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“The line between a lack of perfection and murder is a big one.”
“Then why can’t you stop looking at him?” she asked and I realized that she had followed me in here on purpose. “Go back to your mediocrity and your misery, Coraline, if you can’t handle the fact that the best things in life always come with a catch. I can see it in your eyes. How lonely you are. It’s a shame that you are standing in the way of your own happiness.”
She walked around me, her heels clicking on the ground, as she made her way out. I leaned against the counter for a second, breathing deeply when the door opened again and I stood up straighter. But it wasn’t her, it was Declan.
His eyes looked over me frantically before he relaxed.
“Thank God. I thought she hurt you,” he said softly.
“Evelyn?”
He nodded. “Even I don’t know what my aunt is capable of. I don’t think anyone but Sedric knows, and if he asked her to hurt you, she would. Sorry for barging in. I just…I just needed to see you were alright. You look nice. Sorry. Ugh. I will go.”
He turned to leave.
Wait!
But I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I let him walk away from me and my heart ached.
DAY 6
I missed him. No matter how much I didn’t want admit it. I missed him, to the point where I almost called.
Almost.
DAY 7
I was at the Elgin Soup Kitchen today. I felt the need to do some good, and feeding the homeless seemed like the only thing I could do. Part of me wanted to remind myself that my problems meant nothing. There were worse things going on in the world and I shouldn’t waste my time thinking about him.
“Hello,” I said, with a smile, to the small, freckle-faced girl who stood in front of my station of cakes and other breads. “Which one do you want?”
She stood up on her tippy toes, as her eyes looked them all over. Then she glanced to someone who was either her older sister or her really young mother. The girl looked so…broken—and I knew broken. The rings around her eyes told me that she hadn’t had a restful night’s sleep in weeks. She nodded to the little girl and she pointed to the chocolate covered cake. I gave her the biggest piece.
“Thank you!” She beamed like I had just given her Willy Wonka’s Golden ticket.
“You’re welcome,” I said as she went back to her table.
Next up was rather large muscle man. The hair on his head and eyebrow had been shaved off. He grinned and pointed down to the sponge cake. He looked kind of like a little kid despite his appearance. Laughing to myself, I nodded as I handed it to him. He said ‘thank you’ in sign language, and I, unsure of how to respond, copied the action. But instead of walking away, his gaze shifted to behind me and I felt someone step up next to me. Turning to look, I found that it was none other than Liam Callahan, dressed in a plain cotton shirt and a pair of jeans. In all of the times I had seen him, this had to have been the most causal. But he didn’t look at me. Instead, he started to sign to the man in front us. I looked on as they had what seemed to be a hilarious conversation.
“Any day, Ardal!” Liam said as he waved him off. They clasped hands over the food table before the man finally went to his seat.
Liam grabbed a pair of gloves under the counter and pulled on them on without looking at me.
“Hello,” I finally said to him and his green eyes, so much like Declan’s, focused in one me.
“Hello, Coraline.” He nodded causally before he turned his attention to the next person in line.
A little boy with blond hair.
Liam rolled his eyes. “I don’t like this one. NEXT.”
“Liam!” I gasped at him and then to the boy who made a face.
“I ain’t like your sorry ass either!” The boy said in the strongest accent I had ever heard.
“Listen, kid—”
“Kid, I am manlier then your sorry—” Before he could finish another younger boy came over quickly and placed his hand over the boy’s mouth.
“Sorry, sir, he’s bit stubborn, this one,” the older one said.
“You better knock some sense to him.” Liam took a random cake and dropped it onto the boy’s tray.
The blond boy bit the hand over his mouth and glared at Liam who just glared back to him.
“I don’t want this one.”
“You know what—”
“Which one did you want?” I cut in quickly.
The boys turned to me and the little boy made puppy dog eyes. “The chocolate one.”
“Okay then, let’s trade,” I said as I handed over the chocolate cake, but the little brat stole it and ran off with them both!
“Tsk tsk.” Both Liam and the other boy shook their heads.
“How could you fall for that?” the boy said to me.
“She’s still green, Carney. Tell your little brother if he crosses my path again I will hang him up by the ankles.”
“I’ll send him your way then, sir!” He laughed as he went over to his brother, and put him into a headlock while all the rest of the table laughed.
“So, you come here often?” I whispered handing out the cake.
“One Callahan every Sunday, unless it’s my father’s turn and then all his sons come with him. After all, it’s our soup kitchen.”
Shocked, I glanced at him as he handed a piece of vanilla cake to an elder woman.
“You own this soup kitchen?”
“That’s what I said. We have others, but this is main one. It’s not only open to the Irish either,” he stated as he nodded at the Asians who came across to us. He finally faced me. “It seems like you can’t get away from us.”
“It’s hardly fair since you all own everything.”
He snickered as he handed the last piece of cake over before he looked around me to the people in charge further up the line.
“Is there more cake?”
“Yeah. In the fridge!”
He nodded and glanced at me. “Come on.”
I really didn’t want to follow him.
“I’m not going to hurt my brother’s girl,” he muttered already walking.
“I’m not his girl.”
“Why not?”
“First your mother now you. You guys—”
“My mother came to see you?” He frowned as we went into the kitchen.
“You didn’t know? Two days ago at Absolon.”
He opened the fridge but paused. “Oh, so that’s what happened. I knew you were there, but I didn’t realize she went to speak with you. I wondered why they both got up like that. What did my mother say? I’ve always wanted to know what she has to say to the wives.”
“I’m not—I’m not anyone’s wife.”
“Not yet,” he replied as he grabbed two trays and headed to the front again.
“You’re incredibly—”
“Passionate? Sweet? Oh, I know…sinfully and unbelievably handsome.” He lifted his chin in pride as he set the trays down, and took mine from me.
“Pushy.”
He snickered.
I noticed that he seemed to know almost everyone’s name, not only the Irish, but everyone that walked in, which made me wonder how long people had been coming here. He didn’t bring up Declan or anything related to the subject, he just did his job, one of them at any rate, and focused on those in front of him.
