“Hey, Caitlin. Wake up!” Daniel’s voice snapped at her as he gently shook her shoulder and pulled her into his arms.
She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the fog and rise. “What happened?” she asked. She embraced the hand and gently pressed it against where her head was throbbing. As she did so, the captain crouched down before her and gently turned her head to get a better look at it.
“You know, I saw Doc Finnegan inside there,” he said and nodded towards the pub. “Should take her and have her checked out.”
“Yes, sir,” Daniel said. He scooped her easily into his arms and turned his back on the delivery truck. “Is everything squared away here then?” he asked and nodded toward where his brothers stood, hands in pockets and eyes full of concern for the woman in his arms.
“Yes,” Kilian said before the captain could answer and the second box was inspected. “Pretzels.”
Seemingly satisfied, the captain nodded and hopped off the back of the truck and gestured for Kilian to hop off the back of the truck as well. “Well boys. What are we waiting for? O'Malley's it is.”
20
Caitlin
Caitlin tooka deep breath of the air and let it fill her lungs gloriously. Though her head still ached from the fall, she was glad to know that the police were vacating the property and that they were in factnotgoing to prison.
The muffled noise from inside the pub grew steadily louder as they got closer to the door.
“What a night,” she whispered as the music from behind the walls grew loud, and she couldn’t help but smile at the distant laughter.
Daniel grabbed the door, and as it opened, the sound rushed around them, like the cool air from outside. Still in his arms, Caitlin took a look around the room, taking in the scene, while looking for her dad. The pub was busy but not overcrowded. Everyone was drinking and seemed to have a smile on their face. Some were dancing and singing to the Irish folk song in the background. Overall, she would call the evening a success.
“Over there,” Daniel said, pointing across to the back corner of the pub. Caitlin wiggled from his arms as she followed his gaze, and saw that her dad had saved a booth for all of them.
After they got out of the main portion of the crowd, Caitlin waved, hoping to draw his attention.
“Caitlin! Daniel! So glad you guys made it! Grab a seat,” he said, gesturing to the booth seat on the opposite side of his. He shook Daniel’s hand as Caitlin slid in and got comfy, then he slid in next to her.
“What happened to your head, lass?” her father asked as the waitress came to their table to get their drink orders.
“Oh, I just took a tumble,” she said before turning back to the waitress, “I’ll have a Guinness.”
“And I will have a tried and true double whiskey with three cubes of ice,” he said, giving Rose his best winning smile.
“Of course,” she beamed, and wound her way back to the bar.
Noah nodded in respect of his drink choice and Caitlin wondered if that was why Daniel had decided to order it. Sophie had told her that Daniel had temporarily stopped drinking while in college, and she wondered if perhaps they were pushing bad habits on him.
“Was that a no then?” Daniel’s voice brought her out of her thoughts and back to the present moment.
“I’m sorry, what?” Caitlin asked. Her dad and Daniel were both looking at her now. She obviously missed the question in the first place.
“I said- Do you want to show your dad your dance moves this time? I did my best, but I couldn’t keep up,” Daniel said with a sly smile. He was already nudging her towards the dance floor with his leg.
“You know, after tumbling out back, I think it best I sit this one out,” she said with a laugh.
“Oh, come on, it wasn’t that bad,” Daniel said, as her father leaned closer to inspect her.
“What happened, Lass?”
“I fainted while the police were searching the truck.”
Her father’s face went solemn as he nodded his head in understanding, “But, all was well, right?”
“Right,” Caitlin nodded, “With me, and the truck.”
“She just scraped her head on the gravel, there’s not even a bump,” Daniel teased, reminding Caitlin of the way they would taunt only a week ago. “I could go out there and dance bravely, despite a baby scrape and the big bad policeman.”
