Page 41 of Grind
All eyes are on me, and I smile. Reaching out, I wrap an arm around Connor’s huge bicep and an instant wave of peace washes over me. “Actually, most of it’s from your son, sir. And it’s all good. He tells me that you’ve done a lot of good in the community. Did you know that he recently followed your lead and endowed a law scholarship?”
Connor coughs, looks away. We haven’t talked about that – yet.
I continue, “The Claire Doyle Scholarship. It’s helping attorneys that want to support survivors of domestic abuse.” I’m so proud of him that my eyes burn.
Connor clears his throat, and he shares a long silent exchange with his father.
Murphy’s smiling broadly. “Good. Nobody better than Connor here to make sure the Doyles keep giving back. Making this city a better place.”
He looks at me for a long minute, and gives me a surprisingly gentle smile that adds more crinkles around his eyes. “It’s a true pleasure to meet you, Ava. Connor here, he’s one of the good ones. You two take care of each other.”
Then, as if the sentimentality is too much, Murphy waves a hand.
“Come on, sit down and have something to eat,” he says and heads back to the table.
Connor’s looking down at me, something unreadable in his eyes. Here we are, in the middle of his family bar, and everything else fades away. His head ducks down to my ear and he whispers, “Ava, you’re amazing. Thank you, I…”
He pauses.
I pick up where he left off. “I’m sorry, Connor. You can’t have your Red Sox shirt back. I’ve decided to keep it.” I’ve decided to keep you too, I add silently.
He blinks rapidly, but before he responds I add much more softly, “I love you too, Connor.” And I hold his eyes, which widen and then grow heated with the promise of things to come.
“Now, introduce me to your family.”
Several sets of curious eyes are turned our way, and the small redheaded woman has stood and is making her way to us. “Hi, you must be Ava. I’m Molly, it’s so nice to meet you.”
She turns flashing eyes on Connor. “Come on, you big lug. Introduce your girlfriend to your brothers and get her some food.”
When there’s a moment of hesitation she adds, “Now, Connor!” before looping her arm through mine and leading me toward the table to introduce me to the Doyle family. As she talks, my eyes lift up and meet Connor’s.
It’s going to be a hell of a ride.
Epilogue - Connor
One Year Later…
The air’sbarely moving in the stifling ninety-degree heat, the sun’s beating down unrelentingly, and my ass is numb from this cheap folding chair.
There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
“Relax, Connor. She’s almost up,” Seamus says, shooting an apologetic look to the woman next to me.
My twitching is getting on her nerves, and she’s got nowhere to go. My huge brothers take up the entire row.
My fingers slide into my pocket and curl around the small box there for the hundredth time that morning. A ring, an emerald Claddagh ring that had been my mother’s, is still there.
The woman on stage is calling the list of graduates. She did it. Ava’s worked harder than anyone I’ve ever seen. Late nights, clerking internships, endless classes.
And she’s crossing the stage, taking her diploma, with a confident nod and smile. I love the focused, intense, and sexy woman that she is. She’s descending the stairs and moving in the direction of the other graduates when she sees me.
Surprising me, she changes direction and heads directly my way. I’m on my feet, pushing past my brothers, to meet her in the aisle.
Ava crashes into my arms, and I pick her up as she lets out a little shriek.
“I’m so proud of you, baby girl.”
She wraps her arms around me and buries her face in my neck. It doesn’t get better than this. Until it does. All eyes are on us, but I don’t care. My focus is narrowed down to her.
