Page 367 of Manhattan Bossholes

“This one is for me and Miss Olivia,” Catie said. “And this one’s for you. She’s going to read, and you can follow along.”

“Very sensible,” Declan said, his face solemn and his eyes dancing as he accepted the book.

“Read the book now,” Catie said, leaning her damp, wriggly body against my side so she could see the pictures. Both of these books would probably have sand in their spines for the rest of their lives. A matching set, in more ways than one.

I read to Catie and Declan, knowing I was in the midst of a moment I’d cherish for the rest of my life. And most of it had to do with the man lying on his stomach next to me, dutifully flipping through a picture book because his niece told him to.

13

DECLAN

I’d proposed a beach day for Olivia, but I hadn’t realized how much I needed it too.

Anil and I were in the process of deciding whether to acquire a new tech company in Prague that would add organic in-app video to Snug. Right now people could watch linked videos in the app, but it was primarily a text platform. Adding video would help us compete with all the video-based social media platforms. But it would also change the feel of the platform.

It was a tricky balance in tech. Fail to keep up with the times, and miss out on new users. Change too much, and you lost existing users—and risked wading into an area where you really couldn’t provide as good an experience as the competition. Needless to say, it was a stressful state of affairs.

It had felt good to unplug for a few hours and listen to the waves. Even Sinead had noticed I sounded more relaxed when I talked to her that night.

Although it was a good thing the water was cold. Olivia’s demure swimsuit had clung to her curves in a way that had me fantasizing about untying that little bow at the base of her neck so I could finally…well.

As my grandad used to say, cold water is a gentleman’s friend. My gran used to scold him when he said that in front of the little kids, but he wasn’t wrong.

The next morning, I strolled into the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea while Olivia cooked breakfast for Catie.

“Uncle Declan! My mom said last night you have a boat.”

“I do.” I grabbed my favorite mug out of the cupboard, but then hesitated before brewing my tea. Instead, I glanced at Olivia, who was busy grabbing a pan from the cupboard. Noticing the eggs on the counter, I started cracking them into a bowl and whisking them. Olivia raised an eyebrow when she noticed what I was doing, and then smiled.

This—whatever this was—felt right.

“Can we go out on it today?” Catie practically bounced in her chair with enthusiasm.

It was on the tip of my tongue to say yes when I remembered what Olivia had said about structure. “Not today, love. I have work. But we could go out this weekend?” I glanced at Olivia to see if I’d handled that right.

She grabbed the bowl from my hands, gave me an approving smile, and poured the eggs into the pan. “I think this weekend would be a great idea.”

Catie heaved a dramatic sigh and returned to her breakfast. “I guess that’s okay, too.”

I bit back a smile. Sinead had been a drama queen too at that age. The women in my family had big emotions.

As Olivia finished the eggs and bacon, I made my tea…but I didn’t return to the office. My new weekend plans were making me feel more optimistic about the workday ahead and so, instead of planting myself in front of the computer right away, I pulled up a chair and sat beside Catie.

“Smells great,” I said. “Can I intrude on your breakfast, girls?”

“Only if we can go out today on the boat,” Catie fired back, crumbles flying everywhere as she stuffed half a slice of toast into her mouth.

“Nice try,” Olivia and I said in unison. We shared a knowing smile and, before Olivia sat down to eat, she gave my shoulder a playful squeeze. It was a simple and innocent gesture, and yet…

Yeah, I thought, this feels right.

Saturday morning dawned gray and misty, but I didn’t mind. That’s what sweaters were for. Besides, the mist would burn off. I helped Olivia and Catie climb aboard The Selkie, the sailboat I kept docked in Galway Harbor. It was big enough to be comfortable with all three of us, but small enough I could easily steer it by myself.

I made sure everyone was in their life jackets and knew the safety rules before I turned on the inboard engine to steer us away from the dock. Once we were out in the open water, we’d have enough wind I could shift to using the sails to navigate.

It was early enough in the morning that the still-waking-up Catie was happy to sit still and stare wide-eyed at everything around her.

I glanced at Olivia and saw her hand was tight on the railing.