‘That’s not the point. It’s not about the money.’
‘Of course it’s about the money.’
‘How much was it anyway?’ Brian asked, looking at the till receipt Kate had tossed on the table. ‘Four euro!’ he exclaimed indignantly. ‘Four eurofor a glass of water.’
What an unbelievable shit,Will thought. It wasn’t that he gave a damn about the water but he could have wrung Brian’s neck because he had embarrassed Kate. It was no mystery why the O’Neills were so keen to be rid of him, but all Grace’s scheming seemed unnecessary. As far as he could see, Brian was doing a bang-up job of digging his own grave.
‘Nice pub,’ Brian said, clearly anxious to change direction now.
‘Yeah, we’ve been coming here for years,’ Kate said.
‘Lorcan and I bought you your first drink here,’ Will reminded her.
‘And then I helped him carry you home.’
‘You spend a lot of time with Kate’s family, don’t you?’ Brian said, almost accusingly.
‘Will is like the third brother I never had.’
‘Ouch! I’m not sure I like that! Brothers don’t perform acts of devotion like I did.’
‘When?’ Kate asked mockingly.
‘Remember that time you had a really bad fall off a horse andI stayed home with you all the next day when everyone else went into Cork?’
‘Only because you knew I’d make you brownies.’
‘True,’ Will laughed. ‘Kate makes the best brownies in the world,’ he told Brian.
‘Yes, I know,’ Brian said tightly, peeved. Will might have known Kate longer than he had, but he needn’t think he knew her better.
‘Remember that Christmas we spent here?’ Will said. ‘We all got plastered on Christmas Eve and went into the sea.’
‘Yes!’
‘Was that the year you lived with the O’Neills?’ Brian asked.
‘No, it was another year.’
‘Will always spends Christmas with us,’ Kate explained to Brian.
‘You never go home at Christmas?’
‘Thisishome,’ Will said. ‘I live in Ireland now.’
‘But I mean to your family.’
Kate glanced at Will. ‘Like Mum said, we’re sort of Will’s family.’
‘How does your father feel about that?’ Brian asked.
‘I wouldn’t know.’
‘Will doesn’t speak to his father,’ Kate said quickly.
‘What – never?’
Brian was eyeing Will like a vulture that had spotted a hobbled lion – no doubt measuring him up for one of his therapy groups, Kate thought.
