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I squeeze her thigh. “Take a breath, princess,” I say quietly. And it’s maybe the funniest thing I’ve ever said to her. My quiet, never-uses-her-words girl hasn’t paused once, and Cian and Henry are staring at her as if they’ve never seen her before. I’m sure they’ve never seen this talkative side of Abigail.
I lean over and kiss her temple. “God, you’re hot when you’re worked up,” I whisper. Then I tell Astrid, “I love cacao juice. It’s sweet, and tangy, and tropical.”
“Um, wow,” Astrid says, clearly not sure what to think of this new information about cacao pods she never expected to get. “I would…yeah, I’d try that.”
I put my arm around her. "This is Abigail's passion." I kiss her temple. "We're really proud of this work.” I look down at my wife. “It's amazing you brought all this food tonight. I didn’t know you were going to do that."
"Well, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to introduce everyone to what we’re doing. And it turns out as Princess, I can get a lot of stuff done.” She smiles at Linnea. “With a little help.”
Part of me finds that adorable. I love that she’s getting more comfortable being the princess and that she’s realizing having a little bit of influence can be a good thing. On the other hand, here we are talking about the farm again.
I’m proud of it. I really am. But this isn’t the crowd we need to sell it to.
“My grandfather loves chocolate,” Cian says as he scoops up a forkful of Brussels sprouts.
Abigail turns her attention away from Astrid and onto Cian. I think I see Astrid sigh with relief.
“Oh, I know. I’ve been sending him bars on a regular basis.”
“No kidding.” Cian grins. “How’s a guy get in on something like that? I mean I’m your favorite brother-in-law.”
“You are?” Abigail asks, with a grin. “Griffin and Michael are pretty great. Plus, I haven’t even met Declan.”
Astrid snorts. “Lucky you.”
Abigail glances at her. “You don’t like Declan?”
Astrid shrugs. “Declan’s hot and rich, but he’s not really a guy you like. You respect him, hate him, are intimidated by him, admire him, or lust after him. But I don’t think anybody really likes him.”
Abigail gives me a look.
I can’t really argue with most of that except maybe the lust part, but yeah, my brother is not exactly a warm, fuzzy guy. “Declan definitely does things his own way,” I say.
“You know Declan from growing up here with the O’Gradys right?” Abigail asks Astrid.
“Well, yeah. But he also owns the team that my brother plays for. So we run into each other once in a while.”
“So do you respect him, hate him, or are you intimidated by him?” Cian asks with a smirk.
“None of those. Just some lust,” Astrid says without blinking.
Linnea chokes on a drink of water.
I have my arm resting on the back of Abigail’s chair. I take the opportunity to brush my fingers along the back of her neck. Right over her honeybee tattoo.
She leans back into my touch. I love having her here. With my family and friends. Yes, sitting around this dining table is much different than sitting around the table at Ellie’s with her boisterous and fun-loving cousins. But, at the same time, this is family. These are people I grew up with. People I’ve known my whole life. Cian and Henry and Jonah were with me when I went to the US. They believed in what I had to say and got on the plane with me. They were by my side when I left Cara and stayed there for ten years in the States.
And none of them ever said a negative word about me changing my mind and coming home.
I stroke my fingers over Abigail’s neck. This is my past, present, and future all melding together.
“Are you all going to the pub tonight?” Linnea asks, probably trying to change the subject from her little sister having dirty thoughts about my big brother.
Astrid leans in, smiling at Cian. “We should. Like old times, but we won’t have to sneak out now.”
“Hell yeah,” he says. He looks at Henry. “You up for a trip to the pub?”
Henry shrugs. “If I can handle you in the Quarter in New Orleans, I think I’ll be okay in a pub in Cara.”
