Chapter 31 #2
Bastien hesitated, then spoke carefully. “If you and Kaitlyn want to go home with me, you can. She doesn’t have to be in love with me for you two to go to the future.”
Tony didn’t answer right away. He stared at the table, fingers lacing together, then finally looked up. “I believe she is in love with you.”
“She’s a strong woman and doesn’t need a man to define her.” Bastien’s voice softened. “Hasn’t she proved that?”
“She has.” Tony nodded once. “But Kaitlyn won’t leave New York, not even to visit Ireland to meet her mother’s family. And she wouldn’t move to Washington, D.C., either.” He spread his hands. “She refuses to leave here.”
“Why?”
“She never said.”
A beat passed. Bastien’s gaze sharpened. “Is that why you pushed us together? So we’d fall in love?”
Tony met his eyes. “All I know is this—Ma and Gabe grew closer when they stayed in the same house.”
Bastien scratched his head. “I’m confused. I wondered why you seemed okay with my staying at her apartment.”
“I knew you’d behave honorably.” Tony reclaimed his coffee cup and returned to his chair. “Remy will come for you, and Kaitlyn will want to go. Do you want her to?”
A voice sounding strange and far away asked softly, “Do you want her to… what?”
Bastien swiveled his head toward the voice.
His pulse thumped against his ribs. It hadn’t been that long since she left him in a pile of rumpled sheets while she hurried off to meet a client.
And now she stood in the saloon in a stream of sunlight blazing on her red hair—breathtakingly beautiful.
All he wanted to do was tangle his tongue with hers and take his next breath from her lungs.
“I wasn’t expecting you,” he said, reaching out for her hand.
She joined him on the sofa, their fingers intertwined. “I was afraid Papa might challenge you to a boxing match.”
Bastien gave Tony a crooked grin. “He might try, but I’m smart enough to say no.”
“If you don’t need me to stop Papa from beating you up, what do you want me to do?” Kaitlyn gave Bastien a questioning look, then transferred it to her father, lifting a single eyebrow. “Papa!”
Tony met her gaze with the same eyebrow lift. “Bastien asked for my permission to marry you. I said yes under one condition.”
“Is it negotiable?”
“Not this time.”
“Then tell me, and we’ll work it out.”
“I intend to go with you.”
Her breath hitched. The sound cut short as her mouth fell open. “You what?”
“I’m going with you. A man I know has been interested in buying the saloon for several years. I’ll sell it to him. Between that and my stocks, I’ll have enough to stand on my own—without leaning on you and Bastien, or Ma and Gabe.”
Bastien had a four-bedroom house in Richmond with plenty of room for Tony. But living arrangements weren’t his priority right now.
“I wouldn’t sell it yet. Remy might not come, and we’ll stay right here,” she said.
“He’ll come. I know he will,” Tony said calmly, emphasizing his absolute belief.
Bastien wished he had the same conviction, but he didn’t. He squeezed Kaitlyn’s hand in reassurance. “I’m glad you’re here, but I thought you had an appointment.”
“I had a cancellation, so I brought your saxophone in case you wanted to rehearse. It’s in the car. Do you want me to get it?”
“Not right now.” He put his arm around the back of the sofa and stroked her shoulder. “I think the sax is an excuse. You just wanted to be part of the discussion.”
“I thought the situation might require my legal skills.” She looked from one to the other. “Does it?”
“Not yet,” Tony said. “Why don’t you spend the afternoon looking for Bastien’s sister until the show tonight? I have business arrangements to make.”
“Papa, please don’t sell the saloon until Remy gets here. I’m afraid you might make a big mistake.”
Tony unfolded from his seat, effectively ending the conversation. “Trust my judgment, Kaitlyn. I won’t act without you. Now go find Bastien’s sister.”
Kaitlyn held out the car keys. “Keep these. We’ll take a taxi.”
Tony brushed past her, walking toward the bar. “I don’t need the car. You keep it.”
Bastien stood, reached for his cane, and followed Tony. “Looks like we’re leaving. I’ll be back about eight thirty. We’ll work this out.”
“I know we will.” There were no doubts or worries, only absolute confidence in Tony’s voice. “Oh, by the way, I hired a piano player. He’ll be here tonight. I thought I’d try him out.”
“We’ll need rehearsal time.”
“If he can’t keep up with you, I’ll kick him out.”
An unpleasant feeling slithered over Bastien as he left the saloon with Kaitlyn. “Why would Tony bring in a piano player if he’s thinking about selling?”
Kaitlyn shrugged. “When the buyer finds out you aren’t part of the deal, Papa will need a replacement to sweeten it.
” She started the vehicle and turned onto Third Avenue, heading toward Midtown.
While she drove, she drummed her fingers frantically on the steering wheel.
“That entire conversation didn’t feel right.
He’s acting out a plan. Did you hear it in his voice? ”
“I heard Tony’s confidence that Remy will be here, and I believe that, too. I don’t know when, but Tony acted like he did. None of it was in doubt.”
“I agree.” She took her eyes off the road to look at him for a second. “That’s why it didn’t feel right.”
Bastien wrestled with his conscience over her parents’ discussion. Fifteen agonizing seconds later, the secret spilled out. “He told me about a conversation with your mother he never shared with you.”
She swerved hard, and Bastien’s hand instinctively clamped onto the dashboard. “What?” she demanded, eyes wide.
His heart slammed against his ribs. “Keep this goddamn bucket of bolts on the road, and I’ll tell you.”
She straightened and secured her hands on the steering wheel. “Don’t insult my car. Now tell me what Papa said.”
“Your mother wanted him to take you to the future.”
She swerved again. “Why didn’t Papa ever tell me?”
“Pull over, goddamnit!” Bastien demanded, pointing to a parking space. “If we’re going to have this conversation, you shouldn’t be driving.”
“Just don’t say things to shock me,” she snapped, tightening her grip on the wheel.
“Everything about this conversation is a shock to our systems.” He leaned forward, bracing a hand on the dashboard. “Pull over!”
She shot him a look. “Is this how you talk to your sister?”
“No.” His jaw clenched. “It’s worse. I’m controlling my language with you.”
“Well, don’t hold back on my behalf.”
The car swerved slightly as his restraint finally snapped. “Then pull the fuck over!” he yelled—and didn’t feel one ounce of regret.
She slammed the car to a stop in front of the small grocery store, guffawing and snorting so hard she could barely breathe. She yanked a handkerchief from her pocket and covered her contorted face.
“There! Satisfied?” she choked out, dissolving into another fit of laughter until tears streamed down her cheeks. She turned towards him, her eyes sparkling. “Now, back up to what Papa told you and repeat it. I’m all ears.”
“Are you going to laugh again?”
“Probably. But that fuck was so… so… I don’t know. I couldn’t help myself.”
He bit his lip and swore never to utter profanity unless they were in bed, naked. “If you can control yourself, I’ll tell you.”
She dabbed at her face with the handkerchief. “I’m okay now.”
He didn’t think so and was sure he could make her laugh again, but they wouldn’t leave this spot if he did. “Your mother made your father promise that if he ever had a chance to see Roisin and Phin again, he should take you there. He didn’t tell you because he didn’t believe it would ever happen.”
“But now he believes with such certainty that he’s planning to sell the saloon. Worse, he must’ve planned it for a while, or he wouldn’t have a buyer already. What isn’t he telling us?”
Bastien’s gaze devoured the elegant curve of her jawline and the sculpted lines of her cheekbones. “I’m trained to notice how people react to situations. When they don’t act as I expected, alarm bells go off. While I was sitting in the saloon, they went off several times.”
“Meaning?”
“Since we both reached the same conclusion, I believe we’re right about Tony. He isn’t telling us all he knows.”
“What’s he hiding?”
Bastien shook his head. “I don’t know. But when I arrived, Tony was standing on the sidewalk. He said he just sent a friend off.”
“Did he mention a name?” she asked. “Maybe it was the person who wanted to buy the saloon.”
“Could be.” He shrugged, eyes still on the road ahead.
She glanced in the mirror, then over her shoulder to check traffic. “Can I drive now?”
“Yes,” he said, then added quickly, “but please be careful.”
She shot him a sideways look as she eased back into the lane. “Are you always like this when riding in a car?”
“No. Because I’m always the one driving.”
She grinned, put the car in gear, and drove off. “Do you think Remy’s here and wants to surprise you? Would he do that?”
“No, he wouldn’t leave me hanging, especially knowing my prosthesis had a dead battery.” Bastien considered that and remembered Tony telling him about Roisin and Gabe’s time together before she went to the future. Would Remy want to give Bastien time with Kaitlyn? “Unless…”
“Don’t keep me in suspense. What are you thinking? Oh, wait.” She gave him a quick look. “Are you going to make me laugh again?”
“I’ll try not to. What if Tony talked to Remy about us? Maybe together, they thought we needed more time to figure out if we wanted to stay here or go to the future.”
“But Papa knows how we feel.”
“I told Tony that you were a strong woman, could make your own decisions, and didn’t have to be in love with me to go to the future. If you want to go, you can go.”
She yanked on the wheel and pulled into another parking space.
“Kaitlyn! You’re going to turn me into a drinking man. Who the hell taught you how to drive?”