Beers, Hens, and Irishmen (Warbler's Point Series) (11 page)

             
She found herself practically skipping and humming through the aisles of the general store with her basket. She was looking down at the list on her phone when she ran smack into someone in the dairy section, thank God she didn’t have her eggs yet because the impact with the other human made her drop her basket, scattering her grocery contents all over the floor.

             
She looked up and started to apologize until she realized she ran smack into Neala. Fire was blazing in Neala’s eyes and a slight vein was popping in her neck. Sophie noticed that Neala was holding a cup of coffee that was now taking up residence all over her silk shirt. Sophie felt her mouth drop open in shock.

             
“Oh my God, Neala, I’m so sorry…”

             
“Don’t touch me you bitch.” Sophie was grabbing for napkins to help wipe Neala off but stilled mid-air when Neala’s words slipped out of her mouth.

             
“Pardon me?” Sophie always prided herself in not swearing, some may say she was a goody two shoes but she just considered herself a true lady.

             
“I said, don’t touch me bitch.”

             
Shocked by Neala’s animosity towards her, especially since Sophie did nothing to deserve it she said, “You don’t have to be so rude.”

             
“Rude? I’m the rude one? Oh I’m sorry, I’m not the whore breaking up marriages and families. You know we have a little girl, right? She is going to have to split time between her parents and holidays now. I hope you’re happy.”

             
Sophie couldn’t believe the words coming out of Neala’s mouth. What kind of crazy fantasy world was she living in?

             
“I’m sorry Neala that you and Liam are having some problems but by no means am I to blame for them and I resent the fact that you think that low of me.”

             
“Don’t bullshit me you little tart. I know you’ve been seeing my husband and fucking him when I’m not around.” Neala’s voice was slowly starting to escalate in volume and Sophie could feel herself blushing from embarrassment especially since every word dripping from Neala’s mouth was a bold faced lie.

             
“I have not been f…I have not been doing anything with your husband. I don’t know where you’ve been getting the idea that I have but I would never break up a family because that is what happened to me. I would never subject another woman to that pain so I would appreciate it if you would lower your voice and stop spreading lies about me and your husband.”

             
Apparently Neala didn’t care what Sophie said because Neala did the exact opposite and escalated her voice to a higher decimal and said, “Lies? Lies? The only lie around here is your denial in sharing your sexual slip and slide with my husband.” Neala pushed Sophie against the little snack shelves, sending metal into her shoulder blades. “You are nothing more than a little two faced home wrecker.” Neala pushed her again, sending snacks scattering all over the aisle. “You act like you are some little innocent bug eyed prim and proper girl but you really go around fucking people’s husbands and destroying their family life.” Neala went to go shove her again when she was stopped by very large hands.

             
“Neala, what the fuck are you doing?”

             
Sophie hadn’t seen him in a while but she would recognize Finn anywhere. His looks were always so classic. He looked like Liam but younger with beautiful light brown eyes that were always covered by his trendy thick rimmed black glasses. He filled his body out with pure muscle and grew up to be a man. She was shocked by how instantly attracted she was to him, especially since he was currently standing so close to her she could smell his intoxicating male scent. She couldn’t help but admire him, he was attractive, beyond what she ever remembered.

             
He grabbed Sophie’s hand and helped her out of the shelving that she was sucked into. Thank God he came in at the last minute because one more push and she would have been shelf life for sure. Sophie looked at Neala who was crying now holding her head in her hands. Sophie should be pissed and wanting to pummel the girl but that was not her type of personality. Instead, Sophie wrapped her arms around Neala and tried to comfort her. Wrong move.

             
Neala took her hands and slammed them into Sophie’s chest once again sending her flying into the shelf knocking them all down and causing a piece of metal to whip into her head. Sophie’s brain went instantly dizzy. She touched her head to assess the damage and felt a warm liquid up by her hair line when she looked at her hand there was blood trickling down her fingers. Great!

             
Finn grabbed Neala and shook her. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

             
“Let go of me, Finn. She deserves everything she gets.”

             
Finn looked at Sophie in confusion and before he could ask what Neala meant, Neala beat him to it. “She has been fucking your older brother behind my back. She will deny it, but I know what I’m talking about.” She shook herself from Finn’s grip. “I’m getting out of here, tell your brother my lawyer will be contacting him about the divorce papers and don’t worry I won’t go after your precious little pub even though I have all the right to. I just want out of this Podunk town and away from you Irish assholes.”

             
She stormed off kicking Sophie’s groceries that were on the floor across the aisle making one of her packages of flour explode from her pointy shoes. Sophie just held her head where it was bleeding, trying to apply pressure, trying to ignore the fact that Neala was in fact a raving lunatic.

             
She looked up at Finn who seemed to be fuming, instead of helping her up this time he just stared at her with disgust.

             
“You going to explain yourself?” He asked.

             
Out of all Liam’s siblings, she was closest with Finn, maybe because of their ages but whenever Liam and her were fighting Finn was always there to talk to her and help her through her problems. He was like the brother she never had and even when she left for college and got married, she still wrote to Finn occasionally to catch up. He was the only O’Leary she stayed in contact with, even though he wasn’t the one she was in love with, well used to be in love with. Now looking at Finn, being in his adult presence confused her. She erased the thoughts of her and Finn, blaming it on the shelf whipping her in the head.

             
“Are you even going to believe me when I talk or are you going to just listen to what she has to say?” Sophie said with a nod toward Neala’s direction.

             
Finn waved his hand in front of him gesturing for her to proceed with her story. “By all means, enlighten me.” Sophie wanted to throw eggs at Finn for accusing her of the worst already, before even listening to her side of the story.

             
“I’m not having an affair with Liam. I’ve seen him a handful of times since I’ve come back and most of those time Neala was present. I would never do anything to break up a family and you know that because of what I went through myself. I would never be that woman.” She started crying, damn it. “You know I would never do that Finn, don’t you?”

             
Finn ran his hand through his hair and pulled her into his chest for a hug. He placed a kiss on the top of her head and said, “I believe you Soph.”

             
His confidence in her made her break down and cry even more. Being wrapped up in his embrace also confused her, she didn’t think she could enjoy being this close to Finn, ever. “I have no clue what she is talking about Finn and I don’t want her going around town spreading lies about me when I’m trying to run a business here. I don’t want to be known as the uh…town…you know…” She practically whispered, “…skank.”

             
Finn chuckled slightly at her embarrassment of using a filthy word. “Anyone who has been in this town long enough, which is mostly everyone, will know that you are not the town skank. Everything will be ok don’t worry.”

             
Finn pulled her in even closer and held her tight until she felt him go stiff. He was instantly shoved out of the way and she was flung to the side, landing next to her good friend, the snack shelf.

             
“What the fuck are you doing Finn?”

             
Liam.

             
He continued, “I heard something was happening down here with Neala but instead I find you groping Sophie.”

             
Finn being the smart ass and Instigator he was said, “What’s it to you? You shouldn’t care since you’re married, unless marriage means nothing to you and you are sleeping around like Neala says.”

             
Sophie winced at Finn’s word. That did it. Liam flew at Finn and tackled him to the ground. They were both throwing shots at each other, wrestling around, grunting and trying to gain the upper hand in their dairy aisle brawl. They were both a match in size and muscle mass the only thing really different was Finn was slightly younger. Sophie tried to pull them apart but that was a loss cause since she was barely tall enough to reach their shoulders when she stood next to them. Instead she gathered her items on the floor and called for a manager in the dairy section. 

             
This was not how she wanted to kick off her new start in Warblers Point.

Chapter 6

Fiona had about thirty minutes left of her shift at the pub. Her night flew by which was annoying because it was the only time she actually wanted her shift to drag on. What was she thinking agreeing to going out with Booker tonight? She made a fool of herself at the grocery store, spilling apples, staring at Booker’s package and then running into a crate of pumpkins causing her to fall flat on her ass. But he still wanted to take her out. Maybe that was why she said yes, if he was willing to still go out with a mess like her maybe she should humor him.

             
Liam was cleaning up the kitchen early tonight, something happened between him and Neala but she wasn’t quite sure exactly what, no one was divulging information. Something went down in the general store earlier though between Liam and Finn because Liam had a black eye and Bradon was working the bar for Finn. Apparently he didn’t want to be anywhere near Liam at the current moment and since Neala and Liam were having problems that left Liam shacking up at Fiona’s place for the night rather than Finns. Lucky her. She didn’t mind having her brother stay over, but not when she was supposed to go out with a man tonight. Lord knows Liam would be waiting up for her, sticking his nose in her business where it didn’t belong.

             
She was wiping down a table when Booker entered the bar. Her hand stilled on the surface she was cleaning and took in the beautiful sight of the native Californian. God he was gorgeous, men like him didn’t hang around in places like Warblers Point. There were a lot of good looking men in Warblers Point, like Murphy but they were all the rugged type. Booker was different; he stepped straight out of GQ, muscles and all. She didn’t realize she was staring until he was sitting at the bar just waving at her. Embarrassed she shook her head and finished wiping up the table.

             
She went over to the bar where he was and leaned over the top. “You shouldn’t be here, I will meet you outside.”

             
Booker gave her a confused and somewhat hurt look. She felt bad so she added, “My brother’s won’t think too kindly of me going out with a Sheila.” She tacked on a smile at the end of her sentence.

             
He matched her smile but his could melt her socks and shoes off if she let it. “Alright, meet me outside, where something warm, we will be outside tonight.”

             
Intrigued about what the night would bring she swatted him with the towel she was holding as she ushered him out. He faked a hurt look from her towel swipe and flashed another heart devouring grin at her before the door closed behind him. Damn him!

             
Fiona thought about their date, they were going to be outside? What did he have planned? Whatever it was, she knew it was going to be interesting. Booker seemed like a very creative kind of guy. A very creative and very sexy kind of guy. Alright she needed to get a hold of herself before she got in his car. If she kept letting her hormones rage like they have been lately they wouldn’t get past the pubs parking lot before she viciously attacked him with her lips and tongue.

             
She made a silent promise to herself that she was not going to have any make out sessions with him, she was not going to think about him taking her to bed and she was definitely not going to stare at his skin tight jeans and where they perfectly cupped his crotch.

             
The pub was winding down at the moment and she didn’t anticipate it picking up, plus Liam closed the kitchen so there was not much need for her so she headed to the back to find Liam. He was hunched over the sink finishing up some wash.

             
“Hey Liam, I think I’m going to head out.”

             
He didn’t even turn to look at her. “Alright.”

             
Fiona cringed from the hurt in his voice. She could tell he was going through a really rough time, if only he would talk to her about it but she knew if she pushed the subject he would just shut her out like everyone else.

             
She placed her hand on his shoulder and said, “You know Liam, if you ever need…”

             
He interrupted her sharply. “Drop it Fiona.”

             
Startled she stepped back and watched her brother scrub the hell out of one of the pots putting all his frustrations into removing a crusted spot.

             
“Ok, you have a key to my apartment, right?”

             
That’s when he turned around and looked at her. His face looked raged, not just from the fight he had with Finn earlier but from what looked like lack of sleep. His eyelids were lined in red and he had bags under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept in months. His posture was completely dejected and it looked like someone just ran over his brand new puppy right in front of him. She so desperately wanted to reach out to her oldest brother.

             
“You aren’t going to be there tonight?”

             
“No, I told you that. I’m going out tonight.”

             
“With who?”

             
“That’s none of your business.”

             
Her brothers were always so nosey. No wonder she wasn’t in a serious relationship, the poor guy would never be able to get past her brothers. Then she thought of Murphy, damn him and his Irish heritage. The only reason her brothers liked him so much was because they idolized him, they thought he was the epitome of every Irish man. He was handsome though, No! She was not going to do this. Murphy was out of the picture, all he wanted was sex.

             
“It sure as hell is my business when it deals with my little sister when she is going to be out late.”

             
She started to walk away because she was not going to get in a fight with Liam when she knew he was only projecting his anger at her. She turned around to address him in the best way she could, given his current state of mind.

             
“Liam, I know you are hurting right now but I’m not going to stand here and let you berate me while I know you are just projecting your anger onto me. I will be home later. There is some pie in the fridge, help yourself and I will see you when I get home. If you want you can take the bed and I will sleep on the couch so I don’t wake you if you are asleep.”

             
“What time will you be home?”

             
“Not sure.” She blew a kiss in his direction. “Love you big brother.”

             
He shook his head and turned back around to the stubbornly crusted pot mumbling something about her sleeping on the couch will only happen when pigs fly.

             
She ran up to her apartment, quickly ran a comb through her hair, thankfully it still looked full. She used some hairspray to fluff and freshen her hair, added some more mascara and sprayed herself with her perfume. She put on a pair of skinny jeans, a navy blue sweater that had white stripes going across the chest and threw on her brown boots. She looked good but not too dressed up. She added a yellow scarf and grabbed her white wool coat and matching knitted hat that extended itself down her head. She took a quick look in the mirror and was pleased with her transformation. Now all she had to do was to sneak out without her brothers seeing her.

                                                                                    ***

              Booker was playing on his phone when he finally saw Fiona come outside as she approached his car from the back of the pub. He almost forgot to breathe. She looked so damn adorable in her white wool coat and hat. The jeans she wore hugged her legs like they were made for her and those boots gave him ideas about taking her in his bed…

             
He was startled out of his thoughts when she opened the door and smiled at him as she hopped in.

             
“Hey, all ready to go. Now where are you taking me?”

             
He grabbed her glove covered hand and placed a kiss on it.

             
“Hey gorgeous, you will just have to wait and see.”

             
He caught himself staring at her because she poked him and said, “Alright, well we aren’t going anywhere unless you put the car in drive.”

             
He shook his head. “Sorry, you are just so damn pretty.”

             
She made a gagging noise mocking him. “Oh come on Booker, you can do better than that. I actually expect more from you than a cheesy line.”

             
“You know you are right.” He said while putting his car in drive and starting toward their destination. “I promise to be more creative next time.”

             
“That’s more like it. So how was your day? Did you happen to do anything fun today in good old Warblers Point?”

             
He chuckled. “Just relaxed. How was work?”

             
“Oh you know, served the town drunks, got hit on by a couple of tourists, some cute ones actually.”

             
Booker’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. He knew he had no claim over Fiona at all especially since he was pretty sure she was seeing Murphy Ryan from the ski shop but the fact that there were other guys hitting on her made his blood boil. He didn’t like sharing, it was bad enough he had to compete with a full on Irish man, he didn’t need other men in the mix.

             
“They didn’t hurt you did they?” It was the only thing he could think to say that wasn’t going to make him look like a total jealous idiot.

             
She laughed. “No they were harmless, plus if anything happened my brothers would have thrown them out themselves. They don’t technically believe in the phrase, ‘The customer is always right.’ And since we are the only really good pub in town, we can afford to throw people out.”

             
Booker eased up a bit realizing that in fact if any man got fresh on Fiona, her brothers would be right there to pummel the guy’s ass who tried to take advantage of her. He would not want to face those three guys together. Bradon he thought he could take, but Liam and Finn were at least twenty pounds heavier than him and where they were lacking in fat they  made up with muscle.

             
“Are there any other bars in town?” He didn’t remember seeing any.

             
“Well there are some in restaurants around town and then there’s Glitter.”

             
“Glitter?”

             
“Yes it’s the local gay bar around here. I love our pub to death but I would take a night at Glitter over O’Leary’s any night and if you try to quote me on that I will deny ever saying it.” She lit up his car with a sparkling smile.

             
He laughed. “Why is Glitter better?”

             
“Seriously? You’re talking about a glitter-ized establishment that sells liquor and has a disco ball and a dance floor with lights that shoot out of the floor. I have had many a drunk nights dancing there having the time of my life.” She swatted his shoulder. “Hey, a Sheila like you would fit in perfectly!”

             
“Ha, ha” he mocked. “Am I ever going to live that down? It’s not like a martini is all that bad, James Bond drinks them.” He stated while pulling into their destination.

             
“I don’t think so…Hey, why are we at my parents bed and breakfast?” She turned in her seat so fast and stilled the steering wheel with her hand the only reaction he could think of was to abruptly stop the car.

             
“What’s going on?” he asked.

             
“Why are we here Booker? If you think that I’m going to sleep with you…”

             
He placed his hand over her mouth. “Before you say something you are going to immediately regret, don’t say a word and trust me. I’m not about to take advantage of you at your parents bed and breakfast.”

             
“I can’t be seen here with you.”

             
She was really good at not hiding her feelings, feelings that every time she expressed herself cut his heart in half. He hated that she didn’t want to be seen with him and he knew the one reason why, Murphy. Should he even continue on with the date? Or should he just give up because it was a hopeless cause.