“It’s glad I am to hear it, but I’ll go see for myself.”
“I’d better get home, then,” Maggie says. “I think Izzy went to Target to do some shopping. So, if I’m quick, I’ll beat her, and she won’t know what hit her.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. And I’m sorry for almost messing it all up for you. That’s not what I meant to do.”
“I know. Just don’t do it again.” I grab two muffins on my way out to the truck. I need to hurry over to check on my parents and ask if Da will take care of the pub for me while I’m gone.
I know he’ll jump at the chance, but I still need to ask.
After spending the morning talking with my family and checking on my ma, I’m ready to get out of town for a little vacation.
Words I wouldn’t have thought I’d say in the past, but here we are.
When I pull up in front of Maggie’s house, Izzy is just stepping out of her sexy little convertible.
“Hey.” She grins as I approach and then tips her plump lips up to mine for a kiss.
I happily oblige.
“And hello to you.”
“I wasn’t expecting to see you until I went into work later.” She reaches into the backseat and retrieves several white and red bags. “I just spent two hours at Target. You walk in there thinking you need just a handful of things, and the next thing you know, you’re crawling down every aisle and tossing things into the basket that you didn’t even know you needed. It’s true what they say. You don’t tell Target what you need. Target tells you.”
“All of this sounds ridiculous to me.” But she’s beautiful today, with her hair pulled back in a low knot on the back of her head, tendrils falling around her sweet face.
She laughs and lets me take some of the bags, then kisses my biceps. “I know. You’re a man. You don’t understand the Target vortex. What are you up to?”
“I’m here to surprise you.”
“That’s sweet.”
“No, I’m here to really surprise you.”
She pushes the front door open and frowns up at me as we walk inside. “What do you mean?”
I glance at Maggie as she walks in with a big grin on her face. “Did you do what I asked?”
“Yep.”
“What did you ask?” Izzy demands.
“She packed you a bag. I’m taking you away for a couple of days.”
Izzy’s eyes light up with excitement, and then she frowns. “But we have work.”
“All covered.”
“Okay, this is awesome. Where are we going?”
“You’ll see when we get there. Do you get car sick?”
She laughs in surprise. “Not usually.”
I nod as Maggie wheels the bag in from the kitchen where she had it hidden.
“Oh, let me just grab a few things from these bags.” Izzy rummages through the sacks, consolidates a few, and then smiles at me. “Okay. I’m ready. This is fun.”
“Have a good time, and don’t worry about a thing,” Maggie says. “We’ve all got the pub under control.”
I load Izzy’s things into the truck, and it’s not long before we’re off, headed off the island and north of Seattle.
“I love road trips. Obviously, given that’s how I ended up here to begin with.”
“I think that was the adrenaline talking.”
She nods and stares out the passenger window as the scenery passes us by. “Probably. But my adrenaline knew what it was doing, that’s for sure. What prompted you to do this?”
“I think we just need a little time alone. No meddling sisters. No busy and demanding pub.”
“You’re right. This will be so nice. When was the last time you took a vacation?”
“Last Christmas. I went to Ireland with the whole family for Kane’s exhibit debut. That’s also when Shawn and Lexi got engaged. It was a great trip. Before that, it had been two years.”
“That’s a long time without a break. But, honestly, I was the same way. I used to travel all the time when I was a teenager and into college. My mom would drag me all over the world because she didn’t like to travel alone.”
“Do you like to travel?”
“Sure, I like to see new places. But I’ve never been to Ireland.”
“Well, you might someday.”
She grins. “I wouldn’t mind that at all. Do you still have a lot of family there?”
“We do, yes. My da’s brother’s family owns an inn on the sea there. It’s a big family. A bit loud. A lot crazy.”
“Sounds wonderful.”
“They are. Sometimes, they visit the States, but we usually don’t see them unless we go there. The inn is beautiful. Fancy, really.”
“So, when are we going?”
I laugh and reach over to take her hand in mine, then kiss her knuckles. “Whenever you want, love.”
Chapter 9
~Izzy~
The drive has been absolutely gorgeous. I don’t know how I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest all my life and never knew how beautiful the Seattle area is.
I guess my family focused on fancy vacations rather than taking trips in our own back yard.
“We’re about there,” Keegan says as he turns onto a narrow, dirt road that’s in surprisingly good condition. When he rounds a bend and stops in front of a big, beautiful log cabin with windows to die for, I feel my jaw drop.
“Whoa.” I swallow and look around at the mountains, the trees. “You own this?”
“The family does,” he corrects, looking up at it with me. “Kane fronted most of the money, but the rest of us pitched in and came out to spend a few weeks offering up elbow grease to update things. It wasn’t in bad shape to begin with, but it was outdated. So I had the kitchen completely redone.”
“Of course.” I grin over at him.
“Shawn and Maeve handled remodeling the bedrooms and putting in a gym downstairs, Maggie was in charge of the hot tub out back. Come on. I’ll take you on a tour.”
“I can’t wait.” I don’t even wait for Keegan to come open my door. I jump out and hurry up the front steps to watch as Keegan keys in a code.
“Welcome to the O’Callaghan cabin,” he says as he sweeps the door open and gestures for me to step inside.
“This is seriously amazing.” I walk through the foyer to the living room and stare out the floor-to-ceiling windows with an incredible view of the mountains beyond. “Your family has access to the ocean and the mountains. That’s pretty cool.”
“I can’t argue with that.” He takes my hand and leads me into the open kitchen, all done in white with the biggest island I’ve ever seen—and I’ve been inside some incredible homes. This island would make Joanna Gaines weep with joy.
“You designed the kitchen?”
“I helped,” he says. “I wanted it to be big enough for our whole growing family to be in here together comfortably. We tend to gather in the kitchen.”