He kept his eyes on his meal and his voice even. “We actually were just at the tailor’s.”
Sophie leaned back to show the glimmer of the dry-cleaning bag in the seat next to her. “Dad wanted his nice suit cleaned up—not that we need to tell you anything about looking nice!” Sophie teased as she passed the drink menu to Caitlin. Taking a brief glance up from his plate, Daniel watched as a soft blush crept onto Caitlin’s round cheeks. They glowed less intensely than her hair; her dark freckles contrasted vividly against the dull pink. “Daniel, doesn’t she look great?” Sophie’s attention turned to Daniel suddenly.
He felt as if someone had punched him straight in the gut. His eyes shifted from his sister to Caitlin, and back to Sophie. What the hell was she trying to pull? Had she seen the look on his face when he saw her back there, on a date with theAmericansitting beside him? He finished chewing on the piece of fish in his mouth, taking the moment to gather his thoughts before replying in the most even voice he could manage. “She does.” He lifted another bite of fish to his mouth before his sister managed to say anything.
Sophie let out an exasperated breath, rising out of her seat to lightly smack the side of Daniel’s arm. “You barely even looked at her!”
Daniel lifted his eyes once more, giving his sister a long stare.
She lifted her eyebrows, shifting her eyes to the woman at her side.
Daniel set his utensils down on his plate. “Fine, she’s beautiful.”
“Boring,” Sophie threw her hand back, dismissing the compliment as if it were a piece of airborne trash. “I know you can do so much better than that.”
Caitlin and her date watched the siblings with a mixture of curiosity and confusion—it was apparent from their lack of understanding that they’d both grown up without relentless sibling rivalry. Caitlin took a sip from one of the waters on the table, shooting an unreadable look in Sophie’s direction.
“And how would you have me do that…?” Daniel asked his sister, anticipating her to stumble over his question.
Her eyebrows arched at his challenge. “Easy,” Sophie said, her thin lips curling into a mischievous grin. She pulled at one of her blonde curls, letting it spring back up around her ear when she released it. “You say what makes her beautiful,” she stated as if it was obvious.
And it was. Daniel knew fully well that he’d elaborate under the right circumstances—but with a quick look to his side, at the man she’d just spent part of the night dating, Daniel grimaced. “Her hair,” he said quickly.
“My hair?” Caitlin asked, her fiery brows pulled together.
“Yeah,” he turned to face her. “I’ve always liked your hair. I mean, in the sunlight, it looks—” when he saw the surprise on Caitlin’s face, loosely covered by a thin veil, he paused. He wanted to say ‘beautiful,’ but he corrected himself before continuing. “Cool. Like fire, you know?” He dropped his gaze onto his plate of food, choosing to focus instead on the breaded fish. He picked up a fry and popped it into his mouth, munching on the soft potato as the women across from him exchanged bewildered looks with one another. He wondered if he’d gone too far.
“It lookscool?” Sophie questioned, giving her brother a disbelieving expression. Her mouth was open in a wide, surprised smile. If he wasn’t seeing things, he would’ve thought that his sister almost looked proud of him.
“Yeah, whatever,” he said, his voice dropping to a mumble. His face tingled softly.
There was a beat of silence around the table as Sophie finished the remainder of her drink, pulling until the remaining drops made a suckling noise against the ice. She set the cup down, making an exaggerated gasp after swallowing. “Well,” she turned to Caitlin, “I’ve always thought Caitlin’s eyes were dreamy—like perfect little emeralds!” Sophie pretended to dramatically fall over Caitlin, as if simply seeing her had rendered her useless.
Caitlin caught Sophie, laughing along with her friend as she placed the back of her hand over her forehead in mock dizziness. “You’re such a dork,” she jabbed as they straightened up against the back of the booth. With a laugh on her lips, Caitlin turned.
Knowing that Sophie would only stop if Daniel looked back at her, he saw immediately what his sister had been talking about. Her eyes, especially in this lighting, looked like shimmering emeralds. The purple that lined her eyes intensified their color. Based on the soft glow on her cheeks, Daniel guessed she had had more than just one glass of wine at dinner—her eyes were smaller than usual, like she was holding a light smile in her cheeks. As she looked back at Daniel, a ripple of seriousness ran through her and smoothed her features—a tightening in Daniel’s chest caught his attention. Suddenly, his father’s words were in his ear, telling him to consider Caitlin.
“Well?” Sophie asked in a light voice, looking between the two of them.
Daniel swallowed. “She’s lovely.” He never looked away from her.
6
Caitlin
Caitlin rakedher fingers through her sopping wet hair.
While she loved fall, and everything that went with it, she couldn't deny that it was significantly wetter than the rest of the year.
Fall showers were crucial for the signature rolling green hills of Ireland. She normally wouldn't have been bothered, but today she was less than thrilled to have eyeliner running down her cheeks, and her thick curls sticking to her forehead.
“Hello there, beautiful.” Her father's familiar voice called across the mostly empty pub.
“Hey Dad, how are you?” she asked as she shrugged out of her jacket and hung it on the rack, grateful that her t-shirt remained dry.
“Doing marvelous. How about you?” His round face broke into a broad smile.
“Doing great,” she said, “I just got back from a lunch date.”
