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“I’d run it.”
“You’d keep it as a pub?”
“Yeah. My sister and I would.”
“And the name?”
She narrowed her eyes. “The name belongs to me more than it ever belonged to you.”
“Touché. But I have a feeling you won’t be an O’Malley forever.”
His comment threw her. “What?”
He smirked. “Call it intuition.” Sitting up, he knocked a knuckle on the desk causing her to flinch. “Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll mention your interest to my Aunt Col, since she’s the boss over there, and I’ll see what she thinks. Knowing you plan to keep it a pub, she might come down on the price. Or she might not. I can never predict what she’ll do. That will give you about two days.”
She frowned. “Two days until what?”
Kelly laughed. “Until word gets out. Aunt Col’s the tightest lipped, but she’s really no better than the others. Once she tells Aunt Rose, Aunt Rose will tell my mother and then your secrets will be shot to shit. So, if I were you, I’d move fast or come clean with Ryan. No one keeps secrets for long in this family.”
“Great.” Pressure mounted in her chest.
Chapter 37
“I can’t go in there.” Perrin paced on the sidewalk in front of the home Kelly sent them to visit. It was the house of Colleen Mosconi, wife to Paulie Mosconi, Aunt to Ryan, and mother to Mariella.
“Perrin, we have to. They’re expecting us.” They were standing on a sidewalk in the middle of a neighborhood. People were going to get suspicious.
“What if she’s in there?”
“We’re not here to see anyone but Colleen. This is business.”
“You go. I’ll wait for you back at the house and—”
“No.” Maggie put her foot down, blocking her sister’s incessant pacing. “You’re supposed to be my business partner. If you can’t do that, then we can’t do this. What are you going to do when someone you don’t like walks into the bar and you have to serve them?”
“It’ll be my bar. I can tell them to leave.”
“What year are you living in? That’s not how business works, and you can’t act like that in a town as small as this. People will talk and the bar could go under. You have to handle this like an adult.”
Perrin stilled and blinked in confusion. “When did you turn into the sensible one?”
Right around the time her sister lost her mind. “It’s a give and take. We keep each other in check. Now, pull yourself together, because in about five minutes, I’m going to make the biggest investment of my life, and I need you by my side.”
Perrin swallowed and nodded, straightening her shoulders. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
They walked the path to the house, and Maggie blew out a nervous breath as she rang the bell.
“I’m not speaking to her if she’s here.”
“Just pretend you don’t know her—Hello.” Maggie smiled widely as Colleen opened the door.
“Perfect timing. I just made a fresh pot of coffee. Come in, come in.” She held the door and led them into the house. “Paulie, Maggie’s here.”
“This is my sister, Perrin.”
Colleen turned and her gaze softened as she offered a friendly but guarded smile. It was clear she knew Perrin’s role in the Bran saga and decided she’d been as much a victim as her own daughter. “I figured we’d meet in the dining room.”
The house was a mix of cream and greens. Every end table and coffee table wore a sheen of polish that reflected the porcelain sculptures and vases on display. As they followed Colleen through the home, Maggie spotted the little woman with black hair spying on them, the one Alec told her was Italian Mary.
“My mother-in-law,” Colleen said. “Ignore her. She’s like a piece of furniture I can’t convince my husband to throw out.”
Perrin gave her a wide-eyed look and Maggie waved it away. She’d seen Colleen taking care of the woman at family dinner, the way only a loving daughter would handle a parent. She might make jokes, but it was clear she cared for her mother-in-law deeply.
A long table with cherry finish dominated the dining room. A pile of large manila folders waited in a neat stack at the head, and a tray of coffee with all the fixings sat in the center. Colleen waved them to have a seat on the side against the wall as she filled the chair at the head of the table.
Paulie appeared and Maggie introduced herself and her sister, again. His first question wasn’t much of a surprise. “Now, explain to me again how you’re an O’Malley.”
She’d prepared for this. “I’m the widow of Nash O’Malley, grandson of Caleb.”
He sat across from her. “And you’re dating Ryan, but he doesn’t know you’re here?” He appeared to disapprove of the secrecy more than her name.
“Only because I didn’t want to give him false hope before finding out if I could actually do this.”
