Forever Mine: Callaghan Brothers, Book 9(20)
“Good lad.”
Kathleen returned, no longer in her uniform, but in a pair of figure-hugging bell-bottomed jeans and a loose, flowery top. Her hair was down, brushed to a soft shine and curling around her shoulders. Both Jack and Conlan stood at her approach.
Wobbling a bit, Jack steadied himself with a hand on the table as he went down on one knee. “Kathleen Siobhan O’Leary, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
The diner went silent as Kathleen lifted a trembling left hand out to him. Her voice was clear as she gave him her answer. “Aye, Jack Padraig Callaghan. I will.”
Jack slipped the ring on her finger. Cheers erupted as Jack stood and took his fiancée in his arms.
“Ready to get out of here?” he asked breathlessly.
“So ready,” she grinned.
“I guess I’ll just wrap this up for ye, then,” Conlan said, his green eyes bright with amusement and warning. “I’ll expect my daughter home by midnight, and in the same pristine condition in which she’s leaving.”
“Da! I’m twenty-five years old!”
“Doona ‘Da’ me,” Conlan said, his accent thicker than it had been only moments earlier. “It doesn’t matter how old ye are, ye are my daughter. My unmarried, innocent daughter.”
Kathleen opened her mouth to say something, but Jack squeezed her hand. “She’s in good hands with me, Mr. O’Leary.”
Conlan nodded approvingly, picked up their plates, and headed into the kitchen.
––––––––
“I don’t know why you agreed to that,” Kathleen pouted later, snuggled across his lap.
Jack chuckled. There was a large, stiff part of him thinking exactly the same thing, but thankfully, his self-discipline prevailed. “Your father is right, Kathleen,” Jack said, tucking a strand of black silk behind her ear. “We should wait.”
“Why? We’re both adults. Haven’t we waited long enough?”
“I would wait forever for you, Kathleen, if it meant doing it right. Tell me you don’t want a proper wedding.”
“Well of course I do. But I want you more.”
“And you have me, for as long as you want me. Tonight, I just want to hold you, okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed with an exhale. “But I’m calling Father Murphy first thing in the morning and we are doing this sooner rather than later.”
“Sounds right to me,” he agreed, kissing her into silence once again.
Chapter Nine
September 2015
Pine Ridge
Michael opened the door to his office, exhausted, to find Jake snoring on his couch. He pushed his brother’s legs off the end to make room, then sat down heavily and rubbed his eyes. “Everyone else went home to grab a shower. You should, too, man. You reek.”
“Says the man who hasn’t slept in two days,” Jake mumbled. “What’s the word?”
“They’re moving Dad out of the CICU to the step-down unit.”
“That’s good news, right?”
“Yeah, it’s good news.”
“So why do you look like someone pissed in your coffee?”
“Like you said, I haven’t slept in two days.”
“Bullshit. I’ve seen you go a lot longer than that. Level with me, Mick.”
“What, did Shane give you some of his psychic mojo or something?”
“No. But I know you, little brother, and something’s got you spooked. Talk to me.”
Michael exhaled. Jake wouldn’t let it go, and he was too tired to play games. “It’s probably nothing, but something just isn’t adding up.”
“It’s a hell of a thing, having a heart attack.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Shane says you think it wasn’t a complete surprise, though.”
“Shane has a big mouth.”
“Kier doesn’t think it was a surprise either.”
“What the hell does Kier know?”
“He knows Dad hasn’t been at BodyWorks for over two weeks.”
Michael frowned. Given the history of heart disease in their family, Jack was a stickler for keeping in shape and insisted his sons did the same. For him to miss two weeks was unusual, but it wasn’t exactly a red flag. “So?”
“So, Kier says the last time the old man was in, he cut his workout short. And when he left, he was covered in sweat and as pale as a ghost. He told Kier it was just indigestion, but he hasn’t been back since.”
Indigestion. Just like Jack had told Maggie. “No one thought to mention it?”
Jake shrugged. “Didn’t think anything of it. Would you? Shit, Mick. He said it was indigestion, for Christ’s sake.”
Michael leaned back and closed his eyes. “Karen, the night shift nurse, told me she went into Dad’s room last night and he called her Kathleen.”
“With all the shit you’re pumping into him, that’s not unusual, is it? You did a bit of calling for Mom yourself when you decided to play Superman and got that hole in your chest a couple of years ago.”
Michael winced at the memory. He and Maggie had been going through a rough patch, and he’d thought he’d lost her forever. His judgment had been adversely affected, and he’d taken chances he normally wouldn’t have on that op. He’d ended up nearly getting himself killed in the process.