she sees ye as king, Dad, I wouldn’t argue with her.”
His lips curl into what can barely be called a smile. “I suppose I should take what I can get in this house? Well, well, sit down and eat.”
We take our seats on the opposite side of the table. There’s a bowl of simple salad in front of us as a starter, which we all tuck in to, passing each other salt, pepper, and salad dressing.
Val is looking at the two other empty places at the table just as the Major comes out to take his seat at one.
“Ah, salad!” he says, clapping his hands together. “Just like yesterday and the day before and the day before that.” He’s still dressed in his brown suit that looks like it’s been found at the bottom of a thrift store bin.
“You eat it and you like it,” my nan says threateningly.
“What’s that you say?”
My nan closes her eyes, shaking her head. “Merciful Jesus in heaven,” she mumbles.
Then Gail steps out of the kitchen, holding the giant pot of Irish stew my nan had been working on all day.
Gail’s not surprised to see me, so she must have been warned. She looks good, too, if not a little on the skinny side with dark circles under her eyes.
“Howya, Padraig. It’s been a long time.” She says this lightly but I swear I see some bitterness on her lips, like she just sucked on a lemon. “Things good with ye?”
“Yea, things are grand,” I tell her. Which, of course, is complete shite. Funny how we say that automatically even if it isn’t true, which makes all of us liars at some point during our day. “Welcome back to Shambles.”
She gives a wincing smile as she puts the pot of stew in the middle of the table. “I’d say the same to ye but I’m guessing you’re not to stay long.” She takes her seat beside the Major and eyes Valerie. “I heard the good news. Congratulations.”
“What’s the good news?” the Major asks, even though we’d told him earlier.
“Padraig and this lady here are getting married,” she says loudly and in his ear.
“Oh, that’s a fret,” he says. “Fair play to ye, Padraig, she’s a fine thing.” He looks to my father and my nan. “And you two have been keeping it a secret!”
My father is picking away at his salad, ignoring that. I’ve noticed he’s barely eaten any of it.
“So when is the wedding?” Gail asks, scooping out stew into everyone’s bowls.
“Yes, Padraig. When is the blooming wedding?” my nan asks.
I eye Val and she nods, taking the reins. “We don’t know yet. It depends on Padraig’s schedule, when he goes back to play.”
I try not to wince since I may never go back to play. But she doesn’t know that and neither does anyone else.
“So your concussion is all healed up then?” Gail asks. “That was a brutal hit ye took.”
“It was. Very unlike ye to fuck it up like that,” my dad adds. “I still don’t understand what the hell happened.”
“Colin,” my nan admonishes him. “Please, let us eat before ye start mentioning hell.”
“Yer the one talking about the bloody devil all the time,” he grumbles back to her.
“Only because I like to have him on my side,” she says, pointing her fork at him in a hostile manner. “And what’s done is done. No point making the poor boy feel bad, he’s been through enough.”
“We only got engaged over Christmas,” Val speaks up, trying to change the subject. “So we haven’t really planned anything yet. It’s all so new,” she adds brightly.
“Where is your ring?” Gail asks, staring at Val’s hands but glancing expectantly at me. “You’ve all the money in the world, I would have thought should ye ever get married, your miss would be rolling in diamonds.”
“It’s not the time to be cheap, Padraig,” my dad adds.
I exchange a glance with Val and my nan and then clear my throat. “Well, Dad, I meant to ask ye this earlier. But the reason she doesn’t have a ring was I was hoping I could use Mam’s engagement ring.”
The room goes silent.
Everyone stops eating and looks at my father.
Except for Major, who goes, “What’s that you say?”
My father frowns and then takes his glasses off and puts them back on, as if that will reset the question. “You want to use the ring I gave yer mother?”
“It would mean a lot to us. I would like that ring to live on,”