Page 6 of Callahan

“I recognize you from the photos Shawn sent.” A single tear trickled down her cheek as she grabbed my right hand and held it between her palms. “He treasured your friendship.”

“Thank you, ma’am. That means a lot.”

Her mouth curved into a grin.

“He said you were the only one who understood what the sun did to his pasty skin.”

That made me laugh out loud.

“Us Irish lads went through a lot of sunscreen. Thank you for always sending extra.”

“I was happy to. Thank you for being a good friend to my boy.”

I wasn’t so sure if she’d still feel that way if she knew Shawn was killed because of me.

“He was a good friend to me, too. Everyone loved Shawn.”

Another tear rolled down her cheek.

“He was easy to love.”

We stood in silence for a beat then she brought her hands to her chest and declared, “Oh my goodness! Where are my manners? Come in!”

~~

Mrs. O’Brien offered us sweet tea and chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven. The smell of fresh-baked cookies filled the house, and it’d been no hardship to accept. As we munched on the offered snacks, an older lady wearing a wide-brimmed hat, denim overalls, and a pink t-shirt with a floral design walked through the screen door, letting it slam behind her. I made a mental note that the O’Brien’s really needed to install a door closer on their screen door.

The woman saw us sitting at the dining room table and slapped her green and pink leather gardening gloves against her palm while proclaiming, “Brian O’Shaughnessy, you can’t leave your patrol car in front of the house! The neighbors are all going to be talking!”

Brian stood with a big grin and walked toward the woman.

“Granny O’Brien! It’s good to see you!”

“It’s good to see you, too, boy. But seriously, you can’t come over when you’re off-duty? You have to park your cop car in our driveway, so Mrs. Tierney has something to gossip about?”

“Mrs. Tierney is going to gossip anyway. Besides, it feels like the only time I’m off-duty these days is when I’m sleeping.”

“Sounds like something you should take up with the Chief.”

Before he responded, she looked at me with one raised eyebrow. “And who’s this?”

Mrs. O’Brien put her hand on my shoulder. “Ma, this is Adam Callahan. He served with Shawn. Adam, this is my mother-in-law, Maeve.”

Her gaze focused on my left hand.

“Were you in his Hummer, too?”

“No, ma’am. A different vehicle. Mine ran over an IED.”

Her expression softened.

“It’s nice of you to come visit Shawn’s family.”

“I promised him I would.”

“I’m glad you kept your promise. That’s important. It says a lot about your character.” Granny turned her attention back to Brian, still standing next to her. “Speaking of character—who are you dating these days?”

“Ma!” Mrs. O’Brien cried out. “That’s none of your business.”

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