“I’m trying to find a way out of y’all losing your home,” I announced. “I promise you I’m going to do everything I can. I don’t want a resort here. I don’t even like golf resorts.”
Everyone nodded.
Ronan walked into the pub, his hair windblown and his jacket hugging him tight. He grinned at me and hugged me. “Good to have you back, Yank.”
I looked at him, confused. “You’re not pissed with me?”
“About what?”
“The pictures?”
He shrugged. “Don’t believe you’re that much of a gobshite. And you’re in love with Dee. I think you’d cut your arm first before you hurt her.”
So, how was it that Ronan saw it but Dee didn’t?
Damn, that stubborn Wildcat.
“That’s true,” Liam nodded. “I forgot about how he’s like a dog with a bone when it comes to Dee.”
“Or a golfer with a ten-foot putt,” Seamus added, smirking into his pint.
The pub erupted into a few scattered chuckles, and I rolled my eyes. “Glad to know my love life is everyone’s favorite topic of conversation.”
Liam shrugged, lifting his pint in a mock toast. “Ballybeg’s a small place, Yank. If it’s not your love life, it’s Seamus’s snake—or worse, Geraldine’s dog.”
“Hey, leave Poppy out of this!” Geraldine called from her table, glaring daggers at Liam.
I shook my head, exhaling a sigh as Ronan clapped me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, mate. She’ll come around. Dee’s just?—”
“Stubborn,” Ifinished for him.
Ronan grinned. “Exactly. But that doesn’t mean she’s blind. She knows. Even if she won’t admit it yet.”
The people of Ballybeg believed in me, and that meant something. But Dee still had walls up higher than the Cliffs of Moher.
“So, what are you gonna do now, Yank?” Ronan asked, tilting his head.
I straightened, meeting his gaze. “What I always do! Play the long game.”
Ronan snorted, shaking his head. “Hope you’ve got stamina for it. Dee’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
“Good thing I’m a pro,” I shot back, grinning.
Laughter rippled through the pub, but it didn’t ease my heavy heart.
Damn, but this woman was work!
And absolutely worth it.
CHAPTER 28
Dee
It was bad enough that Jax Caldwell was still in Ballybeg, but now he was staying on my family’s farm with Ronan, who had apparently decided to become the President of the Jax Caldwell Fan Club.
I kicked Jax out of the pub, but of course, I did.
The next thing I know, Ronan offers himmyroom inmychildhood home.
