by Meghan Quinn
That comment made Booker’s blood pressure sky rocket. The thought of that hunky Irishman snuggling up close to Fiona, kissing her, holding her, making her cry out in pleasure only made Booker want to do violent things to people he didn’t know. Knowing Murphy was still slightly in the picture for Fiona made him mad. He wanted to be the only guy she thought of, not some tall dark and handsome Irish speaking man.
“Yea, she was most likely with Murph. I really hope it works out for them this time. They are good together. Plus who wouldn’t want Murph as a brother-in-law?” Bradon said.
Liam and Finn both agreed and then continued to talk about how great of a guy Murphy Ryan was and how he made their sister happy. He was getting sick of the homage to Murphy so he left the table because if he didn’t he was going to end up saying something he didn’t mean which would only lead to suspicion. Suspicion he needed to currently avoid.
He grabbed his plate and scraped off the left over bites he couldn’t stomach, thanks to the Murphy talk and rinsed his plate in the sink. He was supposed to put his plate in a dirty dish bucket but he felt bad making Mary Margaret clean after him. He planned on staying at The Sleeping Potato for a while and it didn’t hurt to help out around the house, especially if it meant winning over Fiona’s parents. He would take any kind of praise he could get.
Mr. O’Leary walked in wearing a flannel red and black checkered shirt and a pair of very worn overalls. He was also sporting a baseball hat just like Booker’s, but Mr. O’Leary’s had seen better days.
Booker shook his hand. “Mr. O’Leary, good to see you this morning. I’m all ready to help when you are ready to go. Did you have some breakfast?”
“Aye laddie, thank ya. I had me breakfast earlier tis mornin’. And please call me Carlin, none of that mister blarney. I’m ready when ya’re. Boys quit bickerin’ over there and get your arses movin’. We don’t have all day.”
After the boys put their plates in the sink and cleaned up their spots they headed toward Booker and their da and that’s when Carlin noticed the black eyes on Finn and Liam.
“What the hell happened to ya two muppets?”
Finn looked at Liam with a smug grin but Liam beat him to it. “Don’t worry about it da, nothing a slab of steak on the eye can’t cure.”
“Ya two been fightin’ again?” Carlin looked serious, like he was about to knock his sons around for fighting, which didn’t make much sense.
“Look da, we just had a misunderstanding, everything is fine now.”
“That’s funny you say that because I never got an apology.” Finn added. Booker pegged Finn as a well-established instigator, to the highest degree after watching him interact with his brothers.
Liam gave Finn the death stare sending secret signals to shut the fuck up, but they weren’t so secret because Carlin clued in on what was happening.
“Outside…now!” Carlin said with a glare that could kill.
Booker didn’t know what to do. Clearly this was a family matter but he was also supposed to help with the fence that was clearly outside. Did he go out there with them and intrude on their family matter or did he stay in the house to help Mrs. O’Leary with the dishes? Booker chose the latter and started to head for the kitchen when Carlin shouted out, “Where do ya think ya’re goin’? Get your arse outside too.”
Booker was a little shocked by the man’s abruptness but kind of flattered since Carlin was treating him just like one of his sons. It felt good. He strode outside with the other guys and watched Liam eye Finn down with pure hatred. Bradon unfortunately was stuck between the two of them probably just hoping that when Liam lost it, he only took down Finn and not himself.
“What the hell is going on?” Carlin asked in a rough tone that made Booker wonder what it would have been like being an O’Leary boy when they were younger getting yelled at by their dad. Booker saw the way Carlin’s jaw twitched as he put the wrath of God in his sons’ souls and Booker came to the conclusion that he would had been scared shitless if he had to grow up with Carlin O’Leary. Yup, scared completely shitless.
Liam took the lead. “Things between Neala and I are a bit raw at the current moment…”
Finn cut in. “I wouldn’t call a divorce raw…”
Carlin’s eyes lit up with fury. “Divorce? What is wrong with ya? Ya ma is going to die when she hears about this, just die.” Carlin lifted his hat off his head and ran his hand through his hair.
“I’m working on it da, it kind of came out of nowhere.”
“Well how does tis little information include knocking ya brother around?”
Liam then went into what happened yesterday, apparently there was a high school sweet heart involved, lies and cheating. It seemed all a little too dramatic for Booker but he was intrigued none the less. He studied Finn while Liam was telling the story and noticed Finn’s anger starting to grow more intensely as the story progressed. If Booker didn’t know any better he would have thought Finn had a little thing for Sophie. Interesting.
***
Fiona made it back to her apartment easily avoiding her family…and Booker. She flopped her body on her bed and scorned herself for what she did last night. Now how was she supposed to walk away from Booker after everything she experienced last night? Murphy was one hell of a guy in bed, kind of domineering in a way but he knew how to please a woman and until Booker, Murphy was by far the best she had ever had but Booker topped the charts last night. He was rough at times but also so gentle and caring. He knew exactly what she wanted and when she wanted it, as if they were meant for each other.
No, she couldn’t think like that. Last night was a onetime thing that was never going to happen again. She exhaled sharply and tried to slow her wildly beating heart. The only way she could accomplish such a task of forgetting about Booker was avoiding him completely. If she didn’t give him a chance to see her then there wouldn’t be any slip ups on her part, perfect!
She grabbed a quick shower, threw on some yoga pants and one of her tight fitting long sleeve shirts, threw her hair in a bun and went to go meet her friend Tipper Burnett at Sophie’s bakery to catch up.
Fiona grew up with Tipper in Warblers Point. They went through everything together, the first time they shaved their legs, getting their periods, break ups and hook ups. They knew each other better than anyone else and since Fiona had not seen Tipper in a while, they were due for a catch up.
Tipper lived outside of Warblers Point, she owned an antique shop that fared quite well. Fiona loved going in there because Tipper always had new inventory and it wasn’t one of those pretentious antique stores that had everything locked up behind glass. Tipper’s shop was an old house and every room was dressed up in antiques according to each room. The kitchen was Fiona’s favorite room because she loved looking at all the old utensils, jars and plates that were used back in the day, it was so fascinating to her.
Fiona pulled up to Sophie’ bakery and noticed Tipper wasn’t there yet but she decided to go in and catch up with Sophie. Sophie and her were friends, not good friends but they were friends and talked to each other since Sophie dated her brother for so long. Fiona walked into Sophie’s bakery and was instantly hit with the fragrance of baked goods and brewing coffee. It smelled like heaven. Fiona could already feel her waistline starting to expand from the smell of all the confectionary marvels in the enclosed cases.
Fiona spotted Sophie and was greeted with a warm welcome and a wave.
“Hey Fiona, come over here.”
Fiona walked over to the counter by the register and took up a seat on one of the bar height chairs. Sophie’s bakery was so charming, decorated in pastel colors, it had a bit of a shabby chic feel to it.
“Hey how’s it… Oh my gosh, what happened to your head?” Sophie had a bandage across her head that was very hard to miss.
She touched the bandage with her hand and said, “Oh, I got attacked by a shelf yesterday…knocked over by Neala.”
“Neala? As in Liam’s wife?”
“Soon to be ex-wife.” Sophie said while placing Fiona’s favorite scone in front of her and a cup of coffee.
“Wait hold on a minute.” Fiona held up her hand, trying to comprehend what Sophie just said. “Ex-wife? How do you know more about my brother than I do?”
Sophie chuckled and said, “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Sophie continued to tell Fiona everything that transpired yesterday while she was busy hanging out with Booker. Apparently her brother’s life was going to hell and quickly. Fiona knew something was going on in Liam’s life but not to the extent of a divorce. She was too caught up in herself and selfish to realize how bad things actually escalated between Liam and Neala. She knew he was going through a rough time, but not a divorce. No wonder why he was so pissed at the pub last night. She should have forced him to tell her what was going on, if she knew she never would have went out with Booker. Damn it, she should have spent the night helping Liam because then she could have avoided Booker all together and she wouldn’t have this empty hole in the pit of her stomach this morning or constant flash backs of his love making. Plus she would have been there for Liam, like he was always there for her. She tried to shut off her brain and turned her attention toward Sophie.
“I can’t believe Neala attacked you. Are you ok?”
Sophie just shrugged. “At least now I have a reason to get those bangs I always wanted. I have an appointment later to get my hair cut. The doctor said I would probably have a nasty scar so I’m taking early precautions.” Sophie said with a small smile.
Fiona felt bad for Sophie, she knew Sophie was just trying to brush off her encounter with Neala as not a big deal but Fiona could tell it was. She watched Sophie move around and noticed she lost some of the spark she usually had. She was not bouncing around her bakery with pep and her usual friendliness.
“Soph?” Sophie turned around to look at Fiona. “You still love Liam, don’t you?”
Fiona watched a single tear fall down Sophie’s cheek but she frantically wiped it away. Fiona helped herself around the counter and pulled Sophie into a big hug.
“It’s ok Sophie.”
Sophie pushed her away. “No, it’s not. I don’t know how I feel about Liam. Then there is this other guy too that I think I have feelings for, but that’s beside the point. Don’t you see? I broke up Neala and Liam.”
Fiona was taken back for a second. “Did you and Liam have an affair. And what about this other guy?” Fiona prayed silently that Liam didn’t have an affair. She could never look at her brother the same if he had. He was always the responsible, upstanding, loyal one out of all of her brothers and for him to have an affair would be like telling a child there was no Santa Clause.
Sophie gasped and said, “Of course not. I would never do that to a marriage especially after how my marriage ended. And the other guy, well I don’t know. I think I’m just confused.”
Fiona was grateful but thoroughly confused. “So if you didn’t have an affair then how did you break Liam and Neala up?”
Sophie grabbed a towel hanging from a knob and started wiping down the counters. Fiona took her seat back in front of the counter and listened to Sophie.
“When I left for college, I never really truly ended it with Liam. I just left him in the dark. The only person I stayed in contact with was Finn and that was because we were such good friends. I felt awful leaving Liam but I didn’t want him to follow me, he needed to establish his own future, not fall into mine. So I left, thinking breaking it off was a good idea. It wasn’t until I came back here, opened my bakery and saw Liam a couple of times that I noticed we might have unfinished business. Neala mistook the tension between Liam and I as an affair rather than what it actually was.”
“So what was it actually?”
Sophie refilled Fiona’s cup and tossed some cream and sugar her way. “It’s about high school sweethearts never getting the closure they needed. Liam, even though he didn’t know it at the time was still so mad at me for leaving and not giving him an explanation.”
At that moment the bell over Sophie’s door chimed and Tipper walked in…sporting a ridiculously cute new haircut. Tipper was always the out-going cheerleader. Everyone loved her and she was the gorgeous one between the two of them. She had a body to kill, boobs any girl would dream of and a bubbly personality that could win any person over. She always had a sun-kissed look about her, even though they lived in Vermont and now she was sporting a multiple layered bob with bangs. Fiona was always jealous of her friend’s blonde locks, but now she was even more jealous of her hair cut. It fit her personality perfectly.
“My Fiona, how are you sweetie?” Tipper grabbed Fiona in a huge hug and planted a very wet kiss on Fiona’s cheek. Noticing the Barbie pink lipstick on her friend’s lips, Fiona grabbed a napkin and started wiping.
“Hey Tip, I’m so glad to see you, it’s been way too long.”
***
Finn was tired, sweaty even though it was cold out, and sick of looking at his older brother’s face. The fence was taking too damn long and he couldn’t stand to be around Liam one more minute. Their da was enamored with the Sheila so they were no help and Bradon was too caught up texting another one of his random girls about their plans later so that left Liam and Finn working together.
Instead of waiting around and listening to Liam’s sorry excuse for being a husband, Finn took off and started moving wood around to get the process of building the fence moving faster. He didn’t want to be at The Sleeping Potato all day especially since he had to work tonight. When the other guys stopped gabbing, their da took Booker which left Finn with Bradon and Liam. Thanks to Bradon being completely useless, Finn was on the verge of punching Liam because he couldn’t stand working next to him any longer.
“Pass me the drill.” Liam grunted.
Finn tossed it in Liam’s direction accidently hitting Liam’s shin, causing Liam to drop the board he was holding up which then landed on Bradon’s foot making Bradon howl like a girl. Liam looked at Finn and charged at him, Bradon followed right after.
Finn found himself on the ground wrestling around with his brothers. Liam had Finn in some sort of choke hold while Bradon was wrestling Liam to the ground. Finn kicked Liam in the thigh while Bradon punched Finn in the stomach. He wasn’t ready for the impact of his brother’s fist so he lost some air out of his lungs. In retaliation Finn kicked Bradon where it counted and then elbowed Liam in the side which gave him enough room to wiggle out of the choke hold. He got to his feet and held up his fists ready for Liam to make the first move. Bradon was on the ground wallowing in pain.
Finn didn’t notice his da and Booker watching until Carlin cleared his throat. “Ya done kickin’ each other’s arses? Ya look like a bunch of langers beatin’ up on each other.”
Finn dropped his fists and sat down on a rock. Liam sat down on a bench while Bradon was still sprawled out on the ground cradling his crotch. Booker looked like he wanted to leave desperately but got the hint that if he tried Carlin was going to yell at him and make him stay anyway.
“Finn and Liam g’over to the fire pit area and solve ya problems while we finish the fence. If I see ya fightin again I’m tellin ye ma and ya can deal with her.” Their da was filthy mad and whenever he got like that, you did what he told you even if it was the last thing you wanted to do.
Finn walked over to the fire pit and pulled up a chair while Liam did the same. Finn was not going to say a word until Liam did. All this was Liam’s fault and he was the one who had some apologizing to do. They sat in silence for ten minutes and then were interrupted by their da.
“I’m about 5 seconds from gettin’ ye ma involved. Start talkin’. If I don’t see ya two langers talkin’ in the next couple of second I swear to the heavens I will get Mary Margaret.” Then he strode back to the fence where Bradon was recovering and Booker looked helpless.
Finn shook his head and looked at his brother. He looked like he got run over by a train. Damn him. He coul
dn’t stand to see any of his family look like that, even when one of them was acting like a giant ass.
Finn broke. “Liam what’s going on?”
Liam stopped looking at his hands and looked up at Finn. He exhaled sharply and ran a hand through his hair. “Jesus, Finn, I’m sorry. What I did yesterday was stupid and I acted like a jealous idiot. Neala has me so tense that when I saw you with Sophie yesterday, hugging her, I lost it. I always thought there was something going on between the two of you and seeing that brought back a bunch of those sour feelings.”
“Liam, you know we have been nothing but friends. Nothing else. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“I know, I just always felt you had more of a connection with Sophie than I did.”
Finn shook his head and waved his hand in protest at his brother. “That is ridiculous and you know it. She was in love with you, man. We were nothing but friends.”
Liam just nodded in agreement. “Listen, Liam. You know I’m here for you. If you need to talk about what is going on with Neala and if you need a place to stay, you know you are always welcome at my place.”
“Thank you Finn. That means a lot to me.”
“So what’s your next move?”
“I have to talk to Neala and convince her that nothing is going on between me and Soph. I can’t have her thinking that I had an affair and I can’t have her spreading false rumors around this small God forsaken town and ruining my reputation and Sophie’s.”
“That sounds like a good plan. What are you going to do about Sophie?”
Liam leaned back in his chair. “Can’t really do anything. I need to focus on Neala and fixing my family. I’m sure you can take care of Sophie and make sure everything is ok with her, right?”
“Of course.”
Liam got up and shook Finn’s hand. Finn went to go hug Liam but was hit in the head with a rotten apple and then Liam was hit. They both looked over at Bradon who was sitting by the apple tree with a shit-face grin, tossing an apple in the air. He was dead!