Bailey succeeded in doing what she’d set out to do.
To take our minds off my mom.
To make us laugh.
Even if it was at my expense.
The following night most of my family was gathered at Rosie’s. Levi had woken up sick that morning, and although he’d gotten better throughout the day, Darragh and Krista didn’t think it was a good idea for him to go out for dinner. Ultimately, they decided both boys should stay home since they’d have to leave after dinner with Krista anyway, so Darragh had come alone. I was disappointed Krista and my nephews weren’t there and hoped Levi would be well enough to go to Dad’s steak dinner tomorrow for my last night in Boston.
“I will miss the hell out of you,” Davina said as we stood at the bar to order drinks. We’d already all eaten and were now moving onto the drinking portion of the evening. Well, they were. I was sticking to soda water and lime.
I leaned into her. “I’m going to miss you too. But I’ll be back before you know it.”
She seemed to hesitate before blurting out, “If Mom wanted to try to have a relationship with me again and I wanted to see if that could work, would you hate me?”
Of course not. “God, no, Davina. Look, I understand why things are the way they are between Mom and me, and as much as it hurts, I’ve found more peace about that than I could have hoped for a mere month ago. I know now she and I will probably never have a relationship and I’m coming to terms with that. But I wouldn’t wish that on any of you. Or her. So if she makes steps to mend fences, I’d be happy for you, Davi. Honestly.”
She gave me a tremulous smile. “I love you, kiddo.”
I grinned. “I love you too.”
Her smile widened, and she opened her mouth to say something else, but Bailey popped up by my side. “Sorry to interrupt but I need to tell you something.”
“What are you doing?” Dermot appeared behind us.
We all turned. My brother glared at Bailey.
Bailey glowered back. “I’m not ambushing her.”
“This was your idea.”
“I didn’t think it would work and you gave me very little notice.”
“What the hell is going on?” Davina scowled at the two of them.
Bailey swallowed hard and gave me an apologetic look. “Michael is on his way here.”
“What? Why?” Was the room spinning? Because I was all of a sudden very light-headed.
“I do hate you.”
I blinked away the sound of his voice ringing in my head as Bailey replied, “Dermot told me that Michael was there, watching you two leave the station that night and that he looked worried about you. Neither of us believes someone who didn’t care about you would follow you out of the station. Also, hate isn’t a bad thing in this case. The thing you have to worry about is indifference. And it’s clear that Michael is definitely not indifferent to you. So, long story short, I asked Dermot if he thought Michael would turn up for drinks with the family. One last chance at trying to mend the breach, you know.”
Ugh. How had I forgotten Bailey’s second career as a matchmaker? She’d done this to Jessica and Cooper too. “Bailey …”
“Thing is—”
“Thing is”—Dermot ran a hand through his hair, an apology in his hazel eyes—“I didn’t exactly tell him you’d be here.”
“But one would assume he’d know that you’re here,” Bailey interjected. She met my horrified gaze. “Still, I wanted to give you a heads-up.”
I glared at my brother to cover the shipwreck of turmoil that was crashing and rolling in my stomach. “But you thought I should feel ambushed?”
“No, I was just worried you’d leave.”
I wasn’t going to lie—the instinct to leave was there.
However, I wasn’t running anymore.
I looked over at the table where Dad, Astrid, and Darragh were laughing together. “I’m not leaving. If Michael is unhappy with me being here, then he can leave.”
Then, right on cue, as if we really were magnets drawn to each other, I felt it when he stepped inside the bar. My eyes moved past Dermot toward the door.
There he was.
Michael wore the same leather jacket I’d seen him in at my dad’s house, with dark jeans, a dark shirt, and black boots. The only thing different was that he’d shaved.
Either way, he was so goddamn handsome, it killed me.
Being at the station with him, in that interview room, so close I could smell