I swat his shoulder.“Stop.”
Cillian steps closer to Gabriel and puffs up his chest.“Flirting right in front of me?French people are outrageous.”
“But no one questions our taste,” Gabriel says.
“How many times did you say your nose has been broken in bars?”Cillian arches an eyebrow.
Gabriel starts laughing, thank goodness.
About three pastries in, I’m grateful that they both appreciate a woman with an appetite.“Well, Gabriel, I did like Cillian, but now...”I smile.“You may have lured me away?”
He laughs.
“But seriously,” I say, “we do have a lot to talk about.I’d love to chat about ways we could partner.”
“Not tonight,” he says.“Tonight’s your first date with my finest friend, and he’s been talking about you for a while.I’ll come by the hotel in the morning.”
“Perfect,” I say.“I’m sure I’ll have even more ideas by then.”
Gabriel packs a box of pastries for me to take so Sam and Vanessa can try them, too.
After we leave, Cillian says, “I have a few more people to introduce you to, local vendors we could work with for the Halloween party and maybe beyond.”
“We?”My eyebrows pop up.
“Well, you.”His cheeks actually flush.“I’m just trying to help.”
“You’ve been helping me for a long time now.”I think about how helpful he was in navigating all the international complications when we bought Fortwilliam, and how he helped when we moved, getting my business license and navigating the approvals.Finding contractors for remodels and repairs.Negotiating with the insurance company.The list goes on and on.“I really appreciate it.”
We’re back to where he parked his car.He opens the door for me, but once he’s seated, instead of starting the car, he spins to face me.“Look, I know you and I—we’re very different.Your life revolves around your children.Mine obviously doesn’t.At first, I thought that would be a deal-breaker, and maybe it will be in the end.But Ilikethe kind of person it’s made you, and I want to be around you.So if you don’t think I’m so selfish that you feel differently...I’d like to take you out again.”
I sigh.“Cillian.”
“I don’t mean that in an argumentative way.I mean it in the nicest way possible.I know your life and mine may not fit easily together, but sometimes things that aren’t obvious are nonetheless still beautiful.”
I think that we’re probably wasting time.
But maybe, justmaybe, he might be right.“Alright,” I say.“Another date won’t kill either of us.”
He’s laughing as he pulls out onto the not-at-all-busy off-season road of Lismore and starts to drive me home.I suppose that’s a good sign, at least.
7
Vanessa
Iknow we all have to take our turn, and I even support the idea of all of us pitching in to support our boys.I always want to do my share and then some, but the day I’m stuck running the pumpkin patch for the hurling team has to be the worst day we’ve had in Ireland.
It’s cold.
It’s miserably windy.
And it’s been raining nonstop since this morning.
After enduring all this misery, I’ve sold exactly four pumpkins.We should’ve just closed today.Maybe I’d have a better attitude about it if I’d been paired with nicer moms.I’m not the president of the booster club.I’m not even the secretary.I’m just a parent, like any other.So I don’t have anything to do with who is placed in each rotation.
The woman whodoesrun it, Naomi, is right next to me, and she and her bestie Maeve came two hours late.Her son Cormac offered pot to Trace, and even if he didn’t take it, I hate that kid for it.Naomi’s also the one who found out about me and Jack, though the discovery was pretty much Jack’s fault.He was tired of hiding, which I understand.
Ever since she found out, Naomi’s been even less friendly.
