well, I am impressed,” I say tracing the map. “Despite the smell. You’re really trying something here. I think it’s brave.”
For the first time since I’ve met him, Declan’s seems to be at a loss for words. I’m surprised my opinion means so much to him, but I meant what I said. I wonder if his family knows how hard he’s working on this and how much he’s already achieved, or if they think he’s just hanging out at his uncle’s pub, picking up customers.
I glance up at him and again there’s that look on his face that I don’t like. Or maybe I do like it. I haven’t decided yet. And I know I should say something. I know I should move away, put some distance between us again but I don’t. I can’t. It’s like my feet are glued to the floor and the blasé attitude I’d try so hard to exude is replaced swiftly with a fluttering anticipation that always comes when he’s near.
“I…” He hesitates, looking torn. “I didn’t know if you—”
“Hello?”
Declan stiffens as a voice calls from the corridor and then quickly takes a step back as the office door creaks open. A pretty, button-nosed girl with long black hair pokes her head inside, her eyes lighting up as she spies Declan.
“I thought I heard footsteps,” she says, stepping fully into the room.
