Who's Your Paddy?

Chapter 34

It was that golden time of day just before sunset, when Michelle and I returned from our day trip to see Mick's family in Blarney. Liam waved from the doorway as she turned her car around in the drive.

He pulled me into a tight hug when I reached the stoop. "Mmm, glad yer back safe. How come she didn't stop in fer a bit?"

"Cause we're later than we thought. She has dinner plans."

He took the bags I was holding and moved into the foyer. "Did ya enjoy it?"

"Total blast. They were all so nice. I can see where Mick gets his sense of humor. His dad was a hoot."

"What's all this?" he said, peeking in the bags.

I shook off my coat and hung it on a wall hook. "We went shopping for souvenirs."

"Fair play to ya, Luv. Glad ye had some time alone with yer mate."

"Yeah, the drive down and back was almost more fun. Made me realize how much I missed having her in my life."

"I only just got back meself," he said, moving into the kitchen. "Me mam made us a steak and kidney pie."

I followed, taking a seat at the table. "Uh, will I like that?"

"Yep. If yer hungry, I'll toss it in now."

"Yeah I'm starved. We had a great lunch but that wore off hours ago."

Much like I'd seen him do in Phoenix, he busied himself with food preparation. It was an oddly comforting sight. As though, after everything we'd been through, some things wouldn't ever change. That notion brought a smile to my lips.

"What?" he asked, noticing me watching him.

"Nothing. Just feeling at home. So? What did you get up to today?"

"Few bits an pieces. Louis left work early, so we did some errands an had a couple pints. I visited with me Mam too."

"Nice."

"Was, aye. An we gotta talk 'bout plans fer this weekend. I'm assumin' you'll wanna see Michelle again before we leave Monday?"

"Would be nice, but if there's other stuff, I'm okay either way."

"Well, I was thinkin', I feel really bad ya didn't get much of a holiday, like, we didn't get ta go anywhere to speak of."

"Stop. We did too and it's not like we can't come back. In fact, Michelle and I were talking about that. I'd like if we came back, maybe around the holidays or something? She's toying with waiting until then for her wedding."

He looked up from his busy work and smiled. "That would be brilliant."

"Yeah, so if we spend the weekend with your family, or just roam around here, I'd be happy with that."

He crossed to kiss me. "Perfect, takes the pressure off havin' to cram stuff in. I promise ya, we'll both get a proper holiday next time."

"That'll be great, but don't sell this trip short. Look where it got us?"

After dinner, we decided to walk down to the village green and have a quiet drink in his favorite local pub. Mooney's was a quintessential country establishment, complete with a resident border collie named, Glen.

According to the matronly woman that came to take our order, the dog was supposed to keep to the living quarters upstairs, but rarely obeyed the rules. It was easy to see why Glen would ignore his master. Most of the locals saw fit to discreetly give him treats under their tables.