Epilogue
A fter this morning’s inquiry of why my father hadn’t received any pictures in several days, I sent three photos of Aislinn and Finn that I’d taken yesterday.
In reality, several days only meant one or two days of no new photos, but obviously that was way too long in my old man’s mind.
I had to admit I was surprised but also very pleased about how much my father had taken to Finn.
They’d really hit it off during our visit five months ago.
I parked the car in front of the daycare where Finn had spent the morning, nodding a greeting at the women I recognized as wives of my men.
A couple of my soldiers picked up their sons and daughters too since I’d made it a habit.
Finn was chatting with a few boys his age when I arrived.
He waved at me, beaming. He loved going to daycare and he’d made two close friends.
The others were at least respectful, as far as his stories went.
His last name carried weight in this area and would protect him for now, but I knew he’d still have to fight many battles alone.
Finn Devaney. We finalized the adoption a month ago.
Balor and I had managed to handle things quickly.
Waving goodbye to his friends, Finn came over to me. He took my hand. “How was your day, buddy?”
He grinned. “We visited a dog shelter today. ”
“And now you want a dog.”
He nodded enthusiastically. “But they didn’t have wolfhounds.”
“They rarely do. You don’t see them around here. They need the countryside so they can run as fast as their long legs carry them.”
Finn nodded, looking a tad deflated.
“We’ll be back in Ireland in six weeks for the wedding. Then you can play with the hounds all you want.”
Finn beamed up at me. “I’ll carry the rings!”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I stifled a grin at how excited he was for Aislinn and me to get married in Ireland with the family.
A while back, he’d admitted that he was sad he hadn’t been invited the first time.
This time pretty much everyone was invited.
Father had made sure of it. Half of Kenmare and every Devaney from around the world too.
The manor would be bursting at the seams, but I hadn’t argued.
Father and my aunt Siobhan had taken care of the planning.
“Are you hungry?” I asked, steering the car toward ‘The Sassy Maiden’. I always got a big grin on my face when I saw the sign above the pub. It was a wooden sign with golden cursive lettering stenciled over red hair blowing in the wind.
I parked right in front of it and helped Finn out of the car before we made our way into the inside of the pub.
It used to stink of old smoke and rancid fat, but now the mouthwatering scent of buttery potatoes, sweet pie crust and slow-cooked meat filled the air.
Aislinn, a few of my men and I had renovated the inside with a new lighter color for the walls, floors and furniture.
Aislinn had picked white oak for the flooring because it reminded her of driftwood and the tables and chairs were rustic white.
It reminded me of a small fish and chips shop near Kenmare I’d often visited as a child and teen.
A new waitress waved at me from behind the bar then disappeared in the kitchen, probably to tell Aislinn we were here.
Soon after, Aislinn emerged with her hair up in a bun, face shiny from the heat in the kitchen and her workload but happy, and as usual in a red apron.
The napkins and tablecloths were red too.
She beamed as she made her way over to our table.
We always picked the same table every lunch.
It was the only vacant table in the restaurant.
In the two months of its existence, The Sassy Maiden had already become popular in our Irish community and beyond.
Aislinn bent down and kissed Finn’s cheek before she kissed my lips.
“What’s the special today?” I asked like I did every day.
“A black pudding wrapped in a puff pastry with rhubarb chutney and a watercress salad. I recommend the hand-cut twice-cooked chips and the delicious beer-battered hake as well,” Aislinn said with a wink.
Finn almost always ordered the fish and chips so the latter was a must.
“Then I’ll have the special and a Scotch egg with extra pickled onions.”
Aislinn bit her lip with a happy nod then turned around and disappeared in the kitchen. Soon after, thanks to the new waitress, a cider appeared in front of me and a homemade rhubarb iced tea in front of Finn.
Aislinn joined us for lunch twenty minutes later. She only had the root vegetable soup.
“Stuffed?” I asked. Aislinn always tasted everything she cooked. That meant she was rarely hungry during lunchtime, but she wanted to join us with a full plate anyway.
“And shattered,” she said with a tired smile. “But the new cook is good and eager to learn. She’ll be a great help and will be ready to take over the cooking for a week or two.”
So far Aislinn had handled the cooking alone.
After she dropped off Finn at daycare she headed for the restaurant and cooked like a madwoman for hours until Finn and I came for lunch.
Then she usually worked a few more hours while Finn watched her or his favorite shows, and she closed the restaurant around 3:30, missing the evening business.
Not that we needed the money but having evening service would have been of advantage for Aislinn’s dream of establishing a renowned Irish gastropub in the area.
Once she handed over more responsibilities to other people, things would become easier.
As soon as I was done with my food, I glanced at my watch.
Everyone knew I took two hours off during lunchtime but I couldn’t afford more than that.
Our gun business with the Russians was still taking off.
Sergej insisted he didn’t know what had happened to Imogen and my own investigations hadn’t resulted in any more information about Imogen’s whereabouts in the five weeks between the moment she left Maksim and when she washed ashore .
I got up and cupped Aislinn’s head for a goodbye kiss before I ruffled Finn’s hair.
Then I left. Lunch with Aislinn and Finn always left me feeling refreshed.
It was a routine that allowed us time together, apart from a brief dinner before Finn went to bed.
Father, too, had often made time for a lunch break when we were younger and then later when we’d been at school, he made sure to be back for dinner.
Despite his business, Mum had insisted on our family time.
Some people believed you couldn’t be both, a loving family man and brutal leader, but they just didn’t have the right incentive.
I knew things would be harder once Aislinn and I had a baby.
Seamus was shattered all the time because of their little son.
At the moment, his sleep-deprived state made him unavailable for the difficult contract murders.
When I returned to the docks, I found Seamus in my chair, his arms on the desk with his head resting atop, snoring loudly. I grabbed my laptop from the desk and headed back out. Another gun delivery was arriving tomorrow, and our clan and the Russians needed to make sure it was distributed widely.
I’d just ended a call with Sergej when Aislinn called. The moment I heard the first word out of her mouth, I knew something had happened.
“Lorcan,” she said, her voice shaky. Judging by the background noise, she was in the car. “Can I drop off Finn?”
“Sure. What’s wrong?”
“I’ll tell you later.” She hung up, and I tried not to turn into a worried madman. If she’d been in danger, she would have said it.
She pulled up in front of the warehouse ten minutes later, her cheeks flushed. She rushed toward me and left Finn in the car. “What’s wrong?” I asked when she collided with me.
“Imogen woke up. I got the call twenty minutes ago. I need to see her, and I don’t want Finn to know before I know details about her state.”
I glanced at Finn. His head was lowered in concentration.
He was probably playing one of his games on her phone.
We had told him about Imogen about a month ago, when he’d asked about her again.
He’d taken the news considerably well, maybe because her current state didn’t change things for him.
She still wasn’t a caring mother, just like she’d never been, and he had us.
We were his family. Nothing would change that, not even Imogen waking up .
“I’ll take him to the park. I’ll take the rest of the day off, but the rest of the week is busy. We’ll have to ask Maeve if all fails.”
“She has a fussy newborn. Finn loves Mrs. Byrne. She’ll gladly watch him.” I picked Finn up and Aislinn rushed off after a brief kiss.
Finn peered up at me. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah. Maeve needs her help with the baby, that’s all. We’ll have fun at the park. How about we take a boat ride?”
“Yes!”
“Let’s just quickly wake good old Seamus so he can handle business while we’re gone.”
Finn nodded enthusiastically and grinned. He and I were a good team.
Aislinn came home late, long after dinner, so Finn and I had enjoyed a Reuben sandwich at the best food truck in the city.
When she came into the apartment, Finn was already asleep.
I was sitting on the sofa, reading over the inventory of the shipment that we intervened when Aislinn plopped down on the sofa beside me and put her head on my shoulder without a word.
She let out a shuddery breath. I touched her head and allowed her to cry, waiting for her to be ready to talk to me.