“British, is it?” Kieran shook his head. “That’s a bleedin’ shame. You should dig a little deeper, uncover that Irish ancestor.”
“I’ll do it for you, buddy. In the meantime, who’s up for a libation? This party could use a little grease on the wheels, if you get my drift.” He walked behind the bar, pulled out a large bag of popcorn and filled two bowls. “What’ll it be, ladies and gents?”
“The darkest beer you’ve got,” Kieran moved over to take a stool at the bar and everyone else followed suit.
Kieran and Lucky ended up together in the middle with the women on either side. Sara didn’t think it was an accident. The two men had stayed close to each other ever since Lucky had come through the door.
“Pale ale for me.” Lucky looked at Oksana, who nodded. “Make that two.”
“Three.” Sara hoped somebody was drinking the one she’d left in the living room, but she wasn’t going back after it and risk missing something.
“Let me see what’s here.” Rance opened the mini-fridge behind the bar. “Looks like plenty of ale. Here’s a dark lager that might work for you, Kieran.” He uncapped the bottle and passed it over, along with a coaster.
“It will. Thanks.”
“If I’d known the situation, I would’ve brought some Guinness from town. Certain people kept the details from me until I was in the truck.”
“I couldn’t tell you in front of Clint. It was hard enough convincing him nobody was hurt or dead.”
“And you promised to let Clint know the reason ASAP.” Rance passed out the chilled bottles of ale and more coasters before uncapping one for himself. “ASAP has come and gone.”
“Oh, well. He’ll hear about it eventually.” Lucky gazed at his half-brother. “Making this trip took guts. Here’s to you.” He raised his bottle.
“To Kieran!” everyone called out.
Color rose to his cheeks as he touched his bottle to each of theirs. “And to all of you for taking me in.”
“Except we’re just a few of the many.” Sara helped herself to popcorn from the bowl closest to her and then nudged it toward Kieran. “When will the rest find out?”
“Mom told me on the phone that she’d like to give Kieran and me a chance to talk before she brings in the whole gang. And I’m loaded with questions.”
Kieran swallowed a mouthful of beer. “Let’s hear ’em.”
“For starters, Mom said we have a grandmother back in County Kildare.”
“That we do.” He pulled out his phone. “She hates me taking her picture, but she let me take one when she was dressed up for Easter Sunday.” He gave Sara a quick peek before handing the phone to Lucky.
He chuckled. “Love the hat.”
“She’s convinced the more flowers on her hat, the better God likes it.”
“I’m sure that’s true.” Lucky studied the picture, his expression softening. “She’s blonde?”
“From a bottle. There’s plenty of older pictures at the house of her, her and Grandpa.”
“He’s gone, though?”
“Ten years ago. You woulda liked him.”
Lucky took a ragged breath. “Yeah.”
“She was a beauty like mum. Long black hair, green eyes.”
“She’s still a beauty.” Lucky’s voice was husky. “Have you told her?” He handed back the phone.
“Like I said to Desiree, it’s the middle of the night. They’re seven hours ahead.”
“Sure. Right.” He nodded. “We had to figure that out when Mom and Andy went to Kenya. When were you going to contact her?”
