glass of Chardonnay. Or maybe a bottle.”
Padraig chuckled. “You gotta stop hanging out with Kelli so much. She’s a bad influence on you.”
Once Padraig had delivered her glass—he refused to leave the bottle—he continued along the bar, refilling and taking orders. The pub always did a great business on football days.
“So, are you going to tell me what’s got you down?”
“Are you sure you don’t mind talking? I know the game is on.”
Pop Pop gave her a look that told her she should know better. “I’ve seen thousands of football games, Darcy. It won’t hurt me to miss a wee bit of this one. Besides, the Ravens are winning.”
She grinned. Her grandfather was a hardcore Baltimore fan—across the board. If Baltimore had a team, Pop Pop bled for them.
“There’s this guy I’m interested in,” she started.
Pop Pop instantly smiled. She got her hopeless romantic genes from him. There was nothing the man loved more than a love story.
Not that she was anywhere near that yet with Ryder. He’d spent the entire week working at the stadium again, and she suspected it was because he was trying to avoid her. Especially when Helen mentioned in passing how strange it was for him to be out of the office so much.
“Tell me all about him.”
“Actually, I’ve known him for years. So have you.”
Pop Pop studied her face intently, nodding. “I see. You’re finally ready to admit that you’re smitten with Ryder.”
Darcy sighed heavily, considering Ryder’s observation about her family knowing everyone else’s business. She was starting to think maybe that wasn’t always a good thing. “Does everyone in the family know?”
Pop Pop chuckled. “Only the ones who’ve been paying attention. So yes, I venture to guess everyone knows.”
“At least smitten is a better word than crush.”
“But the real question is how smitten. Twittery stomach?”
She laughed. “Check.”
“Sweaty palms?”
“Again, check.”
“How about that heart?”
“Races a million miles a minute whenever he’s around.”
Pop Pop’s grin faded. “So am I to assume from your sad expression and heavy sighs that your feelings aren’t returned?”
Darcy shrugged. Because the truth of the matter was there were times—brief moments—when she thought Ryder did have feelings for her. Then he’d shutter them away behind that stupid “I’m the boss” excuse.
Which he and Darcy both knew wasn’t the real reason he was pushing her away. Ryder’s reluctance to pursue a relationship was based on past history, and Darcy wasn’t sure that was something she could defeat. Especially not with Ryder digging his heels in and avoiding her like the plague.
“Why didn’t you ever remarry after Grandma Sunday passed away?”
If Pop Pop was surprised by her abrupt left turn, he didn’t show it. “That’s an interesting question. One I’ve had quite a few decades to consider. And the answer might surprise you.”
Darcy twisted on her stool to face him. “Surprise me?”
“The easy answer is, she was my true love, the one my heart beat for, and no one else could ever take her place.”
Darcy tried to understand why he thought that would shock her. “Are you saying that isn’t the answer? Because that’s what I would have expected you to say.”
“She was all that to me, Darcy. She absolutely was. But…” Pop Pop glanced over his shoulder. Padraig was leaning against the counter at the end of the bar, talking to Emmy, a romance writer and regular at the pub.
“But…” Darcy prodded.
“In the past, I’ve always said she was my one true love. The only one for me. I don’t say that anymore because…”
“Because Paddy’s always listening.” Her cousin, Padraig, had married his true love, Mia. And for one year, they’d lived a lifetime of love before she’d passed away—too young—from a brain tumor.
Pop Pop turned and smiled at her. “He is. When you get to be my age, you have a lot of time to look back over your life, to consider decisions you made, paths you walked. You can acknowledge regrets and either do something about them or let them go. And if there’s one thing I’ve discovered, there’s never one thing driving a person’s decisions, but a million little things. I didn’t remarry after Sunday because my heart was shattered, but also because I had seven children and a business to run. Dating wasn’t something I had time for, even if I wanted to, so I shut that part down.”
“Do you regret that?”
“I don’t. But I will regret it if Padraig follows in my footsteps. I no longer believe there is just one true love for each of us, but