Pulling herself together, she sat back and composed herself, folding her arms across her chest and schooling her expression. She sighed and said, “It was your arse. I liked the way it looked in your Levis.” She shrugged. “And it didn’t hurt that you had your own truck.”
He chuckled and winced at the remaining soreness in his chest. “Not my eyes then?”
She shrugged. “Maybe a little. Five sons have taught me not to fall for that blue-eyed charm like I once did, but I suppose that added to your appeal.” She sighed, “And eventually you had your way with me.”
“Oh, have you got balls.”
“Aye.” She grinned. “And I’m not afraid to use them, so you better not give me any lip when I tell you we’ll be following the doctor’s orders and you will be taking some time off to recuperate.”
Perhaps it was whatever was pumping into his IV or perhaps it was all the sentimental thoughts he’d had lately, but for some reason she looked perfect in that moment, courageously fierce and delicate at the same time—so very Maureen.
“All right, love. You have my word. I won’t fight you on it and I’ll do as the doctors say.”
She nodded and there was a knock at the door. Too many McCullough’s to count staring into the room.
“Well, don’t all just stand there like I’m in a casket. Come on in. I’m still breathing.”
They rushed into the room, stealing the air and silence as they all fawned over him. His beautiful daughters looking so much like their mother as they wept over him and kissed his cheeks. His sons were a bit more reserved with their emotions, but some hid it better than others.
Kelly approached and gripped his hand tight. “You scared us, Dad.”
“I’m sorry, Kel.”
His ice blue eyes shimmered as he nodded and let out a slow breath. “I’m glad you told God he was early.”
“More like I begged him to let me stay. I got a lemonade stand to build.”
They all started talking at once and soon enough a nurse came in and one by one they scattered, hugging and kissing each other and promising to see him tomorrow. It made him happy to see all of them like that, not a single one caught up in strife or nonsense.
When the room was again quiet, he looked at Maureen. “What are you doing all the way over there?” She came to his side and took his hand. He squeezed. “We did good, Maureen. We really did.”
She smiled. “They’re a great group of kids.”
“I look at everything that’s happened in the past years, think about all the surprises we were given. Colin’s so happy as a family man and Finn has all but settled into my shoes. Sheilagh’s happy and Luke’s finally at peace with himself. Even Kelly’s settled and Ashlynn’s starting to show—”
“What?” She shot to her feet. “Ashlynn’s pregnant?”
“I thought you knew?”
“No, I didn’t bloody know! She took a test at our house and Sheilagh said—” She paused and scowled. “Sheilagh. I’m going to beat that girl’s arse.”
“You can’t get mad at Devil. She’s eight months pregnant.”
“And she knows that! That’s why she lied. Oh! That little shit! And Ashlynn, that sneak!”
“Now, Maureen, maybe she wanted to keep the news to herself for a little—”
“But she told you!”
“Well, actually, Colin told me. He was excited about him and Sammy’s news—”
“What? What the hell is going on?”
A nurse popped her head in. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine. Maureen, keep your voice down.”
“Two of my sons are having children and no one told me. I’ll be calm after I get ahold of them.”
“So Braydon hasn’t talked to you lately.”
Her eyes went wide. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph there is going to be a reckoning.”
“Calm down, love.”
“Is there anyone else? So help me God, if one more person is keeping secrets from me…” She glared at him. “Kate’s not pregnant, is she?”
“I should hope not.”
She dropped into the chair and sulked. “Why wouldn’t they tell me? And what about Mallory?”
“I haven’t asked but—”
She pulled out her phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling your son.”
“Maureen—”
She held up a silencing finger. “Hello, Finnegan. This is your mum. I have a question for you and I want an honest answer.” She paused. “Because I said so. Is Mallory pregnant?” She frowned. “Okay then. I was just asking. Now, what kind of cake do you want tomorrow? You’ve just been promoted to my favorite child. The others are a shifty lot of liars that cannot be trusted.” She nodded. “Chocolate it is. I love you too. Goodnight.”
She snapped her phone shut. “There you have it. I at least have one honest child. The rest are going on my list.”
He drew in a slow breath. Perhaps she was more like a storm than a soft rain. Either way, he’d weathered her conduct for forty years and he’d have it no other way.
He sighed. “You’re one of a kind, Maureen McCullough. And I fear for those that lied to you. Promise you won’t keep them on your list too long.”
She crossed her arms and harrumphed.
Chapter Fifteen
Maureen poured the liquid soap into the washer as the basin filled with water. Her patient was finally sleeping and not driving her up the damn wall—not that she was complaining. Never that.
As she checked his pockets a flash of movement drew her attention. She turned and paused. No one was there. Going back to the laundry, she—there it was again. Turning slowly, her eyes went wide as she spotted the intruder.
“Holy mother of fuck,” she whispered, remaining perfectly still.
The spider—a wolf spider—easily the size of her hand, fingers spread, gripped the side of the drapes.
“Oh, my God,” she whimpered, knowing she couldn’t wake up Frank to handle the situation.
Quickly, her mind went through her options searching for the best plan of attack. She didn’t typically harm insects, but this bastard was bordering on miniature dog size. It was big enough to crawl upstairs to the kitchen and get itself a cookie.
She had to be very careful not to startle the intruder. If she lost sight of it she’d have to move. There was no other option. Either she or the spider could live in the house, but not both.
With extremely slow movements, she placed Frank’s jeans on the washer and backed to the corner of the basement where the waste paper bin sat. She’d catch the furry little fucker and run it outside.
Her heart pounded as she back-stepped little by little into the corner. Keeping her eye on the spider, she slid her foot to the right and scooted the trashcan in front of her. “Good little spider. No one’s going to harm you.” That might have been a lie.
The slow scrape of the small trashcan only added to her trepidation as the wooly beast suddenly began to move. “Oh, no you don’t, you furry cocksucker.”
Bending, she grabbed the can and dumped whatever dryer lint was inside. As she walked stealthily toward the window, she snatched an old detergent cup. The beast crawled faster, dashing behind a fold and she panicked. “Shit fucking rat farts, get back here you hairy bugger!”
Knocking the heavy material with the cup, she squeaked and winced and the climber clung to the drapes. “Drop, you nasty piece of shit! Oh, why the hell don’t I have bug spray down here? This entire house is getting bombed as soon as Frank is up and about and you and all your little friends are going to get—” She whacked the drape. “—the hell—” She swatted the drape again. “Out of my house!”
With one final hit the spider fell into the bin with a thunk and she screamed, dropping the cup right in with it. Knowing how fast wolf spiders could crawl, she held the bin out as far as her arms would allow and ran for the back door.
“OhmyGod! OhmyGod! OhmyGod!” Doing a double take as
she fussed with the lock on the knob, she screamed again. “Not another one! Where the bloody fuck are you bastards coming from?”
The door flung open and she ran a good twenty feet to the pavement and dumped the can and banged the base, but the hairy beast wouldn’t drop. In a full body sweat, she whimpered and ran back inside, abandoning the can and cup.
Racing back to the other one—thankfully not as large as his friend—she snatched up Frank’s work boot and got right into killing. She brought down the boot and smacked the creepy little shit.
“Oh!” He didn’t want to die, the bastard. “Die you trespassing piece of shit!” The boot came down again with a thwack and he finally crumpled. She did a partial sign of the cross and then waved off the last two parts as she huffed and caught her breath.
Panting, she leaned into the wall, eyes unblinking as she peeked at the door. “I’m going to be needing my waste basket back, damn it.”
She grabbed the boot and marched out back. “Mother of God.” Her steps faltered. The plastic bin had moved.
Hiking up her knickers under her dress, tightening the tie of her apron, and wiping her fallen hair out of her eyes, she studied the flipped trashcan. It was small, the kind someone would put beside a toilet, but any bug that could move something that size was simply too big and must be destroyed. She shivered and made a sound of gross disgust.
It must have had a long and gluttonous life to reach that size, so she was quite okay with ending it. Besides, she didn’t want him retracing his steps and finding his way back inside.
Wiping the sweat off her lip with her sleeve, she drew in a steadying breath. “You’ve got this, Maureen.”
She marched swiftly to the can and punted it into the grass. The spider spun on its furry legs and she could have sworn it hissed.
She screamed. “Die!” The boot slammed down, but the bastard still lived.
She repeatedly hit the spider with the boot, but it would not let go. “Die! Die! Die! Sweet Jesus go!” She was sweating and nearly in tears, her hair completely fallen from her bun.
Distraught, she dropped the boot and wobbled back a few steps. Of all her years living there and dealing with insects, she never saw anything remotely close to this size. When it slowly began to crawl, she screamed like a wild clansman racing down the battlefield of Falkirk. She snatched the pitchfork against the wall and charged, impaling the belly of the beast and ending it once and for all.
Like a possessed woman, she held the pitchfork to the pavement and panted. “Go with God now, you ugly bastard.”
“Mum?”
She turned, still in battle mode and nearly snarled at Kelly as he came around the outside of the house.
“What are you doing?”
Pitchfork still speared to the pavement, she said, “Laundry, what the bloody hell does it look like?”
He frowned and slowly approached. Stopping a few feet away from the crushed spider, he craned his neck and shivered. “Blah. That’s a big one.”
“Aye and not an easy kill.”
The side of his mouth hooked up as he flashed his blue eyes her way. “Quite the domestic huntress you are.”
She yanked the pitchfork clean and kicked the furry corpse into the lawn with her boot. “All in a day’s work. You remember that next time you’re thinkin’ of skimpin’ on my Mother’s Day flowers.” Holding the tines by her shoulder now, she blew out a breath and swiped her hair away from her sweaty face. “What brings you by this time of day?”
He fidgeted, shuffling his feet and wedging his hands into his pocket. “I was hoping we could have a chat.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, now you’re wanting to chat with me? Well, I’ll have you know I found out about your little secret.”
Contrite, his brow formed a small V. “I’m sorry, Mum. We just wanted to keep the news to ourselves for a while. We weren’t purposely leaving you out.”
“Of course you were.”
“I’m sorry.” Head bowed, he set his eyes on her and she sighed.
“Don’t shoot those blue eyes at me, you devil. I’m immune.” He continued to eye her and she huffed. “Fine. Get your arse in the house and I’ll make you lunch. I’ve had enough nature for one day.”
As they settled in at the table with lunch, Kelly eyed the den. “How’s Dad?”
She sighed and sat for the first time that day. “He’s a miserable patient, but he’s regaining his strength every day.”
“Did the doctors give the impression that this could happen again?”
Fear climbed up her spine as she repeated everything she’d been telling herself for the past two weeks. “Your father’s a strong man. I’ve seen him overcome many difficult things in his life and he’s not done living yet. So long as he starts taking better care of himself and lays off the fats and sugars, he should be fine.”
Kelly nodded, but she could see his worry.
Trying to ease his mind, she brushed her hand over his. “Now, what is it that brings you by, love? I can tell you’ve got something big on your mind. Is it Ashlynn and the baby?”
“No, no. She’s doing great.”
She waited.
He let out a long breathe. “I, uh, was asked to be a part of something pretty special.”
“Like a parade?”
“No, a showing.”
She arched a brow and finished chewing a bite of her sandwich. “What is it you’ll be showing, love?”
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a tube. Uncapping the end, he removed a smudged sheaf of paper. “These.”
Her head tipped curiously. “What do you have there?”
Sliding their plates out of the way, he slowly smoothed out the paper and her lips parted. A stunning likeness of two young boys sitting on a split rail fence showed on the page.
“Oh, Kelly…” The image was breathtaking. “That’s Colin and Luke.”
“Yeah.”
“Where did you get this?” She couldn’t get over the realism.
“I…drew it.” He slid the masterpiece aside. “There’s more.”
She couldn’t fathom that her Kelly had created such art. “That’s me.”
He nodded.
She knew he sometimes dabbled with charcoal, but these were extraordinary. “Kelly, love, these are amazing. I had no idea. I mean, this one of the boys, you couldn’t have been more than a teenager.”
“I do a lot of it from memory.”
She laughed. “That’s some memory. You have a gift, Kelly, a beautiful gift.”
“I submitted them to a company that features independent artists and they’ve asked for five of my collections.”
“That’s wonderful!” Pride swelled in her chest.
Her son suddenly looked like a young boy again as a blush stole over his face. “I’m still in shock. They even mentioned possibly commissioning me to draw some new images. I’m considering it.”
“Well, what does your heart tell you?”
His shoulders shifted as he exhaled and met her gaze. “It tells me that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and drawing makes me happier than turning out cocktails ever could.”
“Oh, Kelly…” Her brow pinched as she considered her words carefully. “I’ve always been so proud of you for taking on the bar, but no one is holding you there. You follow your heart. This family’s big enough for someone to take over O’Malley’s if you need this time to spread your wings.” She smiled and squeezed his arm. “You fly up to the moon, love, and we’ll all be here watching as you become a star.” She chuckled. “My little Michael Angelo.”
He laughed. “Maybe someone a bit more Irish. John Butler Yeats, perhaps.”
She grinned. “How about Kelly McCullough, master of charcoal, rogue of his clan.”
“Momma’s boy to a fault.”
A proud smile took over her face. “Aye.” She brushed a hand over his smooth black hair. “I’m so proud of the man you’ve become, Kelly. I hope you know that.”
“
I do, Mum. I do.”
“Good. Now eat your lunch. We have an infestation of spiders around here and if you leave that sandwich too long, one of them might scamper by and carry it off. They’re the size of squirrels.”
Maureen led the kids into the gym. “Come along, now. Declan, finger out of your nose. If I see you eat one more booger I’ll assume you’re too full for a milkshake.”
“Ew…” Gianna cried. “You’re dis-dusting, Dec.”
Maureen led them to the smoothie bar. “Who wants chocolate and who wants strawberry?”
The kids yelled out their choices and she turned to the young lady behind the counter. “We’ll have two strawberries and one chocolate.”
“Um…” the girl glanced at the children. “We don’t have chocolate.” She again stared at the children. “This is a gym. We usually only serve members.”
“Oh, well…” Maureen glanced around the gym, sighting Mallory at some machine with that handsome fellow hanging by her side. “Their mother’s a member and so am I. I’ll just get her.”
“That won’t be necess—”
“Yoo-hoo, Mallory!” She waved.
Mallory turned and froze her eyes going wide. The children all jumped and called, “Hi Mommy!”
The man frowned as she made an excuse and quickly walked to the smoothie bar. “Maureen, what are you doing here?”
“The children wanted milkshakes.”
“Then take them to an ice cream parlor,” she grit out.
“I have to say, Mallory, I don’t much care for your tone.” Her friend came over and Maureen eyed him suspiciously. “I don’t recall your friend being so much shorter than my Finnegan.”
“Maureen!” Mallory snapped. “Please take the kids back to your house.”
“What about our shakes?” Gianna whined.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Mallory turned to her friend. “Mitch, I’m sorry, I’m going to have to bail on the rest of our workout.”
“It’s fine. Do what you gotta do.”
“Oh, he’s so amicable,” Maureen commented and laughed. “We’re not used to such docile males in this family.”
Her daughter-in-law glared at her and ushered the kids to the smoothie bar, quickly placing an order.