Page 120 of Getting Lucky

“Go,” Jack urged her, smiling and giving her a little push toward the door. “You’ve been waiting all day.”

She had. She would have gone to the airport to pick them up if Mary hadn’t insisted on renting a car. Inside, Maisie was dancing in place like Ein, but rather than dash for the door, she tugged Jack with her and snagged a wide-eyed Iris too, bringing them both with her. Because they’d spent a lifetime being left out of things, and she never, ever wanted them to feel that way with her. Because they couldn’t meet her mother and father, but Mary had their mother’s practical outlook, bluntness, and complete inability to read sarcasm, and Molly had their father’s slightly wild streak, and they all had the O’Shea laugh.

She released Jack and Iris to open the door, and Molly flew into her arms in a tackle hug that almost sent them both flying to the floor. Both of them burst out laughing, and Mary gave them a long-suffering smile. “You shouldn’t encourage her.”

Then Molly pulled her into the hug too, and Mary hugged them back in a way that said her bluster was just that. Ein and Chaco pawed at them as if they wished to be let in on the fun, and Molly squealed and picked up Chaco. “Finally, we meet in person!”

Which reminded Maisie.

She pulled away and reached for Jack and Iris, who stood to one side of the door, looking a little shell-shocked. Understandable. The O’Shea girls could be like a tornado when they were all together. She and Molly were the only ones who could pull Mary out of her ordered universe.

“Molly and Mary, meet Jack and his sister Iris.” She could see them taking her sisters in, Molly with her long, wavy strawberry blond hair and hazel eyes, Mary with her short brown hair, which only showed hints of red in the sun.

“The famous Iris!” Molly cried, pulling her into a hug while Mary greeted Jack in a more sedate manner. Iris looked a bit startled but very pleased.

“Did you miss the New Year’s Eve Countdown to be here?” she asked. From what Maisie had gathered, the gist of it was that Molly was supposed to go on several blind dates on New Year’s Eve, with men chosen by her fellow blogger. Her goal was to guess which of them had been selected to be her date at midnight. Apparently they’d intended to vlog it.

Molly waved it off. “Yeah, but I get to meet you and your hunky brother instead.” She winked at Jack. “I call it even.”

“Shameless,” Maisie said, giving her a little shove. She shut the door and turned to face them, her heart full.

“Maisie, the house…” Mary said, her head swiveling around to take in the living room.

“I told you I’d made a few changes,” she said. “It’s a work in progress.”

She felt a prickle of defensiveness—did Mary disapprove?—but then she saw the tears in her sister’s eyes.

Molly grinned at her. “This has to be a record. It only took you two minutes to make Mary cry.”

That earned her a swat from their big sister.

“It’s just…I’m so proud of you,” Mary said.

“I’m proud of me too,” she said.

Jack put an arm around her, and she leaned into him, suddenly feeling all of the emotions of having everyone here on the last day of the year, of feeling the new year unfurl before them. Of sensing possibilities rather than fearing the changes the future might bring.

Molly clapped. “I smell pizza, but before we eat or even bring in our bags, I think it’s time for us to show Iris our surprise.”

“What?” Iris said, flinching. She’d been leaning against the banister, and she almost fell. Flushing a little, she stood up straighter. “Why would you do something nice for me? You don’t even know me.”

Molly raised her hands up, palms out. “You underestimate how much our sister tells us. Plus, I only helped in an advisory capacity.”

Iris swiveled to look at Maisie, who couldn’t hold back a grin. She glanced up at Jack, and he gave her a little squeeze with one of those famous arms of his. “What’d you do now, Red?”

She could almost feel Molly and Mary exchanging a look. They’d never heard anyone but their dad call her that. Yeah, they knew she had it bad.

“Guess you’ll all have to come upstairs and see.”

She led the way, Jack behind her—she suspected he’d followed her so he could stare at her butt the whole way up—and then Iris and Molly and Mary. Chaco and Ein, who refused to be left out of the fun, came next.

When she reached the doorway of the spare bedroom, she felt a little prickle of nerves. What if Jack and Iris took her gesture the wrong way? Molly had egged her on, of course, but Mary had suggested it would be wise to consult Jack before moving forward. But there’d been too few good surprises in Maisie’s life, and she’d wanted to pull one off for Iris.

Jack shot her a questioning look, and she moved closer to him, wanting to feel him at her side.

“Go on in, Iris.”

“Why do I feel like I’m being set up?” Iris asked with no small amount of suspicion, glancing from face to face.

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