Con and Kieran. The day I watched you side by side in the ring, holding up that first world championship belt was one of the best days of my life. Not because of what you’d both achieved or how it would change your lives, but because you looked so fuckin’ happy. And all anyone ever wants for their kids, is for them to be truly happy. Never in my entire career have I ever witnessed a partnership like the one you both share. When the day comes you know you’re done with boxing, I hope it’s because you’re ready to move on, and not because I’m gone. Nothing would be a bigger fucking tragedy than that. You both have a gift, and it’s not being able to fight - it’s that you’ve always known what’s worth fighting for.
Liam, you are living proof that family isn’t who you’re born to. It’s who you’d die for. Never, ever fear becoming like your father and brothers. You left a family you didn’t belong to, and found a family you did. One day I dearly hope you and Albie have children of your own. Your shitty family made you tough, but you never let them make you mean, and Albie was your reward. If your kids turn out to be half as good as you two, they’ll leave this world a better place than they found it.
Tommy, you drove me fucking crazy from the minute your scrawny arse first followed your brothers into my gym. But you also couldn’t have made me more proud. You are the glue that keeps this family together. You bring them up when they’re down, you make them strong when they feel weak and you show them what it is to get back up when it’s the hardest thing in the world to do. Take care of them for me. You’re the only one who knows how.
Earnshaw, you came to me looking for a calling. I hope you found what you were looking for. Keep making decisions with your head, but don’t stop listening to your heart. It won’t steer you far wrong.
Pat, my old friend. Thank you for all the years of friendship and guidance. I will miss our talks so very much, but I know we will have them again. Where the grass is green and the breeze is gentle, I will raise a glass to you, where I wait, ever patient my friend, for the day you will join me.”
Father Pat’s voice began to crack as he struggled to give voice to his old friend’s words. Pulling out a handkerchief, he blew his nose and wiped away a few tears, before stuffing it back in his pocket. When he’d collected himself, he went back to reading.
“Sunshine, my darling girl, please don’t cry. I couldn’t have loved you more if you were my own daughter, and I don’t want the memory of that love to make you sad. My boys filled this sad old heart with life, but you filled it with joy. You are gentle, caring and kind, when life gave you reason to be anything but. I want you know that I am leaving Driscoll’s Gym to you. As long as it is yours, I know it will always be home to those who really need it.
I don’t know what I did in this life to deserve the family and friends I leave behind, but know that I go with more love in my heart than I ever thought possible. Take care of yourselves and each other. It is my greatest honour to call you all my family.
Love Always,
Danny.”
Em sobbed quietly in Con’s arms, while the rest of us sat in silence, contemplating Danny’s final words. Finally, Kieran picked up his glass of whiskey and started singing loud and clear. One by one, we joined him. Holding back the tears, and with cracked and wobbly voices, we sang until the words were strong and true.
Oh Danny boy, the pipes,
The pipes are calling
From glen to glen,
And down the mountain side
The summer's gone,
And all the flowers are falling
'Tis you, 'tis you
Must go and I must bide
But come ye back
When summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed
And white with snow
And I'll be here
In sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy,
I love you so
As I sang, I pictured him the way he told me to. Walking up the green grass of the mountain, with the Irish breeze on his face and a smile for the girl waiting for him at the top.
“To Danny Driscoll. Father and friend,” I said, lifting my glass in the air when we were done. “Sláinte!”
“Sláinte!” they repeated, tapping their glasses to mine, as we said goodbye to the greatest man we’d ever known.
Chapter Thirty-Two
EVELYN
When Tommy asked me to marry him for the second time, it wasn’t against the backdrop of a surprise flash mob. Neither did he abseil down the wall of our building and into our bedroom window like the man in the Milk Tray advert. Having considered a million crazy ideas, his actual proposal was cheesy, romantic and utterly perfect. I would remember it for the rest of my life.
A few weeks after the funeral, he’d booked a weekend away for the both of us in a beautiful old country house hotel in Bath. Dressed to our best and ready for dinner, he talked me into checking out the estate library first. Enchanted by the roaring fire, and captivated by the majesty of so many historic pressings, I completely missed the fact that he was down on one knee, until his cough drew my attention.
“Evelyn Danaher. Life is precious and fragile. Nobody understands that better than me, and I don’t intend to waste any of it. I love you more than you will ever know, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Would you consider checking me out permanently?” he asked, holding out a book to me.
With a shaking hand, I took it from him. Imagining a hole cut into the pages, my first thought was one of horror. But when I opened it up to see a ring box styled within the cover of a fake book, my heart melted. The ring wasn’t huge and ostentatious, but unique and antique looking. Like it had fallen from a Jane Austen novel. When I realised the title read Pride and Prejudice, I threw my arms around his neck, and kissed him senseless.
“Did you get it? About checking me out for life? Like a library book?”
“I got it love,” I replied, smiling.
“Sooo, is that a yes then?” he asked, cautiously.
“Thomas Riordon, that’s a hell yes,” I replied. My acceptance wasn’t tainted with doubt, or clouded by fear. I didn’t stop to wonder what other people would make of us, and whether we were too young. I simply looked into the earnest eyes of the man I loved, and I knew, without hesitation. That he owned my heart.
Tommy and I were chalk and cheese. As different as two people could possibly be. But in the end, it didn’t matter. I didn’t need anyone to validate our marriage, and I didn’t need the guarantee of a happy ever after. None of it mattered when I had faith. Faith that allowed me to let go of what I could see with my eyes, and believe what I could see with my heart. I loved him, and I would love him forever. It was as simple, and as complicated as that.
“You ready for this?” Joe said, holding out his arm to me.
“I was born ready,” I replied, threading mine through it.
“That man has been a bad influence on you!” He rolled his eyes like I knew he would, and I smiled, doing my best to tamp down the butterflies that had been doing crazy summersaults around my stomach all day. I’d had half a year to prepare for the wedding, but what a crazy six months they’d been.
Three short weeks after Danny’s funeral, Con fought to defend his World Championship Title. The way he trained, the way they trained him - I’d never seen anything like it. Running the same old routes with Kieran’s dog Driscoll, who missed his warm haven at Danny’s feet, and who cried for him daily. Hanging sit ups on playground equipment. Punch bags hung in Con’s home or at any one of the dozen local gyms who opened their doors to him. Whatever they could use, they did. And the whole of Canning Town was behind him.
I barely saw Tommy, but I never complained. None of us did. The boys were a unit. An unstoppable machine who pushed, coached, motivated and prepared him, never once letting him forget who and what he was fighting for.
Six days before the fight, the story of the tragic death of Con’s trainer was splashed across the Sunda
y papers, and within hours, bookies worldwide had raised his odds. The best we could get was ten to one. We made a fortune. And I learned that true friends aren’t the ones who’ll walk beside you when the sun is shining, they are the ones who will carry you when it rains.
After the insurance pay out had come through for the gym, we all pitched in to get it rebuilt. While I couldn’t contribute any skilled labour, I was a dab hand when it came to cleaning and painting. When the hard, heavy work was happening, the girls and I trawled the internet, finding every bit of vintage boxing equipment and memorabilia we could that would make the gym as near to what it had been as possible. The day it was finally done, Father Pat walked in to bless the place. After taking the grand tour, he looked at us all stood together, and said with a grin, “feels like he never left.” It was the greatest compliment he could have given.
“Well then little sister, let’s do this,” Joe said. Walking me to the middle of the dancefloor, he twirled me round, and held me as we waited for the music to start.
“Smooth Joe. I didn’t know you had moves,” I said, smiling.
“Ev, you have no idea,” he replied, guiding me around in a gentle waltz. It was a dance usually reserved for fathers, but Joe was the only man who’d earned that honour as far as I was concerned. When I’d asked him to walk me down the aisle, he could barely reply he was so choked up. Later he told me the tears were because he’d be permanently related to the edjit I was marrying. Tommy drove him crazy, and he did it on purpose. But they were family now, and because they both loved me, they made it work.
Over his shoulder, I watched the people we cared about enjoying themselves. Em was sat on her husband’s lap, so heavily pregnant she looked ready to pop any second. He rubbed her belly gently, and growled every time she tried to move. Kieran was blowing raspberries on Little Danny’s belly, giggling as much as the little bundle of love, as he pretended to feed him to Heath. Marie and Albie were laughing heartily at something, while Liam, with little Jack asleep on his shoulder, took it all in. A small smile of contentment tugging at his lips.
Even my father made it to the wedding, after a significant amount of nagging from Mam. If he was bothered that Joe had usurped his place, he didn’t show it. He did, however, disappear to the bar the minute the speeches ended. Having spent far more time than she was used to in his company, Mam was now happily holding court at a table with her friends. Tommy hadn’t been overjoyed at the idea of inviting them, but I hadn’t wanted her to feel alone. She had no idea how to deal with a family who loved unconditionally, and weren’t afraid to show it. But she was trying, and that was all that mattered.
John and Father Pat were enjoying a quiet whiskey in the corner, and I shared a small smile with Joe, as the sound of Mary’s rambunctious laughter carried across the hall. She was loud, over the top and outspoken. But there was nobody who loved their family more. She treated me like the daughter she never had. And every day Mam dropped the ball, Mary picked it up. I’d heard people moan about their relationship with their mother-in-law, but if there was an in-law lottery, I’d won it.
The song drifted to a close, and Joe released me with a kiss to the cheek.
“You look so beautiful, Ev. You might be married now, but you’ll always be my baby sister. You ever need me, and I’m there.”
“Thanks big brother. Does that include bailing me out of the next number?” I asked Joe, who looked over my shoulder at my waiting husband.
“Sorry sis. You’re on your own there,” he replied, retreating with a knowing grin.
“You’re really excited about this, aren’t you?” I said to Tommy, as he slipped his hand into mine and pulled me towards him. The telling crack of thunder had the table of Driscoll boys groaning, and I braced myself for the inevitable.
“Baby, you swore before God you’d be my partner for the rest of my life. I’m in fuckin’ heaven.” Tommy grinned.
“You know, I don’t remember anything about dancing in the marital vows,” I pointed out.
“I had Father Pat slip it in there. I will love, honour, dance and obey you said. Ain’t my fault you were so overwhelmed at the thought of tying yourself to all this sexiness, you missed it,” he said.
“You do realise, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, don’t you?”
“Just follow me and shake your sexy arse Mrs Riordon. Let go, and I promise you’ll have fun,” he said.
As the opening bars to It’s Raining Men - my husband’s disco anthem of choice - blasted from the speakers, I did exactly that.
Epilogue
TOMMY
“You’re gonna make her puke you keep doing that,” Kier said.
“Doing what?” I asked, my hand covering my daughter in the carrier strapped to my chest.
“Shaking her about like that.”
“I’m not shaking her. I’m teaching her how to dance.” Granted, me and my girl were the only ones kicking it, but the Guinness was flowing and with a steady stream of people coming through the doors, I doubted we’d be the only ones dancing for long.
“Come again?”
“Evie said that babies start learning even when they’re in the womb. So Evie played her Mozart and shit when she was pregnant and now she reads to her all the time. She’s gonna make Hannah smart, and I’m gonna make her cool.”
“Riiiiiight,” Kier replied, sarcastically. “So, Ev’s parental contribution to the future success of your child is basically everything academic, and yours is that you’re gonna teach her to dance.”
“What? It’s not like I’m choreographing a whole fuckin’ routine. Just a few basic moves until she’s old enough to do them by herself, then we’ll work up to something more complicated.”
“Tommy, I have no fucking words mate. Thank God for Evelyn, that’s all I can say,” Kier said.
“Fuck off! She likes it, don’t you baby?” I said, to my beautiful girl. “See, she’s smiling at me!”
“She’s six weeks old mate. It’s probably wind,” Kier teased.
“Someone’s just jealous because they got a stinky boy and I got a beautiful princess, aren’t they baby?” I cooed to my little heart. She gurgled and gave me another smile. Yeah, she was definitely Daddy’s girl alright.
“Fuck right off if you think I’m jealous of you having a girl. You think I want to put up with mood swings and periods and shit? And what happens when boys start sniffing round?” he asked, smugly.
“Oh, they’ll come sniffing round alright. Cause my girl’s moves will bring all the boys to the yard. But then Daddy will shoot them, won’t he baby?” I was learning that you could say just about any shit to a baby, and as long as you did it in a sing-song voice, they fucking loved it.
I was still shaking my hips when Con wandered over.
“Con, why are you eyeballing Jack?” Kier asked. I followed his gaze over to where the kids were, as usual, hovering around Liam and Albie.
“I don’t like the way he’s looking at my daughter,” Con replied, frowning. When it came to his wife, Con was the most over-protective, territorial guy I’d ever met. When it came to his little girl, you could multiply that by a hundred. I wasn’t much better, but even I knew they were too young to be worrying about this shit.
“Are you fucking serious?” Kier asked, laughing so hard he could barely breathe. Con frowned at him before turning his attention back to the kids. Like any normal toddler, little Danny was happily chasing a ball around in a circle. While Jack was watching Con and Em’s baby daughter, Ava, as she slept in her car seat. Reaching over every now and then to push her dummy back in. He’d been taken with her from the minute they brought her home from the hospital, and Con was the only one who didn’t think Jack’s infatuation was cute.
“Yeah. You wanna keep your eye on that. There’s definitely some major chemistry happening between those two,” I said, messing with him as I tried, and failed, to keep a straight face. It just made Kier laugh even harder. At least, that was until Con’s fist shot out,
smacking Kier in the bicep.
“Argh!” he cried, clutching his injury dramatically. “What d’you do that for?”
“It was either you or him,” he replied, pointing his thumb at me. “You’re both pissing me off, but he’s holding a baby.”
“Thanks fucker. My arm’s gone dead now,” Kier moaned, and the edge of Con’s mouth turned up in a smirk.
The song changed and I resumed my sexy hip swing.
“What’s he doing?” Con asked, taking a step away from me, a look of absolute horror across his face.
“He’s teaching her how to dance. Apparently it’s his only useful contribution when it comes to raising a child.”
“Not the only one arsewipe,” I replied defensively. “I’m just starting out with the easy stuff. I’ve got other shit to teach her too. You know like how to run fast, how to kick some serious arse, first aid. Lots of useful shit.”
“At least he’s only got the one. And if he fucks up, Ev’s smart enough to know how to fix it,” Kier said to Con.
“Only one for now,” I clarified, ignoring all the other shit they said.
“You’re planning more already?” Con asked.
“Yep. Evie’s hardcore Catholic which means no contraception,” I explained. “And I’m a humanitarian so I’m making it my mission to fill this shitty world with as many of my beautiful offspring as I possibly can before my pecker gives out.”
“Jesus, that’s your gift to humanity?” Con replied.
“It’s like the plot of some horror film, where a fit guy and a smart girl breed to make a genetically superior being, only it all goes horribly wrong and they end up just multiplying idiots,” Kier said.
“Uncle Kieran thinks I’m fit,” I said to Hannah. “You’d think he’d realise now I’m married with a baby, that I still ain’t gay.”
“How is it, that all he got from what I just said is that he’s hot?” Kier asked.
The Fire (Hurricane Book 4) Page 29