“Right, where’s the mop and bucket,” I replied, a little flighty with my words, but it drew a small smile from her lips. “You’re too good to me,” I whispered, kissing her forehead. I pulled back to look at her, I stared lovingly into her eyes. “I thank God for you every day, Daisy O’Donnell and I thank my lucky stars for the day that I met you.”
Chapter 14
“Anyone home? Daisy, are you and my uncle bumping uglies or can I come up?” Ryan interrupted our tender moment when he called out from the bottom of the stairs.
“Nope, they’re all tucked away in our pants so it’s safe to show your face,” I replied, drawing some heat to my girl’s sweet cheeks.
“Don’t encourage him,” Daisy admonished, good naturedly.
“Does it ever stop raining here?” Ryan asked as he appeared at the door looking like a drowned rat.
“Thought you were touring in a car?” I asked, taking in how sodden he was. Catrina appeared behind him looking like she’d had a bucket of water thrown over her. Her normally immaculate hairdo completely obliterated by the Irish climate and she looked utterly bedraggled.
“No one warned me about the rain. Does this place ever let up?” she asked, groaning as she grabbed a chunk of her hair in her fist and squeezed as much of the excess water out as she could.
Daisy chuckled, squeezed past her and came back with a fresh towel from a closet in the bathroom. “Why do you think our land is so green and lush?”
Catrina’s eyes looked wide like she’d suddenly remembered that fact. “Yeah, but it literally rained the whole time we were out. Is this how it is?”
“Not all the time, sometimes it snows,” I interjected, reminding everyone again how we had met in the first place.
“I’d take snow every time instead of the threat of being drenched to the point where Irish people should have been born with fins and gills.”
“Jeez, anyone would think you had an adversity to getting wet,” Terry offered when he appeared at the door wearing the stupid cowboy boots and Stetson hat we’d bought him in New York. His appearance made me chuckle. “Personally, I love how wet Ireland makes our women.”
The inuendo in his tone was immediately apparent and although we all chuckled, I coughed the word ‘sister’ at Terry in a warning to him. I’d seen his reaction toward her previously, when he’d found her picture online. I had guessed from how he’d made it his business to come upstairs moments after she’d appeared, he’d taken more than a passing interest in her.
“Terry,” he said, ignoring me and offering her his hand. Catrina slipped her hand in his and he lifted it to his lips. Cat smiled, flattered by his attention.
“Head bartender,” he offered. “If you need anything, I’m here at your service.” Both Daisy and I scoffed at his title.
“There you go, mom,” Ryan offered with a wink.
Catrina’s cheeks flushed red and I shook my head. “Only service you’ll be offering my sister is how she likes her drinks,” I muttered, close to his ear, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
Ignoring me again, he winked. “Like I said, I’m here for all things wet.”
Nick chuckled. “I like this guy. He’s persistent,” he goaded, knocking elbows with his mom.
“All right, Terry, back to work,” Daisy told him as she bit back a grin. “Tell me you at least had a good day out,” she enquired, turning her attention back to my family as she headed out of the room after Terry.
“Actually, rain aside, it turned out pretty well. Did you know Connor’s a history buff? He really knows his stuff,” Catrina called loudly, until Daisy came back and my sister’s voice returned to normal volume. Daisy handed her some jeans and a clean T-shirt.
“We’re about the same size, right?” she suggested.
Catrina took the outfit with a grateful smile and continued talking enthusiastically about their trip out, the state of her wet clothing all but forgotten, as she gushed about where they had been.
“It was a fascinating day learning about your history. Connor told us about the rebellions and the mass emigration to the US. Do you think we can do something else like that together before we go home?” she asked, hopefully.
“Sure, I’ve arranged something for tomorrow,” I replied. “As much as I’d like to stay in bed with my girl here, I think I owe it to her to take her out in the rain before New Year’s Eve.”
“Right then, you all need to get out of here if I’ve got a chance of spending some time out of these four walls. I need to finalize my drinks order to make sure it’ll be on route for New Year’s Eve. I can’t run a ceilidh with no alcohol, and I’d get lynched by the locals if I ran out of their favorite tipples.”
“Damn, Daisy’s hot when she’s all business-like with those eyeglasses on,” Ryan remarked.
“What say you change Catrina, and then you, Jamie and the boys head back to the hotel? Give me, say… an hour to sort things out here and I’ll come and spend some time at the hotel.”
With so little time together I was reluctant to be shoved off on my sister so that Daisy could work. Feeling I was ‘in the way’ was something I was neither used to nor did I appreciate it. Plus, there was no way I was leaving her to think about what had happened earlier, and I’d begun to resent how little time we’d had together since I had arrived.
Usually, she had only ever taken one day off a week, she was only twenty-five, yet she appeared to live to serve others who were out enjoying themselves.
Taking Daisy’s prompt, my sister changed clothes before she and the boys headed back to the hotel without me. I had refused to leave without her for fear another emergency would somehow crop up before she had gotten out of the door. Leaving her to focus, I spent another hour clearing glasses and tidying up the spirits gantry.
When I’d first walked back into the bar, I’d noted the same two guys standing, propping up the counter. They were obviously familiar faces from the conversations they were having with Maria about mutual people they knew. Eventually, I heard one of them make another challenge about my identity in their conversation.
“Rock stars don’t clear glasses in pubs,” Maria told him, “he’s Daisy’s friend with benefits from Canada.”
I said nothing, gave them zero eye contact and got on with the job I wasn’t paid to do. With the unexpected appearance of a fan and overhearing their conversation, it reinforced my resolve that after the holiday I had to contact my PR agent to discuss a strategy for going public with Daisy.
When Daisy’s hour was up, I went back upstairs and found her sitting in her lounge, laptop closed, drinking tea.
“Is that what you’re wearing?” I clarified at the same time as I slid my cell from my pocket, ready to call up an Uber.
“Let me change my T-shirt and shoes and I’ll be ready to roll,” she replied.
I stayed put in the sitting room, knowing that following her while she changed would have been a terrible idea, as we’d probably have ended up naked and we’d never have left the pub.
Thankfully, true to her word, Daisy was ready in minutes, and with an almost instant Uber on tap, we arrived at the hotel in just over an hour and a half from when my family had left us.
“What are you two doing here?” Daisy asked, sounding annoyed the moment we’d pushed through the door. It took me a moment to digest that her two sisters were stood in the foyer, dressed to the nines in what was very obviously party outfits.
“Didn’t anyone tell you? We’re taking Ryan and Nick clubbing,” Belle advised, cheerily.
“Bad idea,” Daisy growled, catching Belle by her elbow. She led her out of earshot to speak with her.
“Hi,” Poppy said, shyly, clearly tongue-tied to find herself on her own with me again.
“Hey, sweetheart. Where are you going?” I asked, trying not to have the same wicked thoughts about my nephews that were obviously going on in my girl’s head. I was all for my nephews having fun, but not at the expense of putting further strain on my relations
hip with Daisy.
“We’re off to Mother, a nightclub in town. It’s not just us,” she added quickly, in her soft Irish accent. “There’s about a dozen of us going, four other boys and girls.” She shrugged and looked guilty about the arrangements they’d made without anyone else being aware. “We just thought… you know, Ryan and Nick are here and with them not able to go legally into clubs in America, it would be nice to show them how young people in Ireland have fun.”
“I expect young people have fun the same the world over… in first world countries, but I understand Daisy’s concerns. If any of you hook up, how would that affect my relationship with Daisy?”
“Erm, I think it’s a bit late to wonder about that,” Poppy admitted, nodding her head in the direction of Daisy and Belle who had been joined by Ryan. His hand was draped around Belle’s shoulder and from the look on his face he was trying his best to placate Daisy and reassure her all was well.
“Fuck,” I muttered then stole a glance at Poppy who stood adoringly biting her bottom lip.
“Wow, you look hot,” Nick told Poppy as he swaggered over toward us with his hands held out at his sides, his hungry eyes devouring every inch of my girl’s younger sister.
“Looking is all you’re doing, Nick… you got me?”
“Roger that,” he replied with a smirk. “Right now, at any rate,” he added and flinched with the scowl I shot back at him.
“You’re all young hot people, I get it, but you have to use your head this time, Nick. Just be extra careful … both of you,” I muttered and wandered toward Daisy and the others, expecting to put out a fire.
“Gotcha,” I heard Nick reply, the response registering later than usual.
“Is there a problem?” I asked, acting innocent.
“I’d say so, wouldn’t you?” Daisy snapped back, glaring at Belle once again.
“Not from where I’m standing, baby. They’re going clubbing with eight other people.”
“But these are going together,” she argued.
“Of course, they are, the boys don’t know what they’re doing. Your sisters are being great hosts.”
“Oh, that’s what they’re calling themselves these days?” she shot back, her voice laced with sarcasm.
“What’s that supposed to mean, Daisy?” Belle asked, folding her arms in definance. “You’re the only one allowed to have fun now? It may have escaped your notice, but my mother was with us on Christmas Day, I don’t need another,” she snapped.
“Don’t start acting all sassy—” Daisy warned.
“She doesn’t have to act, she’s a very cool chick,” Ryan interjected defending Belle.
“Oh. My. God. Do you see what I’m talking about?” Daisy asked me, looking flustered like she was losing the argument.
“Stop, Daisy. Breathe. I know you’re worried about this. I completely get it, but they’re all adults…ish,” I said when my eyes fell on Ryan again and knowing how immature his sense of humor could be at times. “What we do shouldn’t be affected by them. They need to make their own mistakes, but I don’t believe these guys aren’t aware of how difficult their situation is. We’re the ones who have it easy. We’re already together. If they happen to hook up, they’ll have to suck up the result of that and deal with any potential consequences in the future. I won’t allow it to interfere with us.”
Daisy huffed in defeat. “Go. Do what you’re going to do. You were always going to anyway, right Belle?”
“Thanks, Daisy, I love you too, and despite what you think, I’ve thought a lot about this. Jamie’s right, we are all adults and whatever happens I’m big enough to know it mustn’t ruin what you guys have.”
Without waiting for her sister’s reply, Belle walked purposefully over to Poppy and Nick, shaking her head.
“I think I know how you see me, but I’ll take good care of her, Daisy. Your sisters are taking us out to have fun. It’s nothing serious, but I like Belle a lot, she’s a very cool girl.” After saying his piece, Ryan wandered over at a much more leisurely pace and joined the others.
“There you are,” Catrina said, smiling. “Looks like we’ve been deserted this evening,” completely unaware of the shit show her sons had almost caused.
Chapter 15
After a period of defrosting at the hotel, Daisy was back to her old cheerful self. It helped that Poppy texted Daisy with some pictures of their group of friends that featured Nick and Ryan dancing with different girls.
Catrina asked her to remind the boys we were all going to see more sights the following morning and not to get hammered, joking she had no idea how the bail system worked in Ireland.
Personally, I couldn’t have cared less one way or another, but I took reassurance from how Daisy reacted to seeing our relatives partying together, as it told me she really cared about our relationship.
“Come on,” I coaxed, pulling Daisy’s legs down the mattress the following morning, until her feet hit the floor. Bending over her, I slid my hands under her shoulders and sat her up at the bottom of the bed. We’d been up until the wee small hours making love and I guessed she was still worn out.
“We’ve got three requests for places to see from Catrina. Which do you prefer? There’s Giant’s Causeway, Titanic Experience or VIP tour of The Bushmills Distillery.”
Daisy cricked her neck from side to side, a messy bun piled sexily atop her head and her eyes still closed.
“They’re all in the North and it’s hours in the car,” she mumbled.
I smiled gently at Daisy and waited. When the penny dropped, her eyes sprang open and she blinked rapidly when the daylight invaded her eyes. Closing them again, she sighed.
“Don’t tell me, you’ve got us another helicopter ride.”
“Indeed,” I grinned. “We’re going to meet up with Paddy and Bernie. They’ve decided to come down to the ceilidh, but I’d like to go up there and bring them back. There’s also something I’d like to check out.”
“Okay, we can fly over the Giant's Causeway, then double back to Belfast. Bernie wants to take Cat to the Titanic experience, then we can all go on to Bushmills Distillery. It’ll be a whirlwind tour though, because we don’t have much daylight at this time of year. What time is it anyway?” she asked, staring toward the oval tower windows in the hotel room.
“Nearly 8:30 a.m. The helicopter has permission to land in a farmer’s field close by at 9:15 a.m. He has a helipad, and the pilot is his friend.”
“Now isn’t that a stroke of luck,” she replied, sounding sarcastic. I knew she was tired, but figured once she was out in the fresh air, she’d perk up.
“Sure, Ireland’s, my lucky place,” I mumbled. I shoved her down on her back and covering her body with mine.
A sharp knock on the door interrupted us. “Breakfast?” Daisy asked, hopefully.
“Nope, I asked for a continental breakfast to go. We’re picking them up at the desk,” I muttered wandering over to the door and peeping through the spy hole. Sighing, I opened the door.
“Morning,” Ryan breezed, like he’d gone to bed at 9:00 p.m. the night before. “Mom’s just finishing breakfast and Nick’s a hard pass this morning,” he informed me, glancing past to where Daisy was still lying at the bottom of the bed. Checking out my naked form he smirked. “Was I interrupting something?”
When he chuckled and it turned into a laugh, I turned to see Daisy had scooted up to the top of the bed with the comforter up to her chin.
“Nope, I was just dragging Daisy out of bed. Get the fuck out of here and let us get dressed. We’ll be in the foyer in fifteen minutes.”
While Daisy showered and dressed, I texted Paddy. He informed me as Bernie and Cat were going around the Titanic Exhibition, they’d meet us there.
Connor was on hand to drive us to the farmer’s field where the helicopter was already waiting. Once we had taken off, it was only a short ride to the coast. Thankfully, the weather was kind. Instead of the rain we had experienced for the few days before,
it was a crisp, frosty, but sunny morning.
Before we headed further north for Giant’s Causeway, we made what they’d all thought was an unscheduled stop in Dundalk, a small town near the border with Northern Ireland.
Daisy broke her silence, looking confused. “Well, this is romantic, Jamie. Why are we here at St. Patrick’s cemetery?”
“Trust me, I just want to find something. We're looking for any gravestones with the name Quinn on them.” Catrina glanced over at me, immediately looking more interested. I didn’t need to explain anything to her. “If we split up, we might find them faster.”
Although this was not what Daisy had expected from her day out, she trod off down one of the overgrown pathways and began to read the tombstones.
All the stones I scanned were unsuccessful. I glanced up a few times and saw each of our party roaming along different parts of the cemetery with no luck. I’d all but given up after fifteen minutes of searching, when Daisy shouted.
“I’ve got six Quinns in a row over here,” she called out. When I looked up puffs of cold air blew out of her mouth and she stamped her feet to shake of the cold.
I made my way over to where Daisy was standing, sure enough there were six tombstones, some three and four to a plot, with dates of birth and death, the oldest going back a few hundred years.
“Okay, care to tell me why the interest?” she asked, as Catrina came to join us.
“In a minute. I just want to take pictures of all these stones.”
“Want to share why?” she asked, again looking confused as her eyes flitted between Catrina and me.
“These people are our, ancestors,” I told her. Ryan came up to join us. “The other day Connor was telling Cat about the Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin. As Connor was taking Catrina and the boys there, I asked her to do some digging. Last year I was contacted by a production company who wanted me to do a program about my Irish family tree. I turned it down because of other commitments, but they forwarded me the research they had. Our mom was a Quinn, and she had my great grandmother’s birth certificate from this parish here in Ireland.” I gestured toward the stones. “And all of these are our ancestors.”
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