Page 447 of Manhattan Bossholes

“Don’t know what?” I looked straight into Seamus’ eyes, starting to feel more than a little exasperated. “Please, just tell me what the hell’s going on here, because this sure isn’t the same Ballybeith I left.”

“Damn right it isn’t,” Seamus agreed. “Not after what Declan did.”

“What Declan did…” I repeated, my heart tightening as I imagined the O’Rourkes’ manor being bulldozed into oblivion. Had he finally done it? Brought the O’Rourkes to their knees? Judging by the wide smile on Seamus’ face, that was hard to believe.

“Yeah, the community center,” Seamus said. “Declan bought my family’s mansion and he’s turning it into a community center. Everyone knows already, of course, but I set this up,” he waved a hand around him, “so that Declan could officially announce it to the town. I kind of wanted to throw a party at the mansion, but Declan didn’t want to wait. He has already put the contractors to work over there, renovating the place.”

I was too stunned to say anything.

“And, eventually, the mansion’s going to be Catie’s.” The smile on Seamus’ face widened even further. “Can you believe that? I guess I should thank you too. If it weren’t for you, then I don’t know if any of this would’ve happened.” He waved at the crowd again but I got the sense that he was waving at the whole of Ballybeith. “God, it feels good to move on.”

I felt dizzy.

The Declan I’d left behind had been set on vengeance, on making the O’Rourkes pay. The man Seamus was telling me about sounded like someone else entirely.

But was he really so different after all?

Seamus was talking about my Declan, the man I knew existed under the surface. The one I’d seen tuck Catie into bed countless times, the one that had held me close through the night and made me believe the world was safe.

The man I loved.

“THERE YOU ARE!” A loud voice cut through the noise, and I turned my head to see Molly barreling toward me. She had a half-empty pint of Guiness in one hand, sloshing around the glass as she ran. “I was wondering when you’d get here. You need to move fast, Olivia.”

“I… what?” Things were happening way too quickly for me to comprehend. “I need to go see Declan.”

“Declan’s on his way to the airport,” Seamus chimed in.

“No, he isn’t,” Molly said. “The moment I got wind of where he was going, I…” She gave me an embarrassed look. “Well, I knew you were coming, so I kind of enlisted some people to help me stall him. He wasn’t too happy to about that, but if I hadn’t, the man would be on his way to Dublin by now, and then…”

“The States…” I repeated. Seamus had mentioned Declan had business there, but was there a chance Declan had been going there to see me? “Take me to him.”

“You’ve got it.” Molly grabbed my hand and dragged me to the throng of people, heading straight toward the town square. My luggage lay forgotten beside Seamus, but I barely gave it a second thought. I had more important things to worry about.

“Outta the way,” Molly ordered, pushing her way deeper into the sea of people that circled the stage. And then, when we finally broke through…

There he was.

He glanced up, and our eyes locked.

In that moment, time stopped.

The band was still playing, the crowd was still bustling, but there was silence in my head. We walked toward each other, and the only thing I could hear was the drumming of my heart.

Declan made his way toward me. “Olivia.” He looked at me like he was drinking me in. “You’re here, a ghrá.”

“I’m here.”

“I wanted to go see you,” he said. “I was flying to the States tonight. But you’re here.”

His eyes darkened, and for a moment I thought he was going to kiss me.

Yes, my soul begged. One more time.

Declan’s hands ran up and down my arms, like he was reassuring himself I was really there.

I knew the feeling.

He cleared his throat. “I dreamt of this more times than I care to admit, but…” He shook his head. “I’ll admit, I never saw it playing out like this. Why did you come back, Olivia? God, there’s so much I want to tell you. So much I need to say. Can we…can we talk?”