Chapter 9
Tierney woke slowly, wondering why she hadn’t closed her curtains last night. Her second thought was why did her head hurt so much? Full consciousness and her memory quickly returned, and she sat upright in bed, the movement causing a flood of nausea. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
She turned to check she was alone. The pillow next to her showed signs of an occupant, but Kasia was nowhere to be seen. Of course not. I bet she ran away in horror when she realized I got her drunk and lured her into bed. Had either of them really been in a condition to consent to anything? Shit!
She stood, clutched her head, and looked around the room before collapsing back onto the bed. She let out a sigh. Why was she so stupid? Finding inappropriate people attractive happened all the time, but she thought she knew better than to act on it. Kasia was an employee, for now, anyway. That was enough of a reason to avoid her. Besides Kasia despised her, thought she was lazy and irresponsible. Why would Tierney choose to sleep with someone who thought so little of her?
Because she’s hot and exactly my type. And she was right there in front of me. Her inner voice could be traitorous at times.
She hauled herself out of bed for a second time and suppressed the urge to vomit. She needed to do something. She just wasn’t sure what. Apologize? She’d never had to say sorry about sex before, and the shards of memory glinting through the alcoholic mess of her brain didn’t feel like she had anything to apologize for. She had a feeling it had been an awesome night, not something she often thought after an alcohol-fueled encounter.
She checked her phone. Eleven fifteen. For a moment she wondered what Kasia was doing, until she realized she would be working, probably waiting to welcome guests from the late morning ferry. The thought of having to speak to anyone, let alone in a professional capacity, made Tierney’s head spin. Standing upright was the best she could do as she shuffled to the bathroom.
The shower provided momentary relief. She wished it could wash away both the hangover and the guilt that hung on her like a weighted blanket. She dressed slowly and methodically, avoiding any sudden head movements. Coffee, her regular morning savior, was now her nemesis as the acidic liquid swirled in her stomach. She dropped her head on the table. I really am too old to be getting in these situations.
Should she call Joey? They may have heard from Kasia. Or should she just drop down to the hotel and face her? She didn’t want to do that. She wanted to take responsibility for her actions, but Kasia was intimidating, and she would be even more so after their searing hot sex last night. New memories continued to surface, and the tenderness Tierney was feeling began to make more sense. However intense last night had been, it wasn’t what she would describe as making love. It’d been more of a hot fuck.
She should go and see Kasia. Did she have time before the ferry docked? She checked her watch and a memory surfaced. Oh, shit. I was meant to be on the first ferry to meet my uncles. She put her head in her hands, trying to prioritize which disaster to address first. Speaking to her uncles would appease both her dad and Kasia. That had to be her priority. She’d blown arriving at nine a.m., but she could get the second ferry if she hurried.
Driven by a sense of purpose, she surprised herself with a jog down to the harbor. Unfortunately, she was just in time to see the ferry pulling out past the lighthouse into the open sea. She dropped onto one of the stone benches along the quay and rubbed her face.
“Tierney! How are ya?”
She knew the voice the moment it drifted up to her, and she looked down into the harbor to see Joey on board Queen Maedbh, waving cheerfully. They motioned toward the steep steps nearby. She shook her head. Trying to get down there was several steps too far.
Joey’s laughter traveled on the wind. “Meet me at the slip?”
It suddenly struck Tierney’s shattered brain that Joey could get her to the mainland earlier than the next ferry in two hours.
“Yep!” She staggered her way to the slipway where local fishers were working on their nets and pots. “Hey, lads. How’s things?” They nodded and smiled as she slowly took the slippery flagstones. The smell of fish didn’t help the whirlpool of nausea still assaulting her.
“Are you not meant to be somewhere?” Joey’s white teeth shone in the sun, making Tierney realize this awful morning would have been notched up another level if it had been rainy and windy.
“Fuck, Joey. Can you get me to the mainland? I’m so screwed.”
Joey pulled up close and stepped onto the slipway to offer a strong arm. Tierney grasped it gratefully and stepped onto the boat. She went to sprawl onto a bench, but Joey pulled her up.
“Not there, unless you want to smell like crab for your meeting.”
They guided her to a seat inside the wheelhouse, and she slumped into it as Joey pulled out of the harbor at speed.
She pulled up her hood. Out at sea, the bright day was cooled by a biting wind, and she wished she’d brought a warmer coat. The way she was dressed was a mistake. Her uncles were obsessed with appearance and impression, and turning up hungover to hell in shorts and a hoodie was not going to impress anyone. That, plus the images of Kasia still popping up when she closed her eyes, made her groan.
“Oh, shit, Joey, I’ve really fucked it up.”
Joey turned as they sped across the open bay toward the quay at Portrinn, the small harbor village that served as the gateway to Inishderry. “They’ll wait for you. They’re not doing much else. Just strutting about.”
“I don’t mean being late for the meeting, although that’s far from ideal too.”
Joey turned back from the wheel, their eyes narrow. “What did you do?”
If she didn’t speak now, Joey would hear it from Kasia, and she never wanted to risk losing Joey’s trust again. “I slept with Kasia.”
Joey’s eyebrows shot up. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Neither the fuck was I! I don’t know what to do.” She curled up on the bench and wished she could just be transported home. Except she didn’t really know where home was. Somewhere she could be cared for and accepted. Megan and Joey were really the only people she had ever felt that way around. Perhaps there was no home for her.
Joey came over with an aluminum mug with steam rising from it. “Drink more coffee.”
“I’ll try. Jesus, this is messed up, even for me.”
“Is it really? Despite all the bitching, you and Kasia have a vibe going that’s singing like a dolphin call.”
Tierney rubbed her eyes, trying to make sense of the comment in the depths of alcohol and regret that filled her head. Surely her relationship with Kasia was based on mutual disdain. She blinked to clear her thoughts. “I need to get through the next couple of hours. Can we talk about this afterward?”
Joey went back to the wheel. “Of course. I’ll just wait around for you. Nothing else going on here.”
“Shit, I’m sorry. I’ll get the ferry back.” Her voice wobbled as she tried to hold back tears. “I appreciate the lift.”
Joey strode over and wrapped her in their strong arms. “I was messing with you. I’ll be here till you’re finished.”
She rubbed her damp eyes on the coarse wool of Joey’s sweater. The salt didn’t help matters. “Thanks. It means a lot.”
She curled up on the bench with her coffee for the rest of the journey. When she was finally on dry land, she waved to Joey and staggered up the stone steps of the quay. The hotel’s beat-up van was sitting in one of the parking spaces reserved for locals. Why hadn’t she thought to ask Kasia for the keys? Perhaps because talking wasn’t on the agenda last night.
A blue minibus sat at the far end of the quay. She approached, and she recognized the driver as he looked up. “Brian, how are you? Are you working today?”
He jumped out of the cab and slid open the back door. “Tierney Walsh, all the way from America. Your carriage awaits. Where can I take you?”
She slid onto the vinyl seat patched in various places with tape. “Into town please, Brian. I’m going to Uncle Anto’s office.”
He reversed quickly and got them out on the road. “A pleasure visit, is it?”
He would know about the hotel by now. The whole extended community would be aware. There was no point trying to keep secrets in Inishderry. “Just here to make arrangements for the Waterside.” She sat up straighter on the seat. “Dad couldn’t make the trip.”
Brian’s laugh was more of a bark. “No surprises there. He couldn’t wait to get away, that one. Even when we were at school.”
She suddenly longed for the anonymity of the big city where you could get a cab with a driver who hadn’t known you and your entire family since birth.
“Yeah, he loves the life he’s made for himself.” Defending him came naturally; she’d been doing it her whole life.
“Fair play to him. If you’re going to get out, you might as well make it big. And he’s given plenty of jobs to folks from Inishderry.” Brian pulled up outside her uncle’s building and turned in his seat. “But I hope he still remembers how important his mammy’s hotel is to the island.”
Tierney swung open the door to escape and handed over more than twice the cost of the journey. “Of course, he does. I’ll say hi to him for you.” She hit the ground with a jolt that made her head spin. To Brian’s credit, she’d forgotten the extent of her hangover for a short moment. She turned toward the door to the tourism office and straightened her shoulders, bracing for the conversation she didn’t want to have.
Inside, it was cool and dimly lit, and she was glad of the respite from the bright sun. The woman sitting at the information desk was unfamiliar.
“Hi, I’m here to see?—”
“You’re Tierney.” The woman smiled. “Anthony is expecting you.” She waved her toward the door marked Private.
She stepped slowly up the narrow staircase. No need to rush. She’d need all her energy to look sober and interested. She swung open the door into a sunlit room and had to blink to get her bearings.
“Tierney, stop standing there like a startled owl, and come and sit down.” Her uncle’s voice boomed from behind the desk opposite the long window.
She approached for a hug or a handshake. She wasn’t sure what to expect. He made no attempt at either, so she dropped onto the chair opposite. “Hi, Uncle Anto. How are you? Is Uncle Desmond here?”
“He was here at nine when we were expecting you, but he’s gone to play golf.” He folded his arms.
Damn. Her dad had told her to make sure to speak to them both. Anthony might be the local brother, but Desmond’s tentacles of power stretched to the island. It was his money that had rescued Inishderry’s only surviving bar that Aoife’s husband, Seán, now successfully ran. He would know someone who could help out.
“I’m so sorry. I missed the ferry.”
He looked at his watch. “Two ferries, apparently.”
“Ah, yeah, I woke up a bit under the weather. Perhaps I picked something up on my travels.” She smiled with what she hoped was conviction, but she knew better.
“You were still in the bar when we left last night.”
Asshole. If they’d agreed to talk last night, she wouldn’t have had to haul herself over here at all. “I was catching up with Kasia. She’s doing an amazing job at the hotel.”
Going through the accounts and the running of the hotel yesterday had been tedious, but Tierney knew enough about business to recognize Kasia had been keeping costs low and maximizing every opportunity to bring in income.
“Is she now?” He leaned back in his seat and watched her until she squirmed. “What do you want, Tierney?”
“Kasia is doing great, but she needs some help outside of the main season. Dad and I wondered if you could help find someone.”
“That sounds like a Kevin problem to me.”
Damn. She’d known this would be their approach. “But it’s the family hotel. You must know someone who could do a few hours. What about Uncle Des?”
“Neither of us wants anything to do with the Waterside. Our mammy made her decision when she left the hotel to Kevin. He can do with it what he will. We’ve got our own futures to think about.” He stood. “He couldn’t even be bothered to come here himself. Do you know what a fucking insult that is?”
She stayed seated, refusing to be intimidated, but also because any sudden movements were dangerous in her current state. “He sent me. His daughter. Do you not like doing business with women, Uncle Anto?” Oh, good work. Wind him up a bit more, why don’t I?
He rolled his eyes. “It’s not that you’re a woman, Tierney. It’s that you don’t have a business bone in your body, and the only reason he sent you is because you have nothing better to do. Otherwise, he’d likely have sent an email.”
The truth of that stung. “I’m his heir, and I’ll inherit the hotel one day. This is my business.”
Anthony’s laughter bounced around the room. “You’ve got your work cut out for you then. Business is dropping off, and the hotel is in desperate need of investment. I doubt your daddy’s going to come over and sort it out himself.”
Tierney had known all along this would be the stance of the older Walsh brothers, but she felt the need to end on a defiant note. “We’ll make it work without your help.”
“And are you going to roll your sleeves up and get on with it, then? You wouldn’t need extra staff if you got involved.”
Tierney froze. She loved the Waterside and truly wanted it to survive, but not at the cost of her freedom.
He laughed again. “I didn’t think so. Now run off back to America and enjoy your life.”
She jumped to her feet, and the room swayed. “I can’t believe you’d be happy to watch Granny’s business go down the can.”
“The Waterside has got you and super businessman Kevin to save it, so I’m sure everything will work out just fine. You just said you’ll make it work, so get on with it.”
He waved dismissively toward the door, and she ran down the stairs in search of somewhere to throw up in peace. She’d blown the task her dad had given her, even if it had been doomed to failure.
She locked herself in a bathroom at the foot of the stairs. The nausea had passed, but she sat with her head in her hands and sobbed. Now, she had to go back to the island and report to Kasia that she couldn’t get her some help.
She dragged herself out of the bathroom and went in search of Joey. She prayed last night’s incident would never get back to her dad. Perhaps it had been a bad idea to come back to Inishderry. Granny was gone, and everyone apart from Joey hated her. Maybe she should just leave now.