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“I’m incredibly disappointed in you, Isabella Marie.”
“Likewise. I can tell by your tone that you’re going to leave it. And that’s fine. You have my number if you need me, but don’t use it if you’re only going to hound me about marrying an abusive, cheating man just because it fits your needs. Goodbye.”
I hang up and toss my phone into my purse.
“I’m so sorry, love.”
“I’m not.” I shake my head and turn to Keegan. “I’m not sorry at all. It’s way past time I stood up to that man. Speak up for myself. He can’t bully me into doing what he wants anymore, and it’s driving him crazy. But I don’t care. He’ll learn to live with it. I’m not going back there. I love my life here.”
“Good.” He leans over to kiss my lips. “It’s glad I am that you’re happy here.”
“I’ll be happier if you get your oatmeal.”
“On our way.” He pulls away from the deli and circles the block to park in front of the diner. “Are you having oatmeal, as well?”
“Hell no, I’m having pancakes.”
* * *
How dare my father insult my job? I freaking love working at the pub. And tonight is no different. It’s Saturday night, so we’re busy. The band plays on the stage, and Maggie, Maeve, and I work the tables while Keegan and Tom pull the taps, and Fiona, Lexi, and Shawn man the kitchen.
All hands on deck tonight, and I am having the time of my life.
“It’s a beauty you are, Miss Izzy,” Frank, one of our regulars, says as I set his drink in front of him. His grin widens when I add the burger and fries he ordered. “Run off and marry me, why don’t you?”
“Ah, Frank.” I pat him on the shoulder and offer him a wink. “You’d be sick of me within a week.”
“I beg to differ.”
He laughs as I kiss his cheek and then saunter away to put a drink order in with Keegan.
“Flirting with the customers are you, love?” he asks.
“Frank’s convinced that I own his heart and proposed for the fourth time this week.”
Keegan laughs as Maeve approaches the bar. “He proposed to me just a half-hour ago.”
“It’s a fickle heart he has, our Frank.” Keegan pulls the tap for the Guinness. “How’s it going out there, ladies?”
“Fine for me tonight,” Maeve says.
“Me, too. It’s busy, but everyone seems happy tonight. And with all of us here, it’s been smooth sailing.”
“That’s what we like to hear.” Tom winks as he joins Keegan at the taps. “And hello to you, Cameron.”
I turn to see Cameron sitting on a stool at the bar. He grins at everyone and nods when Keegan offers him a pint.
“What are you up to this evening?” I ask him.
“Enjoying my last night in town for a couple of weeks.”
“You’re leaving again, then?” Maggie asks as she takes Maeve’s place at the bar. “That sounds about right.”
Cameron’s blue eyes narrow on Maggie. “You know I always come back.”
“It’s none of my business, is it?” She turns to Keegan. “I need three pints of Guinness, and I have to go to the kitchen.”
She hurries away and leaves Cameron looking after her.
“Why is she so angry with you?” I ask him.
“She hasn’t said?”
“No, she doesn’t talk about it.”
He sighs and looks back toward the kitchen again. A muscle twitches in his jaw as he clenches it shut. “I guess I shouldn’t talk about it either, then.”
“Well, do something to fix it because neither of you is going anywhere, and Maggie being mad at you forever doesn’t sound fun to me.”
“It doesn’t sound fun to me either,” he says. “And I’m working on fixing it. You’re bossy, you know that, Izzy?”
I laugh and take my now-full tray off the bar. “Yeah. I know. Here I go.”
I make my rounds and drop off drinks. I’ve just wiped off an empty table when two more men sit down at it.
“Hey, guys, what can I get for you?”
“Just a couple of beers,” one of them says. When I glance up, I recognize him right away, but I just smile, take the order, and then walk back to the bar. “Keegan?”
“Yes, love?”
“Aren’t those two guys at that table the ones you tossed out of here last night?”
His green eyes narrow as he scans the bar. “They are. I’ll tell them to leave.”
“Well, they’re polite for now. I’ll keep an eye on them. Maybe last night was just a bad one.”
Keegan presses his lips together. “If they say or do even one thing that makes you uncomfortable, you come tell me, and I’ll get them out of here.”
“I can do that.”
I go about the business of delivering food and drinks and talking with the patrons. The evening goes well, and even the two horrible patrons from last night are polite and friendly.
