by Casey Morgan
“Well, you’ve done it this time, Brody Hennessey! You really done it this time,” she began. “Do you have any idea what the rest of the village is sayin’ about you today? Do you?”
“I have excellent hearing, but I can’t hear what every person is talking about in town. I guess you’ll just have to tell me then,” I joked.
While standing back from the kitchen table, I looked at her.
Ciara’s face was flushed, like she had just run from town. She pointed a finger at me, her eyes open wide.
“The rumor is, you and Ryan came out of the American’s room at the same time!” said Ciara, mostly mortified. “And the other guests heard noises, too. What in God’s creation were the three of you doing?”
“It’s none of your business, sister,” I replied, with a shrug. “Why do you have to go repeating rumors like that for?”
Aunt Bridget came up beside me and boxed my ears.
“Ow! What is wrong with you, Aunt Bridget?” I snapped.
“Bad luck and leprechauns! Did you come out of that girl’s room together last night, as Ciara said?” she asked warily.
Her thick eyebrows arched together as she glared at me.
I looked away from her and went back to filling the pies.
“No,” I said. “But we did come out of there this morning. What of it?”
“You two better not be disrespectin’ women folk around here!” threatened my aunt. Her hands were firmly planted on her wide hips. “I know you two rascals like to think with the little head sometimes!”
“I didn’t disrespect Shana!” I argued. “I don’t care what the rumors say.”
Both women glared at me, but I held their eyes. When I didn’t back down, they started to relax. I had them calmed down and just about convinced that this was a misunderstanding. Then my brother walked into the room. His face was red, and he looked furious.
Don’t open your mouth, you little wanker! I tried to telepathically command him.
“Did you hear the rumors? Did you?” Ryan demanded. He ran a hand through his blonde hair, messing it up. “Three different people chastised me for my wanton ways. We’re all they’re talking about down at the grocer.”
“Brother, it’s just small town gossip,” I laughed. “C’mon now! This isn’t the first time you’ve all heard a rumor go around the village. Remember that time they all thought I was a gangster, all because of that shady deal I got for clotted cream?”
“That was a bit shady,” snapped Aunt Bridget. “And that man was a gangster!”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t one, now was I?”
I raised my eyebrows at her.
“That’s how these rumors get started, ya know. It’s whisper down the lane,” I insisted. “You all have to take a breather and relax. Look how upset you’ve made poor Ryan!”
I pulled Ryan aside and whispered to him.
“Shut yer gob, ya stupid git. They don’t know,” I hissed. “No one knows! They weren’t in the fucking room! Ye keep yer mouth shut and it’ll all blow over.”
“What’s all that you’re sayin’?” demanded Ciara suspiciously. “Getting’ your stories straight, are ye?”
“You pick on my wee brother and I’m just trying to comfort him in this stressful time,” I insisted. “Now fuck off, ya harpies. Go peddle yer lies somewhere else.”
“Don’t call yer sister a harpy,” snapped Aunt Bridget. “Did you come out of that girl’s room last night or not?”
“In the mornin’,” I repeated. “This mornin’! This is a Bed and Breakfast. There’s all sorts of reasons why I was up there. Why we both were there. She’s a guest, isn’t she? And the toilet in the honeymoon suite acts up, don’t it?”
This was true. The toilet in that room was a bit unreliable. I’d had to go up there more than a few times in the past.
“Fine,” said Ciara suspiciously. “You’d just better mind your P’s and Q’s, Brody Hennessey! Because if God’s not watchin’, the village sure is.”
“Go tend bar, ye wee ass,” I dismissed her with a wave.
“Brody!” objected Aunt Bridget.
“What? I didn’t call her a harpy like you said,” I pointed out.
“Ye better not be messin’ around with that American girl,” warned Aunt Bridget. “Poor thing. Being left at the altar! She’d be putty in your hands. You take advantage of that poor girl and you’ll have me to answer for.”
Aunt Bridget stormed into the cooler to get more onions. I could tell Ryan was ready to burst. I pulled him out of the kitchen and into the hall to talk.
“I don’t like this,” said Ryan. “I don’t like this one bit.”
“Shut yer gob and it will be fine,” I assured him. “No one has to know what we did, brother.”
“What if it’s Shanna? What if she’s bragging to the village what we did? What then, huh?” worried Ryan.
“Then you’ll be gettin’ more high fives than a leprechaun at the European Central bank,” I whispered. “But why would she spread the rumors? It’s her reputation too, ya know?”
Ryan crossed his arms in front of his chest, as if considering my argument.
“Yeah, but she doesn’t have to live here, does she?” he pointed out. “In a week or whatever, she’ll be back off to America and who cares about us, right?”
“That’s the very reason why you have to keep your mouth shut,” I said, as low as possible. “Once she goes back home, no one will be the wiser. It’ll be like it never happened.”
“You’re proud of this, aren’t you?” accused Ryan. “You just revel in the trouble all this would cause our family’s inn.”
“I don’t care about the opinions the village busybodies have,” I insisted. “Who cares what the village thinks? Did you have a good time last night or didn’t ya?”
“Well, yeah…”
“Then why do you give a flying fuck all about what those busybodies think?” I demanded. “Do you live your life for yourself or for them? Imagine if it was just you and her and the same thing was going around. Would you care?”
“No,” he said.
“Well, then. Why do you care now? Don’t be embarrassed, boyo. Embrace it,” I insisted.
“I can’t be like you, brother,” said Ryan, running a hand through his hair again. “I guess I’m not that strong or I’m too easily embarrassed.”
“You just need self-confidence is all.”
“What are we going to do?” he asked sadly.
“What do you mean? I just said!”
“No, I mean, what are we going to do when she leaves?” he asked.
That was a question I hadn’t considered. I just assumed she’d go back to her life and we’d go back to ours. But I could see that my brother really would miss her. And as I thought about it more, so would I!
I’d only known her for a couple of days, but the things we shared — I wanted more. But if she returned to America — What we would we have then? I could tell my brother was just as upset about this idea as I was.
“Look, she’s a foreigner,” I said. “Our lives are here. Her life is in America. We knew that from the beginning. Let’s not pretend it can be any other way, brother.”
“But what if… she stayed?” asked Ryan. “She could, ya know? Maybe she could find work here. Be one of those ex-pats livin’ abroad.”
“You know the reputation of the McDonnells,” I said. “She’s a McDonnell. People would always look down on her. Hell, that’s probably why the rumor got started in the first place. It was probably started by one of the other McDonnells!”
“She’s not like them! You know that,” objected Ryan. “She’s kind and sweet and honest. Why does everyone think that their blood dictates their behavior? Don’t good families have bad eggs? Then surely bad families have good ones!”
“Yer preachin’ to the choir, Ryan,” I said. “There’s no way I want her to leave either, but the decision’s not up to us.”
“What if… we went with her? To America?” he
suggested.
“Go to America? And what? Abandon Hennessey House for good? Our family has a legacy here going back generations,” I reminded him. “You think Aunt Bridget can run this place on her own? Besides, we’d miss our family. Quinn’s child growin’ up. Ciara gettin’ married one day. Maybe you can leave, boyo, but not me. America will always just be that faraway land to me.”
“Me too,” he admitted sadly.
Sergio walked past us in the hall. I didn’t think he’d heard anything, but we stopped talking just in case. We nodded as he walked by.
“Morning,” he said.
“Mornin’,” we said back.
As soon as Sergio was in the dining room, Ryan turned back to me. His eyes were super wide.
“He knows!” insisted Ryan.
I smacked him on the shoulder and rolled my eyes.
“How does he know? All he said was morning!” I said.
“It was the way he said it,” Ryan insisted. He was whispering now. “The walls are thick enough, but he’s in the room below. He could probably hear us through the floor.”
“Look, I know you’re not really in the state of mind to hear this,” I began. “But you have to accept that those walls aren’t as thick as ye think.”
“What? Do you mean the Davies would’ve heard us? Oh, God!”
“They’re Weres, but old and half deaf, so maybe not,” I suggested, not wanting to break the bad news to him and let him in on the fact that Ciara had said that some other guests had heard us making noises. “But don’t worry, they’re too polite to say anything. Besides, who cares if they know? They’ll leave too, eventually.”
“I think I need a drink,” said Ryan, leaning against the wall.
I summoned my hip flask. It usually stayed in my bedroom, but I could pull it from there easily. It materialized in my hand.
“Here, take a pull off this,” I said.
“Where’d you get that?” he asked.
“The Lady of the Lake! Where do you think, boyo? Amazon! Now take a pull and shut yer gob.”
Ryan grabbed the flask and took a deep drink. I wiped off the end and did the same.
“Oy, good stuff, that,” he complimented. “Is that the twenty-five-year-old Scotch you accidentally opened two years ago?”
“Aye,” I said. “I’ve been slowly drinking it, since no one wants to order a shot at the price point we have.”
“That’s twenty-five-year-old Scotch, ya daft drunkard! The house paid for that!”
“Aye! And do ye just want it to go to waste? We own the house, you tit,” I reminded him. “Just consider it yer Christmas bonus!”
“I need to sit down,” said Ryan.
“Don’t do it here,” I said. I grabbed his shoulders and pushed him towards the front of the house. “You’re supposed to be working the front desk. Now go work it like nothing’s wrong and for God’s sake, don’t spill your guts to anybody about last night.”
“Shanna’s not going to believe it. She’s gonna’ know something is wrong.”
“Especially to Shanna. Do not tell Shanna anythin’!”
“Why?”
“If I have to answer that question, then I was a fool to bang this girl with you,” I said. “Now go to the front desk and think about that answer for a bit.”
Fuck. My brother was going to mess this up for us. Just when I thought things were going great. Leave it to Ryan to ruin a perfectly good thing.
Chapter 14
Ryan
I can’t believe I’m in this mess. I can’t believe what we did last night. But mostly, I can’t believe I listened to Brody!
I was behind the reception desk, mindlessly staring at the fuzzy TV and trying to work out these latest events in my mind. What was I thinkin’?
Brody had been getting me into trouble since we were we lads. That time we stole the Vespa and that time we moved the sheep herd into the coffee shop as a prank — Why did I keep listening to him?
Why didn’t he want me to tell Shanna?
Oh, right. She probably doesn’t know and what she don’t know won’t hurt her. Guess that’s sound reasoning enough. I won’t lie to her if she asks, though. That’s no way to start a relationship.
But did I have a relationship with her? How could I, with Brody in the mix?
I decided to do a bit of research on the Internet. There was an article on something called polyamorous relationships. Apparently, it really was a thing!
Well, that’s a relief, I guess. We could tell people we’re in one of those.
Except that I’ve never heard of anyone else being in one of those relationships. I saw online a preacher out in Utah who had a bunch of wives.
That hardly seemed like the same thing. The Irish and the elves were about tradition and this was anything but.
Even though we had magical powers, we had very normal relationships. Even getting divorced and remarried was rare around these parts. They would never accept us. Never.
And then, of course, my brother — He wouldn’t care! He’d just keep skippin’ through life without a care in the world.
Brody never cared who or what called him out or called him names. He was always relaxed and never worried, even when worry came home to roost. That was Brody, for ya.
Hmm, maybe there was something to that. Maybe I just had to relax and the situation would resolve itself. Maybe these busybodies would get tired and go away. The villagers — well, they’d see something else on the news that would get their attention. Perhaps I’m making too big of a deal about it.
“Hello, Mr. Hennessey,” said Mrs. Davies, sounding indignant as she broke up my thoughts. “We are checking out.”
The Davies were now standing in front of me at the reception desk. Allison was tapping her foot. I had completely zoned out as they approached. They had their bags packed and sure did look ready to leave.
“You’re checking out early, I see,” I said diplomatically. “Was there a problem with the room?”
“The room was lovely, but we prefer… to have quieter neighbors,” she said. “The noise coming out of the honeymoon suite was unacceptable. We cannot stay another minute in this place. What sort of bed and breakfast are you running?”
“What? A good one. I’m sorry about the noise,” I said. “I’m sure it won’t happen again. Would you stay if I comped you a day?”
“I don’t think so,” she said, considering it.
“I can comp you two,” I said. “We value your business.”
“Why don’t you comp me for days we already stayed?” she suggested. “That would be fair.”
“Oh, well, I’m not allowed to do that,” I said. “How about I comp you a free meal in addition to two nights’ stay?”
“Forget it,” she said. “This place has unfit morals. You think we didn’t see you and your brother come out of that girl’s room, but we did. You two should be ashamed of yourselves. And that girl, too! What a slut!”
“Ma’am, please don’t talk about Shanna that way, she’s—”
“She’s what? A traveling prostitute? A succubus? No wonder her fiancé left her at the altar. Wandering eye on that one. Hmph!” she said superiorly.
“Shanna is a beautiful woman. She’s kind and compassionate. You know nothing about her, ma’am,” I snapped.
“Well, I never! C’mon, Herbert. I won’t stay a minute longer in this Threesome B&B! Expect a bad review when I get back to my computer!” insisted Mrs. Davies. “You people ought to be ashamed of yourselves.”
“You moralizing old wolf!” I snapped. “Don’t you lecture me on what’s right. Your husband’s spent half his time here downloading porn. That’s right! I can see what you’re doing on our Wifi, Herbert!”
Mrs. Davies gave her husband some dagger eyes. They started to leave.
“You put that bad review up and I’ll let everyone know what you were doing!” I threatened. “You’d better just get going. Forget about your comp days. I should charge you double. Don’t ever come b
ack here again.”
Well, at least I saved Hennessey House from a bad review. Quite frankly, I was surprised that old wolf knew what the Internet was, much less how to post a nasty review.
Dammit! We should’ve been quieter. I told Brody the walls were too thin when we redecorated the honeymoon suite. We needed sound absorbing material to thicken them with, or at the very least, some kind of white noise machine to cancel things out. Now it was late.
But we were still fine, right? Shanna going back to the States would be a disaster, but at least the rumors would end. In a few weeks, people would move on to someone else to gossip about. That’s it. Crisis averted.
Unfortunately, a few minutes later, Shanna came into the lobby, crying.
“Shanna? What’s wrong, love? Did something happen?” I asked.
She pushed me back and ran upstairs, crying the entire way. This was bad. This was really bad. Not only did everyone know, but Shanna was more like me when it came to this sort of thing. She was probably horribly embarrassed.
Dammit, Brody! If I had any sense, I wouldn’t call you at all about this.
But I had no one else to turn to. I call-spelled Brody to meet me at Shanna’s room. He responded almost immediately that he would.
I put away the stuff at the front desk and hoped there weren’t any other guests checking out early. I felt like this entire episode was spinning out of control and that we had to put a lid on it, right quick.
My listening to my brother had gotten us into this mess, and now I just hoped he could come up with a plan to get us out of it.
Chapter 15
Shanna
My, how things can change in a day. After mind-blowing magical menage sex that made me incredibly happy, here I was stumbling around the streets of Luck’s Hollow, Ireland, bawling my eyes out.
You might ask, why all the crying after a night of amazing sex and intimacy? Well, it started less than an hour ago…
I was walking through the village, taking in the shops, the people, the sights and sounds. Despite my lack of sleep the night before, I was energized and felt great. Relaxed and at peace with myself was how I could best describe it.
