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Padraig didn’t move or respond for a moment. Instead, he studied Colm’s face hard, clearly searching to see if he was joking or telling the truth.
“I thought you were with Brooke that night,” he said at last.
Colm grinned. “Hence my gratefulness for the blackout. I thought I was with Brooke, but it turned out to be Kelli.”
“But Kelli knew she was with you?”
Colm shook his head. “She thought she was with Robbie. There was a bit of misunderstanding for about a week and a half, until we sorted it all out.” Colm briefly recapped the story, including the part about Kelli thinking Colm was Padraig when she’d woken up to see him clean-shaven. His twin was laughing so hard by the end, he was wiping tears from his eyes.
“Holy crap. That might be the best story I’ve ever heard.”
Colm agreed, not because of the humor—though it was pretty fucking funny—but because it had opened his eyes to the woman who’d been standing right in front of him for nearly thirty years. It was crazy to think he’d had to be blinded by a blackout before he could finally see clearly.
Once Padraig managed to pull himself together, more questions emerged.
“So, she’s your Kelli now?” his brother asked.
Colm nodded. “Yeah. She doesn’t realize it just yet, but she’ll get there eventually.”
“What does she think it is now?”
“Just sex.”
Padraig choked on the sip of Guinness he’d just taken. “You’re still sleeping together?”
“Oh yeah.”
“And neither one of you has killed the other yet?”
Colm chuckled. “No. It’s been…incredible. Perfect.”
Padraig leaned closer. “Holy shit. You’re in love with her!”
Colm didn’t bother to deny it. He hadn’t said the words to Kelli because she’d probably laugh him out of bed. This thing between them was brand-spanking new, something Kelli would point out to him, as if it was a valid argument. It wasn’t. He didn’t give a damn about the new car smell on them.
He’d fallen fast and hard. Done the exact same thing he’d always teased Padraig about.
“So…the curse?” Padraig asked, grinning widely.
Colm rolled his eyes and grimaced. “You know it’s not a curse.”
Padraig laughed loudly. “Wish I’d known all this before I’d said what I was thankful for because I’d like to change my answer now.”
“Let me guess. You’re thankful for getting to see me eat crow.”
His brother shook his head. “Nope. Thankful that my two best friends in the world found each other. Kelli’s always been like a sister to me, and now—”
Colm held up his hands to cut Padraig off. “Do me a favor. Don’t say the marriage word in front of Kelli yet. Don’t even say the relationship word. She’s…” Colm couldn’t quite decide what she was. He knew she was at a definite crossroads in her life. Before the two of them crash-landed into each other, she’d sworn off men and dating in order to focus on becoming a mother.
He’d seen the way she’d looked at Caitlyn on Halloween. Knew he was fighting an uphill battle.
“She’s…” Padraig prompted.
His cell and Padraig’s beeped at the same time. They glanced at their phones, and then at each other.
“She’s outside,” Colm said, standing up. “You get the wine. I’ll get the door.”
Padraig nodded and laughed. Kelli had just spent all day alone with her mother. While Colm looked forward to the holidays, Kelli did not, frequently referring to Thanksgiving and Christmas as her journeys to hell and back.
