Page 70 of Cosy & Chill
“How long have you been there?”
“Long enough. I’ve good ears, too.” She came and stood beside him. Instead of a clip around the ear or a knee to the groin or any of the other acts of violence she could have inflicted on him, she ran a single fingertip down his back. “I have eyes, too. What trouble is it ye’re bringing to this house?”
Leo didn’t dare meet her eyes. He didn’t want to see pity or disgust and was sure to find both.
“Where’s Finn?” he croaked.
“Gone to the post office.” Roisin grabbed his arm. “Come on. Ye need a fry up to get ye past that hangover and thinking straight again.”
Leo’s stomach roiled. “I can’t eat.”
“Ye can at that, believe me. And then ye can tell me what it is that has ye so tied in knots.”
Leo was hung over, ashamed, heartsore, and scared. His insides were a roiling mass of emotions, his thoughts squirming like snakes in a basket. He didn’t know up from down, couldn’t have chosen eggs over bacon if she’d asked him.
All he could do was follow as she tugged him downstairs, sit at the table when she pushed him into a seat, and reach for the mug of tea she set in front of him.
“Talk,” Roisin ordered and turned to the stove. “Tell me the lot.”
Faced with her strength, compassion, and resolve, Leo caved and shared the whole sorry tale.
