Page 92 of The Last Promise You Made

We stood on the steps, greeting what felt like the entire town, before leading the crowd inside where they squeezed into the pews. The church filled until there was standing room only, and even that was packed tight. Uncle Phil may have raised a few hackles, but he’d also been an icon in our community, and Willow Creek had come out to say goodbye to one of their own.

The last McFlannigan.

That hit me so hard in the chest I had to fight back tears.

Carrying Phil’s coffin from the church to the graveside with his bartender Ted, my dad, my brother, and the mayor, choked me up again. It was hard to imagine Phil being gone. Hard to imagine the bar without him.

The journey from the cemetery to McFlannigan’s was made on foot. A solemn parade where Mama’s sniffles and Sadie’s quiet sobs seemed to echo through the cobblestones. All the stores and restaurants along Main Street were closed this morning as everyone paid their respects to our uncle.

Sadie had taken care of the arrangements for the party at the bar. She’d been pulling her weight with the funeral all along while my mind had been wrapped up in Addy and Gia. I needed to thank my baby sister for stepping up, for being the one Mama could count on most these days.

Even though it was barely eleven by the time we all crowded into McFlannigan’s, the booze was already flowing. Phil would have enjoyed that. Just like he would have gotten a kick out of the fact that there were so many bodies in the room that even the fire marshal, who he’d long since paid off, was looking at the numbers dubiously.

Over the next couple hours, people raised their glasses repeatedly, “To Phil!” as story after story was told that made us all laugh and swear. I could just imagine Uncle Phil’s pleased, snarky grin at the talk. He’d be proud as hell that he’d left his mark on the town, one way or another.

As the crowd started to thin, Mama corralled my siblings and me into a table at the back. She squeezed Sadie’s hand and said, “Now that we’re all here together, we wanted to give you an update on Phil’s will.”

My sister shifted uncomfortably, a look of guilt spreading over her face, and all my senses went on alert.

“Phil was concerned about the bar’s legacy, but he also knew most of you had already built careers and lives that wouldn’t allow you to just drop everything to manage it, so he chose to leave McFlannigan’s to Sadie.” Mama pinned us all with an eye that dared us to be upset.

I looked over at Maddox and Gemma, and neither of them seemed to be. I wasn’t upset because he’d left us out. Hell, I wanted nothing to do with the bar other than having a chance to slide onto a stool and drink a beer from time to time. I also wasn’t upset at Phil’s attempt to keep the bar in the family. What did upset me was the idea of it tying my baby sister to this town and a business when she should be out creating her own dreams, following her own path.

I held my tongue for the moment, knowing it would upset Mama if I said so, but remained determined to talk to Sadie alone.

“If you thought we’d be upset, Mama, you’re wrong,” Gemma said.

“Sadie has put a lot of time and effort into the bar. He was right to leave it in her hands,” Maddox said.

Everyone’s eyes fell on me. “You won’t get any fight from me. Damned if I’d know what to do with a bar. I’ve got my hands full with the ranch and Addy.”

Sadie wiped her eyes, and her shoulders sagged in relief. I was surprised she had thought we’d be upset. “He left the house to Mama, told her to do with it what she wanted but asked that we go through the storage shed out back here and the attic in the house and take what we want from all the detritus and crap the family has gathered over the years.” Gemma’s eyes narrowed at Sadie’s wording. “Those were his words, not mine. We’ll need to go through it all together. Make sure you get anything you want.”

Tillie from the café down the street approached, her long gray hair tied into ponytails and her tunic dress falling to her feet covered in flowers. She apologized for interrupting, saying she needed to skedaddle in order to open the diner for supper. She gave Mama a hug, flicked Maddox and me on the shoulder, and said her goodbyes. That broke up our table, all of us going in separate directions as more people came to pay their respects before heading out.

I held Sadie back with a hand to her elbow before she could disappear.

“You don’t have to keep it,” I said quietly.

“What?” Sadie turned sad eyes on me.

“Look. Fighting to keep our family’s heritage is something I know a bit about. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished at the ranch, but this is different. The bar is always going to be a bar, sucking up your evenings and your life. If you keep it, you’ll be tied to it and this town, just like Phil and Granny and every McFlannigan before them. I just want you to know you have options. None of us are going to question you if you sell it and go live your real life.”

She tilted her head, taking me in. “Is it so strange to think that I might want to do this?”

She had been spending a lot of evenings here with Phil. She’d been the one to reinstate karaoke night. I’d thought she’d been doing it out of boredom while she healed and decided what she was going to do next, but maybe it had been more than that. “If that’s the case, I can try and get on board with it. I just think there’s more for you out there than this. You had big dreams, Sads. Winning the World Darts Championship, maybe even a triple crown. You talked about a physio degree.”

She patted my chest. “Dreams change. You should know that better than any of us.”

“It was my choice. I wanted to lead the ranch in a new direction. I’m happy here.”

“This is my choice too,” Sadie said. She slid her arm around my waist and rested her head on my shoulder. I squeezed her to me.

Maddox’s loud laugh drew our eyes to where McKenna was pressed into him. He leaned down and kissed the side of her head. It was a sweet, impulsive gesture I wasn’t sure he even realized he’d done. It spoke of intimacy and love. And for not the first time when I watched them, I felt the hole in my life that Ravyn had left. A partner. A person to go through it all with.

I found myself wishing I hadn’t left Gia and Addy at the house all over again. If Gia was here, she’d harass me out of my dark mood with her words and a look. I wished I could pull her to me and feel the comfort of her embrace just like my brother did with McK.

“I see the way you look at her, you know,” Sadie said softly.

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