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With any luck, his unusual family was about to get bigger. Yet another new normal.
He smiled as he considered her secrets to happiness. With her, he’d found the real Leo. A man who’d learned to laugh and dance more, who’d learned to embrace the chaos surrounding him rather than let it get him down, who’d searched for his dream and found it with her. Tonight, he was taking a risk.
He was reaching out and grabbing his happiness with both hands.
Because she was his happiness.
Chapter Fourteen
“And now, for your viewing pleasure,” Uncle Sean said, talking into the mic on the small stage at Pat’s Pub. “It’s Darcy and the Dreamcatchers.”
Her family had closed the place for the night to throw her one hell of a thirtieth birthday party. Sean, Riley and Darcy had gotten together and organized a variety show as part of the entertainment. So far, she’d been serenaded by Aunt Teagan and Uncle Sky, as well as Fergus’s new girlfriend, Aubrey. Her cousin Oliver and his best friend, Gavin, had wowed her with a few magic tricks, Pop Pop had led them all in a rousing singalong of “Finnegan’s Wake,” and other family members had done silly acts to make her laugh.
God only knew what she was about to be subjected to, but she knew it was going to be funny when Darcy and her best friend, Brooklyn, took the stage with Finn and Miguel. Yvonne knew none of them could sing worth a damn, so she tried to mentally prepare herself when the music started.
The foursome had choreographed a whole lip-synching routine of Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al.” Everyone in the pub erupted in laughter when Darcy pretended to sing—she knew every word—as Brooklyn, Finn and Miguel handled all the backup parts and pantomimed playing all the instruments. The whole performance was flawless and hilarious.
Or it might have been, if Yvonne had been in a partying mood.
Today was actually the first day she’d managed to not cry. Though she’d had a few wobbly moments.
Leo had texted a couple of times since she’d broken things off with him, but they’d been simple exchanges of information, mundane stuff about moving his dad to a rehabilitation facility and letting her know the restaurant’s vegetable delivery would be a day late. She suspected he was trying to prove to her that he could do the “just friends” thing by keeping the lines of communication open. But each time he’d sent something, it set her heart to aching again.
Darcy had been her rock, constantly trying to bolster her, though her cousin had been shocked to hear that Vince didn’t approve of Yvonne dating his dad. More than once, Darcy had shaken her head and said, “But Vince loves you,” which—though a sweet sentiment—only broke Yvonne’s heart all over again. Because the truth of it was, she cared for Vince very much as well, and to think he didn’t like her hurt almost as much as losing Leo.
Yvonne painted on a smile and pushed out a few laughs at her cousin’s performance. She didn’t want Darcy to think she wasn’t grateful for her efforts. Under normal circumstances, this would have been the best party of Yvonne’s life.
Instead, her heart simply wasn’t into it.
Yvonne reached up to adjust the tiara her dad had gifted her with at the beginning of the evening, proclaiming her the party princess tonight and his princess forever. She’d teased him for the cheesy sentiment, but when he hugged her and told her that—cheesy or not—it was the truth, she sniffled and told him she loved him.
She looked around the room and felt guilty. Here she was, surrounded by family and friends who wanted nothing more than to help her celebrate thirty years of a wonderful life, and somehow, in the midst of it, she was unbearably sad.
She tried to shrug off the feeling, tried to find a way to live in the moment.
For weeks, she’d been trying to teach Leo how to get through life by focusing on the positives, by finding the joy in small things.
She needed to practice what she preached.
“Darcy is hilarious,” Kelli said, topping up both of their glasses from the pitcher of margaritas on the table. “I love this song.”
Colm, who was sitting on Yvonne’s other side, rolled his eyes. “You would. Do you think anyone’s going to sing anything from this decade?”
“You could always get up there and belt out a tune for us,” Kelli said, though Yvonne knew hell would freeze over before that happened. Colm did not sing.
“This isn’t karaoke night. Besides,” Colm said smugly, “I already did my act with Caitlyn.” He glanced at Yvonne. “Thought it was pretty good myself.”
Kelli snorted as if he was crazy, while Yvonne laughed. Colm and her oldest cousin, Caitlyn, were partners in their own law firm. They’d written and read—via beat poetry style—a silly piece entitled, “Now that you’re thirty, it’s time for a will.”
“I loved it,” Yvonne said. She really had.
“Stick to law, Colm. Shakespeare, you’re not,” Kelli joked as she pitched a pretzel across the table. It bounced off Colm’s forehead.
“Real mature, Kell,” Colm said, but before he could lob his own salty cannon back, Padraig, the other occupant of their table, raised his hands.
“I’m calling for a peace treaty right now. Don’t make me send the two of you to separate corners.”
Kelli had been Padraig’s forever friend when they were all growing up. And while she adored Paddy, she merely tolerated his twin, Colm, the two of them constantly bickering over silly stuff. Yvonne didn’t have a clue why they rubbed each other the wrong way, but it had been the status quo since they were all kids, so no one bothered to question it anymore.
