AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What are you working on?”
Colm wrinkled his nose. “Romeo and Juliet. Dumbest play in history.”
“You’re starting to hurt my soul, lad. That’s a very romantic story.”
“Romantic? Um. Did you read all the way to the end? Spoiler alert, Pop Pop. They both die.”
Patrick grinned. “Maybe so, but I’ve always liked the true love aspect.”
Colm was too polite to roll his eyes at Patrick, though his expression said that was exactly what he wanted to do. “They fell in love in a hot minute. That’s not real life.”
“Oh, but you’re wrong, my boy. That’s exactly how it happened for me and Sunday. She was singing at the bar, and I knew—all the way to my bones—that she was the one for me.”
Colm studied his face intently, then shook his head slowly. “I don’t think that’s when you fell in love. It doesn’t work that way.”
Patrick smiled and considered that. Whenever he told the story of the night he first met Sunday, he always proclaimed it was love at first sight. But when he really thought about it, it was an entire series of moments that came to mind, all of them building on each other.
“Well now. Perhaps you might be right about that.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Now that I think about it, I fell for her more slowly than I first thought. There was an instant attraction, of course, but the love grew as we got to know each other better, as we shared our hopes and dreams for the future and realized we were both walking in the same direction. You know, love has a way of sneaking up on a person, showing up at the most unexpected times. One look, one word, one random moment in time and then…it’s just…click. The light flips on and even the darkest of hearts is filled with bright, radiant light.”
“Just click?” Colm didn’t seem convinced, but he was definitely listening.
And interested.
“Just click. And when it happens, it’s magic.”
Colm was quiet for a moment, and then his all-too-familiar lopsided grin emerged. “This is exactly what I’m talking about, Pop Pop. This is where Paddy gets all his ideas about love.”
Patrick shrugged. “Guilty as charged, I suppose.”
“Bad influence,” Colm muttered, but Patrick saw the slightest flicker of something in his grandson’s face, and he recognized it instantly.
Colm wanted the click.
Chapter One
Colm tossed back the rest of his Guinness, then glanced down toward the end of the bar at Pat’s Pub. It was only Wednesday and he’d already had a bear of a week. As a lawyer who specialized in family law, he’d seen more than his fair share of contentious divorces, bitter custody battles, and tragic cases of domestic abuse. This week? He’d dealt with all three. Nasty shit. And it felt like it was ripping out chunks of his soul.
Typically, he could keep emotions out of it, could focus on the task at hand. If it had just been one case, he could have held it together. But he was dealing with three. The three worst cases of his career. All at the same time.
He caught Padraig’s eye and pointed to his empty mug. His twin narrowed his eyes briefly, but Padraig knew him well enough that he didn’t question him. Instead, he just picked up the empty mug, pulled the tap, refilled his glass, and then set it back down in front of him.
“Wanna talk about it?” Padraig asked.
Colm shook his head. “Nope. Just want to forget about it.”
“Yeah, the fact you’re on your third beer in less than an hour…on a weeknight…sort of clued me in. You sure you—”
“I’m sure,” Colm interjected.
“Okay. Well, I’m here if you change your mind.”
Colm managed a weak smile and a nod. He knew that, knew his brother would always listen to his troubles, would have his back in a fight, would give him shit whenever he did something stupid. They were brothers and that was what they did. Add in the whole twin-bond factor, and it was safe to say no one on the planet got him like Padraig.
He took another sip of his Guinness, leaning back in the stool, savoring the quiet white noise of the pub. This place, this very stool at the bar, was probably one of his happiest places on the planet. So as soon as he’d dragged his sorry ass in from work, he’d plopped down with no more thought than he was home and beer was close.
