“Don’t overthink,” she said, “even though I know it’s your superpower. Whatever this is, we just have to let it happen. It’s better that way, okay? We don’t have to know what comes next. We don’t have to control it. We can’t actually control anything so there’s no reason to waste our energy on it when we could”—she brought a hand to my neck and pulled me in for a gentle kiss in broad daylight, right here on the driveway between our businesses with everyone in our world watching—“do this instead.”
“Okay.”
I nodded. Was there any other response? If there was, I didn’t know it and I wasn’t interested in going to find it. I’d take anything I could get, as long as I could get it.
chaptersixteen
Sunny
Today’s Special:
Toasted Pumpkin Seeds over Hand-Rolled Jealousy
“So, this is the shithole.”
I peered up at the café, trying to see it through Leary Murtagh’s eyes. “It’s no Soggy Dog but it will do,” I said, grinning at him.
He grumbled out a few inaudible words and I knew from years of working for him that it meant, in the kindest possible terms, I was welcome to fuck off.
I loved this guy.
“Are we gonna stand out here all day like morons or do you plan on showing me around?” he asked, stamping his cane on the ground for emphasis. “And don’t think I’m about to eat any of that tree bark soup or nut weed salad you’re cooking up. I want my coffee and I want it black. Don’t hide any of your crazy vegan things in there either. I’ll know. I’ll know and I’ll raise hell about it, don’t you try me.”
“It wouldn’t kill you to calm down.”
Grinning, I glanced over at the man who’d accompanied Leary. Anyone who could give it right back to Leary was a gem in my book. “Hi. I’m Sunny.”
“I can’t believe it took that long for someone to notice you, you big moose,” Leary muttered. “That one? He’s my nephew’s kid. They call him Marbury. Apparently that’s a name we’re giving people now. Don’t ask me why. But he likes to be calledMars.” He gripped my wrist and leaned into me with exasperation in his cloudy eyes that saidcan you believe this shit?“As if that’s any better.”
“I’m standing right here,” Mars said.
I shared a quick smile with him over Leary’s head. He was tall and exceptionally broad with head-turning blue eyes and a lot of thick, dark hair. If I had to guess, I’d say he was in his early thirties.
“How could I miss him? I’ve seen smaller barges than this boy,” Leary replied. He gave my wrist a squeeze and caught my eye. “He rides my ass like I’m one of the ponies at Belmont. Doesn’t give me a single minute of peace. He took my car keys away, Sunny. Can you believe that? The kids today have some balls, let me tell you.”
“Because you have glaucoma,” Mars said. “You’re not allowed to drive.”
“It’s a scam,” Leary said to me. “It’s big pharma and the car ride apps conspiring to suck every last penny out of us. And the old folks’ homes too! Those bastards will pump you dry and then stew your bones for soup. Just like the English.”
“Don’t start with that again,” Mars said with a sigh. “We can’t be screaming about the British Empire all day.”
“Just you try me, boy,” Leary shouted.
The thing about Leary was that he was the definition of a curmudgeon. He was permanently irritable and impatient. Ornery, crusty, obstinate. On the surface, he hated everything and everyone.All the time. The only thing he didn’t hate was dogs, and though he’d deny it to the death, he had the biggest, softest heart in the world. It was wrapped in barbed wire and chain mail, and he hardly ever let anyone see a sliver of it, but it was in there.
And that was why he was here today, visiting a bright, airy café with turmeric lattes and celery juice shooters on the menu and exactly zero paintings of hounds mid-fox-hunt on the walls. It was why he bought Christmas gifts for my dogs and acted as though I was doing him a favor by taking a portion of the windfall from the sale of his tavern, The Soggy Dog.
“Less for the government,” he’d said.
I led them inside with Leary grumping and growling at Mars every time he tried to help my old boss. The guy was sweet and remarkably tolerant of Leary’s abuse. It was fun to watch. I motioned to the high ceiling as we settled at a table by the window. “We blew out the second floor since it was going to cost more to fix the sinking joists than get rid of the whole thing, and we painted everything—”
“White,” Leary said, his hands clasped on top of his cane as he surveyed the café. “It’s all white.”
“The floors are gray,” Mars said.
“You’re here for the wheels, young man,” he replied. “Not another word out of you while I visit with Sunny and her dogs.” He swept a pointed glance around the café. “I don’t see Jem or Scout anywhere.”
“They’re in the office,” I said with a laugh. “I’ll get them and grab some food and drinks. Anything you’re in the mood for?”
