Page 47 of Beside Golden Irish Fields
Siobhan put her hand on his shoulder. “And what might they be wishing to spice up? Answer carefully. Your spot at my dinner table might be in jeopardy.”
“They clearly lost their minds, Mum,” Brady answered quickly. “You should beat them with thistles to teach them a lesson.”
Carrick wished he could put his hands over his ears and blot out the whole matter, but his mum nudged him, and she wasn’t a woman to be ignored. “The Yank seemed to handle the whole incident well, so there’s no harm. She even managed to garner the respect of the men without shaming them for their visit. I heard people talking right and left about joining the painting class—despite Mary Kincaid’s chiding. Bets, I’d say it’s a win.”
“You do, do you?” She stared Carrick down, twirling that infernal feather boa. “Then why didn’t she dance on the bar? I thought she wanted to, and with Megan at home—”
“She’s still finding her way,” he said, feeling strangely protective of her. “It’s a new town. Give her a break, Bets. She’s got a lot of pressure, what with needing to paint again for the gallery showing around the agricultural fair.”
All eyes zeroed in on him. Kade was smiling. Jamie was trying not to smirk.
Oh, for fuck’s sake. He’d gone way too far in Angie’s defense.
“Heard you ripped into poor Donal but good, Bets,” Brady said, changing the subject like the good friend he was. “Wish I could have seen it. But not the lot of them in nothing at all, of course. From what I hear, some of the women fainted.”
“They did not,” Bets said, smacking him with her boa.
But Carrick noticed how her gaze tracked to the bar, where Donal stood talking to his father and some other men.
Brady hooked his thumb in Donal’s direction. “My dad was telling me he might start feeling less of a man around Donal. If you know what I mean.”
Good God! They were not talking about Donal’s size, were they? Carrick rose in his chair.
“Your father is a fine specimen of a man,” Siobhan said sharply. “I’d never want him to feel lacking.”
“Then be kind to him, Mum,” Declan said, glancing at his brother. “Don’t make him sleep in the spare bedroom.”
Even though Carrick knew they were only trying to help their parents make peace, he didn’t want to hear it. “I’m going. Early morning.”
“Brother, it’s always early for you, between your sheep and your building,” Jamie said, but he stood in solidarity. “I’ll walk out with you.”
“Me too,” Kade said, joining them.
The McGrath twins agreed, rising and kissing their mum. Carrick followed Jamie, and they kissed their mum goodnight too.
“Off with you,” Bets said. “We have one more song to play.”
“Are you going to talk to Donal?” Siobhan asked as Carrick and his friends were leaving.
“Not even if he were on fire and needed a blanket to quench the flames,” Bets said as they walked away.
Poor Donal. He wasn’t going to have an easy time of it. Taking pity on the man, Carrick and the others made the rounds to bid goodbye to the remaining patrons from the village, which included making a visit to the front table where his father sat with the rest of their streaking group. Eoghan was asleep in his chair, snoring, but with an almost childlike smile on his face.
Seamus gestured to the old man. “If he dies in his sleep, he’d have had a grand send-off.”
They nodded and all crossed themselves.
“I suppose we should be grateful Bets and her crew didn’t spray us with water pistols from atop the bar,” Gavin said. “For a moment there, I wasn’t sure what they were planning. I feared for my bar glasses as much as my eyes. Me own wife excluded, of course. She’s a goddess.”
“Take the win today,” Kade said, gesturing to the men. “You expressed some inner desire to be seen as men. Walk proudly these next few days while the talk in the village is red hot.”
“Son, I always walk proud,” Killian answered, removing his hand. “We don’t all ride ponies.”
Carrick bit his lip at the jab. This old line of talk from Killian about Kade liking pony therapy and animal healing instead of stallion breeding angered all of them.
They all hustled out of there before anyone came to Kade’s defense and caused bad feelings. The McGraths offered a quick goodbye, leaving Carrick, Jamie, and Kade.
The street was blessedly quiet, thank God, and a gentle rain had started to fall. Carrick took a breath to clear his head as they moved along.
