His words curled around my heart, and I shivered. “Joe, it’s okay. I understand. You were sick.“
“Yeah, I was,” he agreed. “And I can’t change that part of our story, but I can lighten the load for you now. I can step up now, Aoif, so let me do it, okay?” He cast a glance in my direction, imploring me with his clear green eyes to listen to him. “Let me take care of you.”
"Joey?" Edel called out from behind the kitchen door. "Is that you, love?"
Standing in the utility room, I watched as my boyfriend fought an internal battle.
I could see it in his eyes.
I knew exactly what was happening in his brain.
Joe was willing himself not to run.
He was willing himself to trust the woman on the other side of the door.
“You’ve got this,” I whispered, reaching out to trace his cheek with my thumb.
Finding that inner steel I adored so much, he took a steadying breath and nodded to himself before calling out, “Yeah, it’s me.” I watched as he tightened his hold on AJ’s car seat and pushed the door open. "I brought a few people to see you."
Pride.
It roared to life inside of me.
When we stepped into the kitchen, I was too overwhelmed to speak.
"Look at you," Edel whispered, clasping the front of her apron with floury hands, as her tear-filled gaze flicked from me, to AJ, before settling on Joey. "Look at the man standing in my kitchen."
“Holy shit, Joe,” I spluttered when he let me inside his new digs. “This entire place is yours?” I spun around with our son in my arms, taking in the huge open plan kitchen/living area. “Are these people fucking millionaires?”
“I think they are,” he replied with a frown, as he set the empty car seat on the table. “It’s fairly wild, huh?”
“I’d say,” I replied, choking out a laugh. “Holy crap, this is insane.”
“It sure beats that mouse-infested flat in Elk’s Terrace we talked about, huh?”
“Yeah,” I laughed and then quickly spun back to face him, when awareness smacked me upside the head. “Wait, what?”
“Move in with me.”
I stood, unmoving, un-bloody-blinking, as I tried to absorb his words. “Huh?”
“Move in with me, Molloy,” Joey repeated. “Live with me.”
“Here?”
“Here,” he confirmed with a nod. “To start with. Until I get you that mansion in the country, that is.”
My heart bucked wildly in my chest as my eyes roamed over his face, searching for the lie.
I didn’t find it.
“Of course, the ring will come first, when I’ve saved up the money,” he continued, withdrawing a packet of Rolos from the front pocket of his hoodie and setting them down on the table. “Consider these the sweetener.”
“You’re serious,” I breathed, feeling dizzy, as I watched him close the space between us. “You’re not joking.”
“No, I’m not,” he replied, clamping a hand down on my hip. “Be with me.”
“I am with you, Joe.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Be with me, Molloy.”
“In what way?”
“In every way.”
Whoa.
“I love you.” He reached a hand between us and stroked AJ’s soft curls. “I’ve spent a third of my life loving you, Aoife Molloy, and I don’t plan on stopping.” Leaning in close, he pressed his brow to mine and exhaled a shaky breath. “I’ve made a lot of terrible decisions,” he admitted quietly. “But the worst, by far, was hurting you and pushing you away.”
“It’s okay, Joe,” I heard myself whisper, trembling now. “I forgive you.”
“I don’t deserve your forgiveness,” he replied, voice thick and gruff. “But I will earn it. Because whatever comes our way, from here on out, I’ll be right beside you.” He nuzzled my nose with his before pressing a kiss to my lips. “Because in this version of forever, we get the happy ending, Molloy.”
EPILOGUE
KING OF MY HEART
SHANNON
DECEMBER 22ND 2005
“Shannon, love,” Edel called over her shoulder from her perch at the stove, while she balanced Sean on her hip. “You wouldn’t pop next door and see if your brother needs a hand with the baby before school?”
“Mm-hmm.” Nodding, I took one final bite of my chocolate spread on toast, munching it down, before hopping off the stool at the island. “Sure thing.”
“Good girl,” she called after me. “You’re my rock, love.”
Ignoring Tadhg and Ollie, who were battling it out in the kitchen doorway for dominion over a sliotar, while a frazzled looking John tried to talk them down, I skipped out of the kitchen.
The minute I stepped outside, the arctic December morning air hit my face and I smiled, reveling in the sensation of the light dusting of snow as it fell from the sky. It wouldn’t stick, of course. At least not enough of it to make a snowman, but it sure was beautiful to look at.
Inhaling deeply, I took a moment to just breathe and take it all in.
The calmness.
The tranquility.
The contentment.
The Christmas spirit.
Today was our last day of school before winter break and I couldn’t wait to spend two whole weeks at home with my family.
And Johnny.
Okay, so mostly Johnny.
It was closer to eighty/twenty in Johnny’s favor.
Maybe ninety…
With my shoulders relaxed and a smile etched on my face, I tiptoed around a couple of ice-filled puddles leftover from yesterday’s heavy downpour, and then broke into a run, desperate to get to the safety of the annex before Bonnie and Cupcake realized that I was outside. If they noticed me, then the perfectly ironed uniform I was donning would be toast.
Muddy toast.
“Joe?” I called out, hurrying inside without knocking when my foster mother’s yellow-tailed demons came into sight, all muddy-pawed and ready to inflict affection on me. That wasn’t to say that I didn’t love Bonnie and Cupcake. I adored them, but those dogs gave Gibsie and Claire a run for their money in the boisterous stakes – and that was an impressive feat.
The minute I closed the door of my brother’s glorified apartment, I heard a huge thud on the other side of it.
“Did one of those dopes crash into the door again?” Joey called down from upstairs.
“Yeah,” I snickered, and then clamped my hand over my mouth, feeling bad for laughing at the poor thing’s lack of coordination. After all, I didn’t have room to talk. “I think it was Cupcake.”
“Something seriously fucking wrong with that one,” he called back. “Why can’t they be like the good one?”
I grinned to myself. My brother was referring to my boyfriend’s number one girl.
Well, number one dog, at least.
Sookie.
“It’s cold outside,” I called out, making a beeline for the Christmas tree. “Oh, and it’s snowing.”
“It won’t stick.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Having a good root around there, Shan?” Leaning against the upstairs railing, with his school shirt hanging open, and a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth, my brother arched a brow. “You’re such a child.”