by Cindy Kline
“And your assistant?”
Henry leaned back in his chair, covering his face with his hands before letting them fall back onto the table.
“I know you won’t believe this, but she came on to me.” He could see the disbelief on Molly’s face.
Molly took a sip of her tea before responding. “You didn’t have to take her up on it, you know.”
He shook his head. “I don’t have a lot of willpower when it comes to beautiful women, and she was, let’s just say, very convincing.” He pulled another cookie off the plate and onto his own.
Molly held her hand out, palm facing him, “Please—no need for details.”
He grinned. “I won’t. But how do I break up with her and not lose a great assistant? She’s wonderful at her job.”
“I’m sure you can find another assistant.”
“It’s not just that. She has a teenage son, Noah. He’s friends with Rory, and since he doesn’t have a father, I’ve tried to mentor him like Ronan did me. I don’t want to mess up that relationship either.”
Does your wife know about Megan?”
“I don’t think so. However, there have been others in the past she knew about.”
“Oh, my God, there have been others?” Molly’s mug hit the wooden table with a thump, tea splashing all over. “You know why I divorced my husband? Because he cheated on me—once. Well, as far as I know, it was only once, but I kicked him out the same day I found out. Why on earth would your wife not divorce you? How are you not dead already?” She got out of her chair and pulled a fresh dishcloth out of the cupboard.
“She forgave me, and I told her it wouldn’t happen again.”
“You really are an ass, aren’t you?” He watched as she moved the dishcloth around so hard it was making the table vibrate.
“You’re going to put a hole in that table, you know.” He picked up his own cup so it didn’t spill.
Molly stopped rubbing, rinsed it in the small sink and laid it out flat over the spout. She turned and gave him a look he hadn’t seen since he drilled a cricket ball through old Mrs. Campbell’s window when he was ten.
“Do you want me to leave?” He took another sip of his coffee.
She sat back down and took a bite of her tea-soaked cookie, grimaced and set it back down.
“No, you can stay, but if you’re asking my advice, you need to break it off with Megan, and if there’s an issue with her working for you, then transfer her to someone else, and do all you can not to wreck the relationship you have with Megan’s son.”
His eyebrows raised. “That’s a great idea. I can do that.” He smiled. It felt like an immense weight had been lifted. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, what are you going to do about Mrs. West and Reanna?”
“She doesn’t seem like she wants me involved in Reanna’s life, does she?”
“That’s putting it mildly.”
“I have to say, though, Sam looks great.”
“Oh, my God, you’re not going to start things up with her again, are you?”
He chuckled, “As much as I like the idea, no. We had some wonderful memories, but it was a long time ago. But you’re right. I need to break things off with Megan and then take my wife on a nice, long holiday and rekindle our romance.”
“And Reanna?” Molly drank the bit of tea left in her mug, then got up to put it in the sink.
He leaned back in his chair. “She’s over eighteen. It’s not like I need her mother’s permission to speak to her. It’s too late for me to be her father, but maybe she’ll let me be her friend.”
Molly smiled. “I think she’d like that.”
“Tell me about her.”
He watched Molly as she stood near the sink. She was gazing off into space, a smile on her lips. She finally spoke.
“Reanna is the kindest, most beautiful person ever, both inside and out. She was very athletic growing up. She discovered baking when we were about fifteen. We’d all been grounded for staying out late, and Reanna spent her time in the kitchen. Molly smiled. “But she’s like a bear if you cross her, so tread lightly.”
“She sounds just like her mother. We used to get into some wild arguments.” He smiled at the memory of how they’d made up afterward but didn’t mention that to Molly.
Just then, Ciara came and asked Molly to come out to the floor. After she left, he received a text message. He responded, then took the thumb drive out of his pocket, looked at it and then looked around. He wasn’t sure why, but his instincts told him to hide it somewhere before his meeting. If what he believed was true, he’d need to keep it safe. He could always come and pick it up tomorrow. Henry thought about the information in the file. He just couldn’t believe it.
He stood up and walked over to the coffee machine. He slid open the drawer beneath it and slipped the thumb drive in the back, closing it quickly when he heard footsteps coming toward him. Henry sat down in his chair and took a bite of his cookie.
He looked at his watch and realized it was early afternoon, and his prescription should be ready. He grabbed his coat and almost ran into Molly as she entered the room. She looked at his coat, “Are you going somewhere?”
“I need to go pick up my prescription. Can you tell me where the chemist is located?”
She laughed as she pointed toward the front door. “It’s across the street.”
He chuckled. “Thanks. Is it okay if I come back afterward?”
“You’re more than welcome to.”
Chapter Six
After Henry left, Molly and Ciara spent the afternoon stocking books onto shelves and helping customers. It was quite busy, and they hardly noticed when Henry walked in, waved to them both and then disappeared into a stack of books. Around three, Molly went looking for him and found him sound asleep on the sofa she’d tucked back into a corner for privacy. She found a blanket, laid it over him and went back to work.
Around half-past four, he came out of his hiding place, looking much better.
He yawned, then asked, “Does that pub your brothers own serve food?”
Ciara answered, “It does, and it’s quite good too.”
Molly added, “And she’s not just saying that because it’s owned by her husband and brother-in-law.”
“How about I treat us all to dinner? It doesn’t look like you two will get much of a break, so how about I pick something up and bring it back?”
Molly looked at Ciara, who shrugged. “Sure. Just a minute.” She opened a drawer and scrounged around in it for a few seconds, her hand coming out rapidly, a smile on her face. “I knew we had one in here somewhere,” She handed it to Henry. “The menu for Shenanigans.”
Henry took it from her, “Great. Write down what you want, and I’ll go get it.”
Ciara found a notepad, wrote what she wanted and then handed it to Molly, who added her order of a chicken boxty and set it in front of Henry, who was still studying the menu.
“Oh, my goodness, Henry. I just realized we never ate our cinnamon rolls from this morning. They must still be in my car.”
Henry handed Ciara back the menu as he received a text. He smiled as he texted back. “That’s okay. You can give me mine later, and I’ll have it for breakfast in the morning. I’m actually feeling much better.” He finished his text and stuck the phone in his back pocket. He then picked up the paper with their order on it and walked toward the door.
“I will be back soon.”
Molly shook her head as he walked out. “What a messed-up man.”
Ciara pulled a cloth and spray bottle from underneath the counter and started cleaning. “While I was on break, I called my friend, Wendy, who works for Moore Plastics. She’s the assistant to one of the vice-presidents. She said Henry is a pretty good guy, but they were all surprised when Mr. Moore left him the company.”
Molly was moving everything out of her way as she sprayed but almost dropped the cup holding pens and pencils in it. “Gran mentioned the same thing, about
how everyone thought it would go to someone else, a friend of the Moore family. I can’t remember his name.”
“Craig Wilson. He’d worked at Moore Plastics from the time he was eighteen. The Wilson and Moore families have been friends forever. It sounds like the parents expected Craig and Imogen, that’s the daughter, to marry, but Imogen married Henry instead.” Molly omitted what Henry had told her about Imogen being pregnant, so instead, she said, “It sounds like she and Henry met in college, fell in love and got married. Craig must not have minded too much if he kept working for Moore Plastics.”
“Wendy made it sound like everyone expected the company to go to Craig eventually, not that anyone thought Mr. Moore would die so suddenly. She mentioned a few days before Mr. Moore died, there was definitely a chill in the air when the two of them were together, but no one knew why. Maybe you should ask Henry.”
“Maybe, I will.” Just then, a family of five came in, bringing in a burst of cold, and it kept her and Ciara busy. About thirty minutes later, Henry came back with a gigantic bag, much larger than what the two women had ordered, and made his way back to the breakroom. Knowing her brothers, they probably added a ton of food they’d never eat, but she was eager to see what it was.
It was ten more minutes, though, before Molly could get back to the breakroom to see the small table covered in so much food that Ciara and Henry were holding their plates on their laps to eat.
“What happened here?” Molly went to the refrigerator and pulled out a water bottle as she tried to see what was on the table. There was her chicken boxty, some sort of ribs, potato skins, fish and chips, Irish stew and coddle.
Henry swallowed before he answered. “I didn’t know what to order, and so I asked the bartender what was good. Then they found out I was buyin’ dinner for the two of you and added a few more things.”
“That sounds like my brothers. They think I’m too skinny.” Molly opened up the container with her chicken boxty, the sweet smell of the leeks, bacon and chicken tingling her nose, the potato pancake it was wrapped in nice and brown with a white, creamy sauce over it, made her mouth water.
Henry added, “I think you look great.”
Molly looked at him, but his eyes were still on his plate, so she didn’t take offense, their previous conversation still on her mind.
Ciara added, “You look better than when you arrived here six months ago. Keith should be shot.”
“Who’s Keith?” Henry asked between bites.
Molly had to smile. He was acting like he hadn’t eaten all day, but maybe he hadn’t, and if his stomach was bothering him as much as she thought it had, he probably had eaten little in days.
“My ex-husband,” Molly added, taking a bite of her boxty.
Ciara asked, “So the papers finally arrived?” She got up and got herself another bottle of water. “Does anyone need another water?” She looked in the refrigerator again. “Henry, there’s a beer in here if you prefer.”
He shook his head, “I’m good with water, thanks.”
“Not yet. I need to get hold of my lawyer again. The divorce should have been final by now. I don’t know what’s holding up the papers.”
“Ah, so he’s not yet your ex-husband?” Henry took a drink of his water.
“Technically, no. But we are living three thousand miles apart, so I consider us very divorced.”
“I met Dillon,” Henry said as he went to take another bite of stew.
“And what did you think of my older brother?” Molly asked.
“I didn’t talk to him much. The bartender, Scott, I think his name was, introduced me to him when I was waiting for the food. He bought me a beer, so that’s a plus in his column.”
Molly just smiled since she didn’t want to mention Reanna in mixed company. Her eyes fell on the shamrock-shaped clock on the wall.
“Hey, it’s five-fifty, and the tree lighting is at six. We need to put this stuff away and get ready to go.”
“Hey, I’m not finished,” Henry whined.
“You can eat some more when we get back. Geez, you’re as bad as one of Ciara’s kids.”
Ciara laughed. “He’s worse,” she said as she cleaned off the table, closed cartons and containers and added them to the refrigerator.
Molly helped as Henry quickly cleaned his plate, then rinsed it and set it in the sink. It quite surprised Molly to see him take the cloth she’d used earlier, rinse it again and then wipe off the now empty table.
He noticed her smile. “What? I know how to wipe off a table.”
She just smiled as she watched him put the dishcloth back the way he’d found it and then grab his jacket off the back of the chair. They both walked out, and Molly turned off the lights behind them.
The closet outside the breakroom was where employees kept their coats, so Molly pulled out her long fleece, along with her scarf and hat, and then handed Ciara her coat.
Molly spotted the basket on the top shelf. She pulled it down and grabbed a pair of gloves, and stuffed them in her pockets. “Ciara, do you want a pair of gloves?”
“Yes, please. I’d rather have them and not need them…”
Molly chimed in, “than need them and not have them.” They both laughed.
Molly glanced at Henry, who was grinning. “Sorry, it’s something my grandmother drilled into us when we were kids and is now drilling into Ciara’s kids.” She handed Ciara a pair of gloves.
She noticed Henry’s bare hands, “Do you want a pair?” She pulled the basket back down. “I’m sure I have a men’s pair in here that someone left.”
“No. I’m good. I’ll just put them in my pockets.”
They walked to the front door. Ciara turned the door sign from OPEN to CLOSED, and Molly turned off the lights.
Ciara put on her gloves. “My goodness, look at all the people. We’re going to be stuck in the back.”
“That’s okay. Better chance of the family finding us,” Molly said as she locked the door.
The three of them glanced out the window at the lines of people heading down the street toward the square. A few of them waved as they walked by.
Thankfully, it wasn’t raining, but there was a cool, swift wind coming off the ocean. Dead leaves were swirling around the sidewalk, the brisk wind hitting Molly’s cheeks, making her glad she brought along her hat and scarf. The three of them walked down the street, side-by-side. Molly’s heels clicked on the pavement as they walked.
They followed the crowds toward the square, people laughing and talking. Molly couldn’t help wonder whether Henry could make peace with his demons and get his life back on track. She thought of her parents, a little older than Henry, and wondered if they had demons she knew nothing about. Strange how everyone gets so involved with their own lives, they don’t notice the people surrounding them.
As they walked, Molly looked at the cloudy sky. “I hope we have a white Christmas.”
Ciara laughed, “When have we ever had a white Christmas?”
“I know, but we always had them in Michigan, and it was so pretty.”
“Oh, look. We’re just in time for the parade! Oh, and I think I see your parents with the kids,” Ciara started jumping up and down, waving her hands, trying to get her parents’ attention. Molly just laughed and rolled her eyes.
“There’s a parade now? Before, everyone just stood out in the cold and passed around the bottle of whiskey,” Henry said, laughing.
“Oh, I’m sure if you look closely, they still do that. It’s the only way to keep warm. Not that the parade is that long, but many people make the effort,” Molly said as she watched the floats go by, with holiday lights strung all over their cars. The local Garda and fire department joined in, the drivers with Santa hats on. Molly waved at Callum and Constable Mills as they went by. Then a few of the larger businesses, including Moore Plastics, had entered a float. Henry clapped and whistled as it went by decorated with the largest roll of plastic Molly had ever seen sticking out of a giant box. The address
on the box was to Santa Claus, North Pole. As they watched, the plastic roll was lifted out of the box and unrolled into Santa’s sleigh, lit up with lights, and playing music.
Molly looked at Henry as she clapped, “That is so cool! How did they get it to do that?”
“No idea. I just signed the check for the electronics.” He was smiling, and there was some color on his face. She was happy he was feeling better.
After the parade went by, they made the rest of the way toward the town square. They passed Dooley’s Department Store with Christmas trees lit on their roof, their windows lit up with tiny lights. Gigantic bows were hanging on street lamps, and lights strung across the street all the way down High Street. From somewhere, there was a loudspeaker spewing out Christmas carols, and people were singing along as they arrived at the square to await the lighting of the tree. Even Shenanigan’s got into the spirit with a giant Santa Claus sitting in his sleigh, with his eight reindeer, oops, nine reindeer. They included Rudolph sitting on top of the roof. Molly turned when she heard a little voice say, “Aunt Molly. Aunt Molly.” Henry had turned as well and smiled as Kayleigh ran up and threw herself into Molly’s arms. Molly picked her up, and they hugged.
“Did you see the pub? It’s Santa Claus. Do you think it will upset Santa?”
Henry was laughing and answered her, “I think Santa will like it. It reminds everyone to be good. Besides, he won’t be delivering presents to the pub on Christmas Eve, will he?”
“Who are you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
“Kayleigh! That’s not very nice,” Ciara scolded.
“Mummy, you’re the one who is always telling me not to talk to people I don’t know, and I don’t know him.”
Molly tried not to laugh as Ciara explained, “That’s true. However, this is Mr. Pierce.” she then looked at Henry. “Mr. Pierce, this is my daughter, Kayleigh.”
Henry put a serious look on his face and held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Kayleigh. Your mother’s right. You shouldn’t speak to people you don’t know.”
