“Oh yes? How so?” Mr. Sullivan asks.
“They wanted to get their hands on me. To force me out of the spotlight, and then I’m not sure what they would’ve done. They never got the chance.”
“There was a bit of a scuffle,” Shane admits, his tone mild.
“You alone?”
“No, Declan saw and jumped in. And Sorensen came up and cast a big shadow.”
His grandfather finally smiles. “He does that wherever he goes, so he does. Good, and…what kind of casualties?”
“None really.” Shane shrugs his broad shoulders. “Some scuffed knuckles. Maybe a broken nose.”
“The nose, their side or yours?”
“Them.”
“Good.” Mr. Sullivan’s spoon drops to the saucer with a small clatter as he looks at me. “Did you warn Shane what you planned to do?”
I shake my head.
“You should have. Sullivans think fast on their feet, but it’s always good to have a minute to plan.”
“If I’d told him ahead of time, he might have tried to stop me. I couldn’t risk it.”
Mr. Sullivan flashes a smile at me. “Aye, sometimes there’s no help for it, is there? Anger must have its way, and so it will.”
“Exactly,” I say softly.
“We should go,” Shane says, rising. “We’ll see you soon though, Pops. I’m bringing her to Christmas Eve.”
Oh, my God.The beast strikes again, springing his traps.
“Right, good,” Mr. Sullivan says as he stands.
Licking my lips, I draw a deep breath as I stand too. “Well, maybe I’ll be able to come. It depends on the holiday flights to Colorado and…some other things.”
“Oh, aye, but you’ll make it work out so you’ll be with us on Christmas Eve,” Mr. Sullivan says confidently with a wink. “Since Shane’s helping you stage your party rebellions, you won’t want to disappoint him, I’d imagine?”
“I wouldn’t, but—”
“Good girl,” he says approvingly, cutting off the rest of what I planned to say about my mom and Ethan and plane tickets. Mr. Sullivan taps his cheek and adds, “Now let’s have a kiss right here, and it’ll set me up for life.”
Unable to resist, I lean in and kiss his cheek.
“That’s the stuff all right,” he says with an infectious grin. He claps Shane’s shoulder as he goes by. “We’ll talk later, lad. When I have some news.”
Shane walks me down the hall with his grandfather.
Mr. Sullivan stands at the door to the dining room but doesn’t open it. Instead, he waits and then waves to us as we go out the front door and close it behind us.
“Cunning,” I say softly. “You told him you’re bringing me to Christmas Eve, so now there’s added pressure on me to stay in town.”
Shane nods. “You do not have to wear a ball gown.”
“You think you’re cute.” My gaze cuts to him, and I wrinkle my nose. “I like your grandfather a lot, but not more than I love my mom and Ethan.”
“If they want to see you over the break, they can either skip Colorado or see you when I bring you.”
