by Debbie Mason
After receiving Communion, Liam and his brothers walked to stand near the casket, and, as per Colleen’s request, the three men began to sing “Amazing Grace” a capella. The men’s deep, baritone voices were as beautiful as they were. Liam and his brothers had a band when they were younger and had developed quite a following on the local bar scene. Listening to them now, she could understand why. By the time they finished, there wasn’t a dry eye in the church.
Her grandmother gave Sophie and Ava the evil eye when they refused to go up and receive Communion. She took Mia with her. While they stood in line, Sophie overheard Rosa telling Mia to place her hands over her chest and the priest would give her a blessing. What she forgot to explain to Mia is that you don’t drop your great-grandmother’s hand, get on your hands and knees, and crawl under the casket.
Frozen in horror, Sophie watched as her grandmother got down on her hands and knees to try and coax Mia from under the casket. Father O’Malley and the altar girl and boy tried to do the same. As the entire congregation shifted in their pews, craning their necks to get a better view, including Michael and his parents, Sophie slunk down on the bench. A bench that was now shaking because Ava was laughing so hard behind her hand. As if her daughter hadn’t made enough of a spectacle of them, Sophie started laughing too. The more she tried to stop, the worse it got. Through eyes filled with tears of laughter, she watched Liam walk to the casket. He crouched down, said something to Mia, and she immediately crawled out. Sophie couldn’t see what was going on because he had her daughter in front of him, but it appeared that Father O’Malley was giving her the blessing.
People turned to stare at Sophie and Ava because, while Liam had the situation in hand, they didn’t. Walking back with Mia’s hand in his, Liam looked at Sophie, his eyes warm and amused. He smiled and winked when he lifted Mia onto the bench. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Happens to the best of us.”
As he walked away, Ava leaned into Sophie, her voice still cracking with laughter. “Is that your Gallagher?”
Sophie said, “I wish he was.”
Chapter Ten
Liam leaned against the bar in the manor’s lobby, flanked by his brothers Griffin and Aidan. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d been together. His brothers rarely came back to Harmony Harbor. If you asked them, they’d tell you it was because they lived out of state and were busy with their chosen careers. Even Liam, who lived less than an hour away, used the same excuse. Well, up until last month he had. His father and grandmother had basically kidnapped him the day he’d been released from the hospital.
People looking from the outside in might think the reason the Gallagher brothers didn’t come home was because they didn’t love their dad or each other, but that wasn’t the case. It was easier to stay away than confront their grief and guilt over the loss of their mother and sister than dealing with it head-on.
Out of all of them, their brother Finn was the only one who had a legitimate excuse. He spent most of his time in far-off countries volunteering with Doctors Without Borders. At that moment, he was in Central Africa. It’s why he couldn’t make it home for GG’s funeral. Finn had always been an adrenaline junkie—the more dangerous the job the better. All four of them were. They’d obviously inherited the gene from their father. Only these days, Liam’s thrill-seeking gene seemed to have gone missing. He took a pull on his beer at the thought.
“Sound mind and body, my eye, George!” A woman’s strident voice came from the room they’d just left.
“Poor Aunt Maura, she isn’t taking it too well, is she?” Griffin said, the dimple showing up in his cheek belying his pretense at sympathy. None of them were particularly fond of their aunt.
“I’m not worried about her, but I am concerned for Mr. Wilcox. We’ll draw straws, see who goes and rescues him,” Aidan suggested with a grin, grabbing a handful off the bar.
“They’re all the same size, dumbass. How about rock, paper, scissors?” Griffin suggested.
His brothers were more buddy-buddy than they’d been in each other’s company for a long time. It was a nice change, but it was also weird. They weren’t acting like themselves. Maybe because they’d just discovered they’d inherited Greystone and the estate. GG had skipped over Kitty and her grandsons, leaving it to her great-grandchildren. Which meant they’d all be multimillionaires if they sold out. Only problem was, it had to be a unanimous decision. All ten of them had to agree to sell. It looked like they already had one dissenter—his cousin Michael. Uncle Daniel’s three girls were wild cards too. No one seemed to know where they were. His uncle was off on a dig somewhere and couldn’t be reached. Until they attained a consensus, GG had appointed Mr. Wilcox as the trustee.
“Let me guess. The flask you two were passing around in the limo wasn’t filled with hot cocoa,” Liam said as they headed to the dining room where the reception was being held.
“He always was a smart kid, wasn’t he, Griffin?” Aidan asked.
“Don’t judge, baby brother. If you’d brought along your ex-wives, you’d be drinking too.”
Aidan snorted a laugh at Griffin’s response.
Liam could understand Aidan’s ex driving him to drink. Harper was a coldhearted bitch. They’d divorced the year before, and she’d refused every custody arrangement his brother proposed. As a psychiatrist, she knew what buttons to push and whose strings to pull. Granted, his brother’s job as an undercover DEA agent made it easy for her. But Griffin and his ex…“I thought you and Lexi were good.”
Griffin and his wife’s split two years before had been amicable, or so Liam had thought. He liked Lexi. As far as the family was concerned, she’d saved Griffin. As a military cop, she could handle his brother, who wasn’t always easy to handle.
“Most of the time we are. Just not here.” His brother took a swallow of his beer, his eyes scanning the dining room.
“Yeah, guess having your two ex-wives under the same roof—”
Griffin cut him off with a look then nodded at the dining room. Liam knew he’d made a mistake razzing his brother when he spotted Sophie in a black dress serving coffee to Kitty, his father, and Maggie. Nothing had been sacred in the house on Breakwater Way, including Liam’s crush on Sophie.
“So…Sophie DiRossi’s back in town and running the manor. How’s that working out for you, little brother?”
“Real good if she likes him as much as her little girl seems to.” Aidan grinned, obviously referring to Mia and her disappearing act at the church. Liam found himself smiling. And not just at the memory of Mia under the casket. He was thinking of Sophie giggling uncontrollably. It was the first glimpse of the happy, carefree girl he’d fallen in love with. Though he imagined it wasn’t much fun for Sophie at the time. He remembered what it was like to have something strike you as funny in church. Usually it was Finn who’d start it, and Liam would be the one sent to his room when they got home.
Aidan’s grin faded as something or someone caught his attention at one of the tables. “I don’t know why the hell I gave in to her. Liam, you better give Sophie a heads-up. Harper was asking questions about her little girl and found out she doesn’t speak. Between that and the episode at the church, she’s probably pulled out her copy of the DSM-5 from her purse.”
Liam followed the direction of his brother’s gaze. Mia sat at a table coloring with Aidan’s six-year-old daughter, Ella Rose, while Harper looked on. Rosa sat at the table beside them with several members of the Widow’s Club.
Griffin frowned. “The kid doesn’t talk?”
“No, and it’s not a big deal. She’s been through a lot, okay? They both have,” Liam said. Then realizing neither of his brothers knew what he was talking about, he told them what happened in LA.
His brothers exchanged a look, one he recognized.
They knew him too damn well. Knew that the moment a woman started to want more than a good time, Liam was out the door. But he hadn’t sounded like he was out the door when he was talking about Sophie a
nd Mia. More like invested and overly protective. So it was probably best not to call them on it. Especially seeing as how he’d been thinking a lot about her the past few days. It was hard not to. The kiss they’d shared and Sophie’s revelation she’d been in love with him, too, was going to make it even more difficult to get her out of his head. He’d caught himself wondering about testing the waters to see if her feelings for him were still there.
Today, at the church, he thought they might be. From his own reaction to her, he knew he felt more than a passing attraction. If she didn’t have Mia, he’d think about asking her out, see where it went. But long-term relationships and happily-ever-afters weren’t in the cards for the Gallaghers of Harmony Harbor. If he needed proof of that, all he had to do was look at his older brothers. So it was best to keep both Mia and Sophie at arm’s length. First he had to warn her about Harper. The last thing Sophie needed was the psychiatrist sending up red flags.
“Tell Harper to back off and mind her own business. I don’t know why you brought her. She and GG couldn’t stand each other,” Liam said.
“Baby bro is right again, Aidan. GG always was a good judge of character. Too bad she won’t be around to help you pick out your next bride.”
Aidan scowled at Griffin. “That won’t be a problem, seeing as how I have no plans to marry again. And FYI, she liked both of your wives, wiseass.”
Griffin flipped off Aidan.
“I’ll talk to Harper and tell her to back off, Liam. The only way she’d let me bring Ella Rose home is if she came along. She doesn’t believe children should attend wakes or funerals, and she was afraid I’d go against her wishes.”
Which explained why Erin had been babysitting Liam’s niece last night and this morning. One more strike against Sophie.
“The woman just tunes me out, but I’ll give it my best shot,” Aidan said, and walked down the steps into the dining room.
“I’m not ready to go in there just yet. Let’s wait out the eulogies. I saw Michael’s three-page speech. He’s been taking lessons from his father.” Griffin leaned against the door and pointed his beer bottle at Mia. “I think your new best friend just spotted you.”
The little girl had a wide smile on her face and was waving, but it wasn’t at Liam. He looked behind him. No one was there.
Griffin rubbed his arms. “It’s freezing in here. The faster we sell this place the better. It’s a mausoleum. Hey, what did you do that for?”
“Do what?” Liam asked, waving at Mia, who was actually waving at him now.
“Whack me on the back of the head.”
“I didn’t touch you.” He narrowed his eyes at his brother. “How much have you had to drink?” After they’d lost their mom and Riley, Griffin drank too much. Until he met Lexi, who’d arrested him after he’d been in a fight at a bar.
Griffin rubbed the back of his head. “Don’t start on me. I’m good.”
Liam removed the beer bottle from his brother’s hand and flagged down a passing waiter. “Let’s keep it that way. Thanks,” he said to the waiter, handing him both bottles.
“Careful, little brother. I might start asking questions you don’t want to answer. Like why aren’t you back at Ladder Company Thirty-Nine? Lost your mojo?”
“Always good to catch up with you, Griffin. I’ll talk to you later.”
His brother grabbed his arm as Liam started to walk away. “Sorry, that was uncalled for. I guess I’m testier than usual.” Griffin shoved his hands into the pockets of his black suit pants, rocking on his heels. “I saw Ava last night. I swear to God, Liam, I would have walked by her on the street and not known who she was. What’s going on with her?”
“You’ve been home since you two divorced, Griffin. You must have seen her—”
His brother shook his head. “Only from a distance.”
“Believe it or not, since Sophie’s come home, Ava looks better than she did. GG and Grams have been worrying about her for years. GG got her to join the Widow’s Club in hopes it would bring her out of her shell.”
“I’m not dead yet,” his brother muttered.
“You’ve been divorced from her for more than a decade. Why the sudden concern?” He eyed his brother. “You still have feelings for her?”
“Not the way you’re implying, but we were married for three years. You don’t just shut your feelings off. I’m concerned about her, that’s all.”
His brother had left something out. Ava DiRossi had been the love of Griffin’s life. He’d been in love with her all through high school. “That concern have anything to do with you and Lexi splitting up?”
Griffin glanced at his ex-wife. Lexi had joined Kitty, Colin, and Maggie at the table. “If you asked Lex right now, she’d probably say it was. But no, I loved Lex. Still do. She’s my best friend.”
“Just what a woman wants to hear.”
“I liked you better when you kept your opinions to yourself. So you going to tell me why you’re not back at Thirty-Nine?”
As a Navy SEAL, his brother would understand what he was dealing with. Probably better than Liam did. “Working through stuff. I’ll get there.”
Griffin’s eyes narrowed at Liam, searching his face. “I know I haven’t been there for you since Mom and Riley died. All you have to do is pick up the phone.”
“Thanks. Same goes. I miss us, miss how we used to be as a family.”
“Yeah, me too. How’s Dad doing?”
“Good. Probably be better if he admitted he has feelings for Maggie.” His brother stiffened beside him. “I’ve gotten to know her better this past month, Griff. She’s a nice lady. She’d be good for Dad.”
“I know. I wasn’t—” His brother stopped talking when their aunt Maura walked by. She acknowledged them by lifting her pointed chin.
“Hey, boys, you doing okay?” their uncle Sean asked, coming up between them to pat them both on the backs.
“Sean, do you hear your son? He’s just announced that he and Bethany are holding their wedding at Greystone because it was your grandmother’s dying wish. I swear to God, I could happily wring Mr. Wilcox’s neck for telling him that. Look at this place. There’s…” She stiffened and narrowed her eyes at Griffin and Liam then looked down at the black cat by her feet before saying to her husband, “Get in there and put a stop to this nonsense.”
“Jaysus, stay single, boys,” their uncle murmured. Then louder, “Coming, Maura.”
“Always did feel sorry for Uncle Sean. Sounds like good advice for the Gallagher boys. Too bad Michael didn’t listen to him. Did you meet Bethany?” Griffin asked.
“Yeah, she makes Harper seem almost angelic.” When they were younger, Liam and Finn teamed up with Michael against their older brothers and cousins. They’d been best of friends until his cousin had stolen Sophie from him. But Liam had stopped carrying a grudge several years back, and he hung out every couple of months with his cousin. Michael was a successful assistant district attorney in Boston with plans to follow in his father’s footsteps. That, Liam suspected, was the reason his cousin was marrying Bethany, whose wealthy blue blood family had the connections to make his dream come true. Or maybe Liam was just being cynical.
Griffin snorted. “We probably should get in there. Dad and Lexi have been giving us the stink eye for the past five minutes.” They walked in to the sound of applause and cheering. The people from town had risen to their feet. “Looks like the golden boy is the hero of Harmony Harbor.”
Liam glanced at Sophie, wondering if Michael was her hero too. His cousin had just handed her the means to reestablish Greystone as a wedding destination.
“Girl, bring me a coffee.” His aunt Maura flagged Sophie down then took a second glance. “You’re one of those DiRossis, aren’t you?”
“You gonna take her out, or am I?” Griffin muttered.
Liam didn’t respond. He was already halfway to Sophie’s side. “I’ll take care of the coffee,” he said when he reached her.
“It’s okay. I’
ve got it. Besides, you’re not the hired help. I am.” She winced. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. She just…”
“I know. She makes us all crazy. Don’t let her get to you. She’s upset that Michael and Bethany are having their wedding here. And, Soph”—he took the coffeepot from her—“I’m sure you’re happy about that, but fair warning, you’re gonna have your hands full with Bethany.”
She wouldn’t meet his eyes, turning instead to pick up another carafe. “I’m sure it will be fine.” She didn’t sound convinced. If he read her wrong—and she really did think it was going to be a cake walk—she got a rude awakening when they reached his aunt’s table.
“Liam, for goodness’ sake, put that down before you spill the coffee.” Maura looked at the platinum blonde across the table from her. “This is exactly what I’m talking about, Bethany. They don’t even have enough help to handle Colleen’s reception.”
Liam opened his mouth to defend Sophie, but she gave her head an almost imperceptible shake. Unwittingly, he had probably made matters worse by trying to help out, so he did as she asked.
Sophie gave his aunt a tight smile. “This has been, as I’m sure you’re aware, a difficult time for the staff. They were very close to Colleen, and I felt they should be allowed to properly mourn her.”
Maura crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “You? Who are you to make such decisions?”
Sophie lifted her chin. “The manager.” She put down the carafe and extended her hand to Bethany. “I look forward to working with you, Ms. Adams. I was hoping we could have a preliminary meeting before you leave.”
Bethany looked Sophie up and down. “You? Don’t you mean with your wedding planner?”
“Oh no, Ms. Adams. You’re marrying a Gallagher. I wouldn’t think of passing you on to anyone else. I’ll be taking care of the details personally to ensure your wedding is perfect.”
