Kiss Me, I'm Irish: The Sins of His Past / Tangling With Ty / Whatever Reilly Wants...

“We’re about to find out, Seamus.”

DIANA LOOKED HAPPIER than usual. Kendra noticed the diamond-like sparkle in her eyes, which usually meant she’d gotten what she wanted. Please God, let it be so. Diana would back Kendra and push Seamus to move on with their plans. She was always in favor of progress and change.

As Diana puttered in the kitchen, straightening an already neat counter, Seamus sat on the sofa, elbows resting on his knees and knuckles supporting his chin. He only moved his eyes, looking up as Kendra and Deuce entered the family room. Unlike his fiancée, Seamus looked anything but pleased with the turn of events.

All of the papers and sketches had been neatly piled on the coffee table. Would those documents be making the trip into banks and venture-capital firms this week…or going home with Kendra?

Kendra stood to one side, but Deuce took a seat across from his father. “So, Dad. Whad’ya think?”

For a long moment, Seamus said nothing, staring first at Deuce, then at the papers on the table. Kendra’s throat tightened and she dared another look at Diana, who had paused in her counter-wiping and turned to watch the drama unfolding in her family room.

“I think I have quite a dilemma.”

No one said a word in response. Kendra willed her heart to slow, certain that the thumping could be heard in the silence. Even Newman lifted his head from the floor, his classic King Charles spaniel face looking expectantly at the humans around him.

“Deuce, you need to understand something,” Seamus began. “This Internet café and artist’s gallery is something we’ve been working on for almost two years. I really like the idea of bringing Monroe’s into the next century.”

Deuce leaned forward and opened his mouth to speak, but Seamus silenced him with one look. Kendra wished she’d taken a seat when they walked in, because her legs felt shaky as she waited for Seamus’s next words.

“And Kennie, you know that my father opened Monroe’s in 1933, the year I was born. He ran it until he died, more than thirty years later, in 1965. Then I took over, at—” he looked at Deuce “—thirty-three years of age.”

Kendra bit her lip as she listened. Did Seamus see this as poetic justice? As history repeating itself? As some etched-in-stone prediction from on high? As the Monroe Man turneth thirty-three, so shall he inherit the bar.

Sheez. Her gaze shifted to Deuce and she could have sworn his lip curled upward. Was he thinking the same thing? Or was he just so damn sure of himself that he could afford to be cocky?

Instead of a snide remark, though, Deuce leaned forward again. “Dad,” he said, forcefully enough that he wouldn’t be stopped by his father’s glare. “Isn’t there some way we can compromise? Some way to keep Monroe’s in the family, as a bar, and find another property for this…other stuff.”

“That’s not feasible,” Kendra argued before Seamus could respond. “These blueprints have been drawn up by an architect—an expensive one, by the way—expressly for that property and the other buildings on the block.”

“So use one of the other buildings,” Deuce countered.

“We are. As soon as we rip out the bar altogether and push that whole wall fifty feet in another direction for an art gallery.”

“An art gallery? In that space?” Deuce looked as though she’d suggested turning it into a nursery school. “That’s perfect for a pool hall and twenty TV screens, each tuned to a different football game on Sunday. They have these satellite dishes—”

“Sunday? That’s one of our biggest days. We do so much Internet business—”

“Not from football fans.”

“You two need to work this out,” Seamus said.

“Precisely!” Diana slammed her hands hard on the kitchen counter. Kendra, like the men and the dog, turned to stare at her. “You need to work side by side, together.”

“What?” Kendra and Deuce responded in unison.

“She’s right,” Seamus acknowledged. “I can’t make a choice without hurting someone I care about. We’ll go on our trip, and you two run the place together.”

“What do you mean—together?” Deuce asked.

Diana came around the breakfast bar into the family room, her gaze on Seamus, a shared, secret arcing between them, but Kendra had no idea what it was. “Why doesn’t Kendra run the Internet café in the day, and Deuce run the bar at night? Let the customers decide where and when they want to spend their money.”

“Run a bar at night?” Kendra almost sputtered in shock. “And lose all my nighttime business?”

“That’s been a tiny percentage of the profits,” Seamus responded. “You’ve been shutting down by nine o’clock lately.”

“But it’s April now. The warm weather is starting, more tourists are coming.” She worked to modulate her voice, refusing to whine. “Those are the people who need Internet access, who bring their laptops so they can work on vacation.”

“People drink on vacation,” Deuce corrected her. “At least at night.” He slapped his hands on his thighs and slid them over his khaki pants, a smug smile in place. “I think it’s a great idea.”

They all looked at her expectantly. Was she going to back down? Let Deuce appear more willing to take the challenge than she was?

No one came in that bar looking for a drink anymore. What remained of the liquor bottles had to be regularly dusted. She’d been running Monroe’s as though it were a coffee shop and Internet café for a long time; her customers were loyal online users. The people looking for a neighborhood bar went to the bigger chains that had come into town.

“Okay. Fine. Whatever you want, Seamus.”

“I want you both to have a chance.” He stood slowly, his gaze moving between them. “I’d like to see the decision be made by you, not me.”

“We’ll let the people of Rockingham decide,” Deuce said, looking at Diana as he echoed her thoughts. Sure, now they were allies.

But Deuce had no idea what he was up against, getting between a woman and her dream. Twice.

Her Internet café was significantly more profitable than a bar, and Diana and Seamus’s trip was only two weeks long. There was no way Deuce could turn a profit in less than a month.

Seamus stepped toward Diana and slid his arm around her again. “Tomorrow, Diana and I are leaving for Boston, New York and San Francisco for meetings arranged with investors and banks.” He paused and pulled Diana closer, sharing that secret smile again. “And we’ve decided to tack on an early honeymoon.”

“What do you mean?” Kendra asked.

“We were going to tell you this morning, honey,” Diana said, “but we were so surprised by Deuce’s visit.”

“Tell us what?” Deuce looked horrified. “Did you already get married?”

Diana laughed lightly. “No. But I found the most amazing timeshare in Hawaii. A gorgeous house in Kauai, on the water. We couldn’t resist.”

“How long will you be gone?” Kendra asked, a sinking sensation tugging at her stomach.

Seamus grinned. “A month in Hawaii, plus the two weeks of business trip.”

“A month?” Kendra looked from one to the other. “You’ll be gone for six weeks?”

“Great,” Deuce said, standing up. “Diana, do you think you can find me a place to rent until I sell my house in Vegas?”

Kendra glared at him. “Why don’t you wait to sell your place until we see who…what happens.”

“You can stay here,” Diana offered. “Newman seems to have taken a liking to you.”

“I take care of Newman,” Kendra said. Good Lord, she didn’t want Deuce a hundred yards away from her for six weeks.

“You can handle him in the evenings,” Deuce said, his gaze on her. “I’ll be at the bar.”