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Liam chimed in with good news. “Yes, their bus will be here in twenty minutes!”
Sophie reached into her pocket and pulled out some money for Ginny. “Take this and thank you. We couldn’t have done this without you.”
Ginny shook her head as her eyes teared up but she didn’t cry. “I can’t take this. This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
Sophie nodded her head. “If you ever come back, make sure you come and see us. You won’t ever pay for a meal here.”
To Sophie’s surprise, Ginny threw her arms around Sophie’s neck in a hug. “Thank ya’ll so much!” Now Ginny’s tears spilled over. “Ya’ll are just so nice,” she said as she released Sophie and stepped back.
A knock sounded on the door, and Benjamin poked his head inside. Keefe told him to step inside. Benjamin did so and searched for Ginny. When he’d found her, he smiled. “Thanks very much for taking us in. We’d all be frozen by now if it weren’t for you.”
“Glad we could help,” replied Keefe as he offered his hand to Benjamin to shake.
“We’ll be off now. The other bus is nearly here, and we need to get the luggage ready. Ginny, love, we’ll meet you outside?” He nodded a goodbye to everyone, then turned.
As he pushed the door open, a voice rang out behind him. “No, like, really, I swear! She said dirt and shit and something about a pastor!”
Before leaving, Benjamin glanced over his shoulder with an embarrassed smile—one that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Beneath, was a clear, desperate glint that screamed, Please, for the love of God, save me!
Not wanting to embarrass the adorable Ginny, Sondra waited until the door was closed to say anything. “It looks like someone’s got a crush on you,” she said to Ginny. Sondra could spot sexual attraction from a mile away.
Ginny blushed and smiled and smiled and blushed. “Benjamin’s really nice. He’s the only one on the bus I could really talk to and—I’m talking too much.” Ginny popped her last proper chip into her mouth, then wiped her hands on a napkin. “Anyway, thanks again. Bye-bye.” She waved as she left the kitchen.
Liam tugged Sophie against him a little tighter. “Well, that’s them gone,” he said with a sigh of relief.
“Is everyone hungry? I have something set aside just for us.” A resounding yes sounded in the kitchen. “Get out of my kitchen then and put your feet up. Hey Soph, bring me a whiskey, would you?”
“Coming right up.” Sophie, along with everyone else, headed for the dining room and stopped at the bar to pour her brother a drink.
“Jesus Mary! I thought they’d never leave! Give us a splash of that whiskey would you, darling?”
Sophie lifted her head in surprise. “When did you come in? You’re Irish!”
“Well spotted, pet,” the aged Irishman said sarcastically. “I was passing by and saw you open and with all those people so, I came inside for the craic, thinking it was an opening party or something. Before I knew it, some American grabbed me by the arm, a pretty little thing, Barb I think her name was, and I swear I’ve been held hostage ever since. Anyway, I finally got away and hid inside your snug there till it was safe.” He shook his head in disbelief and sighed. They had tourists throughout the year and mostly they were fine, but you get a bus load like that and it makes a man grateful he lives on the Emerald Isle and not on the West Coast. “What a bunch, aye? I’ll say this though, if you hadn’t bought this place, God knows what would have happened to it. Probably would have been knocked down to make a parking place for more tour buses.”
Sophie blinked, then blinked again. Could this day possibly get any weirder? After a moment she burst out laughing hysterically. Once she gained her composure, she poured the man a small drink then sent him on his way.
After pouring Keefe a drink, Sophie looked inside the snug to make sure there weren’t any more stowaways then laughed when what she found was an empty plate neatly cleaned with a napkin folded beside it and the words “thank you for the best proper chips” written on it. Sophie folded the note and tucked it into her pocket. What they needed now was to unwind.
She stepped out of the snug and closed the door behind her. To her right everyone was lounging, laughing, and swapping stories. She picked up the bottle of whiskey on the bar, then placed it back on the shelf and that’s when she spotted it—peanut butter whiskey. She grabbed another bottle from the shelf and had an idea. “All right, who wants a peanut butter whiskey milkshake?” she called out above the rising laughter.
“Me!”
“I do!”
“I’ll take two!”
“I’ll make them!” shouted Emma. “I only spilled three drinks today and I didn’t break anything, I can handle this.” At the rate Sophie was moving, it would be ages before those milkshakes materialized. “You sit.” Emma pointed for Sophie to get out from behind the bar, then plucked Keefe’s drink from her hand as she passed by. “And I’ll give this to Keefe.” Emma, her perpetually klutzy best friend, didn’t make it three steps before she tripped—but to Sophie’s amazement, she didn’t spill the drink.
Liam held out his hand for Sophie to take. “There’s a sofa in your office. Why don’t we sit there for a few minutes, love?”
Once inside the office, Sophie and Liam collapsed onto the small sofa side by side.
“Liam, I couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you so much for coming.”
“You would have managed. You always do,” he said with a small smile. “I suppose I was sort of your knight in shining armor.”
They exchanged a look, warmth lingering in their gazes. She grinned, then glanced down at her shoes. Her feet were killing her. Without thinking, she lifted her legs and rested her feet in his lap.
