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“Dad, do you remember Rory Adams?”
He nodded. “Little Rory. You do know your dad would kick my son’s ass if he saw what I just saw?”
Trying to speak, Rory cleared her throat three times. “Y-yes sir. I mean, he wouldn’t. No wait. Yes he would.”
Reaching for her hand, my father helped Rory out of the taxi and pulled her into a hug. “You’ve grown into a beautiful young woman.”
Even with the sun setting in the sky, I could see her cheeks stain with a beautiful rose blush. It matched the color of the clouds.
“All right, Michael Ward, you step aside and let me see the woman who has captured my Finn’s heart.”
Rory peeked over at me while pressing her lips tightly together. My mother walked up and took Rory by the arms and held her back to examine her. “Rory Adams, I remember braiding your hair when you were five years old!”
Rory giggled and replied, “Really?”
“Yes! Oh, my goodness. Haven’t you grown into such a beautiful young woman!”
Rory’s head dropped in embarrassment. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“You will call me Jenn. Now, let me give you a hug and tell you thank you for being there for our Harmony when she needed you.”
Once they were wrapped up in an embrace, my mother whispered something into Rory’s ear. Glancing back at me, Rory smiled, and my breath was taken. I never in my life would have imagined feeling this way. I had a new understanding of what Preston felt for Harmony.
“Looks like you found yourself a catch there, little brother.”
My head turned to see Wes standing there. “What in the hell? Mom didn’t say you were coming down from New York.”
Wes chuckled, then shrugged. “I have a few weeks off. Thought I would hang out with the family and get to know our little niece. Maybe even help with a few installs of some solar systems.”
“That would be awesome, Wes.” I’d been asking Wes to come and do just that. Really see what this business was all about. I didn’t want him to think he was just a silent partner and the one who’d written the checks to get us started. He had long since been paid back, but he still handled all the books and the spending.
“The girlfriend is adorable—and I’m pretty impressed Mom is behaving!” Angela said as she walked up and gave me a hug. “Nice going, big brother.”
I chuckled and replied, “Thanks, Angie. As fun as this is playing catch-up, I need a damn beer to celebrate the Sox’s winning!”
Wes slapped my back. “Hell to the yes.”
When we walked into Flanagan’s, the Irish pub Preston owned, I almost bumped into Rory. She was standing there, frozen.
“What’s wrong?”
She slowly shook her head. “She’s…I can’t even say it…she’s wearing…
N-new…York…Yankees!”
My gaze followed hers to see Harmony rocking Presley. She was decked out in her normal New York Yankee attire. The only Sox item she had on was a baseball cap that Preston insisted she had to wear if she was going to be in the pub on a game day.
Wrapping my arms around Rory, I kissed right under her ear. “If I didn’t love Harmony so much, I would have insisted my brother never marry a Yankee fan. But trust me, she’ll win you over and you’ll learn to ignore it. Especially when she starts talking about how great the Yankees are.”
Rory gasped. “That’s blasphemy!”
I laughed and spun her around. Leaning down, I quickly kissed her. “That’s why I love you.”
Chapter 24
Rory
Waiting for the perfect moment
My heart dropped and I was pretty sure I stopped breathing when Finn uttered the L word. I prayed like hell he hadn’t seen my reaction. Although I was positive it was more of a slip of the tongue than anything. It still rocked my world. In a good way.
A very good way.
“Rory!” Harmony called out. With a smile I made my way over to her, trying not to be put off by the Yankee garbage she had on.
“What are you wearing, Harmony?”
She glanced down and giggled. “I’m a Yankees fan.”
The entire bar erupted in boos as Harmony rolled her eyes. “It’s a good thing Presley sleeps through all of this noise.”
I gazed down at the sleeping baby. “She’s beautiful, Harmony.”
“Thank you! Do you want to hold her?”
My head snapped up in a state of shock. “W-what?”
The look on Harmony’s face was one of amusement. She knew I was freaked out by the idea of holding Presley. “Rory! Have you never held a baby before?”
My head shook as I glanced back down to the tiny little angel. “She looks so…peaceful.”
Harmony sighed. “Trust me, you wouldn’t think that at two in the morning when she’s screaming to the top of her lungs for food.”
With a chuckle, I looked back at Harmony and chewed on my lip. “What if I drop her?”
