Who's Your Paddy?

Chapter 25

Liam led us to the couch in the living room and had trouble staying seated.

"This must be some pretty big secret if you can't even sit down to tell me."

"Annie, I'm not proud of the way I've acted with ya. I'm hopin' when ya hear what I've got ta say, it might make it all more clear."

"Okay, lay it on me."

He took in a deep breath. "Wait. Want some wine?"

"No. I want the story."

"Right. Where to start."

"Just spit it out."

He paced the room gathering his thoughts. For the first time it occurred to me that his story might be far more involved than a car accident and maybe an insurance settlement to pay for the house.

"Right. First, lemme say that I didn't lie ta ya, but I didn't say everything that day in yer car when I told ya 'bout the accident."

"I'm gathering that."

"Aye, well, it was me the press were chasin' ta begin with."

"Huh?"

His pacing picked up in earnest as he watched me process it for a beat.

"Why?" I asked in genuine shock.

He perched himself on the edge of the coffee table and leaned toward me. "They were chasin' me 'cause back then, I was a celebrity."

I waited for him to continue, but he only looked at me as if to gauge my reaction. I didn't know how to react.

"I don't get it."

"I use ta be well known."

"Were you...was it music?"

"Aye."

"You have a hit song or something?"

"I did, a few."

"Liam, why do I feel like I'm having to yank this out? Can you just cut to the chase and tell me?"

"I will and am, but what's most important right now is that ye understand how all this ties in ta what was goin' on back home."

"Okay, but did it ever occur to you that being an American, I probably wouldn't have had a clue who you once were? In fact, duh! I didn't."

"Look, there's a million reasons why I waited to tell ya, but the first and most important is yer job. Ya came 'round as a reporter, ya know? I wanted ta make sure you weren't another one of those diggin' up the old shite. Mick an Ro sorta checked ya out fer me."

"Uh..."

"Sorry, Luv. I heard what ye said, but I had no way of knowin' what ye knew or didn't know. I had ta be sure. If we were jest a casual thing I wouldn't have bothered with any of it. Yer very special ta me, I had ta know."

"But once you figured out I was trustworthy, why didn't you just tell me? Why wait 'til now?"

He inhaled deeply. "There were a bunch of times I wanted ta tell ya. 'Specially after knowin' you were comin' over here an' I could trust ya. But there was that whole other thing goin' on too."

I didn't understand what he meant by that.

"We were strugglin' in ways that had nothin' ta do with any of this. With Deb, Roger, and Cath, ya know? Remember, I was laborin' under a feelin' that I met a very special woman I wanted in me life. With knowin' I had stuff from me past ta tell ya, yer bein' a reporter, an then eejits from our datin' history buttin' in 'round every corner—I didn't know which ta tackle first. Havin' all of it happenin' at once was a little overwhelmin'."