Chapter 19
Okay, he was absolutely skulking.
He stood just inside the doorway to the back hallway of the pub, peeking around the corner like a man on the run. He knew exactly how ridiculous he must have looked—half-hidden behind the broom closet, his hair a mess, and his shirt still wrinkled from Gwen’s hands.
But desperate times and all that.
He knew it was a risk when Gwen drove him to work. Even more so when he saw his sister’s car already parked out back. And then she kissed him goodbye—a kiss that went long, deep, and left no room for pretending it hadn’t happened.
He’d barely had time to recover from that kiss—his back still pressed against the passenger seat, his brain still somewhere around sweet holy hell —when Gwen gave him one last wink and drove off like she hadn’t just turned his life upside down.
Now here he was, hiding like a coward from his sister, praying she didn’t come around the corner and ask why he smelled like Gwen’s perfume and looked like he’d just tumbled out of bed.
Which, to be fair, he had.
Or technically, the couch first—then the bed. But the details hardly mattered if Sophie found out. Ever since he left the christening early, she’d been suspicious, tossing him the occasional side-eye. And if she caught wind of this morning’s goodbye, she’d have her confirmation, no words required.
Keefe ran a hand through his hair in a futile attempt to tame it. No use. The woman had fingers like a hurricane.
He peeked around the corner again.
Clear.
“Keefe,” came Ginny’s voice from behind him, amused and far too loud for his liking, “are you skulking?”
“No,” he said quickly. “Of course not.”
Ginny snorted. “Oh yes, you are. And I know why too!” she lowered her voice to a scolding whisper. “I saw you chewing the face off?—”
“Shhh!” Keefe hissed, spinning around and grabbing her by the arm. “My sister will hear you!”
He yanked her into the office and ever so gently, cautiously, closed the door behind them.
Ginny’s brows shot up as she crossed her arms.
“All right, yes, you’re right.” Keefe ran a hand through his hair. “You saw what you saw. Gwen and I are back together.”
Ginny grinned like Christmas had come early. She loved being in on a secret. “I knew it! I mean, I had my suspicions, but seeing you two behind the pub like that?” she dramatically wiped her brow, “I should have filmed it.”
Keefe groaned and dropped into the chair behind the desk. “Don’t even joke. We were nearly caught. Sophie went out the front door ten seconds after Gwen left.”
“She didn’t see her leave?”
“No. If she had, I would be bleeding.”
Ginny laughed and waved her hand. “You’re just being dramatic.”
“I’m being realistic.” He pointed at the door like Sophie might burst through it at any moment wielding a meat cleaver.
“The pub may be shiny and new, but it won’t stay that way once Sophie’s done with it.
Or Gwen. Or me.” He shuddered at the thought.
“Look,” he continued, lowering his voice to something approaching pleading, “Sophie doesn’t know yet. And I’m not ready to tell her.”
Ginny tilted her head. “You’re not ready to tell her, or you’re not ready to suffer her wrath?”
He gave her a look.
“Gotcha,” she said, nodding. “Wrath.”
“I just need a little more time,” he said. “To ease her into it. Maybe... I don’t know. Spike her drink? Buy her a puppy?”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “You’re a grown man afraid of his sister.”
“I am not afraid of my sister,” Keefe said, affronted.
Uh huh. Suuure he wasn’t.
“Really? You expect me to buy that?”
“I prefer to say that I’m cautiously respectful of her temper.”
Ginny chuckled and plopped into the chair across from him. “Fine. Your secret’s safe with me. But you had better hurry. Sophie’s got instincts like a bloodhound. If she hasn’t figured it out already, she will. And when she does…”
“I know,” he muttered. “She’s going to end me.” Keefe slumped forward onto the desk, forehead to wood. “Brilliant.”
Ginny opened her mouth to offer a well-timed jab—something about him growing a spine—when the doorknob jiggled.
Keefe sat bolt upright. The door opened. And in walked Sophie.
Keefe shot up so fast he nearly flipped his chair. Ginny’s eyes went wide as she tried to school her face into something neutral. It didn’t work.
Sophie glanced between them, brow arched. “Well, here you two are. This is cozy.” She shot Keefe a look of warning. If he was up to what she thought he was up to with Ginny… he had better start praying and get good with God.
Keefe cleared his throat. “Hey, Soph.”
She stepped inside slowly, eyes narrowing. “Are you two hiding in the office for a reason? Plotting something I should know about?”
“Nope. Nope, just, uh…” Keefe looked at Ginny.
“Inventory,” Ginny blurted. “We were discussing… supplies. You know, napkins and stuff—and the toiletries for upstairs are running low.”
Sophie blinked. That had to be the worst lie ever in the history of lies. “Inventory… in hushed voices, with the door locked?”
“Was it locked?” Keefe said too quickly. His sister wasn’t buying it.
Ginny gave him a subtle elbow. “Maybe it stuck.”
Sophie’s eyes bounced between them. Her instincts, finely honed after years of managing chaos, were already kicking in.
“Right,” she said slowly. Then turned her full attention to Keefe who had little beads of sweat on his forehead. “Where is your car?”
“What?”
“Your car—it isn’t here but you are.”
“Oh, that. My car is in the shop. It was making this clankity clank noise.”
“A clankity clank noise?”
“Yep, just like that. And so, it’s at the mechanics.”
“Uh huh. And how did you get here?”
“Simon. Simon gave me a lift.” He made a mental note to text Simon ASAP to tell him to cover for him.
This whole story was bollocks and Sophie knew it. She just needed to get one thing straight before she chose her weapon. The stapler on the desk would do nicely. “You look nervous. And twitchy. And your shirt’s on inside out.” Not to mention backwards.
Keefe looked down. Shit. She was right.
Then Sophie looked at Ginny. Unlike Keefe, Ginny was tidy as a pin without so much as a hair out of place.
Sophie exhaled through her nose. He wasn’t having a fling with Ginny.
Good. At least that was settled and she wouldn’t have to throttle him.
However, that still didn’t explain his inside out shirt, messy hair and sweaty brow.
It didn’t take long for Sophie to piece it together. Her mouth parted, then pressed into a hard line. “Son of a bitch,” she muttered, the words slow and deliberate as everything clicked into place.
Keefe had been moping around like a zombie after Gwen left town. Then—like flipping a switch—he was suddenly all sunshine and smartassery after the christening.
Nobody gets that excited over a baby’s christening.
She narrowed her eyes.
“You’re seeing her again, aren’t you?”
“What?” Keefe squeaked. “Who?”
“You heard me.” Sophie stepped forward, every bit the fire-eyed protector. “You’re seeing Gwen again.”
Ginny sucked in a breath and subtly tried to sink into the floor. Keefe hadn’t overreacted. Yep, Sophie was going to tear him into strips.
Keefe opened his mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again, like a goldfish gasping for air. “I mean… yes?”
Sophie folded her arms. “Unbelievable.”
“Soph, please?—”
“I knew something was up! And then I saw you skulking.” She threw her arms in the air.
“I wasn’t skulking!”
“He was definitely skulking,” Ginny added. It didn’t help anything but she couldn’t help it.
“I knew it!” Sophie said, throwing her hands in the air.
Keefe braced himself, arms slightly raised like Sophie might launch something at him. “Listen. I love her. I never stopped. And she made a mistake, but she’s sorry, and I forgave her.”
“You forgave her,” Sophie repeated, eyes wide. “And you thought what? That you’d just sneak around until I magically approved?”
Keefe winced. “That was loosely the plan, yes.”
Ginny made a sound like a snort into her elbow.
Sophie turned slowly toward her. “And you knew?”
Uh oh. She hadn’t counted on Sophie’s wrath turning to her. “I—look, I just found out today, and I didn’t tell you because I knew this exact scene would happen and I didn’t want to die.”
Sophie turned back to Keefe, who looked sheepish and slightly pitiful. “I can’t believe this!”
“I can explain everything,” he said.
“You’d better.”
There was a pause. Keefe straightened, trying to muster what was left of his dignity. “Would you like a drink first?” he asked.
Sophie gave him a slow, dark look. “Make it a double.”
Ginny wisely slipped out of the room, mouthing good luck to Keefe as she went.
Now seated at the bar Sophie stared at Keefe like he’d grown a second head. Keefe sighed and gestured for her to sit. “Soph, please. Just let me explain.”
“Explain why you’re sneaking around with a woman who lied to our entire family and used you?” she said, sitting but crossing her arms like she was preparing for battle.
Keefe rubbed a hand down his face. “Gwen didn’t come here to trick anyone. She came here looking for her sister. She didn’t even plan to stay, and she definitely didn’t plan to start a relationship with me.”
“And you don’t see how that makes things worse?”
“I see it,” Keefe said quietly. “I see all of it. But none of that changes the fact that I love her. And she loves me. Sophie… I’ve never been happier. Couldn’t you just try to forgive and forget? For my sake?”
Before Sophie could launch into her next verbal assault, the front door of the pub creaked open.
Nan walked in, carrying a reusable tote bag filled with peaches and looking pleasantly surprised to see her niece and nephew sitting together at the bar. Then on a second look she saw Sophie’s eyes burning. Nan’s eyebrows rose. “What’s going on here?”
“Perfect timing. You can talk some sense into my brother. Keefe’s gone and lost his mind,” Sophie said, standing again. “He’s back with Gwen.”
Nan set her bag on the bar and raised one brow. “And?”