Colin knew that already. He focused on Keith. He didn’t like sharing this story, but Colin was glad that he didn’t back out.
“Our dad did his weekly visit of the two properties and was sure that we were neck and neck. He was prepared to call a tie.” He took a swig of coffee. “I was pissed. A tie would’ve been fine, but then Elizabeth opened her mouth. There can be only one.”
Colin remembered her saying those words to him and how he’d laughed at it.
“The quote is from—”
“I know. Get to the point.” Colin knew things were going to head south.
“She pushed the issue, and I became willing to do whatever was necessary to win. I couldn’t let my little sister show me up.”
Keith stopped again, and Colin wanted to shake him. No story could be that long. “Finish.”
“I sent a friend of mine to work for her. She didn’t know I had sent him. He was supposed to spy and let me know what her plans were so I could top them. She fell for Matt and they started to date. I used it to my advantage.”
“What exactly did you do?” Anger bubbled in his chest. That Keith could do anything to his own sister burned him. It was his job to take care of his sister. He should be the one man she could always count on to have her back.
“I paid him to sabotage her work before the end of the competition. She looked like a fool in front of my father.”
Colin shoved away from the table and paced, afraid that if he didn’t move, he might hit Keith. This was their family crap, and he had no business putting his nose into it, plus it was more than a decade ago.
“I was young and stupid. I didn’t think about what it would do to her. I just wanted to win.”
So much made sense now. She saw this as her chance to redeem herself. She could prove to her father that she was as good, if not better, than Keith. He only had one question left, and depending on the answer, he might find himself spending the night in jail for beating the crap out of Elizabeth’s brother.
“Were you behind the problems we’ve had? Did you set Mitch up to make her fail?”
“What?” Keith stood, his eyes shooting daggers, as if he had the right to be offended. “Fuck no. I’ve been trying to make up for it ever since. I love my sister. I want her to be happy.”
Even as angry as he was, Colin could see the remorse on the other man’s face. It was easy to recognize because he’d seen the same look in the mirror.
“What’s all this to you, anyway?” Keith asked. “What’s your relationship with Elizabeth?”
I love her. The admission swamped him and he felt light-headed. He pushed it back, knowing that it didn’t matter. “We’re partners. My contract stipulates that I get a cut of profits and a bonus when we sell. I obviously want the business to succeed.”
“The place isn’t for sale.”
Colin bristled again. “That’s Elizabeth’s call.”
“It’s mine. The business is mine, not hers.”
Tension filled Colin’s muscles. In addition to accusing him of being a criminal and of betraying her, Elizabeth had lied to him? “You said it was supposed to be hers.”
“It’s not yet.”
“Thanks for telling me. The party’s ready for tonight. You might want to talk to your sister before she’s blindsided by the party. She’s preparing for battle, not a birthday.”
“You’re not coming?”
Colin shook his head. He, too, wanted Elizabeth to be happy. If he showed up at her party, he would probably ruin it. He didn’t know what to do with his emotions. He felt sorry for Elizabeth, but he didn’t know if he could forgive her lack of faith in him. He’d definitely confront her about lying about owning the bar. What a clusterfuck.
“You’re welcome to come. I’ll make sure she knows you had nothing to do with any sabotage.”
“She already knows that,” Colin answered. “We have other issues.”
“Okay.” Keith turned and left.
Colin began the prep for opening O’Leary’s. Here, he knew exactly what to expect and people knew what to expect from him. Family offered that.
The nagging little voice in his head reminded him that Elizabeth didn’t know that feeling. He brushed it aside.
He was done trying to prove himself worthy.
Elizabeth was beyond tired. She’d barely gotten any sleep between dealing with the cops and worrying about her dad. And Colin. She’d screwed that up, but she’d apologized. She didn’t know what else to do, how to fix it. He walked away without accepting her apology. She didn’t know what to do about his declaration. Her own feelings were murky, so she ignored them to face the problem at hand.
Keith had been calling all day, but she dodged the calls. Surely he knew what had happened by now. During one message he said he’d talked with Colin, which meant that he knew exactly how she’d messed up and could toss it back in her face. So she’d accused the wrong man. It didn’t matter much now.
There had been no sign of Colin at either the bar or the bowling alley. Although Mitch had been caught, she wouldn’t put it past Keith to have someone else waiting in the wings. She’d feel better if she didn’t have to leave Mike in charge. She was fairly sure Mike would be on her side. Neither Keith nor Mike had showed even a flicker of recognition when they’d met. She couldn’t afford any more problems.
Maybe she should call Colin and ask him to work while she was out. But her pride wouldn’t let her make that call. She’d told him she didn’t need him.
Such a liar.
Everything would be fine for a few hours. She’d eat dinner and then get her dad to go back to the bar tonight. She might as well get it over with. It wouldn’t look any better in the morning. At least tonight she had her birthday working in her favor.
Her father sent a car to pick her up. God forbid she should drive herself to the restaurant. When the car pulled up, she groaned. A limo. Really? What was he thinking? Unless it was Mom. This was totally something she would do. Dad hadn’t mentioned anything, but maybe Mom traveled with him.
She looked down at the navy suit she wore. If Mom was at dinner, the first thing she’d comment on was her attire.
Why don’t you put in a little effort? You’re so pretty. Let a man see that.
Elizabeth headed toward the back of the limo while trying to contain a giggle. Her mother would keel over if she found out about Colin. She could almost hear the He’s beneath you. Maybe she should invite him to dinner. Riling her mother was an excellent way to spend her birthday.
Then she remembered that inviting Colin anywhere was no longer an option.
She swallowed past the lump in her throat and steeled herself for the meal ahead.
The car pulled up in front of the restaurant. Sure enough, her mother stood beside her father. Unfortunately, Keith waited with them. She took a deep breath and climbed from the back of the car.
She could almost hear her mother’s tsk. Her stomach roiled with a pain she hadn’t felt in weeks. She wished Colin were here. He’d put her at ease with one of his smiles. Then he’d win her mother over with his charm.
Keith walked to meet her. “We need to talk.”
“Not now.” She moved to skirt by him, but he caught her elbow.
“Yes, now.” He turned and waved to their parents. “Go on in. We’ll be there in a minute.”
Keith propelled her to the side of the entrance.
She yanked her arm away. “What do you want?”
“First, I had nothing to do with whatever Mitch did to the bar. Neither did Colin.”
“Your lies mean little to me.” She turned away. She’d expected him to say that.
“I told Colin everything. Even about Matt.”
That caught her attention. The entire episode had been swept under the rug for years. They never mentioned it. She looked into her brother’s eyes. He wasn’t lying. “Why?”
He shrugged. “It seemed like he deserved an explanation, and he wasn’t getting it from you. He cares about y
ou.”
He loves me. The lump returned to her throat and she couldn’t speak, so she nodded.
“He told me that you planned to sell the bar and the bowling alley.”
She cleared her throat. “What else would we do with it? It’s not like it fits in Dad’s portfolio.”
“You can’t sell it. It’s mine and you know it.”
“If you’re not going to let me sell, why did you let me do all this work? That’s not fair. Not even Dad will side with you on this one.” She gripped her purse. With all of the extra work they’d done, she’d never be able to pay Colin if they didn’t sell. They hadn’t put a time clause in the contract, but it was understood that they would sell as soon as they were turning a profit. The way things stood between them now, she didn’t want to tell him they couldn’t sell.
Keith’s voice brought her back from those thoughts. “I know what I did back then was reprehensible. If someone ever did that to Mel, I’d kill him and his body would never be found. I don’t get you.”
“What?”
“You never told Dad what I did.”
“He wouldn’t have believed me.” She crossed her arms. She didn’t like where this conversation was headed. They didn’t talk about emotions and the past and other useless things.
“But you never came back at me. You just let it slide.”
No, she hadn’t let it slide; she’d been holding a grudge ever since. Obviously, she wasn’t very good at it if Keith was unaware. “Water under the bridge, right? Life goes on. What does any of that have to do with selling the bar?”
“I bought it for you. After you let me win, even though I cheated and after everything I’d done. I wanted you to forgive me. I bought The Irish Pub because it was in Chicago and it had a bowling alley. Those were things that I knew made you happy. You had real friends here, and being away from Mom is good for you.”
Her mind was stuck on the fact that he’d bought the bowling alley for her. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“I was waiting for the right time. It never seemed to come. I didn’t want you to think it was a consolation prize. Then after you graduated, you threw yourself into work, and at first I thought you really liked it. Now I know better.” He put his arm around her shoulder and turned them toward the restaurant. “I was right the first time. You’re happy here.”
She thought of what made her happy in Chicago. Colin. She didn’t know if she could run everything without him. She didn’t want to. “What did Colin say when you told him about Matt?”
“Not much. I thought he was going to hit me, but he didn’t. He asked if I’d initiated the sabotage and he mentioned selling the bar. I told him it wasn’t for sale.”
Shit. In one conversation, Keith had told Colin more than she’d ever had. “If the bar is mine, then I can sell it.”
He sighed and shook his head. “Give it a few days. If you still feel that way, go ahead and sell.”
She didn’t need a few days. The business would go on the market first thing Monday morning. Colin had a right to go his own way.
CHAPTER 17
Dinner had been mostly painless. They ate at a quiet table with their multiple forks and linen napkins. She would’ve preferred a good pizza to the fancy fare her father had chosen. By the time dessert was finished, all she wanted to do was crawl back into bed.
But she was determined to show her father the business and get it over with. Regardless of his opinion, she knew she’d done a good job. “Are you ready to look at the bar?”
“Bar?” her mother asked.
Her dad looked almost as confused.
“Didn’t Keith tell you?” She looked at Keith, who shook his head. Damn, she’d been so sure that Keith had told him everything.
“What are you talking about?” her dad asked.
She let out a breath. “Remember when you asked me to do an audit of your personal holdings? I found a property that I knew nothing about. One that was losing money. I came here to check it out. Then I decided to take it on as a project.”
“Without telling me?”
“Yes. I wanted to do it all on my own, from beginning to end.”
“She’s done a great job. Wait until you see it,” Keith chimed in.
“Do we really need to discuss business now?” Mom asked.
Keith jumped in to deal with Mom. “You know, Mom, you’ll probably be bored. Why don’t you take the car back to your hotel, and Dad and I will take Elizabeth to the business.”
“Sweetie, it’s her birthday. She should be out celebrating, dancing, and drinking. Not standing around with her brother and father looking at a tavern.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes and tried to remember what her mother had been like before Dad had become successful. Over the years, the image had become dimmer and dimmer. She was a woman of means and, to her, that carried with it certain expectations.
“It’s a bar, Mom. Not a tavern. A regular neighborhood bar. A sports bar, in fact. And it’s attached to a bowling alley. We’re putting in a kitchen so we can sell nachos and hot wings. Things that don’t require a fork. It’s exactly how I want to spend my birthday.” The knowledge sank deep into her bones, unsettling every inch of her. She’d enjoyed almost every minute of being at the bar. Being there on her birthday made sense. Being with Colin made sense.
Elizabeth stood and tossed her napkin on the table. “Thank you for coming all this way to have dinner with me on my birthday.” She walked around the table and planted a kiss on her mother’s cheek. “It means a lot. I do have to get back to work, though, regardless of whether you join me. I’m closing.”
Keith rose. “I’m coming. Dad, you need to see this.”
“Can’t your father visit in the morning?”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
Keith saved her from having to answer. “It’s a bar, Mom. If he wants to see how it works, he needs to come at night.”
“Fine. I’ll see you back at the hotel. Don’t forget we have an early flight tomorrow.”
Her mother air kissed the three of them and walked to the front of the restaurant.
“Are you sure I wasn’t adopted?” Elizabeth said the words aloud that she’d often wondered in her head.
“No such luck, Libby.” Keith’s tone had softened.
He hadn’t called her Libby in years, unless he was trying to tease her and get under her skin. Something was in the process of shifting between them, but she didn’t know what or how, much less why.
Keith drove and parked in the lot beside the bowling alley. Elizabeth started walking toward the bar, wanting to put her best foot forward, but Keith said, “I think we should see the bowling alley first.”
She shot him a dirty look that he ignored. Well, at least when he saw the bar after the alley, her dad would be really impressed.
She pushed through the door of the bowling alley, preparing excuses for why it wasn’t busy. Inside the dark space, she became speechless. Balloons and streamers dangled everywhere. A sign hanging above the shoe counter read HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LIBBY.
Her eyes became misty. Her father hugged her and so did Keith.
“Surprised, huh?”
“Yes.” She pulled away from them and was immediately surrounded by Janie and Lori.
Their yells and hugs were a welcome distraction from the emotional wave she was riding. Bianca announced her arrival over the loudspeaker, and the few patrons that were there raised their glasses in a toast.
She looked over the faces with their attention on her and searched for the one face she wanted to see more than any of them.
Colin’s.
He was behind this. She knew it. She scanned each person through her watery eyes with no luck. She said hi to Bianca and asked where Colin was.
She shrugged. “I haven’t seen him all day. He called this morning to make sure everything was on track, but that was it. I thought he would’ve been here a long time ago.” She put a pair of shoes on the counter. “Hurry up and change.
Cosmic bowling starts soon.”
Elizabeth took the shoes. Keith stood behind her.
“He’s not coming.”
She didn’t pretend not to know who he was talking about.
“I told him that I would make sure you knew he didn’t do any sabotage, but he said he wasn’t coming. That you had other issues.”
Other issues. Like laughing at him for saying he loved her.
Colin not showing up to her birthday party, one that he obviously had a hand in planning, spoke volumes. He wouldn’t forgive her.
She wanted to cry. But she had a roomful of people counting on her to have a happy birthday. She blinked and swallowed hard.
Pulling her phone out, she dialed his number, hoping he’d answer. He didn’t, so she left a message. “Hey, Colin. Thank you so much for the party. It’s really amazing. Uhh . . . I don’t know what else to say. I wish you were here.”
With shoes in hand, she turned to find a place to sit and change. A blur of orange flew at her, and she found herself engulfed in Moira’s embrace. Moira had come to her birthday party, but not Colin.
“Happy birthday! Did you really think we’d let you get away without celebrating? The O’Learys love a good party. Were you surprised?”
Surprised was an understatement. She forced a smile and slipped off her heels. “I never would’ve guessed. The Brannigans are not party people.”
“That’s a shame. Come on, let’s bowl.” Moira spun and headed for the nearest lane.
It looked like she’d already befriended Lori and Janie. The three of them stood at the table typing their names into the scoreboard. Keith and Dad held back, watching from the sidelines, but they stayed while she bowled.
Bianca piped some dance music through the speakers, and it was loud enough to drown out most conversation. Too bad she could still hear her own thoughts.
Ten frames of bowling and laughter with friends relaxed her more than a glass of wine. After the game, she changed back into her shoes, knowing her father wouldn’t stay much longer and she really needed to show him the bar. As she changed, Moira plopped down beside her.
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