Rowan (The Irish Wolves Book 3)

Chapter 35

“Thank you again for coming,” Rowan sniffled, embracing her sisters in Nan’s old house—their house now after Patrick bought it from their grandma.

“What in the hell is going on, Row? Seriously, your text scared the shit out of me, and I know Pat’s going to skin me alive when I get home,” River grimaced. “I texted him halfway here to tell him the three of us had to run to Boyle today and would explain everything this evening.”

“I told Bran that you needed River and me. I packed clothes and stuffed them into Daniel’s diaper bag before running out the door.” Raven didn’t look any happier about leaving her husband without an explanation. “To say he was pissed when he got my text an hour later saying we had to go to Nan’s is putting it mildly. I did admit that you were upset about something and needed us. He still wasn’t happy, but he understood. River and I both asked Bran and Pat not to tell Hugh for now like you asked us to.” Daniel was still sleeping in his car seat but was starting to stretch and yawn.

Rowan dropped into one of the kitchen chairs surrounding the huge wooden table, placing her forehead on the smooth but scarred surface. “I’m sorry. So, so sorry, guys. I panicked.”

“No shit. Pat just made a big breakfast, and I only got one bite,” River whined. “Eating for two isn’t just a job. It’s a privilege.”

From Rowan’s prone position, she saw River smile from her peripheral. River was trying to lighten the mood. She appreciated the gesture, but Rowan couldn’t think of a single thing that would make her current reality smile-worthy.

“Tell us what’s going on. When you texted us both that you hopped a ride with Nan and Devlen, I knew something had to be seriously wrong,” Raven said, rubbing a hand over her sister’s head, which was still on the table. “While you start, I’m going to heat a bottle up for Daniel.”

Forcing herself to sit up, she gave them the abbreviated tale of the most recent shitshow episode of Hugh and Rowan. She hit the highlights of the past year, which they knew most of by now. Went on to describe their time in Tulsa. They knew some of that, too, but not everything.

“He wholly committed to me, you guys. Completely. You know how he is, though. He can be quite hilarious, at least in smaller groups, but by and large, he’s reserved and…bad-tempered,” Rowan huffed a laugh. Trying to describe that man’s unpredictable moods was laborious at the best of times.

The Seven Deadly Moods of Hugh.

“Of course, we only had the one night together before I was kidnapped. Then, when we were reunited, you both saw how standoffish he was at the hospital. There but not.

“He didn’t change at the rehabilitation center. No touching and barely any conversation during the day, and then affectionate the minute we were alone at night. We spent hours talking about everything. However, when I brought up my wanting to have a child, he shut down hard. No discussion.

“The morning we left to drive to the airport, he’d left my room before I was awake and took his bags with him. You guys might have noticed he chose to drive separately from me.”

“I thought it was strange, but you should know, Rowan, that I don’t judge how you and Hugh choose to live your lives,” Raven explained as she picked Daniel up, who was awake and smiling. Once she settled at the big table again, she continued. “It will be a problem with me if you aren’t happy, however.”

“I knew it would take time for him to come to terms with showing you affection, but after last night...” River trailed off, a frown marring her face.

Continuing where she left off, Rowan explained that she’d texted him on the way to the plane. He knew she was upset, that his behavior wasn’t going to work.

“Remember when he followed me to the bathroom?”

“Mile High Club,” River smirked. “Yeah, we recall.”

Raven cooed at her son. “Papa is naughty. Isn’t that right, my sweet boy?”

Raven and River laughed at her blush. “I can’t believe he said that. See! That proves that he’s capable of being public about us. That wasn’t what I was going to talk about, though, assholes,” Rowan shook her head at their big grins.

“Before we had sex, we hashed everything out. My expectations, his reservations. I was willing to give him time as long as he tried to show me a few signs of affection in public. I want people to know he’s mine, damn it,” she burst out angrily. “Is that selfish?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Hell no.”

“And then last night happened. I get that Hugh is territorial over me, just as his sons are over you two.” They nodded in understanding. The men weren’t big sharers. They could happily stay in an O’Faolain bubble with their women—and after the hardships and trials the six of them had been through together, she understood the impulse.

“He was angry about Davey. I get that too. Hugh’s biggest hangup is our age difference. He hated a man so much younger than him hitting on me. I get all of that. It wasn’t what pissed me off last night. It’s the fact that if he’d treated me like his girlfriend, Davey would have never approached me.” She had to press her fingers to her eyes so the threatening tears wouldn’t fall.

“I slept in the guest bedroom last night. Or tried to sleep. I hated we didn’t resolve things. I was too emotional and too angry to make good decisions and…I wanted to punish him for embarrassing me,” she ended quietly. “It was petty and mean, and I should have been better than that.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. Jesus, Row,” River fumed, “you’ve been through a shitload of shit for weeks. Hugh rejecting you, the shooting, the fu—flipping kidnapping,” she corrected herself, glancing at their nephew. “So you’d had enough last night. It’s okay to have feelings.”

“You had every right to be hurt,” Raven agreed, “but you also knew going into this that Hugh is an extremely complex man with a difficult personality. However, he loves his family and you fiercely. I understand needing a break after last night to recalibrate, so to speak, but what is up with coming here? I get it’s only two hours from Dublin, and the distance might clear your head faster, but I saw a large suitcase by the door. Are you planning on staying longer than a night?”

River gave her a sharp look. “You haven’t told us everything.”

No, she hadn’t. “I’m working up to that,” she admitted sheepishly. Before she could give them the rest of it, Nan hustled in, carrying a basket of, if her nose was still working after crying, freshly baked scones covered with an embroidered tea towel.

With a quick, “Hello, girls,” she set the basket on the table and went to fill the kettle. “I left some breakfast tea here, and glad I did. You girls need to really keep some staples here.”

She and her sisters smiled at Nan’s no-nonsense attitude. Rowan was relieved to have her here. Nan hadn’t questioned her this morning when she’d asked to bum a ride not forty-five minutes after leaving her apartment that morning. She didn’t ask a single question on the drive to Boyle, even when she had to have heard her sniffing in the truck’s back seat.

Nan would have known she wouldn’t want to speak in front of Devlen. They dropped her at the front door, Devlen grabbed her suitcase, and Nan said she’d be back. And here she was. Thank God.

When she tried to help set the table, Nan shooed her back. Once she had plates, napkins, and four mugs of steaming tea, she joined them, but not before scooping Daniel up and cuddling him close.

“Now then, what’s all this?” She waved a hand around the table, which presumably meant, why had Rowan run to Boyle and dragged her sisters with her.

Clearing her throat, Rowan explained some of the problems she and Hugh had been having. “Last night was particularly difficult,” and she told Nan some of what happened there, as well.

“Hugh is Hugh. It’s never stopped you from loving him, my girl.”

“I love him still. Desperately. None of those things could ever change that,” she assured.

“Then why have you run away? That isn’t like you. What else is it?”

Nan wasn’t buying her partial story any more than her sisters. She took a deep breath before telling them the rest. “Okay, but let me get it all out. I found out at Dr. Daley’s this morning that I’m pregnant.” When they gasped and started to speak, she held her hand up for silence.

“The first night we were together—together together that is?—”

Nan interrupted with a snort. “Together together…what in the world does?—”

Rowan cut her off that time. “We didn’t use a condom. Once. It was the middle of the night and…umm…kind of like surprise sex,” she stumbled over discussing her sex life with Nan, but there was no getting out of it now.

“It was an accident on both our parts. Hugh was horrified when I told him during the flight home. He literally looked sick at the possibility of me being pregnant. This was after I’d tried to broach the topic of wanting a child with him. He shut me down every time, Nan. He one hundred percent does not want another child.

“And it’s not like I don’t understand his predicament. He has two grown sons. I do understand, but he should have at least talked it out with me.” Rowan swiped her hand in front of her, setting that bit aside. “The truth is, even without the words, he made it abundantly clear that children weren’t an option. And now look,” she sniffed on her tears, “I’m pregnant anyway. He’ll be furious. I don’t know how to tell him. I don’t want to tell him,” she wailed.

Everyone was up and pulling Rowan into hugs. Daniel smiled at his auntie in the middle of the huddle.

“Well, I’ll say this much for the O’Faolain brood. They’re a potent lot,” Nan said, shaking her head.

“Need we remind you of Mom and Dad, Nan?” River grinned, swiping tears from beneath both eyes.

Raven grabbed tissues and handed them out before telling everyone to sit back down. “Okay, let’s eat, drink our tea, and figure out our next move.”

“You mean my next move,” Rowan grimaced. They sat, doling out the warm lemon iced scones. She took a big bite and moaned at the sugary tartness on her tongue. Food did make most things better.

“No,” Raven continued, “I meant what I said. You know as well as River knows that Bran and Patrick aren’t going to give us much longer before they demand answers. I imagine they are brooding together already. I also imagine Hugh is with them. I expect we’ll be hearing from the three of them before we finish these scones. We need to come up with a plan to make Hugh come around.”

“He’s all bark with you, Row,” River smirked. “He would never see you upset or disappointed. Not if he could do something about it. You should have seen him when you were missing. He would have never given up looking for you.”

River surreptitiously dabbed her eyes. Nan and Raven took drinks of their tea to settle their feelings. No one liked to think of that time.

“Exactly. He is never going to give you up. He’ll adjust to having a baby,” Raven finished.

Nan had stayed quiet, finishing her scone in thoughtful silence. “Did you know he called me twice a day when you were missing?”

That surprised Rowan, though it shouldn’t have. Hugh was incredibly thoughtful. He knew how much Nan would be worrying. “I didn’t know that.”

“Your sisters called, of course, and Bran and Patrick did too. My point is that you six are a package deal. Do you honestly believe Hugh would walk away because he got you pregnant?”

“We both are responsible,” Rowan was quick to add. “And no, I don’t think he’d walk away, but that’s what makes it even worse. He doesn’t want another child. I would become an obligation, and I don’t want that,” she finished quietly.

Nan looked at her sternly. “Well, he’s damn well getting another child, no matter what his previous concerns were. That part is well and done. If you think that man would ever, even for a moment, consider you an obligation, then how do you girls put it…that’s a you problem.”

That broke the tension, each of them snorting in amusement. Tears were dried, tea was imbibed, and focus was brought to the table.

“This isn’t about Hugh having trouble expressing his emotions publicly. You need to admit that, sweetheart,” Nan said kindly, taking her hand between her own. “That man loves you whether he shouts it to the masses or not. This is about the baby. Only about the baby. Yes?”

“It is. I’m scared, but I know between the four of us, we’ll figure this out. Just like we did with Raven and Bran and River and Patrick.” The funny thing was, once Rowan admitted that out loud, she did believe it. They would make this right. She believed in Hugh even when he questioned himself.

“This meeting of the Byrnes is officially in session,” Rowan declared. “Let’s plan.” They didn’t start for ten minutes. Her precious nephew decided to poop and stink the kitchen up to high heaven. Daniel’s diaper changed, they reconvened in the sunroom, wanting to include their mom and dad in the process.

Rowan smiled fondly at her favorite snapshot in the memory armoire. It was of her parents looking into each other’s eyes, laughing, and holding hands. She imagined they still did that same thing in Heaven.

River was just starting a list of ideas on her tablet when all three of their phones started pinging with notifications. They must have all gotten a touch of déjà vu from the last time they’d all sat together awaiting an O’Faolain message. The three sisters grinned as they opened their messages.

Hugh was livid.Bran and Patrick were being cagey when they met for lunch. Rowan hadn’t come home before he’d left. She must not have finished her errands yet. He didn’t text or call, afraid she was still angry. When he’d asked the boys where their wives were, they ho-hummed around and shrugged their shoulders like adolescents.

They took seats at Oliver St. John Gogarty’s bar. It was one of Hugh’s favorite pubs in the Temple Bar district. Gogarty’s Boxty was good, but anything with potatoes was good in Hugh’s book. After ordering drinks and appetizers, he spun on his stool and stared at the two towheaded miscreants he’d helped create.

Bran cleared his throat. Guiltily. “We need to meet Tay Withe at the distillery. I thought about taking Rave there on Friday and spending the night at a local BB. She would love to get Daniel out of the city for a day.”

Hugh didn’t respond. The key to his sons was making them so uncomfortable they eventually gave up the information he wanted. He crossed his arms and continued to look between them. Even when the drinks were set in front of them and they pretended great interest and joy in a glass of water, he didn’t relent.

Patrick cleared his throat next. Guilty AF. “River would like a short excursion too. Plus, now that Rowan’s back, the three of them are supposed to be getting a design plan together.”

He’d give it to them. They hadn’t given up their wives’ whereabouts yet—which meant they’d been asked by those same women not to tell him. This had to be about last night. Christ. He was starting to sweat. He didn’t like that he and Rowan had gone to bed without working things out. He really didn’t like not knowing where she was. He’d just gotten her back, and now this. He was barely holding his shit together. His sons would talk, or they would regret it.

Before the shit hit the fan last night, she’d said she was telling Bébhinn goodbye at eight. Her doctor’s appointment was at eight forty-five. She only had a couple of errands after that. She should have been home for lunch.

The Byrne sisters were together. They had to be.

“Withe is a hell of a distiller. Good call on that, Dad,” Bran rambled.

Hugh didn’t even blink.

“For fuck’s sake. What’s your problem?” Patrick asked.

Finally.

“You’re the one that fucked up last night, and now we’re all paying for you being an asshole to Row,” Bran gripped his shot glass in frustration.

“You hurt her feelings, Dad. It really upsets River when you do that,” Patrick added.

Now they were getting somewhere. He gritted his teeth, pissed off that his sons knew how upset he’d made Rowan. He picked up his shot of Slane and took a healthy pull, hiding a slight grimace. He didn’t really care for Slane. He kept his expression blank, continuing to wait for his sons to completely break.

The truth. His sons were strong-willed and intelligent. They wouldn’t tell him if they truly didn’t want him to know. Hugh could tell they were angry about last night. They didn’t like their wives, or Rowan upset, or that their father was to blame.

Bran sighed, rubbing his eyes before looking at his father again. “Dad…Jesus, I know you hate talking about your personal life, but you’ve got to change, or you’re going to lose Rowan. The sisters’ happiness is tied together. You can surely understand why Pat and I have a stake in you being a dick.”

“Speaking of dicks, let’s talk about yours. Spoiler alert, we know you have a dick. We know you use your dick—with Row. I’ve personally caught you mid-using your dick—again, with Row.”

Bran butted in, “Say what now? You caught Dad?—”

“Shut it, Pat,” Hugh demanded. He had to keep repeating Endure, Endure, Endure, over and over and over again. He needed information about Rowan, but unfortunately, this travesty was the means.

“Later,” Patrick told his brother.

“Anyway,” Patrick began again. “We know you love our sister-in-law. Like, seriously, Dad, would it kill you to show her affection in front of us?” Patrick asked, clearly as fed up with him as he was with himself.

“Where are they?”

Bran met his gaze straight on. Looked like the preliminaries were finally over.

“Boyle,” Bran admitted.

“They only told us that Rowan needed them and that they would call us later. I texted Devlen because I knew better than to question Nan. He said Rowan got a ride with them this morning. That’s all I know,” Patrick shared.

As if they were in a choreographed dance, the three of them pulled their phones out and began texting.

She left town because of him. He was having a hard time taking a full breath.

Please come home.

I’m not ready.

Forgive me. I love you.

It isn’t enough this time. You really hurt my feelings last night. Like…really hurt me. You didn’t just treat me like a friend—you treated me like I didn’t mean anything to you.

You mean everything to me. I keep fucking up.Hugh frantically wondered if there was anything he could say that would make a difference. It was unusual for Rowan to leave things unresolved.

I’ll come back to Dublin in a day or two.

She said Dublin, not home. Home?

I’m not sure.

He glanced at his sons, who were both still busy texting. They looked up at the same time, their faces as grim as he felt. “When are Raven and River coming back?”

He texted back. Please.

I’m not chasing you anymore.

“Raven said not until Rowan does.”

“Same,” Patrick confirmed.

“You do realize,” Bran began after taking a drink of water, “that fixing this is simple. It’s always been simple.”

Hugh could only look at his phone screen. I’m not chasing you anymore.

“How is any of this simple?” Hugh appeared unruffled from the outside as he sat sideways on his barstool. Inside, his heart was beginning a painful flatline. I’m not chasing you anymore.

“Make sure she never questions your feelings again,” Bran explained, as if his dad was simple-minded.

“A grand gesture like they do in movies,” Pat grinned, excited at the prospect. “I wrote River letters. Bran spent months growing that bread stuff for Raven.”

“Sourdough starter, moron,” Bran scoffed.

Hugh sat his phone on the scarred wooden bar and picked up his glass, shooting back the rest of the shot. His boys were looking at him expectantly. They believed he could be…this man Rowan needed.

“I have an engagement ring—for Rowan.”

“Well, we didn’t think you were going to propose to Diana Gaines,” Patrick laughed at Hugh’s glare.

“If I didn’t have things to do, I’d enjoy beating the juvenile out of you.”

“Nice. A proposal’s a gesture for sure,” Bran assured him, ignoring his brother as they were all wont to do.

“Fine. I’m going home to pack a bag and get the ring out of the safe.” He frowned at their twin grins. “Do not tell your wives.”

“We won’t, but we’re coming with you,” Bran looked at his brother who nodded in agreement.