One King's Way (On Dublin Street #6.5)(30)

Maggie was everything I had been expecting and more. From the pictures I’d seen in Craig’s flat, she looked like her mother, a tall brunette with pretty features and gorgeous bone structure. She wore her long hair in a messy half-bun half-ponytail. Her skinny jeans were old and faded at the knees, and she wore a University of Aberdeen hoodie that was two sizes too big. Even grungy she looked gorgeous. However, according to Craig her personality couldn’t have been more different from their mother’s. He said where Karen was reserved and had a quiet, quick humor, Maggie was clearly the opposite—loud, cheeky, and mischievous. And it was pretty apparent that Craig adored her.

Once we were seated at a table for lunch Maggie stared at me a long moment.

“Is there something wrong?” I said, touching my styled hair.

“No, you’re just seriously f*cking beautiful.” She looked at Craig. “You said she was gorgeous but she’s seriously f*cking beautiful.”

Craig laughed, that laughter deepening when he saw me squirm uncomfortably in my chair. “Aye. But you might want to lower your voice. You’re embarrassing Rain.”

“Sorry.” She shrugged and I had to wonder if she really was sorry. “It’s just I assumed when my brother finally got tagged by a bird it would be some cheap, plastic, orange-tanned Barbie with no personality. Not some 1940s pin-up.” Her eyes washed over me and she looked back at Craig. “I think I have a girl crush on your girlfriend.”

He rolled his eyes at her antics. “Right. We’ve got it. You approve. Now stop embarrassing Rain. I mean it.”

Maggie grinned at him and then looked at me. “I’m sorry. Honest, I am. I’m just excited! This is freaking cool!” She smacked Craig on the arm. “My big bro all loved up.”

“And are you?” I asked her, hoping to change the subject.

This elicited a snort from Craig’s sister. “Me? I’m always loved up. I’m a bigger manwhore than my brother.”

“Oh no,” Craig groaned and rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Subject change. Now.”

I shared a secret smile with her. “How’s uni going?”

“Great! Except I’m skint all the time.” She pouted comically. “Not so good. But! I love coming home because big bro always takes me out to eat. It’s a nice break from noodles and beans on toast.”

The waiter arrived to take our order, stopping us mid-conversation. Once he was gone, Craig narrowed his gaze on his sister. “I told you to phone me if you need money. I’ll not have you starving up there.”

“I’m fine.” She waved him off, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. “I promise.”

He squeezed her hand back and I added another thing I adored about him to my list: He really, really loved his sister. His whole family, in fact.

While we talked about Maggie’s roommates at uni, a family at the next table became hard to ignore. Really it was their son who became hard to ignore. He looked about four or five and he was being very loud. Extremely loud. And he was using his food as missiles.

“Toby, sweetheart, please stop. Sit nice and be quiet,” his desperately mortified-looking mother urged.

Maggie, who kept stopping to glower at the boy, eyed Toby as he said, “No. Fuck off!”

His mother drew in a breath, looking ready to cry.

“Toby, is it?” Maggie suddenly leaned away from our table to theirs.

The mother went beetroot at the attention. Craig murmured at Maggie to sit back and was defiantly ignored.

“Yeah!” Toby replied, crossing his arms over his chest as if to say, “What’s it to you?”

“Have you ever heard of The Bed Brute, Toby?”

Toby shook his head. “What’s that?”

“It’s not a that. It’s a who.” Maggie said. “A monster, to be exact.”

“A monster?” Toby leaned toward her now, sounding intrigued.

“Yup.” She nodded, her expression deadpan. “The Bed Brute has a problem with children who are rude to their parents. He doesn’t like it, Toby.”

Toby’s expression fell.

“He especially doesn’t like children who say bad words to their parents. And if a child is rude a lot and says bad words a lot, The Bed Brute finds out. And do you know what he does, Toby?”

Toby shook his head, eyes wide.

“He waits for them to go to sleep and then he comes out from under their bed and snatches them away into the night. So if I were you, Toby, I wouldn’t be rude or say bad words to your mummy anymore.”

Toby abruptly burst into loud, terrified sobs.

Maggie gave the boy’s mum a wide smile. “You’re welcome.”

The horrified mother could barely speak in her fury as they sought to comfort her son, gather her other two children, and demand the check from the waiter.

Craig and I exchanged tight-lipped looks as the family scampered out of the restaurant . . .

And then we burst into our own horrified laughter.

“What?” Maggie chuckled, shrugging.

“You can’t say that to a child.” Craig shook his head, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

“What? I bet it works! The little shit won’t be telling his mum to f*ck off anytime soon. Rain thinks it was brilliant, don’t you?”