Hard Irish (31 page)

“Yes, yes, yes.  Now rest.  No worries.   We’re good.”

He sighed and smiled.  Moments later, he felt himself drifting away.

Two weeks later...

Jared was screwed.  He knew it when he heard the kitchen screen door snap shut—three separate times in the last five minutes.  He and his brothers had the habit of giving the aluminum frame an extra push to preempt their mom’s “don’t let the flies in” shout from wherever she was in the house.

He didn’t think it a coincidence that all three of his brothers had decided to drop by the family homestead the very night he was taking Rocky out for the first time, which meant, he’d be sneaking out the bathroom window instead of walking out the front door.  He’d be early to pick her up, but that meant they could take their time getting to the marina.  On the agenda tonight was a champagne and dinner cruise on the Savannah River—moonlight, music, and stars.

Their first date.  Lord he prayed he didn’t mess this up.  He’d been out of the hospital for a week now, recuperating at his parents’ house.  He’d enjoyed his mother’s TLC and spending time with his father, but was antsy to get back to his own life.  He had a number of changes he had to make, because he wanted Rocky in his life.

He’d seen her every day.  Twice a day.  McKenna Construction had contracted Shamrock Construction to help with the Drake Hotel renovations, and repairing fire damage.  The job was almost back on schedule now.  Though Jared couldn’t return to work yet, he did bring lunch to share with Rocky every day, and they would walk over the site, discuss the progress, and plan the next step.  Then she came to see him every night. 

 It killed him to admit it, but things were not the same.  There was a barrier between them.  Whether his stupidity had put the walls there, or she was still grappling with the upheaval and violence that had torn apart her life, he didn’t know.  He just knew that something precious had been lost, and he would do whatever he had to do to get it back.

He had a plan to win her heart.  One hundred and one nights of roses and romance before he stormed her citadel again—a take it slow strategy that will show her his heart, and prove to her that she could trust him.

His hands shook as he fumbled with the knot of his tie.  It just wouldn’t stay right, and he finally gave up fiddling with it.   Another minute, and his brothers would be hunting for him.  Damn, you’d think it was prom night and they were teenagers again.  Surely, all pranks from the past had been forgiven and forgotten.

He winced as he recalled the time he and James had “accidentally” plastered Jackson with the hose as he walked out the door in his suit for homecoming of his freshman year.  Jackson had had to drip-dry during the dance, and his shoes were still squishing when he got home at midnight.  Then there’d been the time that he and James had soaked Jesse’s leather jacket in their mother’s best perfume.  That had not gone well.  He and James couldn’t sit for days after the switching their dad gave them, and Jesse had gotten even by getting eau-de-skunk on the inside of his and James’s football helmets.  They’d stunk on and off the field that whole season.

Come to think of it, he needed to get his ass out of there.   

Rinsing a second time with mouthwash, Jared opened the bathroom window, removed the screen, then hiked his leg over the sill.  Groaning, he bent in half to slide his way outside.  He was still sore and bruised from A to Z it seemed, and it would be a good six weeks before he could consider getting back to his normal activities.  But he was alive, he could laugh, and he could love.  That was all he needed for now.

 “Well, lookee what we have here, bros,” came Jackson’s slow drawl.  “A man trying to escape rather than take his medicine.”

Jared snapped his head up and smacked it on the window.   “Shit.”  His head spun for a moment.  Jesse and James stood on each side of Jackson.  All three were grinning from ear to ear.  Jared didn’t know what they had planned, but it had to be bad to have them looking so happy.

“Guys, really.  You don’t want to do this tonight.”  Jared drew in a breath, trying to stay calm and cool.  There’d be no mercy if they knew how nervous he really was.

“I think we do,” Jesse said.  “Paybacks are hell, bro.”

Jared zeroed his gaze on James.  “What are you doing, teaming up with them?  You’ve always had my back.”

James just shook his head.  “Sorry man.  I love you, but as I told you before, you’re screwed, blued, and tattooed.”

Jared held up his hands in appeal.  “Listen.  You three can pick any other night and screw it up, but tonight is just not it, okay?”    

“I’ll get his feet,” Jesse said.

“Just remember not to be too rough,” Jackson said.  “Don’t want his ass back in the hospital this soon.”

“Really,” Jared said, breaking into a sweat.  “I’m still on the mend here.  Let’s do this another time.

They all three grabbed hold of him and Jared knew it was useless to fight.  If he was back to a hundred percent, he might have given it a shot.  As it was, he had to give in and wait for his opportunity to escape, provided he was still presentable for a date by then.

He felt like a trussed pig as they carried him around to the back of the house.

Jesse shook his feet.  “How much weight has he lost, Jackson?”

“About ten pounds.”

“Bring him on in, boys.” John Weldon said.

Jared snapped his head up at the sound of his father’s voice.  “Dad!  Help!”

“Sorry, son.  But when it’s a man’s turn, he just has to take it.”

Jared expected his brothers to toss him in the back of the truck and cart him down to the creek or the pig sty.  Instead, they carried him into the house and sat him down at the kitchen table.

 Jared shifted his shoulders, and adjusted a twist in his suit, as he warily searched the kitchen.  Was he about to get a whipped cream pie in the face?  The kitchen appeared just as he left it earlier.  He had dozens of books opened on the table.  All of them were on the history of Ireland and the Roman invasion.  When Rocky, Jesse, Mulligan and McNall examined the murals in the Rainbow Room, looking for the diamonds while
he was still in a hospital bed, mind you,
they’d come up empty-handed except for an XX:XVII etched on the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Nobody had been able to crack open the clue, and Jared had been determined to do it while recuperating.  So far, no luck.

Jesse leaned in and sniffed.  “He smells okay.  But do you think he needs a dose of your Old Spice, dad?”

“Maybe,” John Weldon said, taking a sniff.

Jared winced and bit his tongue.  Old Spice would so kill his designer cologne.  He also knew if he said a word in protest, they’d dump the bottle on his head.

“Our bro, is losing his touch,” Jackson said.  He’s got a spot on his shoe.  When was the last time you polished them?”

“An hour ago,” Jared said, glaring at Jackson.

Jesse bent down and examined his shoes.  “Definitely spotted.  Let’s take them off.”  He and Jackson pulled off his shoes.

“Well, would you look at this,” James said, tugging on Jared’s tie.  “His knot is crooked.  Can’t have that, can we, bros.”

“Nope,” Jesse said.

“Take it off,” Jackson advised.

Shit, Jared thought.  “Mom will be back from the grocery store any minute, guys.  You don’t want to do this.”

“I’ll do the honors,” said his father.  Jared just looked up at his father while he undid his tie.  He couldn’t believe the evening was playing out like this.  And that everyone was ganging up on him.  This date was so important to him.

His dad paused after he finished undoing the tie.  “Now is it right over left or left over right.”

“John Weldon, after all of these years, you haven’t learned a thing,” Jared’s Mom said, breezing into the kitchen with a bag.  She shoved the bag into Jackson’s hands.  “Get this ready for me.”  Then she marched over and took control of the tie.  “You do it just like this,” she said.

Within sixty seconds, she’d retied his tie and it felt perfectly straight.  When she finished, she brushed his cheek like she had every night when she tucked him into bed so many years ago.  “Just so you know, I couldn’t be prouder of you and I love you.”

Jared blinked.  What was going on?

His father clapped him on the back.  “Double what your mother said, son.  I am humbled and I am so very thankful, God answered our prayers to return you to us and to heal you.”

Jesse tugged on Jared’s suit collar and it fell into alignment.  “Better get those shoes shiny, James.  We don’t want Jared to be late.”

“What?  Me?  Why do I have to shine his shoes?”

Jackson and Jesse glared at James.  “Because there are two of us and one of you at the moment.  Jared’s out of the fighting ring for a while yet.”

James grumbled, but fetched the shoe shinning kit from under the kitchen sink and set to work.

Jackson clamped a hand on Jared’s shoulder.  “If you haven’t figured it out yet, bro.  We’re here to bolster you up.  My advice to win Rocky is to make her your number one.”

Jared’s stomach knotted as emotion clogged his throat.

Jesse set a heavy hand on Jared’s other shoulder.  “First thing, Mulligan says you can be his backup should you ever want to change professions.  He sent you this.  He only gives these out to an elite few, so consider yourself honored.”  Jesse handed him a gold coin with a shamrock stamped on it.  “And just so you know, I concur.  Your every instinct was dead on.  That’s something that can’t be taught.  I’m glad you’ll be looking out for Jake down the road, if needed.”

“Jesse Weldon,” Emma admonished. “Don’t you go recruiting your baby brother into danger, again.”

Jesse rolled his eyes and grinned.  “Second thing, I want your and James’s karma. Riley Scott had about five aliases.  He was a wanted man in several countries with a price on his head, dead or alive.  Total fugitive reward is a hundred thousand.  Sheridan-Weldon Solutions will be sending your check when the funds arrive.  Don’t blow it.”

Jared’s jaw dropped.  “What?”  He’d learned from Jesse that Riley Scott and his father, Riley Dunlavey, had migrated from Ireland in the eighties, and joined the brutal Westies in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen area.  The mob-like Irish gang had terrorized for years, specializing in murder and torture.

James whistled.  “That beats my reward.”

James’s instincts had been dead on too.  The LA couple who’d been so eager to buy the spec house that James had had Jesse run a background check on, had been up to no good.  The details were still unraveling, but the plot involved impersonating the man’s real wife to steal from her.  

Jesse continued. “Third thing, you mess this up with Rocky and I’ll—”

“Positive,” Emma interrupted.  “Remember.”

Jesse frowned, looking at a loss.  “You get this right with Rocky and I won’t pound your ass.  Whether she knows it yet or not, she loves you, and was pissed at me for telling you to take a hike.  So your chances of winning her over are good.”      

James brought his shoes back.  “Well, I’m going to say something here.  And I don’t care if anybody likes it or not.”

Jared met his twin’s gaze and came to grip with the unspoken anxiety tangled up in his heart.  They’d been part of a whole since birth, had lived and breathed together all of their lives.  Neither of them had really ventured forth without the other until...Jared had seen Rocky in the bar and didn’t look away.

James cleared his throat.  “I think you’re screwed, blued, and tattooed for jumping off the bachelor bandwagon so fast, but if you love her then, she couldn’t get a better catch.  After all, you are my twin.  You’re a Weldon who knows how to put everything on the line and step up to the plate when necessary, no matter what the price.  So, you go out tonight with confidence, and she had better appreciate you, or she’ll have me to deal with.”

Jackson and Jesse ragged James.  Their dad preened, claiming he’d raised his boys right, and their mom muttered something about the Lord would be the judge of that, but she was smiling.  Jared exhaled with relief.

His mother handed him a bouquet of roses and a box of Godiva chocolates she’d just bought.  “Give her respect.  Bring her love and laughter, be her friend and lover and she’ll be yours forever.”

Jared headed to the front door for his date with a spring in his step.  He could do this.  His mother followed.

Just before he opened the door, he glanced up at the plaque posted above it and paused. “
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  M 11:28.

“I put that there because of you boys,” his mother said.  “The best thing a mother can tell her child before he leaves home is that God is always there no matter where they go.”

Jared kissed his mother and rushed out the door.  He couldn’t wait to see Rocky.

“Dessie, I can’t find my other blue earring!  Help!  Jared will be here any minute.”  Ever since Jesse had officially concluded her life was no longer in danger, she’d been staying in Dessie’s spare bedroom until the repairs to her house were finished.

Trying not to wrinkle her silk dress, Rocky got down on her knees, looking under the bed.  She’d already looked everywhere else logical, now she was working on the illogical.  She was running late for her date because she’d stayed longer at the nursing home with her father than she’d planned, talking to his new physical therapist.

Her father had spoken twice more over the past two weeks, saying the same thing he’d said before. 
Keira, unforgivable, stop, pray
.  Despite Rocky’s reassurances that all was well, he was still stuck in a nightmare inside his mind.  Rocky was still working with her father’s attorney on getting the “after death” papers her father had left for her.  Since her father had the stroke the night he discovered who Maggie and Riley really were, McNall had suggested that her father was telling her to stop Maggie whose name had been O’Prey before she’d changed it to Dupree.    

 Maggie was being held in jail without bond, under accessory to murder and attempted murder charges.  She’d insinuated herself into the fringes of Rocky’s life over a year ago, quietly looking for the diamonds.  She claimed she never meant for anyone to get hurt.  But in a conversation a few months back with Riley, whom she had known since childhood, she said the wrong thing.  Riley caught on about the diamonds.  He'd known the story of what had happened in Ireland and came looking for Maggie and took over the search, becoming more and more impatient and violent.  Rocky knew that Maggie had had a hard life, but given Pat’s murder, her father’s stroke, and what Maggie and Riley had done and were going to do with Jared and Collin, she didn’t have any sympathy for the woman.