Beers, Hens, and Irishmen (Warbler's Point Series)

by Meghan Quinn

  “Loved?” Liam asked. “Come on Finn. It was, what, a couple of weeks? That’s hardly love.”

  “The fuck it is!” Finn shouted. “I had more love with Blaire than the years you had with Neala. What you had was a joke of a marriage with a crazy ass bitch.” Finn knew it was the wrong thing to say but he couldn’t help himself.

  “You fuckhead!” Liam came charging at Finn and tackled him to the ground. Bradon jumped on top of them trying to break them up. Finn felt Liam’s fist connect with his ribs but no pain radiated, thanks to the whiskey he was completely numb.

  “Liam, get off him!” Bradon shouted. Finn was able to lift his knee and connect it with Liam’s undercarriage, causing him to cripple over in pain.

  “Fuck!” Liam shouted.

  Bradon looked at Finn with anger in his eyes. “You are such a pussy fighter you know that?” Finn got up to go after Bradon but then fell over from the effects of the booze. Bradon tossed some ice at Liam and said, “Finn get the hell out of here. I think you have done enough.”

  “You’re kidding right?” Finn slurred. “I’m the one who got his heart broken and could use some brotherly love and you two just sit there and screw with me. What kind of brother’s are you? I thought we were close, I thought we cared about each other.”

  “We do, you asshole but stop acting like a drama queen. So you lost a girl, don’t we all? You knew her for a couple of weeks, that doesn’t warrant you to go stomping around here like some cry baby and kicking people in the balls. Liam wants more kids and blows like that is going to hinder his ability.” Liam glared at Bradon for his smartass comment.

  “No his craptastic marriage is going to hinder his ability to have more kids.”

  Liam sat up on the floor and stared at Liam. “At least I was able to have a marriage unlike you who has been lonely his whole life and most likely will stay that way because of the goddamned mood swings that run through your body. The reason you lost Blaire is because you flipped shit on her. I don’t blame her. She made the right move, leaving sooner than later. She was way too good for you.”

  Finn pointed at both of his brothers. “Fuck you both. I hope you both rot in hell.”

  Finn turned on his heel, slightly wavering and headed out the pub door. He didn’t need his brothers, he had other people who would listen to him and understand him.

  ***

  Just what Booker thought, Fiona didn’t answer her phone when he called. He hoped his message got to her a little, he doubted it. She was a strong-willed girl and he knew it was going to take a lot more than a measly voicemail to change her mind. Right now he was just going to have to wait it out.

  He went to the kitchen to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when there was a knock at his door. He knew it wasn’t Fiona, there was no way she was going to come back and he knew it wasn’t Blaire. That only meant it was trouble.

  Tentatively he opened the door and found Carlin O’Leary on the other side of the door. Slightly relieved that he wasn’t going to get his face blasted off by an Irish fist he opened the door.

  “Hello Mr. O’Leary. What can I do for you?” By the look on the man’s face Booker knew what Carlin wanted was an explanation.

  “Let me in boy.”

  Booker gulped, the man was just about the same height as him and sported a slight beer belly but his bushy grey eyebrows meant business. Carlin helped himself in and took a seat in the single chair facing the sofa. Booker followed suit and sat on the couch.

  “I just got off the phone with me son, Bradon. He told me, ya just got done breaking me wee gal’s heart. What have ya say about that?”

  Well he got to the point. “It was unintentional sir.” Booker said while squirming in his seat.

  “Aye, continue.” Carlin waved his hand to encourage Booker to divulge more information. Was the man actually going to listen to his side of the story? Might as well find out and see.

  Booker told Carlin everything, his reasoning for coming out to Warblers Point and how he never meant to fall in love but he did and how he would never do anything to hurt Fiona. He meant to tell her who he really was but he didn’t want to lose what they had, the bond they formed. Even though he did, in the end. Carlin just sat in his chair nodding, not making a sound.

  When Booker finally finished, Carlin stood up and brushed off his pants. “Ya have thirty minutes to get off me property. If me daughter forgives ya, that’s her decision but I will not have ya living on my land while ya try to convince her of ye misunderstanding.” He headed for the door and just before he left he turned and said, “Mrs. O’Leary is very disappointed in ya young man. She had high hopes for ya.” Then he turned and shut the door.

  Booker had never felt so awful in his entire life. Not only did Fiona want nothing to do with him but now Mrs. O’Leary was disappointed in him? Damn, he started to feel like she was a second mom to him. Booker got up and started packing. Just great, not only did he lose the love of his life and her family but he lost his place of residence as well. Guess he was going to have to check into that creepy motel on main street.

  ***

  Finn left the pub in a fit of rage and walked around town until he found himself outside of Sophie’s house, knocking on her door. He hoped she was home because he needed someone desperately to talk to and to comfort him. Thanks to his two dickhead brothers he was ready to stab someone in the chest. He needed the soothing voice of Sophie to settle his mood.

  Normally he would rely on Fiona to calm him but she had her own problems to deal with right now. After waiting for what seemed like forever, Sophie finally opened the door. She was wearing just a robe and Finn felt his heart tighten. He told himself to calm down, he didn’t need his libido and the booze taking over, he needed to talk.

  “Finn, are you ok? You look terrible.”

  He took one look at her, her big blue eyes were staring at him with sincere concern and the top part of her robe peaked open giving him a little view of the swell of her breasts. He stared at her and he noticed her breathing started to become heavier. She licked her lips and that was all he needed.

  He grabbed her head with his hand, pulled himself into her house, kicked the door shut and placed his lips on hers. At first she was stiff but after a little bit of coaxing with his lips she gave in and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in even closer. He shouldn’t be doing this. He just broke it off with Blaire who he thought was the girl for him and this was Sophie, Liam’s Sophie. If Liam ever found out he was kissing Sophie and thinking of taking Sophie to bed, Liam would kill him. What was going through Finn’s mind right now and why couldn’t he stop? He knew why, Liam was an ass so at the moment he really didn’t care what he did.

  When she slid her tongue in his mouth, all thoughts of Liam completely shot out of his brain and his hands slid up her legs, under her robe and around her waist. She was completely bare underneath, turning his entire length hard as stone. He rammed her up against the entry way hall briefly startling her, he mumbled a sorry and tried to make up for his roughness in gentle kisses along her neck.

  She moaned quietly in his ear as he worked his way along her collarbone. Her hands found their way under his shirt, sending bolts of fire straight to his crotch. She lifted his shirt so she could take it off and he followed her lead. She backed up to get a good look at his chest and he saw heat fill her eyes as she licked her lips again.

  He swept her up into his arms and carried her to her bedroom, completely forgetting about the past couple of hours. Right now it was just him and Sophie. He placed her on the bed and straddled her tiny body with his. She was so small compared to Blaire, Sophie was more petite. His hand crept up Sophie’s body and he cupped her breast. She had decent sized breasts but Blaire’s were defiantly bigger. Blaire’s breast filled his hand completely and the weight turned him on even more. Right now Sophie’s breast was alright. Then it hit him. What the hell was he doing?

  He quickly jumped off the bed and ran his hands through his hair
while pacing Sophie’s bedroom. He was about to have sex with Sophie, right after he broke up with Blaire. Finn felt disgusted with himself. He always found Sophie attractive but not to the point where he would betray his brother’s trust and go behind his back to screw around with his high school sweetheart. Jesus. He needed to leave and he needed to leave right away.

  He left Sophie on her bed and walked out to the hallway where his shirt was previously discarded on the floor. He quickly threw it on, along with his jacket and headed for the front door.

  “Wait, Finn. What’s going on? Is everything ok?” Sophie cried while chasing after him.

  He spun around and looked her in the eyes. “No, everything is not ok. We almost had sex.” Finn practically shouted. He was starting to feel sick to his stomach and he wasn’t sure if it was because of the booze he consumed or the fact that he betrayed his brother. They said some pretty nasty things to each other in the pub but nothing that warranted this kind of betrayal.

  Sophie played with the ties on her robe. “I know we almost had sex. Would that have been so awful?”

  Finn couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Little sweet Sophie, the girl who never swore, was willing to have sex with him, Liam’s brother. Was she insane?

  “Listen Soph, I know I lead you on just now but what just happened can never happen again. It’s not right and not fair to Liam.”

  “Who cares about Liam!” She shouted. “I will never be with Liam again, for many reasons that I’m not going to get into right now but it’s never going to happen. And you have to admit, Finn, we have always had a stronger connection. Sometimes I wondered if I chose the wrong O’Leary boy.”

  Finn wanted to turn back time and forget he was ever at Sophie’s. If Liam knew what Sophie was saying right now he would go off the deep end.

  “Sophie, you don’t know what you are talking about. You and Liam were great together.”

  “Were is the key word Finn. There is no more me and Liam. We are done. I want to move on and I really think we could have something here and I know you think the same thing.” She grabbed his crotch through his jeans and tried to prove her point. “See, you are so hard for me. You can’t tell me you don’t feel anything.”

  Finn smacked her hand away and ran his hands over his face while blowing out a long frustrated breath. “It’s not going to happen Sophie.”

  “It’s not? Then why are you here with me rather than with Blaire? Hmm? Seems to me like I am the one you want to be with.”

  Shit. This did not look good. He just wanted to talk to someone, someone who would understand him and he let the liquor take over his mind. He was a massive idiot. Sophie stood in the hallway staring at him with those big bright eyes. She was slightly smirking because she knew he got him, or what she thought got him. But she was wrong. He didn’t want Sophie, he wanted Blaire and the mere fact that he was comparing the two girls in his head while kissing Sophie proved his point.

  He pulled Sophie into a hug and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry Sophie. I’m sorry for everything. Please forget this happened. I have to get my head on straight.”

  Finn opened her front door and walked out leaving Sophie almost naked and alone. Not only was he screwing up his life, but he was screwing up everyone else’s lives as well. He should just go jump off the top of Warblers Peak and end everyone’s misery, especially his.

  Chapter 17

  It had been two weeks since she last heard from Booker. She ignored all her his phone calls and denied him access into the pub. He tried on separate occasions to come see her but her brothers kindly escorted him out. She made sure they didn’t do anything to him besides show him to the door. The look on his face every time she made him leave cut through her soul, as if he wasn’t guilty of lying to her.

  She heard through the Warblers Point gossip line that Booker finally checked out of the creepy motel on main street, packed up and went back to California. Hearing about his departure was like putting the final nail in the coffin of their relationship. He only attempted to contact her for a week after the whole debacle up on the slopes. She wasn’t going to take him back but in some sick and twisted way of thinking, she was upset that he didn’t try harder to get her back. Maybe their relationship wasn’t as special as she thought it was. Maybe he was like every other tourist who provided empty promises to her.

  Was he really going to buy a place out in Warblers Point when he most likely had ocean front property? Probably not. Even though things ended with Booker three weeks ago, Fiona still was upset. She was having a very difficult time getting over Booker. She had never felt the way about a man like she did for him. Even when she was with Murphy for over two years, she never had the passion for him that she had for Booker. She had a special connection with Booker that she knew she would never find with another man. Why did he have to ruin everything?

  Fiona was expected at The Sleeping Potato for tea and cookies with her ma, Tipper and Sophie. Neala used to join them for tea time, they still extended the invitation but Neala wanted nothing to do with them, which was understandable. Blaire even joined them once when she was out visiting.

  Fiona thought about Blaire and how everything ended so terribly between her and Finn. She felt terrible for the both of them. Fiona tried to talk to Finn about Blaire but she was quickly dismissed. Recently her brothers have been very easily irritated and she had no clue why. Tension at the pub was almost unbearable, especially when all her brothers were working the same night. She tried asking them what the hell was going on but none of them responded. They all just huffed at her and stalked off. Irish men and their tempers! If it wasn’t for her mind being completely filled with thoughts of Booker, she would try to get to the bottom of her brothers’ quarrel. She let it go though, if her brothers wanted to be babies, then so be it. She had more important things to worry about, like her love life, or lack thereof.

  Fiona didn’t even dress in her normal tea time garb which usually consisted of a flowery dress, cardigan and flats. Instead she wore a ratty pair of jeans, holey sweater and her sneakers. Her ma was going to have a heart attack when she saw her but Fiona didn’t care. At the current moment, Fiona’s state of attire and mood varied between zombie and horror flick and her ma was just going to have to deal with it. Most of the time her brothers left her alone and when she wasn’t working she sulked in bed, in the dark, planning out all the ways she could get away with the destruction of Warblers Point and all tourist attractions. Seemed like a simple task, she already had thirteen different plans of attack ranging from virus epidemic to over population of chickens.

  She shook the dark thoughts from her head and proceeded inside the bed and breakfast. Her ma once again out did herself and decorated the dining room with flowers, tea sandwiches and bite sized treats. There were three different tea kettles steeping tea in them on the dining room table which was decorated with a lace tablecloth and her ma’s finest flower china. Fiona exhaled and meandered over to the pastries so she could lose herself in the fattening little confectionary treats. She was about to stuff her third mini cheesecake in her mouth when her ma placed her hand on her arm.

  “Fiona, come sit down with me.”

  Fiona had no energy to fight her ma so she followed her into the seating area where they both sat on an antique love seat that when growing up Fiona used to lay on and read books when she didn’t want to be bothered by her brothers.

  Mary Margaret took Fiona’s hands in hers and looked at her with concern etching through her eyes. “Talk to me darlin girl.”

  Well that did it. Her mother’s soothing nature released the flood gates. Fiona began to sob and lowered her head into her ma’s shoulder. Mary Margaret stroked her hair and whispered soothing words into her ear trying to get Fiona to calm down. Fiona couldn’t stop crying, she didn’t know what got into her. Maybe the last three weeks of pent up emotions finally decided to come crashing down. She was never this kind of girl, the girl who cried over boys. She was always stronger than
that, thanks to her brothers. But right now, she wasn’t, she was a girl in love who had her heart broken.

  When Fiona finally calmed down her ma lifted her chin so Fiona was looking into the same golden brown eyes she had. “My darlin girl, is this crying because of Booker?” Fiona just nodded. “Well, stop torturing ya’self and talk to him.”

  “It’s not that simple ma, he lied to me.”

  “Lied to ya about what?”

  “About who he really is.” Fiona wiped her nose with her sleeve and her ma ticked at her and handed her a box of tissues.

  “Is that so bad, lassie?”

  Fiona sat up from her ma’s comment. “Are you saying it’s ok to lie in a relationship? He wanted to marry me ma. When do you think he should have told me he was a hot shot director?”

  “I understand he should have told ya sooner but he had good reasonin.”

  Fiona raised an eyebrow at her ma. “What are you talking about? Last I heard you wanted to boil his balls for dinner.”

  “Fiona! I said no such thing.” Fiona just shook her head. “I might have received a phone call from Blaire.”

  Fiona whipped her head up and looked at her ma. “What? When?”

  “A week or so ago.” Mary Margaret looked sheepishly at her daughter.

  “And you thought to tell me now? What did she say?”

  Mary Margaret patted Fiona’s shoulder. “I know, I should have told ya earlier but I thought maybe ya got over the man in question but clearly ya haven’t”

  Fiona was getting irritated now. “What did she say?”

  “She didn’t have contact information for ya so that’s why she called me. She wanted to tell ya about Booker and why he did what he did. My wee girl, he had been, how did she put it? Burned in the past. He needed a fresh start and to get away from, uh, being used. Yes that’s right.” Fiona wanted to shake the words out of her ma. She loved her but sometimes her ma’s Irish accent drove Fiona insane. Mary Margaret continued. “He wanted people to like him for who he is inside, not his profession so he changed his appearance and went somewhere remote to just relax and enjoy himself. He never expected to fall in love. Blaire said he meant to tell ya but got caught up in ye relationship, it kind of left his mind.”