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“Your dad promised him you’d meet the man. It’ll work out,” Mum says softly, so she doesn’t upset Sadie before bed.
I roll my eyes at the blatant misogyny of it all. “He should have asked me. And I had a shred of hope that this ordering women around didn’t happen in a progressive place like America.” I snag a bite of Sadie’s cookie. “I guess I was wrong.”
Mum just exhales, and I see things differently. All she’s done for me. Giving me a home after my parents died, holding my hand through my pregnancy without a husband, and supporting us while asking for nothing in return.
Wasthisthe best life for Sadie? Perhaps being married to a powerful, wealthy man in one of the most exciting cities in the world isn’t so bad. So long as he’s at least kind to my daughter. Takes an interest in her.
As that thought cements in my head, Ewan stands under the arch, watching me and Sadie. I catch his eyes, and his warm smile comforts me, but also confuses me. “Hungry?”
“Starved,” he admits. “I don’t want to be any trouble. I arranged to stay overnight in town.”
“Where?”
“Carney’s Inn.”
I freeze and wait for the recognition to hit him. But it doesn’t. “That’s a nice place. I’ve…stayed there before.”
Poke. Poke. Poke.
Mum’s head darts up from the stove. “When did you stay overnight at Carney’s?”
I stare at Ewan again, even pull my hair back and fan my neck. Letting him see my full face like that night when I had short hair. “One night. A long time ago.”
“A long time ago? You’re twenty-three.”
Ewan cocks his head. That’s another reason he’s not connecting the dots. I told him five years ago I was twenty-one.
“Ciara’s nineteenth birthday. We did a sleepover there.”
“I don’t remember that.” Wiping her hand on a dishtowel, Mum thankfully brushes it off. “In any case, you’re family, Ewan. You stay right here,” she announces, browning a cheese and ham toastie for him. “James’s room is free.”
My brother shares a farmhouse in the next town over with other buskers who play for money on the streets. He left, saying he had to catch the van to Cork for a week.
“I wired Carney’s a deposit.” Ewan sits next to Sadie, and he smiles at her.
“I’ll take care of it.” I look up the phone number and dial. “Hi, it’s Darcy Quinlan. You have a reservation for my uncle Ewan Quinlan? He’s gonna stay here with us. Please refund his money. Thank you.” I put the phone back into my pocket. “Taken care of.”
“Everyone still knows everyone here, huh?” Ewan bites into his toastie, and I swear, his eyes roll back in his head.
Mum cooks with a sinful amount of butter. “When were you here last?” she asks him, and I brush a hand across my face, not wanting him to recognize me now.
“I was here about five years ago. My sister Norah wanted her ashes spread out in the lake we played in as kids.” Ewan dealt with grief in a strange way five years ago.
First,almostbanging Lola and then pinning me down and finishing. Although, I don’t remember it like that. I wanted it. Wanted to get my virginity out of the way so I could tell Callum.
That slime didn’t react the way I hoped, though. I shiver at that terrible memory and rub my neck, remembering the pain of being choked as hepunishedme.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” I take a seat at the table and stroke Ewan’s hand, a napkin balled in a strangled fist. His skin feels warm, like I remember, and he looks affected by my touch.
But that’s not possible. According to him, we just met. And he thinks I’m his blood-related niece. Could be the reason he’s flushed if he’s having impure thoughts about me.
“Done, Maimeó,” Sadie says, handing her mug to my mum. “Can I watch the tele?”
“One cartoon, then bed,” I tell her and watch her skip off.
“She knows how to work the remote?” Ewan asks, his plate empty.
“For a year now.” I smile at him.
