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“You heard me. I know you’re a momma’s boy, Bren, but she ain’t perfect.”
“Never said she was.”
If anything, I knew more than anyone else that she wasn’t. He was right that we were close, but I’d seen how she’d let us down over and over again, but that was what parents did.
They fucked up.
They made mistakes.
But Ma had always bounced back. Like a fucking boomerang, you couldn’t get rid of her.
Same thing with Da.
“What did she do?” I demanded.
“Finn’s story to tell, not mine.”
Before I could clip him around the ear, I saw the glint of a vehicle in the distance. That wasn’t extraordinary, but on a Sunday, with all the family here now, it was unusual.
“We expecting guests?”
Conor peered out of the window and muttered, “Huh. No. I don’t think so.”
Both of us watched as the guards scrambled to get back to their stations to deal with the guest, but a few minutes later, the gates opened and Da, who was hurling curses at Finn like a hungover witch the day after Halloween, paused to pick up his phone.
When his beet-colored face blanched, and he staggered back, leaning on Finn who darted forward to support him, Conor and I shared a look before we ran outside.
We weren’t the only ones who’d seen the show. Declan was on his way, and Aidan, thanks to his knee, was hobbling outside too.
“What’s going on, Senior?” Finn ground out, shaking his arm as if that would give us answers.
“I-It can’t be,” Da rattled off, but his gaze was pinned to the car that was driving nearer.
“Who is it, Da?” Aidan demanded.
He licked his lips. “Jackie says…” He paused. Broke off. Tried again. “Jackie says it’s your uncle Padraig.”
Conor snorted. “He’s dead.”
“Well, it ain’t a fucking hearse that’s driving toward us,” Declan groused. “How can Uncle Paddy still be alive, Da? Jackie must be wrong.”
A wall of O’Donnellys turned to face the chaos that was about to blast our way. Because the guards wouldn’t have let just anyone inside the gates, and definitely not Jackie who’d been with Da since the beginning.
Whatever was going on here, however, we were all in the goddamn dark but we were united together.
No matter what.
That was how the O’Donnellys fought their battles.
