Forever Mine: Callaghan Brothers, Book 9(33)
It took everything he had not to reach out and keep her from leaving, but one look at her face and he knew it would only make things worse. “When are you coming back?”
She paused at the door without turning back. “I don’t know.”
And then she was gone.
Chapter Thirteen
Darkness had fallen, and it had been snowing for the past several hours. Jack’s mood darkened as it became increasingly likely that Kathleen wouldn’t be making it back anytime soon. He was torn between wanting to see her walk through the door and worrying that she would try to drive in the deteriorating weather conditions.
“Tell me again why you’re shooting pool with me instead of making love to your beautiful bride?” Brian said, lining up his shot.
“Because you picked the lock and forced your way in.”
“You hung up on me. And you have my car. Do you have any idea how long it took me to rip off all those damn cans?”
Jack grunted. Hell yes he’d hung up on him, because he wanted to avoid this. While he appreciated Brian returning the Galaxie can-free, he wished he would have left it in the lot and used the keys Jack had left under to floor mat to reclaim his own.
“She was pretty pissed about the bar, huh.”
“Yeah.”
Jack waited for the “I told you so”, but it didn’t come. Good man, Brian.
He leaned over and missed his shot. Brian stepped up and cleared the table before racking up again. “It’s hard, isn’t it?” Brian said without looking at him. “Coming home. Pretending as though nothing’s changed. Trying to remember how to be normal, when in your gut, you know that it’s just not possible.”
“Yeah.”
“But when I’m with Adonia, I don’t feel quite as ... broken.”
Jack nodded. Yes, that was it exactly. Kathleen made him feel whole again, or as close as he’d ever come. Her love and the dream of making a life with her were the only things that had gotten him through Hell. Kathleen was his croie. His heart. “Same.”
“So? What are you going to do about it?”
“What can I do? Kathleen’s really pissed. She left, man. And I can’t say I blame her.”
Brian looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “You’re kidding, right? This is Jack Callaghan I’m talking to, isn’t it?” Jack curled his upper lip, baring his teeth, but Brian was not intimidated. “You do what any man would do. You get your ass in gear and go after your woman. You tell her you fucked up big time and ask her forgiveness.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
“You go down on your knees and beg. Not where anyone else can see you, though,” he added with a smirk. “Don’t want anyone thinking you’re completely pussy-whipped, even if it is the truth.”
Despite his foul mood, Jack’s lips quirked.
“Oh, and promise her you’re going to take her to that place in the Poconos as soon as the check clears. Then bring her back here and make love to her till walking away again isn’t an option.”
The plan had merit. “How’d you get to be so smart?”
“Experience. I’ve fucked up a lot. Hey, you okay to drive?”
“Yeah.” He hadn’t had anything stronger than water since she left; maybe, in the back of his mind, he’d known he’d go after her all along. Maybe that’s what she wanted –—a demonstration of sorts.
“Then what the hell are you waiting for? Go get your woman!”
––––––––
The roads were worse than he’d thought. The freak March snowstorm caught everyone off guard, and the road crews were already dangerously low on salt and cinders because of the worse than normal winter. Jack was glad he’d put the snow tires and chains on the Galaxie, but even they weren’t much help on the slick metal grate of the bridge spanning the river.
When the back end started sliding out behind him, he compensated without thinking by turning the wheel hard, bringing the car back in line with the road (or where he thought the road was). Only a few more miles and he’d be at O’Leary’s Diner. That was where he’d likely find Kathleen, but if not, he’d go to her parents’ house next.
A plow pulled out in front of him, which was both good and bad. Good, because it improved the immediate road conditions in front of him, and bad, because it would take even longer to reach his destination.
Jack heaved a huge sigh of relief when he arrived at O’Leary’s and found Conlan and his son-in-law, Seamus, shoveling the lot. Conlan straightened and rested his hands on the shovel. By the displeased look on his face, he already knew about their disagreement.
“Mr. O’Leary,” he greeted respectfully. “I need to see Kathleen.”
After pinning him with the glare of a father whose daughter had been wronged, Conlan informed him that Kathleen had gone back to the house with her mother earlier. “I don’t know how ye managed te cock it up so badly so quickly,” his father-in-law told him, “but doona fash, lad. My Katie-belle loves ye, and she’ll forgive near anything if yer apology is sincere enough. Ye are goin’ te apologize, aren’t ye, son?”
“Aye. And I’m thinking perhaps some groveling will be involved as well, sir.”