Chapter Five
I leave Gemma’s a few hours later and, seeing no reason to go home and wait around until my shift, head straight to Kelly’s.
I’ve been meaning to try out a new cocktail recipe I’ve been working on in the hopes Adam will let me put it on the menu.
Not a big fan of cocktails, Adam. But I got obsessed with making them a few years ago, and there are only so many boring pints I can post on our social media before people start to scroll past. (We have a healthy seventy-eight followers on Instagram.
Though one of them is me and another an account I set up for Plankton. But they still count.)
The door is unlocked when I arrive, and when I let myself in, it’s to see our great leader himself sitting at one of the tables, wearing a stiff white button-up and a tie as he bends over his laptop, lost to the world.
“Nice outfit,” I greet. “You going to a funeral?”
Adam frowns as I make my way to the bar, a not-unusual expression for him. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, I work here. Nice to meet you.”
“You’re early.”
“Yeah, you’re welcome.” I grab my apron and start scanning the shelves for the grenadine I made him buy. “I was minding Noah. Or rather, Noah allowed me to be in the same room as him if I stayed very quiet. Also, Gemma asked if you could swing by before we open. Her washing machine is leaking.”
“I don’t— you weren’t supposed to—” He glances between the laptop and the door. “You need to come back later.”
I raise my brow at his tone, a little curt for my liking. “Why?”
“Because I said so and I’m your boss.”
I snort at that. “I’m going to make you try my new cocktail and then see how many of those Christmas napkins we still need to use.”
“Katie, I’m serious.”
“About what? If it’s spreadsheet time, I’ll be quiet. You won’t even know I’m here.”
“Would you just—”
He breaks off at the sound of a car pulling up outside, and I pause at how nervous he looks.
“Are you expecting someone? Oh my God, do you have a date? You have a date, don’t you? That’s why you’re in a tie. Is it that woman from Rossbridge? The one with the nice coat?”
“It’s not—”
“She seemed nice. She laughed at my joke.”
The door to the pub swings open, and we both turn to face it, me grinning stupidly, but it’s not the pretty teacher who he’d been seeing on and off before Christmas.
It’s Callum.
His broad frame fills the doorway, and I straighten in surprise.
He’s dressed like he’s come straight from the construction site, all rugged and capable and I can carry that for you , and the way his eyes immediately find mine makes me go all fluttery inside.
Do I have a crush? I feel like I’m getting a crush.
I tie my hair back, offering him a smile, but before I can say hello and welcome and would you like to try a bespoke cocktail, he drops his gaze and steps to the side, letting in the one man I would have been happy to never see again.
Jack Doyle enters the pub, and if Callum’s attention was on me, Jack’s goes solely to Adam, who he smiles wildly at as he strides inside like his face isn’t plastered to two dartboards by the fireplace.
“Sorry we’re late,” he says. “I got held up at the office. This is Callum Dempsey, my right-hand man, and I’d like you to meet Peter from our legal department. Peter, Adam. Adam, Peter.”
Another man, shorter and rounder and dressed just as nicely, follows on Jack’s heels to shake Adam’s hand. I watch all of it with my hair half up and falling out of the clip.
“Is there somewhere we could get set up?” Jack asks, and Adam nods, clearing his throat. His movements are stiff and unnatural, like he doesn’t know how to act.
“My office is in the back,” he says, gesturing around the bar.
“Perfect,” Jack says. “And maybe some water?” Only now does he acknowledge my presence.
“My shift hasn’t started yet,” I say, with a little more bite to my words than I intended. Jack doesn’t seem to notice, but Adam hears it at once.
“No problem,” he says, shooting me a warning glare. “I’ll bring something in.”
There are a few words of thanks, more small talk about the weather and the traffic, and then the three men file past, disappearing into the back room, into Adam’s office , like that’s a normal thing.
“What’s going on?” I ask, but Adam shakes his head.
“I’ll tell you later.”
I am instantly petulant. “No, tell me now.”
“Katie—”
“No, tell me what’s happening right now. What is that man doing here? I’m pretty sure Nush banned him.”
“Keep your voice down. And Nush doesn’t work here. She can’t ban anyone.”
“Then I will!”
“Voice down .” He looks over his shoulder at the office door and takes my elbow, drawing me to the side. “You weren’t supposed to be here,” he says, and I stand my ground, waiting for him to break.
It takes two seconds.
“They’re here to go over the deeds for the pub,” he says, and I swear I stop breathing as an icy feeling of betrayal slithers over my skin. What the hell?
“You sold the—”
“No.”
Oh. “Okay, I’m confused.”
“Seriously, Katie. You weren’t supposed to—”
“Confused, not dumb,” I interrupt. “Explain it to me before I march in there and get them to.”
Adam braces his arms against the bar, looking for once in his life like he’d rather be anywhere else. “How much do you know about property law in this country?”
“Take a wild guess.”
“Probably about as much as me then. Or at least as much as me up until a few weeks ago.” Another glance at the door and then he lowers his voice even more. “Apparently, Grandad Pat liked to gamble,” he says, and I frown.
“Bow tie man? With the majestic eyebrows?”
Adam nods. “He got into some bad debt before Dad was born and his younger brother, my grand-uncle, had to bail him out.”
“Alright. And I’m going to guess by the expression on your face you don’t mean with a bag of spuds and two goats.”
“All his savings,” Adam confirms. “And then some. Our family had a fair bit of land back then, right the way around the lake, and they transferred all of it into his brother’s name to keep it secure.
Everything except Kelly’s, so Grandad could still earn a living from running it.
The only thing was Grandad kept gambling.
So, while he was allowed to keep the pub, they put in an option clause so he couldn’t sell it to pay off any future debts.
Basically, saving him from himself. And it worked. ”
“Okay,” I say slowly. “I’ve never been happier to be an only child, but it still doesn’t explain why Jack Doyle is sitting in your office.”
“The option clause said that Grandad’s brother, as the adjoining landowner, had the right to buy the pub and take it from him if he wanted to.
One month’s notice and it was his. They put it into a contract, they signed it, and then Grandad met my grandmother, pulled himself together, and the whole thing was forgotten about.
It’s been collecting dust in some solicitor’s office ever since. ”
“But why would that…” I trail off as I put the pieces together. “Glenmill bought the land.” All the signs. All the fences. “They own the forest next to us.”
“My grand-uncle left everything to the church when he died.”
And the church sold everything off.
Adam nods as though reading my thoughts. “As the new adjoining landowner, Glenmill have the right to buy this place if they want to. And they want to. It’s as good as theirs.”
Theirs . I make a face, imagining them turning us into some sort of franchise. One with flashy advertising and terrible uniforms.
“So what? They’re just going to buy Kelly’s? Just like that? Why would they even want us?”
“They don’t,” Adam says, and that icy feeling returns.
“Okay,” I say abruptly. “You’re right. I shouldn’t be here. I’ll come back when I’m supposed to.”
“Katie—”
“Remember that Gemma needs you to fix her machine. I’ll see you later.”
“They’re going to close us down.”
I stare at him, crossing and uncrossing my arms as I try and process his words. “I don’t understand.”
“They’re going to close us down,” he repeats. “Tear us down, actually. They want to build a new clubhouse for the golf course here.”
The…I scoff, the noise coming out like a snort. That’s just…that’s…“That’s bullshit,” I say eventually, and he sighs. “No, they could be lying. Did you talk about this with someone who actually knows these things?”
“Of course I did. Don’t you think I went to my solicitor the second they called? I’ve had three different people look over the papers. There’s nothing we can do.”
“For how much then?” My left leg is shaking. Why is my left leg shaking? “You said they can buy the pub, but for how much? You can just ask for something ridiculous and make them go away. Tell them five million euros or something. They’re rich, but they’re not that rich.”
“It doesn’t work like that. Option clause was two hundred pounds back then.”
“Two hundred ?” It’s hard to wrap my head around. “So, they’re leaving you with nothing?”
“Not nothing,” Jack says, striding out from the back room. I whip around to glare at him, wondering how much he heard. “Adam will be more than welcome to work at the hotel. As will you be. He tells me you’re a fine bartender.”
He makes the compliment sound like an insult, patronizing and placating like he’s dealing with a child.
“I don’t want to work at the hotel,” I tell him, as Callum appears alongside the lawyer. “I want to work here. Why do you have to knock it down at all?”
“Because the last time anything of note was done to this place was fifty years ago and even that was shoddy work at best. You haven’t even seen the plans,” he adds, looking genuinely confused by my attitude. “We’re going to build a terrace all the way out to the lake. The view will be stunning.”
“But what’s everyone going to do?” I ask, turning back to Adam. “The clubhouse will be private, and people rely on this place. Where are they going to go?”
“To the hotel,” Jack says as though it’s obvious, and the last of my patience snaps.