Page 20 of Too Far To Sea
“Claddagh ring, right?”
Jen nodded.
“What are you bringing me, Uncle Mac?”
Jen turned to her daughter and frowned. “Gracie, that is rude. We don’t expect gifts from Mac just because he is coming home.”
“But he always brings me something.”
Mac laughed. “I may not bring you anything this time.”
“Please? Uncle Mac. I won’t ask.” Gracie cringed with an almost innocent smile.
“If I have room in my suitcase. Jen, do you have any requests?”
“The usual.” His sister was easy. She always wanted the local chocolate.
“Not a problem. I’ll bring you Irish and British Cadbury. I heard they are slightly different.”
“I can’t wait to test that.”
Gracie exaggerated a yawn. “It’s my bedtime. When I wake up, I can mark off another day.”
“Good night.” McKay blew a kiss to his niece.
Jen waited until a door closed in the background to speak. “If I’d known how this calendar would have changed our bedtimedrama, I would have tried one earlier. She loves marking off the days.”
“How is Mom?”
“As far as I can tell, she is hopeful. They scheduled her surgery for a week from Tuesday to give you a few extra days to get back.”
“Mom assumes every flight will be canceled, doesn’t she?”
“It happens often enough.”
The last three times he’d taken leave, something had gone wrong with his flight. “Fair.”
Jen bit her lip.
“What is it?”
“Mom is lining dates up for you.”
“How bad this time?”
“So far, a nurse and a niece of one of her friends. She hasn’t started in on my coworkers yet.”
McKay took a deep breath. “I should have expected as much. Don’t worry, I’ll let her have some fun before I put an end to it. Besides, it might be nice to talk to a woman without worrying about crossing invisible lines.”
“Work rules?”
“Yup.” McKay opened his mouth to say something about Dana and stopped at the last second.
Jen’s eyes narrowed. “Who is she? Passenger or crew?”
Technically, he could date crew if they were not subordinates. Which in the end only left one or two female crew members and the drama wouldn’t be worth it. “I didn’t say there was someone.”
“But there is. I can tell. I haven’t seen that smile for a very long time.”
