Page 7 of Played By the Fool

“We do. You have a sister, Caitríona. She’s two years younger than you and lives in Lake Renegade with her husband, Giacomo Bastianini. They have two sets of twins, Celestino and Francesco, and Isabella and Luciana.” Liam smiles. “In fact, if you’re up for it, she wanted us to do a video call with her as soon as we can. Would you like to do it now?”

“That would be great.” Da smiles.

“Give me one minute to call her.” Órfhlaith smiles. She walks to the side and gets on her phone.

“You all look like Kearneys,” Liam says proudly. “You don’t know how long we’ve wanted to find you. We never thought of contacting Sister Katherine. I’m so glad you did. We need to takea trip to Lake Renegade. Are you all able to take a few weeks and come with us? Maybe even a month?”

“We have a dental practice in Donegal. But I’m sure we can arrange a month away. There’s another dentist that we can refer our patients to for emergencies. We work together for situations like that.”

Liam’s smile gets even bigger.

“We need to plan this. To have my whole family together is a dream come true.”

Órfhlaith comes back over.

“Caitríona, this is your brother, Cian.”

“Omg. You look like Da!” Caitríona exclaims. “And you do too!”

We all laugh. I’m guessing she’s talking about me. Da introduces all of us and Caitríona introduces us to her family. We spend the next hour talking and laughing. It’s like we’ve known each other our whole lives. We’ve made plans to go to Illinois next month. I’ve never seen my da so happy.

Chapter Four

Emilia

My sister got here two days ago and she’s been on a mission to find John and Kali. So far she hasn’t had any luck. But it’s hilarious to watch her stalk around town looking for them. He did show up at my apartment when she was out last night. He tried to tell me that he’s not really engaged. That Kali is a family friend and she came back with him to see Starlight Bay. Do I really look that dumb? I told him that he needs to find someone else to believe his crap. Courtney got back minutes after John left. I’m pretty sure he’s hiding from her.

Since then, he’s called and texted me multiple times a day. I know I can block him, but this is my proof when Kali finds out who he really is. I’m not going to be the one that’s blamed for his stupidity. I still don’t understand why I didn’t see any of this. How did I not know he had a whole life back in Michigan? I feel stupid and dirty. The worst part is I helped him cheat on Kali. Part of me wants to tell her. I mean I would want to know if someone did that to me. But not everyone thinks like me.

“Are you coming to Pi tonight to eat?” I ask Court.

“Yeah, I was thinking of coming in right before closing. That way I can eat, then help you and Frank clean up.”

“That would be nice. Hey, you haven’t told anyone about John have you?”

“Not yet. But I will if they ask. They need to know what he’s done, he’s the douchecanoe. Not you. You did nothing wrong. I know you feel like you did. But you didn’t.”

“Of course I feel bad. Kali seems like a really nice person and he cheated on her. And I know it, but I’m not saying anything. I’m an asshole.”

“Then tell her. Next time you see her, tell her what went on. But make sure you tell her you had no idea and that as soon as you met her? You haven’t been with him again.”

Courtney is right, I should tell Kali. She might take it out on me, but that’s okay.

“I will tell her. I have to leave now, but I’ll see you later.”

My sister hugs me.

“It’ll be okay, you’re a good person and I love you.”

“What he did made me part of something I never would’ve done if I had known. And it makes me feel shitty. I should’ve told her when I first met her, but I was in shock.”

“I know, sis. It’s okay. Like I said, this is on him. Not you.”

I nod at Court and head out. Logically I know she’s right. But I still feel bad. I hope they come in tonight so I can tell her what he’s been doing.

Tonight I’m working the closing shift at Pi. Wednesday nights are usually slower and gives me time to restock things and relax a little. As I’m cleaning some tables, I hear the door open. I look up and see a party of eight people walking in.

“Are you still open for dinner?” one of the gentleman asks in an Irish accent.

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