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“Just after one,” she replies as she glances at her watch.
“That is some plane you guys have got yourselves,” Noel says with a low whistle.
“It’s a beauty,” Mikey replies with a smile. “And it comes in handy when you want to fly your family across the world for a surprise party.”
“I really appreciate you all coming all this way for this,” Shane says.
“We wouldn’t have missed it,” Em replies, smiling as she places her hand over Shane’s.
“Besides, it’s good to have two nights away from the tiny…” Noel starts to say but Aoife glares at him. “Our darling son,” he quickly corrects himself.
“Good save,” Conor whispers as he pats Noel on the back.
“I mean. I love him with every ounce of my heart and soul, but that kid has a pair of lungs on him that would put a world class soprano to shame.” Noel chuckles and even Aoife smiles at that.
“Is Archie with your parents, Noel?” I ask.
“Yeah. They love having him.”
“I can’t wait to see him,” Aoife says with a soft sigh.
“Yeah. Me too,” Noel agrees.
Talking about baby Archie changes the mood in the room and I feel a sense of sadness and disappointment washing over me. Liam is sitting beside me and he reaches beneath the table and gives my thigh a reassuring squeeze.
“Do you think you’ll be coming back to Ireland any time soon?” Aoife asks, unaware of the undercurrent of tension between her cousins and me that has started to ripple through the atmosphere.
“No plans to,” Shane replies with a shake of his head.
“Oh no. Really?” Aoife asks.
“Aoife,” Em says with a warning look.
“I know. It’s just that Patrick is dead now…” she says quietly and it’s as though even the mention of his name brings his ghost into the room with us.
The brothers all stiffen. Conor clears his throat. Noel shakes his head softly and Em shoots me an apologetic look.
“Ireland is beautiful,” I say with a smile. “I loved it there, but now we have the jet, I’d love to visit the rest of the world. We went to the Caribbean for our honeymoon. Have you been there? The sea is the most incredible shade of blue.” I sigh. “Like something from a movie.”
“No. I’d love to though,” Aoife replies and I can tell she is thankful for the change of subject.
“We had an amazing time, didn’t we?” I say.
“That was a fucking incredible vacation,” Conor says and his brothers agree and suddenly the mood is a little lighter again. I mean how could it not be? We spent two weeks on a luxury yacht doing nothing but lying in the sun, eating incredible food and having super-hot sex.
“Jessie wore nothing but a string bikini for two weeks,” Mikey says with a wistful sigh.
“Mikey!” I admonish him as everyone else around the table laughs.
“What, Red?” He winks at me. “Anyway, speaking of vacations, that reminds me…” He looks at Liam who leans forward in his chair.
“Oh, yeah,” Liam replies with a grin. “We have a proposal.”
“This sounds fucking dangerous already,” Conor says with a groan.
“Did you come up with this proposal last night while you were juiced on tequila?” Shane asks.
“Yeah, but it’s still perfectly valid,” Mikey replies.
