Chasing Tail

by Roxanne St Claire

  Sadie never thought she’d long to see the ubiquitous Hello, My Name Is…sticker on someone’s chest, but that political-function staple would really help a lot on a Sunday afternoon at Waterford Farm. The big country kitchen teemed with strangers, and Sadie would be grateful to know a Kilcannon from a Mahoney from a Santorini.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll get to know everyone soon enough.” A spunky teenager she hadn’t met yet sidled up to Sadie, cuddling a baby in her arms. “I’m Pru, daughter of Trace and Molly, who is Connor’s cousin, and this is my baby brother, Danny. Welcome to Crazytown.”

  Sadie laughed. “Okay. Molly and Trace. Now, I did get a complete rundown on the way over here, so give me a second…the vet and the therapy dog trainer?”

  “Very good. Did he tell you everything? Like how my dad showed up after fourteen years needing help for Meatball?”

  Sadie nodded, remembering the remarkable and emotional story Connor had shared about Trace’s time in prison, never knowing he’d fathered a child. “I’m happy your family is united.”

  “Same.” She swayed the baby, who looked less than six months old, but had a decent amount of dark hair on a head lying contentedly on his sister’s shoulder, one hand gripping a lock of her long hair.

  On Sadie’s other side, a gorgeous young woman with a pixie cut and wide eyes the color of espresso joined them. “Greetings, new girl. I’m Ella.” She extended a hand as delicate as her fine features. “Your fake future sister-in-law, fourth child and only daughter on the Mahoney side. Mom likes me best, and no matter what my brother told you, I am, under no circumstances, to be called Smella.”

  Laughing at the introduction, Sadie shook her hand, admiring the twentysomething with the look of a young Audrey Hepburn about her. “He did, actually, mention that nickname. He told me I had to call you that.”

  She rolled those stunning brown eyes. “If I didn’t love my big brothers so much, I’d hate them.”

  Pru snorted. “You worship them all, especially Connor.”

  Ella shrugged. “Sometimes he’s my favorite, but other times, when he gets all protective, like when anyone with a Y chromosome comes within a two-mile radius of me? Then I want to kill him.” She grinned at Sadie. “So thanks for the distraction, Sadie. Maybe I can scare up a date while he’s running for mayor and following you around, tripping over his own tongue.”

  “Happy to help,” Sadie said, doubting very much that the young woman had any trouble getting a date.

  Ella lifted a tall Bloody Mary. “Did you get one of these? My cousin Darcy is in charge of the pitchers today, so they are strong.”

  “I have one.” She tipped her head to the glass on the island counter next to her. “But I haven’t met Darcy yet.”

  “I’m right here.” Another woman cozied up to them, a sunny blonde with a blinding smile, a veritable ray of sunshine, and Sadie warmed to her instantly. “Maker of strong drinks, dog groomer, youngest Kilcannon, and…” She looked at the others. “What else does she need to know?”

  “That you are attached at my hip,” Ella said, then made a pouty face that somehow managed to make her prettier. “Or were until you got married last summer, and now that hip belongs to the great and powerful Josh Ranier.”

  “Oh, I met Josh,” Sadie chimed in, happy to recognize a name. “He was the one with two little white dogs, right? Connor introduced me when we took Frank out to the pen.”

  “The two little white dogs are Kookie and Stella, but you are not expected to learn the dog’s names, too,” Darcy assured her.

  “But you are expected to come and see the grannies,” Pru said. “In fact, they sent me in here to escort you to them.”

  “Ohhh.” Ella lifted a brow. “You’ve been summoned by the Dogmothers.”

  “Of course, I’d love to see them.” Sadie picked up her glass. “I met them at my grandmother’s knitting group. Where are they?”

  “On the patio,” Pru said. “Normally, they’d have jumped you the minute you arrived, but…I think they’re a little miffed about what happened.”

  Sadie drew back. “What happened?”

  They all shared a look of amusement. “You do it,” Darcy said to Ella. “You’re better than I am.”

  Ella cleared her throat, angled her head, and adjusted the neckline of an imaginary sweater. “‘The lass was supposed to be a campaign manager, not an opponent!’” She used a thick, spot-on brogue.

  “Oh dear.” Sadie made a face. “Have I angered the powers that be?”

  “Honestly, you can’t anger Gramma Finnie,” Ella said. “She’s the sweetest human on earth and loves nothing more than when I do her brogue. Now, the Greek grandmother?”

  Just then, another beauty joined the small group, who Connor had introduced as Cassie, his sister-in-law and daughter of Katie. Good God, she needed a cheat sheet and a family tree. And maybe another drink of the strong Bloody Mary.

  “Did someone call for a Greek?” Cassie shook a head full of thick black hair and trained an ebony gaze on Sadie. “I represent the Mediterranean side of the family, joined courtesy of the marriage of my mother to her father.” She pointed to Darcy. “And I have the distinct advantage of being married to Connor’s younger brother, Braden. So I can literally speak for all sides of the family—Mahoney, Santorini, and Kilcannon. What do you want to know?”

  “Is the Greek grandmother mad at me?” Sadie asked, surprised that deep inside she cared very much what the two older women thought. They were responsible for this sprawling, loving, lively extended family, and Sadie respected that.

  “I don’t think she’s mad, per se,” Cassie said, obviously choosing her words carefully. “For one thing, Yiayia doesn’t have quite the short temper she used to.”

  “Mellowed with age?” Sadie asked.

  “You could put it that way,” Cassie said.

  “And she’s heady from her matchmaking successes,” Pru added. “The Dogmothers take their grandchildren’s romances very seriously, and after you…” She pointed at Cassie. “And them…” She shifted her finger to a couple working side by side at the stove. Sadie remembered them as Grace and Alex. “They are not going to accept defeat with Connor.”

  Sadie just widened her eyes, and Ella put a hand on her arm. “They expect you to marry him.”

  “Like, for real.” Pru lifted her brows.

  She choked softly. “I mean, I could tell they were trying to, you know, nudge me in his direction for a date, but…seriously?”

  “First of all, the Dogmothers don’t nudge,” Cassie said, holding up her left hand to show off a sparkling diamond. “The Greek one will shove you in the direction she wants you to go, and the Irish one will soften your resolve with clever proverbs and shots of Jameson’s until you agree to anything.”

  They all laughed but Sadie. She just placed her fingers on her forehead and closed her eyes like it was all too much, making the others playfully clink glasses.

  “She knows she’s finished,” Pru said.

  “Might as well set a date,” Ella joked. Maybe joked.

  “You couldn’t find a better family.”

  Sadie nodded at Cassie’s comment. “Y’all are pretty darn dazzling.”

  “Dazzling!” They exclaimed in unison, toasting their drinks as Pru shifted the baby and gave Sadie a nudge. “Ready to see the grannies?”

  Sadie took a deep breath and lifted her own glass. “Take me to your leaders.” She swallowed a gulp of spicy tomato juice, got a kick of courage from the generous amount of vodka, and tapped little Danny’s button nose. “Come with me, young man. It’ll be fun, right?”

  “Oh, the trouble with trouble, lassies, is that it always starts out as fun,” Ella teased in her fake brogue.

  Their laughter rang through the house as they all headed off to face the Dogmothers, with Pru practically pushing Sadie in the right direction.

  * * *

  Connor’s grandmother put a gnarled, knotted hand over his and rubbed her age-smoothed palm acros
s his knuckles. “Lad, I’d move heaven and earth for ye. But I won’t lie.”

  “I’m not asking you to lie, Gramma.” He shifted on the hassock in front of her, where he stopped to chat. “I just need you to help me by telling a lot of people how excited you are about this engagement. And take all the credit for it. I know you want to do that.”

  “Because what I say is true,” she replied pointedly. “And this…isn’t.”

  “Or is it?” Yiayia, sitting next to Gramma Finnie in a matching rattan rocker, leaned forward to ask the question. “Because if it is…”

  He lifted a brow, wishing he could at least assure them there was a chance this relationship was real—because that predawn kissing sure felt real, and if Jane hadn’t shown up? He knew where it was going.

  But the exchange with Jane Sutherland changed everything. Sadie was on the rebound at best and still in love with her ex at worst. And then, when he went home to shower and change, he did an internet search on Nathan Lawrence, and plenty of photos showed up with one gorgeous congressional staffer on his arm.

  The guy didn’t look bad, either. No firefighter, but no slouch in the physical department, with an air of wealth and success he wore like a designer suit. There were enough pictures of the couple smiling at each other, hand in hand or arm in arm, for Connor to realize it hadn’t been a casual relationship, which only added to the possibility that Jane Sutherland had told him the truth.

  If so, then he didn’t want to pursue Sadie. Sure, maybe she downplayed the relationship, or maybe she was so wounded from Nathan’s cheating that she didn’t want to admit how deep her feelings for her ex really ran, but why would he take the chance?

  He didn’t play to lose.

  “It’s real…enough,” he said softly, glancing at the door where he knew Sadie could show up any minute, since Gramma and Yiayia had sent Pru to fetch her. He wanted to use the moment alone with them to ask his favor—that they “spread the word” for him. Because he had to remember what mattered and not get caught up in this “engagement.”

  What mattered was this election, which took on only more significance now. Even if she won, who was to say she wouldn’t run back to DC when Nathan Lawrence crooked his finger?

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Yiayia asked. “Real enough for…what?”

  “For us to qualify under Bitter Bark’s stupid hundred-and-fifty-year-old rules.”

  Gramma Finnie gasped softly. “’Tis nothin’ wrong with old Thaddeus Bushrod’s rules. “’Twas a good man with good intentions.”

  “Come on, Gramma. You’ve been around awhile, but you didn’t know Thad personally.”

  She lifted a white brow. “Seamus kept a copy of the History of Bitter Bark, written by Captain Bushrod, lad. I’ve never read it, but Seamus told me it was mostly rules for how a man should live his life. Good rules.”

  “Where is that book, Gramma?” Connor asked.

  “I gave it to your mother many years ago, and if I’m not mistaken, she gave it to your father.” She toyed with the top button of one of her zillion old-lady sweaters. “The legacy Thaddeus Bushrod left was that this town has been governed by good, stable men—and one woman, counting sweet Blanche Wilkins—who understood that family is what makes up the heart and soul of this town.”

  “Family and dogs,” he interjected. “And I give you…” He put his hand on the dog lying at his feet. “Mayor Frank.”

  Gramma smiled down at the animal. “He’s a dear one, no doubt about it. All of the dogs of Bitter Bark are, but dogs come with families, lad, and I’m with Captain Bushrod on this one,” she said. “I think the mayor should be committed to one person and building a life on a solid foundation. Not…” She lifted a white brow. “Playing the field.”

  He looked at Yiayia, who shrugged. “I’d cover for you, son. I’ve no problem with a little bit of stretching of the truth for a good cause. At least, that’s what I tell myself every time I get Botox.”

  He smiled at her easy, self-deprecating humor. “A perfect analogy, Yiayia.”

  “Maybe, but I doubt it will persuade your grandmother.”

  He looked at Gramma Finnie, whose entire wrinkled countenance said one thing: I canna tell a lie, lad. Also, she’d never used Botox.

  “Okay, fine,” he said on a sigh. “Side with Thad, then. You don’t have to tell anyone it’s real.”

  “Oh, I won’t. I’ll tell them the truth.” She picked up a thick glass with a few fingers of amber liquid he knew damn well wasn’t the dregs of iced tea. “I’ll tell them it’s as fake as a female leprechaun.”

  “Gramma!”

  “Finola!”

  “What’s with all the gasping?”

  Connor turned to see his mother coming up the steps to the patio, Colleen Mahoney’s sweet smile firmly in place as she eyed the three of them.

  “Oh, nothing, Mom. Just that Gramma Finnie wants Mitch Easterbrook to be mayor of Bitter Bark.”

  His mother curled a lip. “He’s disgusting on so many levels.”

  “And not exactly the paragon of family virtues you want so much to elect,” he said, only partly under his breath.

  Mom dropped onto the empty sofa, flipping back that long, dark blond ponytail she refused to cut. “He’s a phony,” she said, blunt as always. “He’s heartless, and his wife is a fool.”

  “But he has a wife,” Connor said. “And apparently, that’s more important than having standards, ethics, or caring about the people of this town, according to Thad Bushrod. Do you have a copy of his History of Bitter Bark, by the way?”

  His mother drew her brows, a distant look in her blue eyes. “I do,” she finally said. “Joe loved reading it, and I put it with his stuff in the attic. Do you want me to find it?”

  “Not if it’s any trouble,” he said quickly, never wanting to put his mother in a position to unpack her grief once again.

  “It’s me he wants to trouble,” Gramma said.

  “I just want your…support.”

  Gramma tsked and closed her eyes. “Lad, I’m not going to tell a lie. No, I’m no fan of the undertaker. But…” She glanced at Yiayia. “Lying at our age is dangerous business.”

  Connor frowned. “Why?”

  “We’re closer to our Maker than you are,” Yiayia explained. “So the answer is simple.” She crossed her arms and looked hard at him. “Make it real.” Yiayia gave him a tight smile. “Get on your knee, slide that ring on her finger, ask her to marry you…and mean it.”

  He stared at her, silent as a million unfamiliar emotions went to war in his chest. “I barely know her,” he finally whispered.

  “Then start working on that,” Yiayia said.

  “Let’s compromise, lad.” Gramma Finnie leaned all the way forward and put both hands on his face this time, turning his head so he would look her in the eyes. “Make me believe it, then I’ll be confident tellin’ the whole town what you’ve found with her.”

  “How? When?”

  Just then, he heard feminine laughter on the other side of the screen door.

  “Now would be a good time,” Gramma Finnie said. “And how is up to you, but I’m a big fan of the grand gesture.”

  The minute she said it, he knew what to do.

  Sadie appeared in the doorway, surrounded by his sister, cousins, and sister-in-law. She fit right in with the gorgeous group, all of them holding drinks except Pru, who held little Danny. As they lingered on the other side of the open slider, laughing at something Ella had said, Connor glanced at his mother, whose blue eyes were sparkling as she returned his gaze.

  “Don’t go anywhere,” he mouthed.

  She flicked a brow upward in surprise, but nodded.

  Sadie and the rest of the women stepped out to the patio, fanning out, chatting, greeting the grandmothers, and taking seats. But Connor stood and reached his hand to Sadie.

  “Getting to know everyone?” he asked, guiding her to sit next to him on the wide hassock in the middle of it all, somehow instinctivel
y knowing that’s where this had to be done.

  “It’s only a little overwhelming,” she said, perching next to him and turning her attention to Gramma Finnie and Yiayia. “But I know I’m in trouble with these two beautiful ladies, so I’ve come to make amends.”

  “No trouble, lass.” Gramma pushed her bifocals up her nose, making her blue eyes look a little blurry but no less serious. “’Twas our mistake in thinkin’ that ye would have listened to the suggestion.”

  “Ouch.” Sadie bit her lip. “I’m sorry. Your hearts were totally in the right place and…” She added one of those heartbreaking dimpled smiles and a look at Connor. “Your taste is impeccable.”

  “So there’s hope, then?” Yiayia asked.

  “There’s always hope.” Sadie reached for each of their hands. “I’m honored that I got to be a Dogmother consideration. I hear you’ve got some pretty amazing success stories. You should start a matchmaking business in Bitter Bark.”

  “Look at her,” Connor joked. “Helping out our Small Business Association already.”

  “Guess that’s the mayor coming out in me.” She gave him a saucy wink. “But seriously, you two are legendary.”

  “And you are butterin’ us like a piece of burnt toast, lassie.” Gramma Finnie’s eyes twinkled at her, the old woman as charmed as Connor was.

  As Connor watched Sadie work her magic, he became aware that the sprawling porch corner was filling up. Garrett and Shane had come over from the kennels, along with their wives and babies. Molly joined them, quietly taking Danny from Pru’s arms and settling on a chaise next to Trace. Aidan, Beck, Braden, Declan, Uncle Daniel, and Katie were on their way across the grass to join everyone gathered on the patio.

  With each new arrival, Frank seemed to inch a little closer, lifting his head to assess the newcomer, then dropping his chin back on Connor’s foot to hold him in place.

  He absently stroked the dog’s head, weirdly comforted by his presence, too. Fake or real, funny or serious, whatever direction he chose for this moment, he somehow knew it mattered.

  “I still think you’d have made a great campaign manager,” Yiayia said. “And Connor still would have needed a fiancée.”