She and her sisters had designed the O building’s kitchens using the Viking Tuscany line. River had picked the slate blue for Patrick’s. All the countertops were pure white granite, white walls with cream vertical tile from countertop to ceiling. She was very proud of the finished space.
Shemayhave pictured Pat and her cooking together. Beginning a life. Creating a home. A family. River shut those thoughts down. She couldn’t afford to... remember. She wouldn’t wallow in regret. What happened would happen.
The colors he’d used in his Muskogee home, the one time she’d seen it, were similar to the palette she’d used in his new Dublin flat. They happened to be one of her favorite color schemes to work with. After seeing his personal space— New Year’s Eve night —she believed she’d nailed his aesthetic. Each room was light but cozy. A home.
River attempted to speak about something— anything —that didn’t remind her of Patrick. “Did you notice Josh literally making a fool of himself over Saoirse’s sister? Oh my God, I was dying. I texted him first thing this morning and asked him if he ever stopped stammering long enough to ask Sadhbh out.”
“Oh God, I noticed. What did he say?”
River pulled up her messages and showed Rowan the screenshot of Josh and Sadhbh’s text chat. River laughed as Rowan grinned and then laughed. “Obviously, love at first sight,” she giggled.
Rowan asked the most important question. “Does Josh know he has to pass the big sister interrogation? Saoirse can be— intense.”
“I wasn’t about to ruin the surprise,” she grinned. “Before I forget, remember Dom is rolling out some new app to keep us and our assistants connected. It is supposed to ‘streamline’ our whole business. That man is a wonder.”
“Bran’s best idea yet,” Rowan agreed.
“Oh look, Josh is texting again.” She and Rowan leaned over her screen, watching the waving dots until his words popped up. “Oh, fun! What should I say?” Josh asked if she and Rowan would meet him and Sadhbh at Murphy’s.
“I’m totally down. Thursday afternoon is Nan and Matilda’s baby shower, so we’re free Friday night. Oh, did Raven tell you her doctor advised against any more morning workouts with us? She’s supposed to be doing light yoga to help with her hip flexibility. Yikes.
“Consider me a birth control believer after seeing the size of Baby O and the size of our sister. No thanks,” she smirked. “My next gyno appointment is in March. I’m getting on birth control then.” Rowan laughed.
River raised her brows in question. “Thinking of hopping in bed with someone?” That would come as quite a shock to Hugh.
“It’s a ‘just in case’ plan. I dolikeCiaran.”
“Well, you better have stronger feelings than just ‘like’ if you’re thinking of sleeping with the man,” River advised. “Row. What of Hugh?” She knew Rowan didn’t want to speak about the O’Faolain patriarch until she was ready, but for Heaven’s sake, surely their current conversation would allow a bit of prying.
Rowan tapped her teacup, spinning the lovely floral china slowly in its saucer. The flowers reminded her of Patrick’s gift of the daisy pottery. She’d mentioned it only once, and he’d remembered.
She loved that gift.
“Hugh and I are... not anything. We are connected because of Raven and Bran. And eventually, you and Pat. There will never be anything between us.”
Her sister looked so pained. River was devastated she hadn’t pushed her sooner. “But, Row, I don’t understand.” She really didn’t understand. “The way he acts with you. He’s overprotective and, just proved the other night, he was jealous.”
“He made it very,” Rowan looked straight at her sister so there was no misunderstanding, “veryclear that because of our age difference, he would never consider dating me.” Grimacing at the memory, she obviously had to force out the last. “I kept hoping, because of the things you mentioned yourself, that he might change his mind. He won’t. I’m trying to move on. Ineedto move on. And I need to see him as little as possible.”
River sat beside her, placing the plated eggs on the table. “Have you ever wondered, Row, what it would have been like if the O’Faolains had never hired us?”
Rowan picked at her eggs, moving the soft bits of yellow around her plate. “No. No, I don’t wish that. For one, look at Raven. Bran loves her to distraction. And second, or first, I suppose, we have Baby O. Third, and I am a firm believer in this one—It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
“You’re right. Definitely right.”
“For what it’s worth, I think you and Pat are going to make it.”
“For what it’s worth, Hugh better watch himself around you. He doesn’t want to have a relationship, that’s his loss, but he’d better stop trying to dictate your life.”
“Agreed.”
“Patrick is coming in today. How are we feeling about that?” Rowan smiled.
“Wewant to see him, but wearen’tready to talk to him.”
“Agreed.”
25
