Page 80 of The Bossy One

Then Olivia walked out the door, leaving me frozen on the stairwell.

I fucking hated Seamus O’Rourke.

25

OLIVIA

“Ooof. You look like you could use a beer,” Molly said as she let me into her apartment.

“No thanks,” I said. As mad as I was at Declan, I’d promised him I’d be careful, and I intended to keep my word. “I have to drive home after this.”

Molly stepped back from the door and beckoned me into her apartment. It was a small, oddly shaped living room and kitchen space, but the couch looked comfortable and all the art on the walls gave the space a friendly, eclectic feel.

“So what did you want to talk about, then?” Molly padded into the kitchen and put the kettle on. Then she pulled some mugs down from the cupboard.

“I need you to keep what I’m about to say between us,” I said. Molly had already told me her roommate was out for the night, so I didn’t have to worry about anyone overhearing us.

Molly raised her eyebrows. “Okay. Consider these lips sealed. What’s up?”

“Seamus O’Rourke is pretty sure he’s Catie’s dad. And he wants Declan’s permission to get to know her while she’s here, only Declan refuses to even talk to Seamus. So now I’m caught in the middle.”

Molly blinked several times in a row. “Okay. Processingthatbombshell. Why are you caught in the middle? And what flavor of tea do you want?”

I examined the boxes Molly held up and pointed to the peach flavor.

“Seamus asked me to help persuade Declan to hear him out,” I said. “I guess since Declan came to the festival for me, Seamus thinks…”

“That Declan would walk on hot coals for you,” Molly finished. She plunked a Barry’s tea bag in her own mug, thinking. “He’s not entirely wrong there.”

I felt myself blush. I knew Declan liked me. But he was so moody and inscrutable, it was hard to tell if he liked me as more than a friend he could hook up with.

“The problem is, Declan completely shuts down every time I bring up Seamus’s name,” I said. “He’s never going to read that email, is he?”

“I should say not,” Molly said. The tea kettle went off. She poured hot water into each of our mugs, and handed mine to me. We each added our preferred levels of milk and sugar and then settled on her couch.

“I was thinking…” I said. “Maybe if I can show Declan that Seamus is an okay person, then Declan will agree to meet with him.”

“No, no, no,no,” Molly said with uncharacteristic bluntness. “That is a terrible idea. You only have one option here. Tell Declan what Seamus told you, and then butt out and let Declan make his own decision. The last thing you want is to be caught in the middle of a decades-long grudge.”

I leaned forward. “But if I could help him make a fresh start…”

But Molly was shaking her head so vigorously I couldn’t finish the sentence. “You Americans are all about fresh starts. But we Irish know sometimes there’s too much history for a fresh start. If Declan wanted to see Seamus as anything but an O’Rourke, he would have done it by now.”

I sighed and sank back into the couch. Some part of me knew Molly was right. But I couldn’t quite bring myself to admit it.

Declan was going to befuriouswhen I told him. What if the fact that I’d kept the truth from him, even for a few days, destroyed what we’d built between the two of us?

“I can’t believe Sinead shagged Seamus,” Molly marveled. “Wonder if he was any good?”

I groaned and dropped my head back against the couch. “Notthe point.”

Molly snickered into her tea.

* * *

Molly and I hung out for another hour, chatting about her life. It was a welcome distraction for me. But as I drove home my thoughts returned—inevitably—to Declan. I couldn’t ignore what Seamus told me, and rob Catie of the chance to have a relationship with her father. That meant I had to bite the bullet and tell Declan.

I didn’t want to do it tonight, when we were tired and raw from fighting. I could tell him tomorrow, but I knew Declan’s work was only going to get busier leading up to the Prague trip.

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