Page 94 of One Night Only
“It’s pretty niche.”
“I’ve actually been thinking about it for a while.” He crosses his arms, glancing at me. When he sees I’m listening he continues. “There was this one moment,” he begins. “Back when I used to work at the hotel. One afternoon I was behind the bar and this guy shows up. American. Mid-fifties, tough, blue-collar guy. Terrible combover. He tells me that a few months before he’d been going about his business when he got an email from some random woman in Dublin who was putting together a family tree. Claims she’s his second cousin. Now this guy knew his grandfather had emigrated when he was a young man, but that was it, and now all of a sudden he has this whole family he never knew about. Said it blew his mind. So they email back and forth and eventually he arranges to come over and meet her. And he’s petrified. He said it was almost too good to be true, all the stories she’d been telling him, all the people and the history he suddenly felt connected to. So I pour him a pint and try to get him to relax. And then…” He trails off and I groan.
“Please tell me she showed up.”
“Not just her,” he smiles. “There had to be twenty people in total, adults, kids, babies. Two dogs as well. She organized a whole damn family reunion. We had to pull staff in from the lobby to get everyone settled. By the time I see him again, he’s sitting with the cousin and they’re both crying.” Declan shakes his head. “Can you imagine that? Feeling so much for people you’ve never met? Who you didn’t even know existed a few months before? I’d bartended at weddings, birthdays, funerals. I’d seen a lot of emotion but that stuck with me. I never forgot it.” His eyes slide to me and he straightens, suddenly self-conscious. “What?”
“Nothing.” I swallow. I’ve never heard him speak like that before. “I didn’t realize it was so personal.”
He shrugs, turned slightly away from me. I have the strangest feeling he doesn’t want me to see his face.
“You should put that on the website,” I add lightly.
“Way ahead of you.” He checks his watch. “Two minutes,” he says. “Top up time.”
I’d forgotten about the Guinness but don’t hate the way he stands next to me as he helps me fill the glass to the rim.
“Not too shabby,” he says as I place it carefully on a coaster. “You should take a picture. Send it to Annie.”
I smile. “She says Paul still teases her about it.”
“As he should. She’s the one who got completely sauced the night before her wedding. How are you doing without her?”
“I’m okay. She’s back soon for a few weeks.”
“Yeah, Paul was saying.” He pauses, his voiceverycasual. “Maybe we should all go for lunch when they get here.”
I don’t answer immediately, pretending to focus on my pint. “As a mutual friend group?”
“If you’d like,” he says quietly. “Or maybe—”
“Declan.” Antonio appears on the other side of the bar, tapping his wrist. I want to strangle him. Or maybewhat? I want to ask but Declan’s already moving, draping another flower garland around his neck.
“Break’s over,” he says, his voice back to a cheerful tease. “Go mingle. I brought you here for your good looks, not your conversation.”
He doesn’t wait for me to respond as he starts his emcee duties again and, confused, I head to the floor, where I spot a woman leaving the restroom with a younger girl.
“Let me help you,” I say, grabbing her a chair. The younger woman shoots me a grateful look as we help lower her into the chair.
“Thank you. You want something to drink, Granny?”
“It’s a bit early,” she says, looking worryingly at the board.
“I meant water.” Her granddaughter smiles.
“We have hot tea and coffee,” I say. “Or there’s some fruit juice if you want something cold.”
“Tea,” she says. “Hot tea.”
“I’ll get you a cup.”
“I’ll get it,” the girl says. “She’s very particular. I’m Hattie by the way. This is my gran, Eleanor.
“I’m Sarah.” I sit as Hattie heads over to the drinks station. Eleanor eyes the other guests nervously. “Is this your first time here?”
She nods. “That one insisted,” she says gesturing toward Hattie. “To get me out of the house.”
“How long have you lived in New York?” Her accent is still strong but different than Declan’s, more lilting.
