Farraday Country

by Chris Keniston

  He glanced over her shoulder, either considering what to say next or perhaps searching for where the conversation had left off. “Where were we?”

  “Your daughters are the reason…”

  “Yes.” He nodded and paused as Abbie set a cup of coffee in front of each of them.

  “Would you two be wanting to eat something?”

  “Actually,” Glenn flashed the charming smile he’d used often to get his way, “a piece of that Boston Cream pie everyone’s talking about sounds pretty good.”

  Abbie nodded and turned to Eileen. “And you, Aunt Eileen?”

  “Make that two with a dollop of whipped cream on mine.”

  “Got it. Two pies coming up.”

  Glenn leaned forward, elbows on the table. “As I said, Sally passed three years ago and I’ll be honest, that first year I was in a haze.”

  Eileen nodded. She knew exactly what he meant. Even though she’d been kept on her toes with a new baby and an energetic crew of six boys, there had been a thin layer of fog filling her brain for a long time after she lost her sister.

  He continued, “Earlier this year, they sat me down and said I needed to get out of my rut. I hadn’t considered my life a rut, but two years had passed and my girls’ persistent nagging to rejoin the living got me to realize how lost I’d been. It hadn’t taken much more persuasion on their part to convince me reaching out to old friends would be a good thing.”

  “And that’s why you’re here?” Heaven knew she’d lost enough sleep last night wondering why now.

  “Part of it. You see, I’ve also been looking up—”

  “Morning.” Finn took off his hat, smacked it on his side, and grinned at his aunt.

  There was way too much smiling and grinning going on, and absolutely no reason for Finn to be in town today. All she’d told her brother-in-law and nephew on the ride home last night was that she’d be meeting Glenn for coffee today. She didn’t mention what time or if they’d be staying in town or driving to Butler Springs. Unless—her gaze darted to Abbie across the cafe and she practically groaned, slapping her hands flat on the table. “That’s enough.”

  “Finnegan Farraday.” Finn extended his hand to Glenn, ignoring his aunt’s little outburst. “Folks call me Finn.”

  Eileen shook a finger at Finn and the others. “We’re not going to do this with every member of the family. Finn, this is Glenn, an old friend who is passing through town,” she paused to look at Glenn, who nodded, “and we’re just catching up a bit over coffee and pie. That’s it. Nothing else. I’m not at risk to be Shanghaied.”

  “What?” Glenn looked up.

  Eileen shook her head and waved off the comment. “Never mind, I just want you to spread the—”

  “Morning.” Sean Farraday maneuvered around his youngest son, but unlike the others who stood awkwardly at the table, he slid into the booth beside her, folding his hands on the table at the same moment Abbie walked up with two slices of pie. “Oh, that looks good. I’ll have the same.”

  For the first time since Glenn had come through the door, Abbie smiled brightly. “Another piece of pie coming right up.”

  The bell over the door sounded and Eileen didn’t dare look up, but like passing a train wreck near the highway, she simply couldn’t resist. Sauntering in their direction, Brooks came her way. Stopping to slap his brother DJ on the back before the two of them, accompanied by Jamie, came her way. Again.

  “Morning.” Brooks flashed a smile at his aunt and slapped his brother Finn the same way he had DJ.

  Eileen scanned the men in front of her from left to right. “Doesn’t anyone work for a living anymore?”

  “Man’s gotta eat.” Brooks shrugged one shoulder. “Actually, just came from making rounds at the hospital. I was meeting my wife for a late breakfast when I spotted you.”

  Sure, she believed that one. He probably wanted to sell her a waterfront property in the desert. Not that she didn’t expect his wife to come by any minute as explained, but they no more met for breakfast on a Friday morning than she had tea with the Queen. “You’ll have to get your own booth. This one’s full.”

  “Are you expecting someone else?” Finn pointed to the empty spot beside Glenn.

  “No,” Glenn’s response tumbled over Eileen’s, “Yes.”

  Finn looked from one person at the table to the other and hesitated.

  “Here you go.” Abbie shouldered past the Farraday men hovering around the booth and set a plate of Boston Cream pie in front of Sean and facing Finn, set a blueberry slice in front of the empty spot beside Glenn. “I know you like blueberry better so I brought you that instead.” Still smiling, she turned back to the others. “More coffee coming right up.”

  With her brother-in-law installed at her side and her nephew now shrugging into the seat across the table, Eileen didn’t see any way out of this without making a scene. She should have suggested having coffee in Butler Springs. Except for one little tiny thing—she wasn’t sure she was ready to spend a few hours confined in a car with the man she’d once thought she would marry. Until she’d opened that letter and learned he’d married someone else.

  ****

  For a few minutes Sean was sure Eileen was going to kick him out of the booth. Or maybe clear out of the state of Texas. Not that she didn’t have good reason to. He had no business barging in on her reunion. After all, who she spent her time with was her own business. In all these years he’d never overstepped his bounds and now was no time to start. And yet, something deep inside wouldn’t let him get up and leave.

  Most likely that something was the way this man across the table smiled at her as if she were a prize rodeo buckle. Or maybe it was the memory of those first nights after this same man had called off the wedding with a single slamming down of the phone. More than once he had passed by Eileen’s room on the way to his own and could hear her quiet sobs. He hadn’t known what to do or say. How to make it better. Even though he hadn’t a clue how he’d get along without her help, he’d encouraged her to go back to her own dreams.

  When she made it clear that Grace and the boys came first no matter the cost, he’d wanted to throttle the man with his bare hands for being unwilling to wait. How could he not have given her the time they all needed? How much could this musician have loved her not to wait a little longer? And then the ultimate betrayal only a few months later. There would be no forgetting her valiant efforts to bat back tears as she scanned the contents of that blasted letter. Someone else was singing her songs, married to her love, living her dream. She deserved more than this man years ago, and she certainly deserved more than him now.

  ****

  Except for Finn who had eased his way into the booth with his father, once Eileen read the riot act, any and all relatives were immediately dispatched across the café. Despite the distance, Glenn could feel each pair of eyes boring into the back of his head. The Farraday clan were as close to them now as if Eileen had invited them to pull up a chair and join the table.

  Which brought him back to the man seated in front of him. Last night Glenn had been prepared for the possibility that Eileen would throw him and his apology into a pit of slithering rattlers. He had not expected the piercing glare throwing daggers his way from Sean Farraday. Now, more than two decades after the implosion of his and Eileen’s engagement, Glenn more than understood he could have handled things differently. All right, better. His first mistake had probably been not coming for the funeral despite Eileen’s objections. Maybe then if he’d seen for himself he would have understood. Been more patient. Or not. In the end he’d come to believe he could not compete with her sister’s children. Or maybe he’d simply been afraid to really try. None of which mattered any more. What he needed now was a few minutes alone with Eileen. He hadn’t been this excited about anything in years and not until last night did he realize just how much Eileen still mattered. He very much wanted her to be excited too.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Listening to Finn
pepper Glenn with questions under the guise of conversation, Eileen wondered first: when did her quiet, pensive nephew become so talkative, and second: what would happen if she stabbed someone with a fork? Any more politely stiff conversation and she might just stab herself with a fork to get the day over with.

  “So, this is your first time in Texas?” Finn asked.

  “No.” Glenn fiddled with the last bite of pie on his plate. “But it’s been many years since we played in Texas.”

  “Played?” Finn’s brows crinkled. “You’re an athlete?”

  Glenn tipped his head back with laughter. “Hardly. I’m a jazz pianist.”

  “And a dang good one.” A familiar sense of pride bubbled inside her. “At least, you used to be.”

  “Still am, thank you. Even if I haven’t played for an audience since…” His words trailed off and his hands stilled momentarily before he stabbed at the last piece and forced a smile in Eileen’s direction. “Do you remember the Blue Tortoise?”

  The name seemed vaguely familiar. It had been so many years since they’d performed together. Always on the road, from town to town, night after… “Wait. Wasn’t that in Austin? The club with the huge stuffed turtle—right?”

  “Tortoise. Yes. And between sets the waitresses would get up on the bars and do those hand jive moves.”

  “That’s right. I remember. They booked us a couple of times.” Content in the memory, Eileen leaned back, her arm barely brushing against Sean’s as she relaxed a bit for the first time since the Farraday clan arrived. “The owner’s favorite song was—”

  “Miss Otis Regrets.” Glenn eased his head from side to side grinning. “Some nights I’d lose track of how many times he’d have you sing that song.”

  “Some nights I wondered if he’d let us get in a whole set without it. Though I did often wonder why he seemed so fond of the woman who strayed on lovers’ lane and pulled a gun from under her velvet gown.”

  “One of Cole Porter’s more entertaining tunes.” Glenn chuckled.

  Finn opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally spitting out, “You sang? I mean, professionally?”

  “Don’t look so horrified.” Eileen felt indignation inch up her spine.

  “Your voice was—is—golden.” For the first time since Finn began his ill-disguised attempt at casual questions, Sean entered the conversation, sharing that barely there lift to one side of his mouth that almost all his sons had inherited. “You just don’t sing much any more.”

  She shook her head. Give her a few glasses of wine and a really big party and she couldn’t resist. At just about every Farraday wedding over the last year or so, at some point she’d picked up a mic and sung to her hearts content.

  “How did I not know this?” Finn leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “I mean, I know you and Aunt Anne can sing all night but… wait. Did Aunt Anne used to sing professionally too? Were y’all some sort of girls’ singing group?”

  Eileen swallowed a laugh. “Don’t know many jazz girls’ singing groups. And no, your aunt has a fabulous voice, but except for a wedding or two, she’s never set foot on a stage.”

  “Did you know?” Fin looked to his dad.

  “How could I not know?” Finn’s father bobbed his head. “Your mother was so very proud that she would play their album over and over and over. I’m surprised she didn’t wear it out.”

  Eileen turned her head sideways staring at her brother-in-law “I didn’t know that. I didn’t even know she had a copy.”

  “Yep,” Sean set his fork down on the cleaned pie plate. “We probably still have it.”

  As much as Eileen loved singing and music, once she took over raising Grace and the boys there was no time for playing with the stereo. Honestly, she had no idea what record albums Helen and Sean might have had. It had probably just been easier for her that way.

  Once again Finn’s jaw fell slightly open before he snapped it shut to speak. “You made an album?”

  “Just one,” she said.

  Glenn raised a finger. “Actually, almost two.”

  “What do you mean almost two?”

  “You know how difficult Slim was on that first production—”

  Eileen nodded. “For all I knew all producers were like that.”

  “Not really, but we didn’t know any better. Anyhow, two of the recordings didn’t make it on that first album. Our new producer thought they were phenomenal and added them to the second album.” Glenn leaned back in the booth. “There were releases that had to be signed. You must have seen them and signed them and sent them back, or the songs wouldn’t have been on the album.”

  Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, Eileen had a vague recollection of receiving a stack of paperwork from the record company’s attorney. At that point in her life she’d signed anything that hinted at receiving royalties.

  “So let me see if I understand this,” Finn waved a hand from his aunt to the man beside him, “you guys were famous enough to record multiple albums?”

  Eileen pointed at Glenn. “Not while I was with the band. We were just starting out. Mostly on a wing and a prayer. Besides, Glenn had the magic fingers that could make any keyboard sound like music from heaven. I always knew the unconventional way he used meters would get the band noticed.”

  “Wow.” Finn leaned back. “Just wow.”

  Abbie appeared, a pot of coffee in her hand. “Anybody for another cup?”

  “I need to pick up an order at the feed store and get back to the ranch.” Finn shook his head and placing his hands flat on the table, pushed to his feet then swung his gaze to his father. “You want me to pick you up on my way back to the ranch?”

  Sean looked at his son then shifted his attention to Glenn and back to Eileen. She’d been reading this man for over twenty years, knew what he was thinking as clearly as her own thoughts, and yet, at this moment she didn’t have a clue what all the emotions lingering behind those steel blue eyes were all about.

  “We’ve got a ranch to run, we had better get going. This is on me.” With little more than a nod to Eileen and a wave to Abbie, Sean followed his son to the register.

  Eileen glanced across the way to see that the table of relatives had cleared. Lost in conversation and the past, she hadn’t even noticed when they’d gotten up. On the other hand, the social club was still playing cards. To anyone else in the place the ladies looked to be intent in their poker hands, but Eileen could see the furtive glances cast sporadically in her direction.

  “The family is quite close, I see.”

  For a fraction of a moment, she’d almost forgotten Glenn was sitting across from her. “Yes,” she nodded, “yes, they are.” Visions of all the Farraday’s, their other halves, and still another generation working in the kitchen, filling the enormous dining room table, and even now showing up uninvited, the togetherness made her smile. She’d done good. Well, she and Sean had.

  ****

  All it had taken was one text from Finn to have almost every Farraday in Tuckers Bluff gathered around the kitchen at Meg’s or on their way.

  “All right.” Meg was the first to speak up. “I’ll admit I’m extremely curious to know what’s going on. This is seriously out of the norm for your aunt.”

  Adam stood behind his wife, looping his arms around her waist. “All any of the patients at the vet clinic this morning could talk about was Aunt Eileen and the new stranger, who apparently isn’t much of a stranger.”

  “I’m as curious as the next guy, but if we’re going to talk about Aunt Eileen, shouldn’t she be here? Or at least Dad?” Becky leaned against DJ.

  Brooks looked to Finn. “Where is Dad?”

  “While we were at the feed store, Ken Brady came in to pick up some parts for his skid steer that jammed up again. Since Dad can work those contraptions in his sleep, he offered to go help. It’s only a two man job so I told him I’d pick him up on my way home.”

  Meg sat on a nearby stool. “Does he know we’r
e all meeting here?”

  “No,” Finn said. “I just thought this would be a good time to get most of us in the same place without Dad and Aunt Eileen.”

  “Why?” Brooks asked.

  “I’m sure Aunt Eileen is going to get around to telling all of us herself, maybe, but in the meantime I figured it’s best to get everyone up to speed. Starting with how I found Dad really ticked off last night, slamming things around in the kitchen and then this morning Aunt Eileen must have said something to him because he suggested we take the morning to come pick up our feed order instead of waiting for Chase to bring it tomorrow. And as most of you know, we wound up at the café. Let’s wait for Ethan and Allison and—”

  “Okay,” Grace blew in the front door, with her husband Chase on her heels, “what is going on that can’t wait until Sunday supper tomorrow?”

  “Still waiting on Ethan,” Finn said. “Don’t want to say things twice.”

  “What about Connor?” Adam asked.

  Finn shrugged. “I’ll have to fill him in later.”

  The front door squeaked open and shut, bringing Ethan and his wife into the room. “We’re here.”

  “Me, too.” Toni waved at everyone and spotting Brooks, sidled up next to her husband.

  “I wish I’d known we were going to have such a crowd.” Meg pushed to stand and made her way to the fridge, pulling out cold cuts, cheeses and condiments. “Do-it-yourself sandwiches are now on the lunch menu.”

  Looping his arm around Toni’s waist, Brooks gave his wife a quick peck on the lips. “Don’t worry, we all ate something at the café.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Meg muttered, then frowned at her two sisters-in-law. “Who’s with Brittany and baby Helen?”

  “Aunt Eileen,” Toni answered.

  “Aunt Eileen?” Several voices echoed so loudly Toni actually took a step back.

  Toni glanced up at Brooks and back. “I told her that I was invited to a last minute gathering and could she please cover for me with the kids. And,” she looked to Finn, “I don’t suppose this meeting has something to do with the man who is now helping our aunt babysit?”