Saving Sharkey

by Felicity Nisbet

  “What did they look like?”

  “Dark black hair, straight. Medium build, both about five feet eleven. Could be brothers.”

  “Aye, hers no doubt.”

  Ah, of course. “Now that you mention it, their affection was more brotherly than anything else.”

  “Were they sober?”

  I laughed. “This meeting was at a table just outside the University library. I should hope so.”

  “A rare occurrence then,” Sharkey said.

  “Is that so?” Charlie asked.

  “You’ll understand what I mean once you meet the lads. Which is a given due to the fact that they spend most of their time in one of the local pubs.”

  “Something to look forward to, I’m sure,” I said.

  The look on Sharkey’s face and the raising of a single eyebrow was telling enough.

  Chapter 5

  On the Friday night before our next game, Sharkey promised to join us at The Shamrock and Thistle. It was an evening to which I had been looking forward ever since Charlie had told me Jenny was coming to visit for the weekend before flying to the East Coast to visit her daughter.

  “She’s anxious to see Holly before she starts her college courses, I assume?” I had asked.

  “Aye,” Charlie confirmed. “Very anxious. Holly is still her wee girl, you know.”

  I did know. Jenny was close to her two children. It was a career she had taken very seriously. I was happy for her that her son Matthew had elected to attend university in Seattle. Holly, on the other hand, her dancer daughter, had headed east, first for a summer dance course, and now for college.

  “It’s good she’s able to get away for a wee while.”

  “She feels more comfortable going now that she’s solved the case of the skeleton in her garden and cleared her aunt’s name.”

  “Has she then?”

  “Oh, aye. Just this past week she was able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.”

  “Excellent.” I waited for him to say more. Judging from the subtle gloat on his face, I knew there was more. But Charlie enjoyed torturing me all too well.

  “And?” I finally asked.

  “And, the island newspaperman is history as well.”

  “Ahh.”

  “Is that all you have to say, laddie? Ah?”

  “What do you want me to say?”

  “That you’ll stop being an idiot and tell the lassie how you feel!”

  Okay, so I was consumed with the woman. That didn’t mean I was going to jump in too fast and make a right mess of things. She’d just gotten divorced for God’s sake.

  Charlie’s hand slapped my back. It was an affectionate gesture, one a father might offer a son. But there were times when it was downright condescending. “Do what you want, laddie. Do what you want. I’d just hate to see the two of you lose each other for a third time.”

  * * *

  The pub where Charlie and his group, The Covenant Stompers, played their traditional New Orleans style jazz, was aptly named The Shamrock and Thistle. It was frequented by the ex-patriot Scots and Irish. Other nights there was Irish and Scottish folk music. And then there were the nights when songs were more oriented toward the Irish struggles. Those nights were guaranteed to cause rowdy behavior at the very least.

  Of course I was well aware of the gap that still existed in Scotland between Protestant and Catholic despite the inclination of the two factions to segregate themselves from each other. It would be difficult not to notice the sectarian animosity between the Rangers and Celtic fans in Glasgow and to some extent the Hearts and Hibs in Edinburgh. However, In Seattle, far from claustrophobic Scottish culture, Catholic and Protestant stood shoulder to shoulder gulping a pint of Guinness in a pub. Religion was not usually a factor here. However, if we were to see it played out, it would most likely be in a pub when more than a wee bit of the spirits had been imbibed.

  Lending flavor to the two cultures were the paintings of the Scottish and Irish countryside, beloved poets including Burns and Scott and Yeats, and Scottish and Irish soldiers and royalty that covered the otherwise stark white walls.

  As soon as I arrived at the pub, I searched the crowd for Jenny. It bothered me that she had left Seattle for an island in the San Juans. I wasn’t complaining, mind you. That was far better than the alternative that had lasted twenty years—her unfortunate marriage.

  She was not married when we had met. She was my student at the University. Captivated by her spirit and beauty and the twinkle in her eyes, I had noticed her immediately. And once she spoke in class, my heart was lost. She was as intelligent as she was beautiful, asking probing questions and thinking the way a true student thinks, seeking knowledge and her own inner wisdom.

  Knowing I was from Scotland, she had invited me to a party at her father’s home. She knew we would have more in common than our Scottish heritage. There was also rugby, soccer, our senses of humor, love of poetry and a good pub, and the fact that we both taught at the University. It was later, when I purchased the house across the street from Charlie’s, that we became neighbors as well as friends.

  Unfortunately that same evening she had also introduced me to a fellow named Joe Campbell to whom I felt an immediate enmity. It was not just that the Campbells have an enduring rotten reputation in Scotland based upon their seventeenth century treachery when they slaughtered the McDonalds in Glencoe after being welcomed into their homes in the Highland tradition. It was the fact that Jenny was engaged to the loathsome man. Perhaps loathsome was too strong of a word, or it would have been if Jenny had not married him.

  As she was my student, I had called her by her last name as I called all my students. It stuck. Even after she was no longer my student, I called her McNair. And she called me, mockingly, MacGregor in return. And even after she’d married, I refused to change to calling her Campbell. Habit was my excuse, not that she had ever questioned me about it.

  As I made my way to the bar, I kept my eye out for Jenny. No sign of her, but I did spot Sharkey and Aileen. I was surprised, I had to admit, that he had not yet given her the boot. But then, she was young and beautiful although the hard Belfast accent and the words she chose to speak detracted from her appeal. But those long, fit legs, and ample breasts, to say nothing of her youth, more than made up for her mouth, in Sharkey’s eyes, I was certain.

  “Malcolm!” Sharkey raised his hand in the air as he shouted over the hubbub. The band was on a break but the noise was near to industrial strength. “What will you have?”

  “Guinness, thanks,” I said, returning out of guilt to one of my old standbys. It had been good to me over the years, after all. “How are you both?”

  “Excellent, you missed the first set.”

  “Not necessarily by accident.”

  “Charlie does blow a mean horn.” He laughed as he turned to the bar to order my Guinness.

  “I love trad,” Aileen yelled above the din. “And Charlie introduced us to his daughter, Jenny.”

  “Jenny’s here?” My face must have lit up because they were both looking at me curiously.

  “You must really like that girl,” Sharkey said, leaning closer to my ear. “I doubt you could hide it if your life depended on it.”

  I smiled as I took the beer he had passed me from the bar. “I’m treading a wee bit carefully since she’s just gone through a divorce, but I can not deny that I’m very fond—”

  “MacGregor!” An enthusiastic voice called out, a voice that could melt a glacier.

  “McNair,” I responded, turning around to greet her.

  The next thing I knew, I was engulfed by a warm hug, to which I happily responded. But then I drew her away so I could see her. She was wearing her trademark turtleneck, jeans, a Scottish sweater and a warm glow, which eclipsed Aileen’s surface prettiness.

  “It’s been too long, McNair.”

  “It’s not been all that long since you bought me that dinner you owed me,”

  “I suppose not,”
I said. But far too long by my calculations.

  “I’ve been staying on the island to resolve this odd mystery of the bones we dug up in my rose garden. But now that it’s solved, I’m on my way to visit Holly.”

  “How long do we have you then? For the weekend at least?” Charlie had indicated as much, but I wanted to be sure I was not getting my hopes up only to be let down.

  “Just for tonight and tomorrow.”

  Not quite what I had hoped for, but it would have to do for now.

  “I fly out late tomorrow night.” Her eyes met mine and I tried as best I could to convey my feelings to her. Her smile bordered on self-conscious, and then she looked away.

  Damn, Charlie was right. I couldn’t lose her again. But what the hell was I supposed to do? Grab the woman in the middle of the pub and declare my love to her? Suddenly I felt like a schoolboy back in Edinburgh. I’d never had trouble approaching women in my life. Somehow this was different. It was Jenny. It was the woman I’d loved for twenty years. Obviously when around her, my courage failed me. If I couldn’t tell her outright how I felt, the least I could do was show her, if nothing else with schoolboy flirtations.

  I pulled her into my arms again for a second hug.

  “What was that for?” she asked when I released her.

  “Didn’t get enough the first time, I suppose.”

  She was smiling. Glowing actually. Did I dare interpret that as reciprocal feelings of affection? Terrifying thought if I was wrong.

  “Fair enough,” she said. “How have you been, MacGregor?”

  “Missing you.” Honest. Hopefully not too forward.

  “Me too,” she said softly. I wasn’t even certain I had heard her words. Her lips were easy to read.

  Charlie introduced the next number, “Struttin’ with some Barbeque,” tapped his feet and the band swung into the number. In between his trumpet licks he growled out some vocals. I felt myself relax. My second beer—a Belhaven this time—helped. Good beer, good company, good music. Good conversation—or any kind of conversation—was impossible however.

  We stayed until the band finished, then settled in at a table to share coffee and conversation.

  “You’ll come to the soccer game tomorrow, will you?” Sharkey asked Jenny. His glance upward to meet my eyes assured me he had no intention of attempting to move in on the woman for whom I clearly had immense affection. His subtle wink told me he was asking the question for my benefit.

  “I’d enjoy that,” Jenny said, glancing back and forth between Charlie and me.

  “In other words, you wouldn’t want to pass up an opportunity to see your old father and professor make fools of themselves,” Charlie said.

  Jenny laughed. How could a laugh cause a heart to flutter? “Ah, Charlie, you think so little of me,” she told him.

  Charlie leaned forward and kissed his daughter’s cheek. I did enjoy the affection and the sparring between the two of them. Their fondness for each other brought a slight envy to the surface for never having had children of my own.

  “You will be pleasantly surprised, Jenny,” Sharkey said. “Impressed even.”Jenny’s eyebrows rose. “You’re not exaggerating, Eddie?”

  “You will see tomorrow,” Sharkey said.

  Aileen smiled. “For once, Eddie is not embellishing the facts. These two are very talented soccer players, so they are.”

  “Hmm. We’ll see then, won’t we,” Jenny said.

  “You work with your father sometimes, I hear,” Sharkey said.

  Aileen squirmed uneasily in her chair for the first time. She seemed to have taken to Jenny until that moment. One question was considered polite? Two indicated interest in the woman? Maybe she didn’t know Sharkey as well as she thought. Clearly he did admire beautiful women, but just as clear was the fact that he did not step onto another man’s territory.

  “I do,” Jenny answered, eyeing Charlie. “But only on occasion.”

  “Aye, but when she works with me, she is of immense help. She has a much keener intuition than my own and has often seen the solution before I or the police can solve it logically,” Charlie said. “But that is not all she does. She is a successful potter and also a minister.” Pride danced in the man’s eyes and again I wondered what it would be like to have a child.

  “A minister? Really?” Aileen asked somewhat warily. “What kind of minister?”

  “Non denominational actually. I became a minister in order to do spiritual counseling.”

  “Something of which I am sorely in need,” I said softly. “When can we start?”

  Jenny’s eyes caught mine and held. “Anytime,” she said.

  I’d made headway. If she didn’t know how I felt about her, or at least suspect, I would be greatly surprised. And if she had any feelings for me beyond friendship, she would have to think twice before considering having a relationship with another man. At least until I managed to dig deep to find the apparently buried courage it would take to tell her exactly how I did feel.

  * * *

  Our second soccer game proved to be vastly different from our first. Sharkey had warned us, telling us when we arrived that the team we were playing would be very physical. It was a Tacoma team with some very fast lads from Thailand and some very skilled lads from Germany and a few sly ones from England.

  “What they lack in skill, they make up for in aggression,” he had cautioned.

  “Will I be able to spot you creeping along on the wing then, Eddie?” I asked. “You’ll no be looking for the physical confrontation?”

  “We highly skilled speed merchants have to look after our delicate muscles.”

  “Right! And we rugby forwards know what to make of wing three quarters in rugby or strikers in soccer. All glory and no guts!”

  Once the game got going, I realized Sharkey had summed up the opposition well. By halftime, the Tacoma team was two up and we were nursing our egos as well as our bruises.

  When I spotted Jenny coming toward us on the sideline, my heart gave a wee leap. “When did you arrive?” I asked.

  “In plenty of time to witness your heroics.”

  “Our massacre?” I laughed as she smiled down at me, sympathy outweighing her mocking tone. “Will you be able to join us at the pub after the game?”

  “For a wee while. I’d best leave for the airport by eight o’clock.”

  “I could drive you,” I offered.

  “Thanks, MacGregor, but I have my car.”

  “You could leave it in Charlie’s driveway. Or mine.”

  She squatted down, putting a hand softly on the more blatant bruise on my thigh. “I’m not sure you’ll be able to walk after this game, let alone drive. I’ll just park at the airport.”

  I was tempted to reach for her just as she stood up. Something held me back. The audience which included a priest and her father? But I knew better. It was teenage boy fear.

  The second half wasn’t quite so brutal. We even managed to dominate the play—briefly. Sinclair took advantage and headed out a clearance to Malloy who squared the ball to O’Malley—Father, that is—who spotted me coming forward and led me with a solid pass. I glimpsed Sharkey on the right wing making a stealthy run and I lofted a ball right in front of him. He beat his fullback and dribbled around the goalie to tap in a goal.

  The opposition was revived and scored two more goals before Sharkey made a break away run, but before he could get a shot off, he was hauled down in the penalty area. I was sure he would take the penalty kick but he gave the nod to Father O’Malley who had a quiet word with God and then slammed the ball into the corner of the net.

  We lost by four goals, but our spirits were high for having scored at all against the undefeated team. A pint or two would be well received by all.

  As we walked into O’Connell’s, Sharkey said, “Your lassie is joining us?”

  “Aye, but not for long. She flies out tonight.”

  “She’s lovely.”

  “She is that. And more.”

>   He turned to glance at Aileen who was behind us, caught in the mob of players.

  “Aileen is a beautiful girl.”

  “And very young.”

  “Is that not a good thing?”

  “It can be. But I think you’re a wiser man than I am, Malcolm MacGregor. Looks and age alone do not promise for a lasting relationship.”

  That, I could have told him. But would he have heard me? Before he was ready to make a change?

  A few minutes later, Jenny arrived. She found Charlie first, as he was chatting up some young ladies in their fifties. As much as I tried to concentrate on what Sharkey and Malloy and Sinclair and O’Malley were saying as they rehashed the game, I could not focus. I did take notice, however, of the fact that Sean O’Malley had failed to join us to celebrate yet another lost game.

  Once Jenny looked my way and smiled, I began breathing more easily. But as she turned to head in my direction, she was intercepted by Maureen and Declan who had found Charlie as well. Introductions were made, as far as I could tell, and the conversation seemed casual enough. Again she looked my way, this time to be deterred as Susan and Andy joined their spouses. It was a good fifteen minutes of her precious time later and two more attempts on her part when I gave up, excused myself and pushed through the mob to join her, wondering why I had not done so sooner.

  The conversation revolved around the game, but knowing Jenny, her interest was more on the family dynamics and the personalities of the two couples. She smiled up at me as I nudged Charlie a wee bit so I could join her.

  “I see you’ve met everyone,” I said.

  “I have. At least I think so. I believe I have the names down but not the relationships.”

  I leaned closer to her ear. “That would take an entire evening and then some. And very possibly some intense surveillance.”

  She laughed and her brown eyes danced. I wanted to grab her right then and there and declare my love for her, but Scottish propriety kept me under control. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

  “Would you like something to drink, McNair?” I asked her.

  “Thanks, but I don’t want to have any alcohol as I’m driving to the airport shortly.”