Page 31 of The Promise Of You

“Tell her I got nothing to add,” I tell Haley. “Tell her we’re closed.”

“I said that already, but now she’s inside,” she whispers, while Chris says, “Man, just tell her, her uncle was a criminal and an asshole, and there’s nothing to negotiate.”

“Why’d you let her in?” I snap into my phone.

I can sense Haley’s frustration. “I don’t know! Trying to be nice?”

Why would she care about being nice to that family? “Fuck,” I say and hang up before I add something I’ll regret, something that would hurt my sister. Did Haley already forget what Murphy did? Because I have the scars and the phantom pains that never let me forget.

“Telling you, man, just get in her face and make it clear,” Chris says. “She probably doesn’t know half the story, or she wouldn’t have made nice with Haley.”

“How’d you know she made nice with Haley?”

“Why else would she be inside the pub?”

“Maybe she’s as entitled as Murphy.”

The idea that anyone from that family is inside my pub is enough to enrage me. “That too.” Chris is right. I need to end this before it even starts. “Be right back,” I tell my friend, my long strides taking me across The Green, yet doing nothing to calm my rising anger.

So when I get to my pub, even though I’m blinded by the outside sun and can’t see who’s inside, I don’t need to think twice about what I say to the person slamming into me.

“You need to leave.”

ten

Chloe

The silhouette is dark against the blinding sun outside, but for a moment I’m paralyzed.

That voice.

That smell.

I’m hallucinating. Time to get a grip.

I turn to Haley and then to King, still a dark mass against the bright outdoor. My heart bangs against my ribcage and my throat constricts. Sure, I’m disappointed that my first interaction with the locals is going so poorly. “Nice welcome committee,” I mutter. “No wonder Uncle Kevin had a heart attack.”

But also, I’m having an overwhelming response to this shadow of a man. Clearly, I’m not over my rebound if I’m seeing him everywhere. “I’ll get out of your way now.” I inch toward King, who’s still blocking my exit.

“You Chloe? Sullivan’s daughter?” That voice… it’s uncanny. My breath catches. God, what is happening to me?

But also, how does my father factor into this non-conversation? I need to get out of here.

“You have some balls getting in my face,” he adds, still blocking my exit.

“I’m trying to leave,” I snap at him.

King steps aside to let me go. I look out the door, meaning to ignore him, but as I walk past him, his scent shakes me to the core, bringing me back nights ago.

“Don’t come back unless you have a certified check,” he snarls, his voice tingling my spine despite the bite in his words.

My knees buckle at his words, and my heart stutters. I look up at him, and my breath hitches. Now that he’s stepped inside the pub, I can see his features. His dirty blond locks curling at his collar. The set of his jaw. The curve of his lips.

It’s him.

It’s him!

All of him.

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