Catch Your Breath (14 page)

“More like Aunt Bridget is so old, she wouldn’t know when Norah snuck out. At least
if she was here, no guy would ever get near her. We all would’ve made sure of that.”

An image of Moira yelling at her brothers over the bonfire reminding them she was
an adult rang through his mind. Norah was technically an adult too. Maybe they all
needed to accept it.

He heard the shuffling of Kevin’s feet as he paced.

“Are we flying or driving?”

“Where?” Jimmy asked without raising his head.

“To Boston. We need to find this asshole and drag him here.”

With great effort, Jimmy sat straight. “We’re not going anywhere.”

When Kevin looked like he wanted to pounce, Jimmy held up a hand.

“She came home because she needs us. When she’s ready to talk, she will. Like it or
not, she’s an adult and she has to make her own decisions.” He sounded rational, which
was not at all how he felt. Mostly he wanted to drive to Boston tonight, as if he
had the energy for a ten-hour drive, and beat the shit out of whoever took advantage
of his little sister. But he knew that was irrational. They didn’t even know she had
a boyfriend, or whatever. Jimmy talked to Norah weekly, sometimes more. It’s not like
he dumped her in Boston and forgot about her.

She had a life there that she enjoyed. He’d thought it was a good move.

Kevin continued to pace like he was stuck in a cage. All Jimmy wanted to do was reclaim
some of the peace he’d had an hour ago. The thought struck him as odd—peace with Moira
O’Leary? He almost laughed.

He really needed to get some sleep. “Where can I crash? I’ve got an early morning
meeting with my boss.”

“The spare room is open. If there’s stuff on the futon, shove it off.”

“What, no fresh sheets and a mint on my pillow?” Jimmy asked as he heaved himself
off the couch.

“I might consider it if you were sucking my dick, but since I’m not getting lucky,
you can set up your own damn bed.”

Jimmy grabbed his bag and headed to the futon. Shove the shit off? Kevin had a pile
of laundry Jimmy feared might not be clean. He swept it all into the corner of the
room and flopped down. The hard mattress was far from comfortable, but his eyes closed
and he drifted off before he could think about how much he missed his own bed. Moira’s
couch would’ve been a better choice.

The following morning, Moira woke up, excitement still buzzing in her veins. Not only
had Jimmy shown up to hang out with her, but he’d also watched
His Girl Friday
all the way through. She’d fallen asleep, and he could’ve stopped the disk and changed
the channel, but he didn’t. She’d known he was a keeper.

Plus, he wanted a rain check for their date. A date she worried she shouldn’t have
tried to force. She didn’t know what change had taken place between her and Jimmy,
but she was definitely on board for it.

She spent the morning straightening up the mess she’d made of her apartment yesterday.
As she put away piles of papers and business cards, she made an attempt to organize
them and maybe even file a few. The thing was, organization didn’t come naturally
to her. Controlled chaos was the order of her life. She attributed it to being the
fifth child in a big family.

Flipping through another stack of cards, she realized she probably threw away the
escort card. She remembered being insulted by the woman’s assumption about her. And
the card had no information other than a phone number. Maybe her best bet would be
to seek the woman out. She checked her calendar for upcoming events. Moira knew the
woman was particular about the events she attended. Moira never saw her at the smaller,
more intimate parties. She needed to blend and hide.

The thing about summer in Chicago, though, was that the list of things to do was endless.
It might be a total crapshoot, but if Moira packed her schedule and hit as many of
the events as possible, she’d increase her odds of finding the woman. All she had
to do was find her. Then she’d be able to get information and build a story.

She created a list that made her slightly dizzy, but would be doable. She’d be running
across the city to at least two events a night over the course of the next few weekends.
Then there were the midweek events to round things out. Who needed a social life when
your job kept you social?

She sighed and tried to figure out where she was going to fit in a date with Jimmy.
Normally, she’d drop an event to be able to go on a date, but this was her chance
to get the scoop on not one, but two real stories. If she could break out with these,
everyone would stop looking at her like she was playing at being a journalist. They’d
respect her job.

And then what?

The same poking little question jabbed at her. She wished she had a plan, a road map
for her life. She worked at a job she enjoyed, but she wanted more. The whole package:
a family, great job, house, and husband to come home to. The problem was, she kept
waiting for things to happen in her life. The closest thing to being proactive she’d
been was asking Jimmy out.

Most of the time, she simply followed the current of her life. She didn’t do much
to try to change course. Did she want to now?

She returned to the articles she completed, did a final read through and submitted
them. Then she settled in to write a proposal for the first half of her story, outlining
the escort angle among the wealthy in Chicago. If she could get a foot in the door,
she could write about being an escort.

Her gut tightened at the thought. She didn’t know if she could go through with sleeping
with some guy for money. No, she knew she couldn’t. But how far would she go for a
story? She left the barely written proposal open on her computer and decided lunch
with Kathy was in order.

She texted her friend and then quickly dressed. Kathy said she could meet in a half
hour, so Moira headed out. She arrived at the flower shop a little early, so she checked
out the arrangements Kathy had on the counter. “How’s it going?”

“Busy,” Kathy replied with a pair of scissors in one hand and ribbon in the other.

“If lunch won’t work today, we can make it some other time.”

“I’m going to make it work. I worked last night until after ten and came back again
this morning at six. I need to get out of here. Just let me finish this.” She cut
the stems on a couple of flowers and shoved them into the vase.

Moira knew next to nothing about flowers, having hardly ever received flowers from
a guy. That was something else she should add to her keeper list: a guy who sent flowers.

“Let’s go. Anna will keep an eye on everything until we get back.” Kathy yanked off
her apron and tossed it on the counter. “What’s up?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar.”

“Actually, a whole lot. Jimmy kissed me again yesterday morning. Then I asked him
out on a date, which he backed out of at the last minute, and then he showed up at
my apartment with ice cream.” Moira slipped her arm through Kathy’s and led her out
the door of the shop. “And that’s just my love life. I’ve got things going on career-wise
too.”

They walked to a burger place on the next block, ordered food, and sat.

Kathy groaned. “God, it feels good to sit down.” She sighed again and then said, “Finish
telling me about Jimmy. I can’t believe he kissed you again. What’s his excuse for
the on and off bullshit?”

“I confuse him.”

Kathy laughed.

“He doesn’t want to like me or get involved with me because of Liam. But it’s there,
Kath. The attraction, the zing, it’s there big-time. And I’m comfortable around him,
you know, since I’ve known him my whole life.” She spun her drink in slow circles.

“But?”

“But nothing. I’m excited.” She paused, still trying to ignore the doubts. “However,
he made an excellent point. What if things don’t work out? He was talking about his
relationship with Liam, but I’ve spent so many years longing for him, that I’m afraid
the reality won’t live up to the fantasy.”

“It never does. Why worry about it? I’m more concerned about where he thinks things
will go between you. I know those O’Malley boys. You deserve to be more than a notch
on a bedpost.” She took a long drink of her pop.

Moira knew the remark came from Kathy’s brief stint as Kevin’s girlfriend or whatever
she’d been. Moira had introduced them one year at the block party, and they had hit
it off. Unfortunately, Kevin had neglected to explain his idea of a relationship,
which mostly consisted of being friends with benefits. He was the sole reason Kathy
no longer came to the block party.

Yet another reason to be annoyed by Kevin.

“Jimmy is nothing like Kevin.”

Kathy raised her eyebrows, but then stood when the counter guy called their number.
She returned with a bag holding burgers and awesome fries.

“In addition to bringing me ice cream last night, he watched
His Girl Friday
with me. All the way through, even though I fell asleep.”

“Ooo . . . that puts him in the keeper column.” Kathy narrowed her eyes. “Why did
you fall asleep? I don’t think he gets keeper credit if it was a postcoital decision.”

Moira laughed so hard she choked on her fries. “We kissed. A couple of times, and
he pulled back like a gentleman. He has some family issues to deal with, but he wanted
a rain check for our date.”

Kathy bit into her burger, so Moira starting eating in earnest. She hadn’t realized
how hungry she was. Maybe ice cream and popcorn for dinner hadn’t been the best choice.

After a few bites, Kathy said, “So spill. What else puts him in the keeper column?
I know you’ve always had him there, but did you have a reason?”

Moira chewed and thought. She couldn’t argue Kathy’s point. Jimmy had always been
in the keeper column because she just knew. Rather than try to explain her gut reaction,
she went for the obvious. “He has a steady job. Jimmy has always worked. He did watch
my favorite movie with me, which I think gets bonus points. He brought fudge brownie
ice cream.”

Kathy took another long drink, as if waiting for more. “Okay. Job, movie, chocolate.
I’ll just assume he has sexy arms since you’ve been drooling over him forever. What
else?”

“Besides being able to kiss and knock my socks off?”

“Yeah. Is he nice to his mom?”

“She’s dead. But he does take care of his dad. He’s always taken care of his brothers.”
Moira thought about how he would take care of Norah too. And her baby. A little spear
of fear shot through her. What would that mean for them if he had to take care of
Norah and her baby? He’d said he couldn’t handle a relationship, and now she understood
what he’d meant. He was talking about Norah.

“You’re listing some pretty damn good stuff, but is he right for you?”

Moira shrugged. She didn’t know. Although she’d always wanted him and known he was
a keeper, she’d never thought anything would come of it. “That’s what dating is for.
He’s a keeper. I never said he was my keeper.”

But in her heart, she really hoped he would be.

J
immy’s life had become a flurry of activity. The property crimes cases he had been
working on were shoved on the back burner again. Elks agreed to continue the investigation
into the theft ring based on the information Len provided. What they hadn’t expected
was for two other men to come forward with information. Unsurprisingly, they were
Len’s friends, everyone except for Stan Decker. They expressed a sense of betrayal
because Jimmy had lied about his identity, but the mayor admitted the undercover work
had been his idea.

As excited as the new information should’ve made him, Jimmy felt overwhelmed. For
every inroad they thought they found, they really hit four more obstacles. Every man
had been with a different woman, different names, different descriptions, but they
all had the same story. Each man’s house was burlgarized while he’d spent the night
with the escort while his wife had been out of town.

He and Gabby waded through notes on three interviews and found few common threads.
The women introduced themselves to the men at different functions. They all met at
different hotels. They all had different burner phones that were no longer in service.

Even more perplexing was that the houses had no signs of forced entry. They bypassed
security systems. Jimmy and Gabby had no idea how they managed to get in. To top it
off, because the houses were not treated as crime scenes, they had no evidence.

Frustration clawed at Jimmy. This investigation was turning out to be worse than some
of the cold cases he’d encountered.

And now he had to go home and deal with Norah. She’d texted him earlier today and
apologized for dumping on him without warning. Tommy had also texted letting Jimmy
know he was still fuming. Like Kevin, Tommy wanted to go to Boston and beat the crap
out of some guy. The problem was, they had no idea who the guy was.

Jimmy looked at the clock just as Gabby stood.

“We should call it a night. The commander will have guys pulled in tomorrow to run
a task force. They’ll probably want to run a full game for James Buchanan and set
him up as a decoy. Don’t you think?”

Jimmy nodded and then rolled his neck. Nothing would relieve that tension. A sudden
flash of Moira’s smiling face hit him. She involved a totally different kind of tension,
but one he couldn’t deal with. Not tonight. Maybe no time in the near future. “Yeah,
let’s go. We’ll have to be here early to address this.”

As they walked out, Gabby said, “Pretty cool way it’s going, though. The case. It
looks to be a big one. We break this, and we both might get a gold star next to our
names.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Are you okay? You seem distracted, which isn’t like you at all.”

“Sorry. I am a little. I’ll unfuck my brain tonight and be good tomorrow.” He hoped
he was telling the truth. He needed to be on his game to be on the task force.

He walked Gabby to her car and waited until she pulled away. His head ached with being
pulled in too many directions. Sitting in his car, the heat pressed on him and he
turned the air on high. He rolled the windows down and closed his eyes. Five minutes.
He wanted just five minutes without something needing his attention.

The whir of the air blowing through the vents soothed him, and for the first time
since he left Moira’s apartment last night, his muscles unknotted a fraction and he
was able to catch a breath. Thinking about sprawling on Moira’s couch eased his muscles
a little more. Before he developed a real thought, he pulled out his phone and dialed
Moira’s number.

At the sound of the first ring, the realization hit him that he didn’t really know
why he was calling. He couldn’t spend time with her. Not now, not with the case taking
off, and not with Norah being pregnant and hiding in his room. The third ring sang
in his ear and he considered hanging up. But then he knew she would call him a coward.

Fourth ring and then her voice, light and bubbly, came across the line. “Hey, can’t
come to the phone right now. I might be partying or writing or both. Maybe I’m just
indulging in chocolate, but you won’t know if you don’t leave a message so I can call
you back.”

He rolled his eyes at her long message as he waited for the beep. “Hey, Moira. It’s
Jimmy. I was calling . . .” He listened to her long-ass message and hadn’t come up
with something to say. “Just hi.”

After disconnecting, he tossed the phone into a cup holder and headed home. On the
way, he tried to process that his baby sister was pregnant. She obviously planned
to have the baby, but he had no idea if she wanted to keep it. They needed to come
up with a plan. She had some serious decisions to make in regard to her future.

When he pulled up to the house, he didn’t see Sean’s motorcycle at the curb, which
was weird because he’d said he’d take Dad into work with him. Shit. Unless he didn’t.
Which would mean that Dad was home with Norah. Jimmy left his car and walked into
the house, finding it eerily quiet. “Hello?”

No one answered. He went to the basement door first and yelled to Tommy and Sean,
but still got no response. Dad’s bedroom was empty as well, so he headed upstairs
to look for Norah. His door was open and she sat in his study watching TV.

“Hey,” he called softly.

She turned suddenly, her eyes wide. “Hi.” She clicked the TV off. “Where is everyone?”

“Sean came home from work with Dad. I don’t know what he told him, but he dragged
Dad and Tommy back out and took them to dinner.” She rubbed her hands on her belly.
She looked far older than she should. “I think they wanted us to talk alone.”

Jimmy crossed the room and squatted in front of her. The anger bubbling just below
his surface was held in check because she looked so vulnerable. “How did this happen?”

Norah kept her head down, refusing to meet his eyes. She coughed a laugh, and a tear
streaked down and plopped on her hand. “You gave me the talk when I was eight, Jimmy.
We both know how this happened.”

“I also taught you about protection.”

“Nothing is one hundred percent effective.”

He reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear so he could see her face better.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone? You could’ve called me. How far along are you?”

“Six months. I didn’t tell anyone at first. I was scared, so I hid it. I was able
to hide it pretty well. Then I started showing and couldn’t hide it behind a big T-shirt.
Aunt Bridget flipped out.” She swiped at a tear and took a deep breath, still not
looking at him.

“She didn’t say anything.”

“That’s because I told her you already knew and you were okay with it.”

He rose and pulled the ottoman close to the chair and sat in front of her. “But you
didn’t.”

“Of course I didn’t. I knew you’d freak out more than she had.” Now she did look up
as if to dare him to disagree.

He couldn’t.

“What was your plan?”

“I left Aunt Bridget’s house and crashed with some friends until the semester was
over. Then I planned to come home, but I got scared all over.”

“School was done over a month ago. Where have you been?”

“Mostly hanging with friends. I finally got tired of couch surfing. I quit my job
and came home. I wanted to call, but I didn’t know what to say.”

She plucked at nonexistent threads on her shirt. He hated seeing her so unsure of
herself. Norah had never been shy or afraid of anything. Now, she curled into herself
and he wasn’t sure how to reach her.

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.”

He released a breath and tamped down the urge to yell at her. Tommy had done enough
of that last night. “What about the father?”

“What about him?”

“Who is he?”

She shook her head before speaking. “I’m not going to tell you.”

He stood, needing to move to work the frustration out. “He has just as much responsibility
in this as you do.”

“If I tell you, you guys are going to go crazy on him and that’s not fair.”

“You spent the last few months sleeping who knows where and you’re worried about what’s
fair for him?” His voice started to rise.

“He doesn’t know.”

She spoke so quietly that Jimmy wasn’t sure he’d heard right. “Did you say he doesn’t
know?”

She nodded.

Jimmy paced a few more steps. He breathed deeply. He didn’t want to fly off the handle,
but he felt it coming. “Why the fuck doesn’t he know? You didn’t call me, that’s bad
enough, but you sure as hell should’ve told him.”

She stood and launched herself at him, holding him in a tight hug like she had after
a nightmare when she was a kid.

Jimmy held her, feeling awkward with the baby bump hitting him. He brushed his hand
over her hair. “Besides having a responsibility to you and the baby, he has a right
to know, Norah.”

“I know, but . . .” She sniffed and pulled away from him. She turned away before continuing.
“He wasn’t a one-night stand, Jimmy. He’s a good guy. We met over Christmas break,
and I fell hard for him. We had a great couple of weeks, but then he went back to
school. We tried the long-distance thing. He visited a few weekends, but it didn’t
work. We ended on good terms, but then I found out I was pregnant. I was going to
call him, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I waited.”

She walked the room, absently touching shelves and books before stopping in front
of the window that looked out over the street. “He came back to Boston for spring
break. Just to see me. He gave up going to Mexico with his friends so he could spend
the week with me. And I planned to tell him then. But it felt so good to have him
back. I felt normal with him and I didn’t want to lose that. I wasn’t showing yet,
so no one knew, which made it easy to pretend I wasn’t. So I waited some more. Then
I ended up waiting so long the decision was made for me. Kind of.”

“I assume you know how to reach him?”

She nodded.

“You need to tell him. He should have some input.”

“I’m afraid, Jimmy.”

“Of what? You didn’t do this alone.”

“No. I’m more afraid he’ll want to have this baby with me.”

“What’s wrong with that? Nothing says you have to marry the guy.” He shoved his hands
in his pockets to hide his frustration.

“I’m afraid he’ll give up his life, his dreams, his plans, for me and the baby. I
don’t want him to do that.”

Jimmy sank onto the chair Norah had vacated. So his sister was trying to be noble?
“You shouldn’t have to give up your life and dreams either. This is something the
two of you need to work out.”

And if this guy bailed, he would have to answer to Jimmy.

Norah leaned her forehead against the glass but didn’t argue.

Now Jimmy needed her to cross the next hurdle, so they could make plans. “Do you want
to keep the baby?”

She offered a pitiful movement that tried to be a shrug. “I don’t know if I want to
be a mom. But when I think about not having this baby in my life, I can’t imagine
that either. I don’t know what to do. That’s really why I came home.” She finally
turned and looked at him. “What should I do, Jimmy?”

He pushed off the chair, feeling much older than he should. “I love you, Norah, and
I’m willing to do anything for you, but that’s one decision you have to make for yourself.”

Jimmy left the room to wait for the rest of the family downstairs. The information
would be better coming from him so Norah wouldn’t feel bullied. Although they meant
well, Tommy, Sean, and Kevin would run over Norah to the point she wouldn’t be able
to think for herself.

They all needed to step back and treat her like the adult she was—whether or not they
were ready to admit it.

Moira’s week flew by in a flurry of events and people. Her schedule was more jam-packed
than usual. The upside was that she had plenty to write about and wouldn’t run out
of words. The downside was that she hadn’t seen the mystery woman once.

Except for his one lame message, Jimmy hadn’t called or texted or shown up with a
pint of ice cream. Not that he’d said he would, but she’d hoped. She wouldn’t have
been able to make up the date this week anyway because of her scheduled events, so
it was for the best that he hadn’t called. At least that’s what she kept telling herself.

All she had to do was get through this beach party for another animal shelter. Sunday
would be a day off, except for family dinner at her mom’s house. At least once a month,
they all had dinner as a family. Their mom demanded it. It was her way of making sure
they stayed close.

She’d been looking forward to this beach event. She’d missed it last year because
of another function, which had been so boring she couldn’t remember it. This fund-raiser
garnered a lot of attention in the city. She could get behind any facility that worked
to get animals into good homes. Plus, beach.

She loved North Avenue Beach. A crowd almost always filled the space, but the lake
was gorgeous. She could watch people play volleyball. And the ocean-liner beach house
was amazing. The blue and white building made her feel like she stood next to a cruise
ship.