Jesus! What the hell did they do to him? His shaggy dog look had been replaced by a cross between a poodle and a stuffed toy. Peanut nudged Rían under his chin and snuggled into his owner’s coat, coughing from the amount of baby powder the girls had generously put onto his coat. He continued to stare at him as though seeing him for the first time.
Annie waved her hand in front of his face. “Hello, earth calling Rían.”
Rían slapped her hands lightly away. “Go way, I’m heading inside, are you coming in?”
“Nah, headin' up to our house, aren’t we girlies?”
Junie tapped Rían’s arm.
“Will you drop us to school tomorrow uncle Rían?” Rían bent down to eye level and pretended to think about it.
“Well, let me see. I’m very busy tomorrow. Hmmmm.”
“Pleaseeeeeeeeee,” Katie interrupted.
Rían laughed and looked to Annie she rolled her eyes and nodded. “Course ya can.”
Rían high fived the girls enthusiastically.
“Of course I can, see, your mammy is the best!” Annie turned to watch him walk inside. Poor Rían, poor, poor little hurt man-child Rían, things were about to change for him in ways he could only imagine. Smiling widely to herself Annie grabbed Katie and Junie by the hands. “Let’s go my lovelies, I’m starving.”
Walking into the O’Malley house after travelling around the Caribbean was an experience that always eased Rían’s soul. That first smells of warmth and baking hit him right between the solar plexus, soft bread and cheese scones, he’d know it anywhere. There was nothing like the scent of home, indescribable and uniquely his home. As he clicked open the top latch he heard the hustle and bustle from inside, voices he could identify in seconds. Granny O’Malley, his parents and his brother Darragh, all laughing about something or other. Rían stood for a minute savouring the sound.
“Well are you coming in, or are you waiting for a better offer?”
Shaking his head Rían opened the door fully and looked at his grandmother.
“How did you know I was there?” She smiled at him and tapped her nose with her index finger.
“How does a dog know its own?”
Rían frowned. “I’ve no idea, how does a dog know its own?”
Granny smiled up at him and then stood slowly. “You think on it and I’ll get you a cuppa. Sit yourself down you must be tired from your travels.” Rían placed his hand on her shoulder and leaned over her to pick up the big old brown teapot.
“Sit down Granny, I’ll get it myself. I don’t want you waiting on me.” Granny placed her hand over his on her shoulder. “You’re a good boy Rían. I’m glad you’ve come home to me. I’m off to the community centre and I’ll see you later on.” Rían nodded and helped her into her cardigan.
“Well well, the wanderer returns, good to see you bro.” Rían nearly scalded himself with the tea when a big hand clapped him loudly on the back. Darragh.
“Hey Dar, all good yeah. How’re things here?”
“Well I’ve a bit of news you….” Rían looked up as the kitchen door swung open cutting Darragh off mid-sentence, and his parents came tumbling in.
“Rían! Oh look at you, so thin! What has happened to you? So thin and so dark, you look like your grandpa Gianni. So like him, isn’t he like him, Ger?” His father hugged him and ruffled his hair, Rían grit his teeth and waited until he had stopped.
“He is like him Louisa, not an ounce of Irish in the boy. Welcome home son, I’ve missed you.” Rían took in his father’s ripped jeans and Nirvana t-shirt, shoulder length curly red hair with streaks of grey and wondered once again how they were even related. Where Rían preferred designer suits, his father the patriarch of a muti- million dollar company was more at home reading Beat generation poetry under a tree somewhere.
His old man had business smarts and was a shrewd businessman, but he always seemed more at home driving a tractor around the fields in a pair of Wellington boots and jeans. Rían had watched him as a young lad driving up and down through the fields preferring to sow the crops himself, smiling broadly with the radio blaring and a dog perched beside him, his long hair flowing in the breeze. This was how he would remember his dad always. Rían felt his mother grab his arm and she shook her head at him sadly.
“Rían, this Peanut thing missed you terribly. Didn’t you Peanut?” Peanut yelped excitedly as Louisa tickled him under his chin, took a doggie biscuit from somewhere and popped it into his mouth. His father tutted and rolled his eyes.
“He was spoiled rotten like he always is. Weren’t you Peanut, weren’t you Peanut. Yes you were. Yes. You. Were!” His father put his face close to Peanut’s face and then jumped back when Peanut licked him. “Ha ha Peanut! Did you see that Louisa, he licked my face?”
“I did and you shouldn’t be teasing him Gearóid, you’ll annoy him,” she said.
“They missed Peanut more than you. And they only saw him a half an hour ago,” his brother Darragh whispered in his ear.
“Feck off,” Rían retorted good naturedly. I think he may have a point though. He watched his parents fawning over Peanut and shook his head. Crazy family.
Rían smiled and nodded along with the usual banter and affection of his family, he kissed his mama twice on the cheek and he grinned at her, always worried about her kids being too thin or too tired. He noticed a few grey hairs on the top of her head when she hugged him. They were aging, his folks, he didn’t even want to think about them getting older.
“Rían, I got a new tractor, fantastic job altogether. Will you come out and see her later, I’ll let you name her?” Rían nodded at his dad and grabbed a cheese scone off a plate in the centre of the chequered tablecloth. Aw not another machinery related christening Jesus Christ!
“I’ll just bring my bags up to the room. Is it okay if I stay here tonight? I’ll settle back into my own place tomorrow.”
His father looked momentarily wounded and then shrugged his shoulders.
“Since when did you have to ask permission to sleep in your own bed, son?”
Rían smiled at his him, nodded and moved out of the kitchen as he headed for his old bedroom. Walking down the corridor he touched his hands off the photo frames and trinkets that adorned the walls, he did it every time he arrived home safely, a talisman of sorts. Opening the door of his room he threw his bags on the floor and sat down gently on his bed, Peanut still in his arms. His bed was so soft and so familiar that he lay back and stared at the ceiling breathing heavily through his nose.
This was home, the usual pomp and awe that surrounded him in the workplace was starting to grate on him. He was loath to admit it, but being a multi millionaire playboy was nowhere near as interesting and exciting as he had hope. Okay maybe half as exciting as he hoped. He wasn’t a complete carrot. There were perks to being Rían O’Malley. Let’s not get out the miniature violin and play a tune just yet. He had little enough to be moaning about. In an economy struggling to get back on its feet, the O’Malleys still held a plum position. His grandfather had been shrewd and accumulated a lot of land when it was going cheap; developers had climbed over each other to purchase it when times were good. Later his father had been equally as clever investing in overseas properties and turning them into celebrity getaways. Having finished a gruelling series of TV interviews for travel shows and celebrity TV channels Rían had enough of the shallow transparency that sometimes accompanied his clientele. Maybe it was time to recoup and make himself hungry for it all again.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
Rían shook himself out of his daydream and raised his eyebrows at his sister Aoife who was watching him smiling from the door of the room. He jumped off the bed and approached her with his arms open.
“Hey you. Great to see you, are you well?” He embraced her warmly and held her back at arm’s length to look at her.
Aoife nodded “Fine, here lie back down, you must be wrecked from the flight.”
Rían nodded at her grate
fully and stifling a yawn, lay back on the bed. Aoife rubbed Peanut’s soft coat and looked at her hand that was now covered in baby powder.
“The twins,” they both said at the same time and laughed.
Aoife plonked her bum on the edge of the bed and stole a corner of Rían’s scone. “Hmmm nice…. All good here.”
The action drew a smile to Rían’s lips. Aoife looked so happy and focused, she was definitely up to something.
“Tell me.”
Aoife coughed and dropped the scone back down on the plate. Jumping off the bed she brushed crumbs off her hands.
“Tell you what? You’re only back two minutes Rían, what are you on about?”
“Hey I was joking. But, now I am intrigued, something you want to tell your big brother? I might be able to advise you.”
“Yeah, thanks. If I need advice on how to be a working machine with no emotional attachment to anyone, I’ll give ya a call.”
Aoife slapped him playfully on the shoulder and bounced out of the room laughing. Rían stared after her. Is that really how she sees me? A soulless asshole with no real attachment to anyone? Something about Aoife’s words resonated with him and deep inside he felt the nagging tug. Shit, Rían! That’s depressing!
Pulling off his suit pants, Rían paused to assess the damage that Annie’s pup had cause to his trousers. Feckin’ great. Huge paw prints, baby powder and frayed edges, Rían snorted. Welcome bloody home. Plopping back on the bed he lay back and pulled the quilt over his body. I’ll just close my eyes for five minutes. His chin snuggled into an already sleeping Peanut and he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
Health and a long life to you.
Land without rent to you.
A child every year to you.
And if you can’t go to heaven,
May you at least die in Ireland.
-Irish saying
Rían woke as the light began to fade and padded around the room until his hand found the light switch. He rubbed his eyes and groaned aloud when he checked the clock, half past nine! Damn eight hour flight, he was wrecked tired. Flicking on the bedside light, the room was subtly illuminated to a warm glow. Smiling as he looked on the bed and saw Peanut still sleeping, Aw little man, you sleep, okay, Rían stretched his neck and pulled on jeans and a t-shirt that his mama had laid out for him. Thank you mama and God bless you, I’m officially a thirty year old baby. Moving around the house he made his way to the kitchen. Hmmmm. Spotless and quiet. Two adjectives that didn’t really fit into the O’Malley vocabulary. Ah the place was always clean sure, but there were always dogs, or boots, or empty teacups strewn around. Clean dirt, his grandfather had always said. Rían loved it that way. There was so much snobbery and elitism within the worlds of the nouveau riche. Rían hated it all, hated anyone thinking that money made them any better or any more worthy of existence than those who struggled. He flicked on the kettle and sat at the table sliding his hand over to grab a note page with his name on it. He turned it over and read the note identifying his Granny’s scrawl immediately.
Boy,
We’ve gone to Nellie’s for a pint. We’ll be there till 11pm. Come down if you fancy it. Take Peanut for a walk. We need to talk later, I have some news.
Gran. xx
Rían snorted at the note. ‘Boy’? When was the old lady going to admit that he was a fully grown man? And what news? He smiled to himself; he was so fond of her, and loved her to bits, she had always been there for him. He remembered back to his first day of school when she had walked him to the gates. It was tradition that Granny would walk every one of the grandchildren to school on their first day. He had left his mother teary in the kitchen, and had loved the freedom of walking along the path with his granny’s hand in his, that first day of school.
The memory of it so precious to him now, it was the first time he had seen her. Spoken to her. Lovely Liadh Grace O’Neill. She almost seemed like a dream now. He wondered sometimes if she was even real, but he knew how real she was, when he wandered through the land and inevitably ended up at Rua Cottage. So much of his early childhood was in that little cottage. He sighed and a small smile flashed across his face, he thought about her often even now. If he wanted to he could probably have her found, but, what would he say? Ah, I knew you when we were kids, any chance you’d like to get to know each other again. Nah, a recipe for disaster.
He felt a little tug on the corner of the leg of his jeans and looked down at Peanut.
“Okay, okay. I get it, you’re awake and the world revolves around you. Come on you little ruffian.”
Opening the front door, Rían bent down to attach the lead to Peanut’s collar when he suddenly took off barking in the direction of the lane. Rían whistled loudly.
“Peanut, get back here right now! Peanut, I’m warning you! Dam it!” Peanut never even looked back, he just continued bombing it down the road as quickly as his little legs would carry him. Rían groaned and started jogging after him.
Liadh ran after Peanut who suddenly seemed to suddenly have a mind of her own, and took off through the fields, her lead dragging after her.
“Peanut O’Neill get back here right now. Oooooh, you really are pushing your luck lady!”
Peanut stood still for a second, looked back at Liadh, and then continued on her journey. Liadh raised her eyes to heaven exasperated by this new brave Peanut who wanted to explore her surroundings. Running after her she continued down the path towards Cherry Tree Farmhouse. Ugh please don’t do this to me Peanut, please! She ran faster hoping to see Peanut and scoop her up before anyone noticed her and then head back to Rua Cottage. No harm, no foul.
“PEANUT!!!”
Liadh ran further and further down the driveway until she heard a voice echoing around her. Wait a minute? Why was someone else calling Peanut? She moved forward with some trepidation and walked around the corner of the driveway only to drop her mouth open at the scene that was playing out in front of her. Peanut was enjoying the affections of another dog that looked almost identical to her.
Liadh screamed and both dogs looked at her sheepishly and then continued humping the crap out of each other in the middle of the driveway. Liadh groaned. Damn it, the other Peanut. Peanut O’Malley. She had met him several times with the twins in the last month and had scratched her head at the double Peanut debacle.
Rían rounded the corner in a state of anxious concern. He had heard the scream and thought it was Annie or Aoife, Peanut had obviously been knocked down. Please let him be okay! Please God…
The first thing he saw when he came around the corner was Peanut losing his virginity to his twin, or what looked like his twin. What the hell?
“Peanut! What the hell do you think you are doing?” Peanut closed his eyes and became immersed in the deed at hand. Rían looked up into the face of the girl standing looking shocked beside the joined pair.
“Liadh O’Neill?” His breathing became heavy and laboured. He knew her straight away, she looked just like her mother had, a carbon copy. Except for the scarring that covered most of the right side of her face. It started under her right eye and travelled all the way down to her neck, scarred and raised skin. Burns, he deduced immediately, he had seen them before. The family had sponsored a burns unit in a children’s hospital in the city. His dad was big on philanthropy and it was something that was both encouraged and expected in their home. What the hell happened to her? Did someone hurt her? She is still so beautiful after all this time. So lovely. Is this actually happening?
He watched as she covered her face quickly with her hair.
“Liadh?” He asked more gently. She nodded at him and looked him in the eyes for the first time, a small smiled danced across her lips. He drew in a breath, her eyes were the exact same as he had imagined in his dreams. When he pictured her as a small child, she had looked the very same, apart from the burns. He wanted to ask her what had happened but couldn’t find the words and in fairness it was none of his bloody business either.
“Your sister’s dog is assaulting my dog.” She gestured in the direction of the two Peanuts. Rían grinned at her, bit his bottom lip and ran a shaky hand through his hair.
“I’m so sorry. Peanut tends to have a mind of his own, where the ladies are concerned. Although he’s never had much luck until now. I don’t have to stretch my imagination very far to visualize their pups? Peanut is my dog.”
“Peanut is your dog? Did you name him Peanut after my dog from when we were little?”
He nodded. “Yeah that Peanut.”
Liadh nodded and laughed. “Well let me introduce you to my Peanut. All my dogs since Peanut have been named Peanut in his honour.”
Rían shook his head, laughed and snorted. “So two Peanuts?” Liadh nodded laughing behind her hand.
“The original Peanut was an amazing dog.”
Liadh smiled back at him, “The best in town.”
“Do you remember when he stole Mrs Murphy’s underwear and dragged it all over the fields?”
“How could I forget? They thought we had done it on purpose and I wasn’t allowed to watch TV for a week!” Liadh cringed.
“We did do it on purpose,” he said laughing.
“Yeah I know,” she grinned.
“The last time I saw you, you had no top teeth,” Rían said moving closer to her.
“Oh they grew in eventually,” she said craning her neck back to look at him.
“You look good with teeth.” Oh my fucking God, shut your mouth eejit!
“Yeah, I find them helpful, you know, for eating and stuff,” Liadh responded playfully.
What the hell is wrong with me? Rían felt somewhat out of his depth. His mouth was full of cotton wool and his brain was taking a holiday somewhere warm and sunny.
Raising his eyebrows he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. Her eyes were automatically drawn downwards towards his crotch. Eyes front and centre Liadh, for feck sake!
Rían: (The O'Malleys Book 3) Page 6