Page 45 of Trying Sophie

“I’m not sure I remember Aoife. Younger or older?”

“Younger. She’ll be 21 in a couple of months so of course she thinks she knows everything. She’s going through a bit of a wild streak at the moment, which is driving mam bonkers. That’s why I’m spending more time at home. Colleen thinks the threat of me will make her behave,” he said, laughing and shaking his head.

“But you don’t agree.”

“No. Much as it pains me to say it, Aoife’s her own person. And she’s never listened to me before and has no plans to start now.”

“What sort of mischief is your mom worried about? Seems kind of hard to get in trouble in Ballycurra.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised. Cian and I found it easy enough back in the day.”

“Yeah, but you’re both boys. Boys are allowed to run wild whereas girls are watched like precious, fragile jewels. I can’t imagine Aoife can do anything in this town without someone reporting her every move to your mom.”

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I suppose you’re right. Mam tried putting her on house arrest this week for something Mrs. McCloskey said happened the other day.”

“And you don’t know what it was?”

“Nope,” he answered, grabbing a loaf of bread. “Neither will say, which means it was pretty bad.”

“Does Aoife go to school, or is she already done?”

“She takes classes at Trinity but lives at home since she can get in and out of the city easy enough on DART. That way I don’t have to pay for room and board.”

“You?”

“Yeah, I um—” he coughed into his hand “—I pay her tuition.”

I didn’t know why he was squirming over the admission. I’d already told him I thought he was a good guy. This just extended my positive inclinations toward him. He did more to take care of his family than just the grocery shopping.

“That’s great of you,” I said, setting my hand on his arm. “You’re a good big brother Declan O’Shaughnessy.”

He glanced down at my hand and then flicked his eyes to mine, holding them for a few seconds. Had I thought before he had a problem with eye contact? I couldn’t recall why since he didn’t struggle with it now.

Without my realizing it, we’d made our way through the entire store to the cleaning supplies. I still hadn’t grown accustomed to the various brands of laundry detergent so I scanned the shelves trying to decide which to buy this time. The last one I’d used had made my sensitive skin itch and break out in a rash. Taking a guess, I reached for one in a bright blue tub but Declan blocked my hand.

“Not that one,” he said, handing me a white tub with a baby strutting confidently across the front. “Try this instead.”

I examined both containers but couldn’t tell the difference. “Why this one and not the other?”

“It’s pretty mild so it won’t fade your clothes as quickly.” He rested his hand against the back of his neck and scratched while focusing his eyes on the array of detergents in front of us, “And it’s unscented.”

That last part came out mumbled but I’d heard it all the same.

“Unscented?”

He gestured to the box in my hand. “That’s what it says on the packaging.”

“And that’s important?”

My eyes searched his face and his eyes locked on mine.

Taking a step closer, he whispered, “Yeah, it is.”

“Why’s that?” I whispered back breathlessly.

“Because,” he said, flicking his tongue across his bottom lip, “I like the way you smell.”

He brushed a lock of hair off my shoulder and traced his fingers down my arm.

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