Page 60 of Puck of the Irish

“Same here,” Jules says, sidling up to us. “I mean about not loving champagne, not the puking thing. Come on, Bobby, I’ll grab a beer with you.” Bobby thins his lips for a heartbeat before putting on a very convincing, but very fake, smile. Jules said that the two of them got in a pretty heated argument over “something stupid” and they’re apparently still working on getting past it. I have a feeling I know what it is, but that isn’t my secret to tell, so I’m keeping my trap shut.

“Want anything?” he asks before they walk away.

“Nah, I’m good.”

Mac comes up after they walk away and throws her arms around me, kissing my cheek.

“If you had told me five months ago that Anthony Fucking Rizzo would not only be in a real, monogamous relationship, butengaged, I woulda said you were smokin’ the good stuff.”

“I know, I know.” She wipes the lipstick off of my cheek and the sheer joy I see shining in her eyes makes my throat feel thick. My best friend really did get the best girl. Well, aside from mine, of course. “Thank you for the help scheming.”

“Our pleasure,” Shep says, walking up behind Mac and pulling her back into his chest. He leans down and kisses her cheek before rubbing his scruff against her, making her squeal and giggle.

“So, uh, what’s the story with her dad showing up?” Mac asks quietly.

“I went to see him.” Her brows fly up.

“No shit?”

“No shit,” I confirm. “There were some things he needed to hear and I guess he listened to them. Or, I’m hoping that’s why he’s here. I guess we’ll see.” My phone buzzes and I pull it out. “Oh, lemme grab this. One sec.” They nod and walk away to talk to the rest of the group.

“Hey, guys,” I say, answering the video call.

“Well??” mom asks, practically jumping up and down in her excitement. I’d only told her it was happening right before Nat was supposed to arrive because God love her, mom is worse at keeping secrets than Jules. She wouldn’t have spilled the beans on purpose, but she somehow would have found a way, I just know it.

“She said yes.” My cheeks are throbbing from the dumb ass grin I can’t seem to wipe from my face. Mom screams so loudly I wince and Ray covers his ears. “Ma. Ma! You’re going supersonic here,” I say with a laugh.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m just so happy, sweetheart!” Her eyes water and Ray beams.

“Congratulations, son.”

“Thanks, dad.”

“Well, where is my soon-to-be daughter in law? I want to see that ring.”

“She’s…talking to her dad, actually.” Their expressions of shock are so nearly identical that I want to laugh.

“Wow, so your big pep talk worked, huh?” Ray asks.

“Only time will tell.”

Twenty-Six

NAT

I don’t knowwhy in the hell my dad is here, but I refuse to let him ruin this night. We walk into AJ’s office and my lips curl at the sight of all of his old trophies and framed jerseys lining the walls. But the smile fades quickly as I close the door and cross my arms.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, jumping right to the heart of it. I have celebrating to do and I don’t want to waste a single second of this night. It’s AJ’s favorite holiday and my new favorite too.

“I found an old letter from your mom,” he says, completely throwing me for a loop. Of all the things I thought he’d open with, this wasn’t even close to making the list. “We used to send each other letters and notes, from the time we first started dating up until the day she died.”

“I had no idea,” I tell him honestly. She’d never said a word about them. He nods and there’s something different about him, a heaviness that I’ve never seen before.

“You know that we were…too combustible to be together in the conventional sense, but we loved each other every second of every day for over half our lives.” My eyes prick with tears, and I don’t even know why. Talking about mom? Hearing dad talk about how much he loved her? Residual emotions built up from everything else that’s happened tonight? Who knows.

“Your fiancé came to see me,” he says, making me blink in confusion once again.

“He came to ask yourpermission?” I ask, incredulous.

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