Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“And yet, here you are,” I stated dryly, winking at Autumn.
“Niall and Finn are the same age but ten years younger than you, Sully?” she asked. “Is that right?”
Roisin nodded, answering before I could. “I didn’t get married until I was twenty-four. I didn’t want any of that shite,” Roisin explained with a laugh. “A man to cater to and be told what to do? No thanks. But then I met Rory, and I changed my mind. We had Niall a year later. My sister had Finn. They grew up together. When she died, he came to live with us not long after.” She shook her head. “His da was a right piece of work. Took his anger out on Finn. I wasn’t letting that happen.” Her gaze softened. “My Rory was a wonderful man until he got hurt on the job. He was never the same, but I still loved him. He never recovered from it.”
Autumn reached across the table and clasped her hand. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.
Roisin smiled. “I miss him, but I have a good life. My lads all look after me. Niall and Finn bought me this house and made sure my best friends were right beside me. They’re gonna meet us at the pub later for drinks.”
I groaned. “Oh God. Not the troublemakers.” I looked at Autumn. “Maggie, Connie, and Roisin grew up together, lived close after they married, and now the three of them are legends. They exhausted Finn and Niall one trip with their demands and love of whiskey. Terrorized the hotel staff.”
“Pfft,” Roisin muttered. “Young pups canna keep up. And the staff loved us.”
I didn’t argue since it was true, but Niall and Finn had been grateful to send them home and get some semblance of normalcy back in their lives.
Autumn grinned. “I look forward to meeting them.”
“We’ll see if you think that way after they drink you under the table,” I muttered.
Roisin pretended to look shocked. “We would never.”
“Ha,” I snorted. “Famous last words.” I looked at Autumn. “And don’t believe a word of the shite out of their mouths about me. None of it.”
She grinned. “Oh, this should be good.”
AUTUMN
The pub was busy, filled with people talking, laughing, drinking, some even dancing. It was loud and chaotic, the old wooden floors showing the wear and tear of thousands of feet stomping on the planks over the years. The walls were covered in pictures and the windows heavy with condensation from the heat inside battling the cold wind that blew against them outside.
Roisin found us a table closer to the back, while Sully went to procure drinks. I excused myself to the restroom, and on the way out, a man stepped in front of me in the narrow hall. He swept his gaze up and down as if cataloging my body. His gaze made me shudder in revulsion.
“You’re new.”
“Yep,” I replied, trying to sound nonchalant. “I’m here with friends. Excuse me.”
“Dance with me,” he ordered, grabbing my arm. His liquor-soaked breath washed over my face, and I stepped back.
“No thanks.”
He frowned, yanking on my forearm. “I said dance.”
I shook him off. “I said no.”
“Uppity bitch. Too good for the likes of me, are ya?”
“I am with someone. I don’t dance with strangers who accost me in the hall. Especially drunk ones.”
He narrowed his eyes, but before he could speak again, I ducked under his arm and hurried to the table, grateful Sully was already there. He regarded me with a frown.
“You okay, love?”
“Yep,” I replied. “Busy hallway.”
He looked over my shoulder, his gaze becoming frosty. I followed his glance to see the stranger staring our way. He turned and walked away, and I picked up my drink. “Now, ladies, Sully here assures me you have stories to tell. I’m anxious to hear them.”
That distracted Sully enough that he groaned.
Connie and Maggie looked thrilled and launched into story after story, Roisin often joining in. The three of them talked over one another at times, and their hands flew to make various points. I never knew who to look at, but the stories did make me laugh.
Sully putting a squirrel in the teacher’s desk drawer. She screamed and fainted, falling to the floor.
“Gave us a half day off.” Sully smirked.
“And yer ma tanned yer arse when you got home,” Roisin pointed out, while looking amused.
“Worth it. I spent the afternoon in the apple grove eating apples and pelting the cores at little arseholes who tried to bother me.”
Sully with Niall and Finn, sneaking into the school and releasing a goat in the headmaster’s office in the middle of the night.
“It shat on everything in sight,” Sully said, sounding proud. “The man was an eejit. No one—not a single person—ratted us out.”
“How did they know it was you?”
He grinned. “They didn’t until years later when Niall let it slip.”