This was her turf.
I was the intruder.
The next move was on her.
“Shake my hand, love,” she instructed. “It’s good manners.”
Brows furrowed, I forced myself to accept her handshake.
“Now.” Giving my hand a small squeeze, she smiled up at me. “Are you hungry, Joey Lynch?”
“Uh.” Confused, I stared down at her and slowly shook my head. “No.“
“No?” Warm brown eyes shone up at me and her lips tipped upwards. “Are you lying to me, love?”
Completely fucking thrown, I shook my head again. “No, I just…”
“You just what, love?”
“I need to leave,” I heard myself tell her, still confused as fuck at this tiny woman. “I, ah, wouldn’t have stayed at all, but I couldn’t climb the gate to get out.”
“It’s a tall gate,” she replied with a knowing smile. “I’ve climbed it a time or two back in the day.”
Well shit. “Sounds like there’s a story there.”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” She offered me a devilish grin and headed off down the hallway. “Follow me, Joey, love. No child leaves my house without a full belly.”
“I’m not a child,” I replied, reluctantly trailing after her.
“How about no friend of my son leaves on an empty stomach then,” she called over her shoulder, leading me into the kitchen. “Man, woman, or child. Does that suit you better?”
Hovering in the kitchen doorway, I watched as she busied herself with setting the island with cutlery. “I’m not his friend, either.”
“Well, your sister certainly is.”
“Yeah, well, when it comes to my sister and your son, labeling them as friends is a fairly na?ve, not to mention an outdated notion.”
“Intuitive,” she mused. “You know what, Joey love, I think you might be right.”
“Your son could do a lot worse,” I heard myself say, immediately shifting into defense mode, as I watched her plate a heap of scones onto a serving dish. Scones. She was making scones and tea in an actual fucking teapot. “But he couldn’t do better than my sister.”
Her lips tipped upwards. “Is that so?”
“Just putting it out there.” Shrugging, I folded my arms across my chest. “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
“I could say the same thing to you.”
“How’d you figure?”
“Well, aren’t you doing the same to me?” She smiled over her shoulder before moving for the kettle.
“With all due respect, lady—"
“Edel.”
“Edel,” I reluctantly corrected. “No offense, but you’re the one with the mansion. I think it’s fair to say that your story is self-explanatory.”
“You’d be surprised, Joey love.”
“Yeah, well, listen, I know you already know about our family.” There was no point in denying our circumstances to this woman. Her son knew all about us. Besides, she had eyes in her head. She could see the marks on my sister. Either way, I was done with the pretenses. I was done with the bullshit. “Your son’s been sniffing around long enough to figure out we’ve got shit to deal with at home, which means you do, too. I just don’t want you to judge my sister based on bullshit that she can’t control. She couldn’t be more different from the rest of our family.”
“You sound like you’re including yourself in that statement.”
“Because I am.” With my skin itching and my body cold to the bone, I forced a nod. “Shannon’s the best person I know.”
“Oh, Joey, love.” Sympathetic brown eyes locked on mine. “Why do I get the feeling that Shannon would say the exact same thing about you?”
Unsettled by the way she looked at me, and with the mother of all headaches attacking my senses, I pinched the bridge of my nose and leaned against the doorframe.
“Are you alright, love?” Concern flashed across her features. “Do you need to sit down?”
“No, no, I’m grand,” I muttered, feeling like I needed to be anywhere but here. The woman was throwing me off kilter, which was an impressive feat considering my life was already on its axis. “Listen, I appreciate the offer of breakfast, but I need to get going.”
“Why don’t you sit down, love, and have a cup of tea first?” she coaxed, as she walked over to the marble island and pulled out a stool for me to sit on. “I’ll drop you back into town myself afterwards.”
I didn’t move.
I couldn’t.
I felt wary and on edge.
This woman?
I didn’t know this woman.
Couldn’t figure out her angle.
“I have places to be.”
“Not on an empty stomach.”
“My girlfriend’s waiting for me.”
“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind you having a bite to eat first.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Humor me, love.”
Uncomfortable and on edge, I pulled at the sleeves of her son’s hoodie that I was wearing and mentally tried to take her measure. “Fine, I’ll, ah, have a cup of tea… please.”
Her eyes lit up. “Good lad, yourself.”
“And if it’s not too much trouble, could I, ah…well, do you maybe…” Blowing out a breath, I reached up and scratched my jaw before forcing out the words that made me hate myself worse than I already did. “Have anything for pain?”
“For your face, love?”
No, for my heart. “Yeah.” I nodded. “I, ah, I left my meds at home.”
“I’ll poke something out for you from the medicine cupboard,” she replied, moving for a cupboard in the far corner of the kitchen. “Are you allergic to anything?”
“No,” I replied, forcing myself to not move an inch. “I can take anything.”
“Let’s see… there’s some ibuprofen here?”
Fuck.
“Yeah.” Shivering, I released a despondent sigh and nodded wearily. “That’ll be grand, thanks.”
“Oh, hold the phone…” Still rummaging around, she retrieved a white plastic pill tray. “There’s few Solpadol left over from Johnny’s surgery in December.”
Bingo.
A sudden rush of relief washed over me, and I couldn’t stop my feet from moving towards her. “That’s great. That’s what I’m on from the hospital.”
“Here you are, love. I’ll get you a drink.”
“Thanks,” I replied, gratefully accepting the pills she dropped into the palm of my hand before taking the glass of water she offered me.
It wouldn’t do much, but it would take the edge off until I could get sorted.
Get sorted.
What a fucking joke.
You are a joke, asshole.
You’re no better than him.
“So, tell me about this girlfriend of yours.”
“Hm?”
“Your girlfriend.”
I narrowed my eyes, suspicious. “Why?”
“Would you prefer if we talked about how you got those bruises?” came her clipped response. “Because we can go there if you prefer?”