All seven of them were there. Even Teagan.
“Did you sell tickets?” Emmy teased Padraig, who was shaking his head, though she wasn’t sure if he was amused or resigned by his family’s appearance.
“Nosy bastards,” he muttered. “What does ‘not exactly’ mean, Riley?”
“It means we couldn’t hear a damn word you were saying,” Tris admitted. “You weren’t talking loud enough. Something you need to work on. So we had to make due with Riley’s play-by-play as she kept sneaking peeks through the opening. Thought Ewan and I were going to have to run interference and cut Emmy off at the pass when she started to leave.”
Emmy was touched that they would go to such lengths to help her and Padraig get back together. “That’s sweet,” she said, giving Tris a kiss on the cheek.
“I thought my boy got some of that sweetness from me,” Tris told her with a wink before looking at Padraig. “But we’re going to have to talk about your gift-giving skills, son, because a rock is a strange way to win a woman’s heart.”
Emmy laughed. “It’s the perfect gift. I love it.”
“Which proves that you’ve found the right woman for you,” Ewan said, slapping Padraig on the shoulder. “Don’t fuck it up.”
He gave his uncle a mock salute. “Duly noted.”
“You kids get out of here,” Tris said. “I’ll cover your shift today.”
Padraig clearly didn’t need to be asked twice as he reached for Emmy’s hand. “Your place or mine,” he asked, when they reached the sidewalk outside.
“Our place,” she replied.
Padraig frowned, confused. “Which is?”
“Whichever one we choose. Think you can borrow some of those moving boxes from Oliver?”
Padraig smiled, tugging her close enough to kiss the side of her head. “Damn, woman. Slow down. You’re always in such a hurry to get to the next part. You really need to stop and smell the roses.”
14
They walked into Padraig’s apartment hand in hand, Seamus jumping excitedly when he saw Emmy.
“Down,” Padraig commanded, the dog listening for all of three seconds before jumping up again in an attempt to lick Emmy’s face.
Emmy didn’t mind, laughing as she rubbed Seamus’s head and told the dog how much she’d missed him.
“Starting to wonder if you’re here for me or Seamus,” Padraig teased.
Emmy gave him a mischievous grin over her shoulder. “You’ll never know.”
Padraig laughed as he twisted her body away from his dog to press her against the closed door. He kissed her once more because he simply couldn’t wait another second. After spending the past few days genuinely believing he’d never be with her again, it felt as if he’d won the lottery after ten hungry years on the streets.
Emmy’s kiss proved she felt the same.
“Never again,” Padraig promised before resuming their kiss.
“Never again,” she whispered, repeating the vow. “Whatever comes our way,” she added, and Padraig realized she still needed his reassurance.
“I promise, Emmy.” And as he said the words, he vowed he would indeed walk the walk. There was no other choice. Without her, life wasn’t worth living. “Want to move this party to the bedroom?”
She laughed breathlessly and nodded.
Padraig clasped her hand in his and started to lead her down the hall, but he was pulled up short as Emmy dug in her heels.
“Paddy,” she gasped.
He grinned, fully aware of what had captured her attention. She had spotted a new photo on his wall, one she hadn’t seen before. It was of the two of them on Halloween, the night of the blackout, the night she’d taken care of him.
He’d asked his dad to snap the picture of them in their farmer and strawberry costumes in the pub, just before heading to the party upstairs. Emmy was cheesing for the camera while Padraig was looking at her. Dad had texted the photo to him that night, and Padraig had saved it, looking at it more times than he cared to admit over the last year or so.
Last night, he’d sat down on his couch, scrolling through the pictures on his phone as he mulled over how to mend things with her. The more he looked, the more he realized the majority of the photos on his phone were of Emmy—the two of them together in some, or her with Seamus, or just her alone—and he was reminded once again of exactly how important, how vital, she’d become to his happiness, offering him true friendship, and now…love.
“I can’t believe you framed this and hung it up.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” he asked, watching as Emmy’s eyes traveled to the other framed pictures.
“Oh!” she said. “You hung all of them up.”
He’d replaced all but one of the photos of Mia, keeping the one of them on their wedding day.
In the others’ places now, there was a photo of Seamus, one of Colm and Kelli with the twins, and the great one of him and Pop Pop chatting together while at the pub that Emmy had given him for Christmas this year. She’d actually gifted him most of the pictures, but he’d never hung them up, refusing to relinquish a single spot in what he now knew had become a shrine to Mia, another way he’d locked himself in the past, in his grief.
“It reminds me of Pop Pop’s wall now,” he said. “Filled with the faces of everyone I love.”
She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “I love it. Love that I snagged a spot.”
He smiled back. “You snagged a spot here too,” he said, pointing to his heart. “And you’re about to snag one down there.” Padraig pointed down the hall to his bedroom. He turned her away from him, swatting her on the ass. “If you’d hurry up and get a move on.”
Emmy didn’t start walking. “You’re not giving me much incentive.” As she spoke, she wiggled her adorable ass at him, inviting him to spank her again.
Padraig laughed, then wrapped his arm around her shoulders, moving once more toward his bedroom.
When they reached it, he resumed their kiss, loving the way Emmy’s hands caressed his cheeks, toyed with his short beard.
“Growing it back?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. I think so. Like it?”
“I love it. Reminds me of the day we met. I took one look at you and thought, ‘It’s about time you got here.’ It felt as though I’d been meandering around aimlessly…looking for you.”
“I took my wedding ring off that day. Right after you left.”
“I didn’t know that.”
Padraig had never confessed that to her. He’d worn the ring over a year after Mia’s death. Then he’d met Emmy and seen a kindred spirit. She’d been knocked down by her parents’ deaths, but unlike him, she’d gotten back up, started putting one foot in front of the other, forced herself to move forward. “Your optimism, your desire to embrace life…it inspired me to do the same. Of course, it took me a lot longer to figure out how to do that. Thankfully, I’ve had one hell of an adorable tour guide.”
“Just adorable?” she asked, her tone pure seductress.