Kiss My Cupcake(78)

Henry folds down the footrest on his La-Z-Boy and slowly pushes to a standing position. He hobbles over and pulls Ronan into a hug. “I’m so proud of ya.” He smacks him on the back a couple of times before he grabs him by the arms, eyes watery, smile wavering. “Dottie would be too if she was here. I know she’s looking down on you from heaven with a big smile on her face. She always believed in you.”

“I know she did.”

He pats Ronan’s chest and turns to me, pulling me in for a hug. “You’re the one who lit a fire under his ass, so I hope he’s told you how much he appreciates you.”

I hug him back, choked up about the whole thing, especially since I know Ronan’s story and Henry’s, and how much this bar means to him and this family.

Ronan tells Henry that he’s planning to throw a party tonight, and he would love it if he would be able to come to the bar for dinner at the very least to celebrate.

“Are you kidding me? I’m coming right now. You kids hold on a few minutes while I get ready.” His slippers make a whoosh-whoosh sound as he shuffles down the hall.

“I can’t believe he thought I knocked you up.”

I can’t believe he thought Ronan asked me to marry him. “I like that he got all righteous about it.”

“Yeah, well, I think fifty percent of the reason he couldn’t wait to marry my grandma was so he could finally get into her pants, because back in the sixties that was how things went.”

I roll my eyes. “That’s how you think things went. It wasn’t any different than it is now. Teenagers had sex back then just like they do now, only now it’s easier to get contraception and kids actually know that standing up after sex doesn’t prevent pregnancy.”

“Okay, we need to stop talking about sex and teenagers and pregnancy, because it’s sending mixed messages below the waist and I’m having some conflict over that.”

I glance down at his crotch. “Are you aroused?”

“Not fully.” He’s amusingly defensive.

I poke the front of his pants. “You have a semi?”

“You said ‘sex’ twice and ‘contraception,’ and some parts of me don’t realize it doesn’t mean right now.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m excited, about a lot of things, not the least of which is my girlfriend spending the night with me. Tell me you can get Callie to open for you tomorrow. I really want you to celebrate this win with me because it never would have happened without you.”

“I’ll talk to her as soon as we’re back at The Knight Cap.”

“This is as much your win as it is mine.”

“This is yours, Ronan. Don’t feel bad about being excited.”

“I know how much this meant to you, though.”

“And it means a lot to you, too, and to Gramps.” As much as I wanted the win to be mine, I can’t begrudge Ronan this. There’s so much love here. History and connection and family. It’s impossible to compete with that kind of beautiful backstory. “I can’t think of a better way to honor your grandmother’s memory.”

Henry appears in the hallway. “What do ya think? Not too dressy for the occasion, is it?” He tugs on the hem of his suit jacket and I want to burst into tears. Like everything else in this house, it’s a throwback to the nineties, and it’s obvious he’s lost some weight since he put it on last.

“You look perfect, Gramps. You’re gonna knock ’em all out,” Ronan says, his voice breaking.

Henry looks to me and winks. “Blaire, I need a woman’s opinion, not this hipster jackass.”

A half giggle–half sob bubbles up, but I manage to swallow it back down. “You look absolutely dapper.”

“I haven’t worn this suit in a while, but I figured if ever there was a reason to wear the family tartan, this is it.” His smile is huge, and my heart melts for the man who stepped in and brought his grandfather’s bar back to life.





chapter twenty





Don’t Leave Me Hanging


Blaire



The Knight Cap celebration is fantastic.

Ronan stays over at my place afterward and keeps me up until an ungodly hour in the morning. I tamp down my resentment over his peaceful, sleeping form sprawled over my mattress, dead to the world as I tiptoe around my room and try not to trip over our discarded clothes while I get ready for work.

We only have three days left to prepare for the street party, which means I have a lot of things to take care of. I leave Ronan in my bed, ruing my lack of sleep, but aware it’s my own damn fault for staying out until two in the morning and then letting him persuade me to have slightly drunk marathon sex until four. My short sleep seems woefully inadequate right now.

I’m running behind this morning, so I have to rush through decorating today’s cupcakes before B&B opens. I’m grateful that Callie is around to help, because I’m still in decorating mode when the doors open. The shop is bustling with morning customers and people picking up orders. I help Callie get things under control, tragically under-caffeinated for this level of on-the-ball. I can’t say I’m disappointed by the number of customers we have, though. It’s busier than it has been as of late, possibly because of the best bar winner announcement and the Top 10 list Tori posted on its heels.