Danny laughed and lifted his glass to David and Nate. “Welcome to Ireland,” he said. “And welcome to the family.” He moved to where Nate stood and clinked their glasses together. “Drink up,” he murmured, then winked.
“Ohgod…” Nate moaned. He stared for a moment at the fiery liquid in his glass, then turned to look at Joshua, who was holding his glass aloft and grinning broadly.
“One swallow, Nate,” Joshua told him.
Colin lifted his glass to David. “You too, Davy.”
“Oh, hell,” David scoffed. “No problem.” He drew a deep breath, tilted the glass to his lips, and let the potent liquid burn down his throat in one long swallow.
Nate watched his husband’s performance with wide eyes, then peered into his glass and swallowed hard.
“C’mon, Nate,” Colin encouraged. “You got this!”
“I heard you kissed the Stone yesterday,” Danny said. “But you won’t be arealIrishman ’til you take the shot!”
David nudged his husband’s arm. “Hold your breath, baby,” he advised, “And just let it slide down your throat.”
Nate glanced around at the room filled with Irish men and women, then he shot Colin a glance and lifted the glass to his lips. For an instant, he seemed about to choke as the powerful whiskey slid down his throat, but he emptied the glass and then held it aloft for inspection.
Everyone in the room applauded, but Shayleen set her glass down, untouched. “Well,Iwon’t be bullied into being choked to death by that Killarney firewater! I want iced tea, not Irish whiskey.”
Her husband snickered and nudged her with his elbow. “You’re a disgrace to the family, Missus.”
“Disgrace, am I!” Shayleen told him, then puffed out a mocking laugh and dismissed his comment with a wave. “Given the things I’ve seen themenin this family do, I can live with it.”
“Where’s Cory?” Colin asked, setting his empty glass on the table.
“He’ll be along,” Nora said. “He wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
“He had to close the store,” Randy told Colin. “I’ll ride back with him, but he told us to come ahead with Danny-boy here.”
The cousins gathered in the living room, bombarding Colin with a million questions about his job, his recent promotion, and his part in Joshua’s rescue only four short months ago.
“He was the first one through the door,” Joshua told Danny. “He had my kidnapper on the ground before anyone else arrived.”
“Well, that’s not exactly true,” Colin muttered. “Donny was just one step behind me, and Lenny was only two steps behindhim.” He gave his husband a small smile. “I had plenty of help.”
“Still,” Danny remarked, “damn brave thing to do.”
“I just wanted to find Josh,” Colin told his cousins. “That’s all I wanted. Lenny was taking too long. I needed to getinthere. I needed to… tosee.I needed toknow.I wasn’t brave. I was fuckingterrified.”
There was a long silence, and then Joshua drew in a deep breath and pressed his forehead to Colin’s shoulder.
“Well, thank the lord you found him alive,” Randy added, his voice low.
Danny reached to lay a hand on Joshua’s arm. “Thank the lord indeed.”
“God, I was so afraid Iwouldn’t,” Colin whispered.
Danny moved his hand to Colin’s shoulder. “But youdid, son. You did. And here he sits with us now, grand as he can be.”
Colin nodded and pressed a kiss to the top of Joshua’s head.
Danny turned to David. “Were you there for thiscraic?”
“Nate and I were both there.” He shot a glance at Colin, then turned back to Danny. “I wasn’t going to let him be alone in case…” His voice trailed off. “I wasn’t going to let him be alone.”
Danny nodded. “That’s a good friend.”
