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  She sat back, still giving off her full wattage. “Thanks, Mark. I couldn’t have done it without you. I hope you love your stay in Dublin, even though you never really said what it was you were doing here. How could you not?”

  She got up, threw her giant bag over her shoulder and walked away, confident in her assumption she’d never see me again.

  Chapter 3

  Keeva

  I snuck up on Ashlyn standing there at the baggage claim, as usual, not paying attention to anyone or anything. Just lost in her own crazy good imagination. I jumped on her back, causing her to stumble forward.

  “Keeva Marie Murphy! What the heck?”

  “Ash.” I pulled her back up and enveloped her in a hug. “Would it kill ya to swear once in a while?”

  She rolled her eyes and grabbed my suitcase, silently forcing me along in her wake. “How was the flight? Did you manage to not drive your seatmates insane?”

  “Yeeess. I was very well behaved. I only word vomited for half of the flight to the hotty next to me. The other half of the flight, I was drooling on his shoulder, passed out cold.”

  She shook her head and continued out the door, leaving me to follow along. We got into her car and hit the motorway, zooming across the country towards our family pub. Ashlyn owned a horse farm in Kerry, and our brothers, Aiden and Quinn owned the adjoining farm. Quinn hadn’t been seen in years around here, even though he and I secretly met up frequently. I had just spent the week with him in New York while I was trying to bid for a few contracts.

  Aiden was married to my best friend, Gray, and they were expecting us in a couple of hours to celebrate the christening of their baby girl, my goddaughter, August.

  My fourth and oldest sibling was Brennan. Owner of our family pub. When our mother passed, she left it to him and he had spent a few years rebelling against that decision. He finally got his ass in gear and along with our cousin Ryan, had turned it into something of a tourist hot spot. Of course, I was sure it had everything to do with his very famous wife, Samantha Lane, and the flocks of fans who came to catch a glimpse of her. Mention that to my brother, I dare you.

  My sister wasn’t much of a talker, so we rode most of the long drive in comfortable silence. I gazed out the window, watching Ireland fly by. We had spent nearly every summer here as kids, but our home was always the States. When our parents passed, we were all for some reason compelled to move to Ireland. Only a couple of us were actually born here, but we still all felt this country in our DNA. Well, except for Quinn. But Quinn wouldn’t admit to feeling much of anything, really.

  “Would you stop fidgeting?”

  I instantly dropped my hands and sat on them. “What? I’m not fidgeting.”

  Of course I was. We were nearing Castlegregory, where the christening was, as well as my entire family. My entire family together in one room, only meant one thing. Gang up on Keeva time was on deck.

  “Forgive me sister dear, but you’d be fidgety too if you were me.”

  She rolled her eyes and cut me a derisive look. “Oh please. Don’t be so dramatic. Why are you freaking out about seeing your family?”

  “If you were me and wishes were horses and all that, you’d know that family gatherings are just a front for Keeva torture time.”

  “Dramatic.”

  I slumped in my seat and pouted like a twelve-year-old for the rest of the four hour ride. We pulled into the pub’s parking lot and I transferred my bags to my car that my brother had let me park in his lot and went in to find out what the plan was for the day. I still needed to find somewhere to freshen up before the main event and the most likely spot was the apartment above the pub. I walked in behind my sister and instantly felt at ease, even though I knew I was in for the usual ribbing from my brother.

  No matter where we were raised, Ireland was in our blood and this place, perched on the edge of the earth was where we belonged. Of course, in typical Keeva style, I had immediately left here after my mom’s death and moved to Galway, but deep down, I knew I could always come here and find a piece of myself I was missing.

  I walked to the bank of floor to ceiling windows at the front of the pub that showcased the view beyond of the restless Atlantic Ocean, being calmed by Brandon Bay. Our little peninsula was a juxtaposition of passionate blues and peaceful greens. It was one of the most perfect places on earth.

  I saw my brother approaching from behind. His large six foot three frame blocking out some of the rare sun peeking through the glass.

  “So, how was he?”

  I felt the urge, due to my lack of sleep and my general unease at the upcoming conversation, to mess with him a little before I gave him what he was looking for.

  “Who?”

  “Fuck, Kee, don’t mess with me today.”

  “Why today in particular?”

  He drew both of his hands through his thick, black hair, leaving it standing up in all sorts of directions. He turned to me and crossed his arms and I knew I was already pissing him off as only Quinn and I could.

  “I don’t know, Keeva Marie. Maybe it’s because I’ve got one hundred of Aiden and Gray’s closest friends and family coming to the pub today and half my wait staff are sick, Sam’s gallivanting around with the babies and won’t pick up her phone and now you’re giving me the gears about why I want to know what our brother is up to.”

  “Pick up the phone if you want to know. I don’t know what it is with you two, but shit, bury the hatchet or whatever. Just leave me out of your issues. You’re both like teenaged girls fighting over some stupid guy.”

  “You know it’s bigger than that.”

  “Yeah, Bren, I know you think he was the reason she died. But you’re wrong. Look around you. You’ve got everything you’ve ever wanted, you’re in love, you’ve got an amazing family. You’ve turned the fortunes of this pub around and still, you can’t forgive him. He’s turned into someone I don’t even know anymore. He needs us and you won’t let us give him what he needs.”

  I was so tired and this conversation wasn’t going to head in a direction that today would need, so I walked out, leaving him sulking and staring into the ocean. He could stand there mad at me, but he needed to take a good hard look inside his big, bad self. This was his doing and his stupid Irish stubbornness had forced a huge piece of all of our hearts across the world. Quinn would never come home unless Brennan made the first move, and that was a likely as pig fucking flying.

  “Hey beautiful lady. What’ll ya have?”

  “Ryan!”

  I ran around the bar to hug my one and only cousin. He was Brennan’s bartender and manager of all things Murphy’s and just about the best thing ever.

  “I’ve missed ya, Keev. How long are ya stayin’ for?”

  “Just today, Ry. I’ve got a ton of work to tackle. How’s Chloe?”

  “Amazing, of course. She’ll be here later for the christening for sure.”

  “Great! Ry? Can I get the key to upstairs? I need to freshen up and get ready for the shindig. There isn’t anyone living up there now, is there?”

  “No, no one that I know of anyway.”

  He fished around behind the bar, coming up with an old key off of his key ring. Winding it off, he handed it over. I leaned in and kissed his cheek.

  “Thanks. I’ll catchya later.”

  He waved me off, already busy with something else. I went out to my car, grabbed my overnight bag that I had previously packed with everything I would need for today and stored in my trunk, and hauled ass up to the apartment on top of the pub.

  I unlocked the door, threw myself in before any other well-meaning family members attacked, and headed straight for the shower. Overnight flights were the worst. You always felt super gross when you got off.

  I quickly showered and checked the time. I had to be at the church soon, but had a quick minute to check in with my office messaging system. Calling in, I listened to a couple of messages from clients. The last one had me tilting my head, trying to get a
better listen. It was Mark, from NR Inc., my new client I was meeting Tuesday for the first time. I had been speaking to his partner, Tom Dale for the most part and hadn’t yet met either of them.

  There was something about this guy’s voice that was chiming in the back of my brain. I couldn’t figure it out. He just wanted to make sure I was going to bring a few ideas that he needed to approve and was looking forward to meeting me. Nothing at all out of the ordinary.

  My phone beeped an incoming text while I was listening and I quickly hung up to see who it was.

  Hey. You here yet?

  It was Gray, part best friend, part mostly sister-in-law to be, part mother of my almost God child. Entirely impatient.

  Of course I’m here. Where else would I be?

  I hadn’t heard from you yet? All good?

  All good and sorry. Just getting ready. Gonna hitch a ride out to the church in a few.

  K. See u there.

  Kiss my baby for me. Tell her I’m coming to impart loads of wisdom.

  Riight. She can do without your kind of knowledge for quite a while thx

  I was going to have to shift it into high gear if I wanted to catch a ride with someone downstairs. Punctuality wasn’t my strong suit. I seemed to make out fine in a work situation, but all bets were off when I was off the clock.

  I hobbled into my dress, thanked the Lord for the millionth time I had short hair as I quickly combed it into a style of some sort and slipped on my shoes.

  “Keeva Marie! Do you need a ride?”

  “Coming Bren.”

  Time was up. Whatever I looked like was as good as it was going to get. Jetlagged and hungry, I was beyond caring all that much. It wasn’t like there were going to be any single hot guys at the christening. Distant cousins didn’t do it for me and anyone else that was invited was already someone known to me. No, I was going to have to resort to picking up a good book tonight, not an actual real live human.

  I opened the door to see my brother pacing below. “Bren?” He looked up at me questioningly.

  “Just need to get my suitcase repacked. I’m gonna stay with Ash tonight and then head out from there in the morning.”

  “Whatever Keeva. Just move your ass. We’re going to be late.”

  I did as I was told, hopping into his car just long enough to slam the door shut before he squealed out of the parking lot.

  “Where are Sam and the kids?”

  “Meeting us there. They should be there already.”

  “Awesome! I haven’t seen them in forever.”

  Brennan had three children. A nine year old daughter, Claire, from a previous relationship. Fiona, who was nearly two and Max, who was a newborn.

  “Why didn’t you ask me to be godmother to any of your kids?”

  He barked out a laugh. “’Cause I wanted to give them a fighting moral chance. Between you and me, they are already royally screwed if they ever spend any one on one time with you, the last thing I needed to do is give you permission to warp their spiritual minds too.”

  “Jerk.”

  “Takes one to know one.”

  “What is this? Third grade?”

  “You started it.”

  “And how in the- You know what?” I held up a hand to his face. “I’m better than this. Forget it. I’ll stick with Auggie as a Godchild and offer Aiden my thanks at trusting me for such an honor.”

  He continued to snicker as we raced along the hills and valleys towards our family’s church in Kerry. We arrived just as the doors were closing, looking like things were about to get underway.

  We parked a solid mile away and I attempted to run in my sky high heels. Hopping forward on one foot, I yanked off one, then the other shoe, breaking out in a torturing run, every few steps stepping on a sharp rock. Half of me ran to get there on time, and the other half was motivated to rush past my brother, shoving him to the side, out into the line of traffic to prove some sort of time honored point.

  We arrived at the entryway, both breathing heavily, leaning against the door frame.

  “Shit, Bren. You’re getting old. Maybe having all those kids has slowed you down. You just got beat by your little sister.” I pushed off from the wall and got right in his face. “I just took you downtown, jerk face.”

  “Keeva. Brennan. Nice of you to join us. Thanks for worrying my fiance to the point of insanity. And now we’re delayed. And the baby is hungry and pissed she’s been squished into a tiny torture device called a christening gown.”

  Our brother Aiden was giving us a fine impression of our mother, looking at us all righteous and shit. “Those cries you hear in the distance? Those are Grays, not Auggie’s. Get a move on and pull yourselves together.”

  He pointedly looked down on my bare feet and Brennan’s sweaty forehead. Told you he was out of shape. A few feet of running full out and he was wheezing like an old man.

  I avoided Aiden’s eyes as I slipped into my heels and checked to make sure my dress hadn’t got tucked into my ass, that last time I had sworn was the last time that was going to happen to me, and hurried inside to find my place.

  I scanned the church and saw my immediate family were all seated at the front. Damn, the walk of spiritual shame was inevitable. All would know it was my fault the party was delayed. I ignored the whispers and shoved in next to Ashlyn while smirking at Brennan being full out whisper screamed at by his wife. Looking over, the bastard seemed to be enjoying it though.

  His eyes were boring into Sam’s, his wife, while she was telling him how very late he was and that she thought blaming his little sister was so immature of him. He was looking at her like he’d like to commit a serious sin with her, right here, fires of hell be damned, right now. Ugh, he had it bad for her, still, after a few years of marriage and a pile of kids. Okay, maybe a pile was an exaggeration, but a few kids for sure.

  I smiled at Gray, mouthed a quick apology and the special service began. Yes, we were doing this christening thing on a Saturday, not during a regular church service like usual. Somehow Aiden, the big charmer, had convinced our priest to give us this day, privately, and on our own time. Who knew his reasons, but I secretly suspected it was because most of us had to work Monday and when together, and being pub owners, things tended to get out of hand, quickly. And getting up for work, or Aiden and Gray would have to drive back to Dublin tomorrow, didn’t sound that pleasant.

  Anyway, we were here now and I dove right into my new godparent duties. Taking baby August, trying my hardest to shush her without bouncing around and tripping on the enormous train on her tiny dress, and holding her just right. We all made it through. Aiden’s business partner, Flynn, was the other chosen Godparent, and together we didn’t do half bad.

  I drove back to the pub with Ashlyn, stopping at her house to store my bags. We chatted about all things Murphy. I tried my hardest to keep in the loop most of the time, but I was a busy woman. Contrary to popular familial belief, I really did run a successful business. I didn’t have a lot of time to visit or even call, and being a millennial baby, I was more reliant on social media to keep up with things than was surely healthy.

  We arrived back at our pub, walking in to an already-in-motion celebration. Kids running around screaming, grown-ups running around screaming, and a loving warmth radiating all around. I grabbed a beer and searched for Gray. I hadn’t had a chance to spend any time with my best friend and I needed to make up for that.

  I saw her across the room, leaning back into my brother’s body, with his arms wrapped around her, holding her to him, her back to his front. The PDAs in this room were pushing me to my limit. Between Brennan’s googly eyes at Sam, Aiden’s wandering hands on Gray and Ryan and his wife Chloe needing to quickly get a room, I’d say the love bug had bitten enough Murphys for quite some time.

  I didn’t have time for love and its bullshit anyways. I had a life to live and a business to run and dating and getting to know a guy wasn’t in my business plan. Love tied down your possibilities. It made y
ou forget about your freedom and you became dependent on your chosen mate. I wasn’t going to be dependent on anyone. Ever.

  When our father passed away, my mother fell apart. She had been so reliant on him and his ability to take care of her, she never had a chance to stand on her own two feet. I loved my parents fiercely, but I just couldn’t understand their devotion to each other. Mom passed away only a year after dad, and everyone said, well, everyone except Bren, that she died of a broken heart.

  That wasn’t going to ever be me. My siblings thought I was a flighty twenty-five-year old, but they were way off the mark. I just hadn’t bothered to ever correct them. I was happy for my family and their partners, ‘cause no one deserved to be happy more than them, but I knew I wasn’t going to settle and give up everything I’d worked so hard to achieve on my own.

  I had made it to two of my most favorite people, who were one of those family members crazy in love. Now, their love had produced one of the coolest cats around, August Murphy, my goddaughter, so I cut them some slack on the mushy thing. I wrapped my arms around Gray and Aiden, squishing Gray as hard as I could.

  “Gray sandwich. Order up!”

  “Keeva! I can’t breathe!”

  “God, your boobs are huge, Gray. They are literally blocking out the oxygen and shoving my pathetic boobs inside my body.”

  Aiden grinned. “Breastfeeding, Keev. It appears to have quite the side benefits for me.”

  Gray ducked down and slid out of my hug, leaving me smothering my big brother.

  “Denny.” I gave him an extra squeeze. We were a pretty touchy, feely family. I loved a good hug. “I’ve missed you. How’s the doctoring business?”

  He laughed and let me go. My brother was an OB/GYN and pretty damn good at it. It was a weird specialty for a man to go into, in my opinion, but I guess it helped his sex life knowing his way around a vagina. Or, in hindsight, maybe not. Ew.