Donny got that same goofy grin on his face he always got when thinking about his wife of eight years. Mai, who was currently standing on the sidelines of the football game cheering on the kids with a gaggle of other Murphy mums, was second-generation Vietnamese Australian. She and Donny had met in Melbourne during their uni years—her studying at the conservatorium, him engineering at MIT—and Fin was godfather to both their kids.
‘It’s a miracle,’ Donny agreed good-naturedly.
‘You know you’re punching above your weight there.’
‘Totally.’
They paused to drink their beers and watch the game. Or at least Donny did. Fin’s gaze wandered to the water, where Sweeney was paddling around in that damn swimsuit.
‘Word around the family is, Feeney has been a thing for years now.’
Fin blinked, dragging his eyes away from the water. ‘Word is wrong,’ he said bluntly, returning his attention to Donny. And that, at least, was the truth. ‘Thanks for the Feeney thing, by the way.’
‘I knew you’d love it.’
Yep. Fin took a swig of his beer.Like a heart attack.
‘Ooh, hello,’ Donny murmured around the lip of his beer bottle. ‘Don’t look now but Maria Jennings coming in hot at nine o’clock.’
Surprised, Fin swung his head left and Donny muttered, ‘Real cool, man.’
‘Hey, Fin.’ Maria smiled at him as she approached. ‘Hi, Donny.’ She sauntered to a stop in front of them, slid her hand onto Fin’s arm and leaned in to peck him on the cheek. ‘It’s been such a long time since we’ve caught up. We didn’t really get a chance at the party.’
Fin nodded absently. When had theyevercaught up?
Her hand slid from his arm and there was an awkward silence during which Donny quickly threw back his beer, finishing it with a loud burp before announcing, ‘I think Mai’s calling me,’ and skedaddling away.
The last thing Fin wanted was to make small talk with a woman who’d barely said two words to him prior to this moment, and his cousin knew that damn well.
Yep, Donny definitely had to die.
Searching around for something to say, Fin let loose the first thing that came into his head. ‘I hear you just got divorced?’
She blinked, clearly taken aback by the conversation starter, but then she laughed. ‘Yes. I did.’
‘Oh god. Sorry …’ He shook his head.Jesus, way to go, dude.‘That was insensitive.’
‘It’s fine.’ She waved away his apology. ‘Most people tippytoe around it, pretending it never happened in case I get upset. Which means I have to pretend. It’s a reliefnotto have to.’
Suddenly curious, Fin asked, ‘Tell me to shut it if this is too personal, but… do you mind me asking what happened with you and Bronson?’
On the surface, the Ballyshannon high school sweethearts had been two peas in a pod. Sporty, fit, insanely talented, stupidly good-looking. Not to mention common interests, shared history, similar values, community support. And two cute kids.
‘I guess we just…’ She shrugged slim shoulders. ‘Peaked in high school. Unfortunately it took us way too long to realise it. Other people left and went out in the world and experienced life, and we stayed. It wasn’t any one thing. We just finally grew up.’
Her tone was rich with ache and resignation and, for the first time ever, Fin felt sorry for the former mean girl. As Sweeney had mentioned, she was still very pretty with her bronzed limbs and petite frame showcased to perfection in denim shorts and white tank top. Her long, dark hair was untouched by greys but, on closer inspection, Fin could see fine lines around her eyes and mouth and a certain brittleness to her expression.
As though her face had been frozen in thatit girlsmile for far too long.
‘But that won’t be the case with you and Sweeney,’ Maria assured, touching his arm again. ‘You’ve both lived life and had adventures. You’ve seen what the world has to offer and still chose each other. That’s so sweet.’
Once upon a time she might have meant that in a bitchyyou two are such losersway, but Fin was pretty sure Maria was being genuine. Still, it must have taken him too long to answer because she shot him a sad smile that morphed into a resigned grimace.
‘I’ve been doing a lot of self-reflection these past couple of years, and I know I wasn’t very kind to you or Sweeney, or a lot of people really, in high school. I know I was the mean girl and I’m sincerely sorry for that.’
Fin blinked at her earnestness. She was leaning in, her hand on his arm gripping a little firmer. What had Sweeney said? People change. It appeared as if Maria definitely had.
Shrugging, he said, ‘None of us are the people we were in high school.’
