Page 53 of Trying Sophie

“I’m sorry dear,” he said, patting my arm. “And just so you know, I also apologized to your sainted grandmother. My outburst was uncalled for.”

“That’s okay gramps, but all this nonsense between you and Cian has me annoyed. What’s going on?”

I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I heard him mutter something about “that little jealous shit Cian Kelly” under his breath.

He fidgeted and twisted his hands. “So, it’s like this.” He paused, then swallowed, his large Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.

“So, you know Declan’s dad died when the lad was just eighteen?”

“Yes, I do know. He told me you were there for him afterwards, sort of a role model or male authority figure.”

That he’d glommed on to my grandpa—the antithesis of who a cool 18-year-old would want to spend time with—was still something of a surprise to me, but who was I to question the things people did in their grief?

“That’s right. He went through a bit of a wild patch and Colleen asked a few of us, the men she’d grown up with, you see, to steer him right. We all took turns going to his matches and just making sure he knew there were good, reliable men in his life he could turn to. After a time, it seemed like it wasn’t enough though. He and Cian …” he trailed off.

“He and Cian, what?”

“Those two boys,” he shook his head as a small smile crept over his face. “Let’s just say they broke a lot of hearts here in Ballycurra.”

I could well imagine.

“There was one girl. She got it in her head to get Declan to marry her and wasn’t quiet about her intentions.”

“But they were just teenagers,” I said in bewilderment. Where I came from, the only people who got married that young were those who’d gotten knocked up, and most times not even then.

“For some lasses that don’t matter much. Lots of those folks out there married young.” He indicated the pub above with a flick of his hand. “It’s a bit different here than in the big cities of America, Sophie. Sometimes getting married young is the only option.”

“You can be together without being married,” I pointed out.

“Not here,” he answered somberly. “That’s a sin many families don’t accept.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Oh, don’t act so surprised,” he waved me off. “This is still a catholic country, missy.”

I rolled my eyes. I’d gone to Catholic school and had seen exactly how little bearing one’s religion had on their libido. Ireland might not be a leader in women’s reproductive health rights, but condoms had been available for decades. You didn’t need to get married anymore just to have sex.

“Okay, fine. So this girl wanted to marry Declan?”

Even saying the words made me ill.

He nodded. “Word got around that Declan and she were—” he coughed “—having relations and she was wanting to … get with child, shall we say … so he’d be forced to marry her.”

Ah, so it was like that.

“Colleen tried to warn him off, but you know boys that age. They won’t hear a word their mothers say, so the fellas and I drew straws to see which of us was going to have to knock a bit’o sense into him. I drew the short one.”

He laughed. “Good lord, you should’ve seen his face when I took him aside and asked him to be more careful. He turned bright red, sputtering and saying it was none of my business what he did. When I told him what that girl had in mind for him he went pure white. He started listening to me then, and we talked about making good choices and respecting women.

“From then on, he made a point to stop in and see if I needed help with anything. He’d talk and I’d listen, and after awhile we got to talking about what he wanted for the future and I tried to steer him when I could. He was going places Sophie, important places. When he left for Dublin and got famous, I thought that’d be the end of it.”

Just then my grandma entered the storeroom to check in on us. “What would be the end of what?”

“I’m just setting Sophie to rights.”

“Oh?” she asked meaningfully. “All of it then?”

My grandparents both looked at me, my grandma’s head tilted to the side while my grandpa stroked his whiskered chin.

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