Chapter 24

24

Charlie

Charlie’s Words To Live By:

Don’t fuck with the Irish. They’re a mad lot.

That week at work, Hudson was different. Distracted maybe, and more serious than usual. I assumed it had something to do with his getting back together with Darci, which only caused me to be even pissier at him than I’d been before.

My anger was irrational. I knew that. But it didn’t mean I was able to hide it any better. Late on Tuesday, it came to a head.

“Fer fuck’s sake,” I hissed. “Can’t you leave me to do anything myself? Back the fuck up.”

I hadn’t meant to snipe at Hudson, but it was like everywhere I went in the pub and everything I tried to do, he was in my blind spot waiting for me to make a deadly mess of it.

Hudson jerked back and began apologizing, which only made me feel more of an arse.

I turned to him with a scowl. “Look, I get that you don’t trust me to know what the hell I’m doing here, but consider for a second I actually do. I’ve been pulling pints and sweeping up after my auld man for twenty years in one of the oldest pubs in Ireland. This shit is in my blood. I was born to do this, yeah?”

As I bitched, Hudson’s eyes grew wider until I thought they might bug right out of his head.

“Charlie,” he began, his voice low and calm as usual. “I only wanted to offer to hold the railing while you screwed in the bracket. I thought it would make it easier with two pairs of hands.”

I glanced at the long brass bar I’d been struggling with and let out a sigh. He was right. It would take me half as long to mount it if someone held the other end while I used the screwdriver.

“Fine. Hold it there,” I muttered.

While I concentrated on getting the bracket mounted, I sensed Hudson sneaking glances at me. Finally he caved.

“Are you mad at me?”

“No.”

I made sure the bracket was the straightest fastener that had ever been fastened.

“Because you’ve either iced me out or bitched at me for the past two days. I want to know why. Did I do something?”

Yes. You kissed me and then walked away. You reunited with a woman, which proves what happened between us was truly just an experiment.

You rejected me like everyone else I’ve ever been with has done.

“No.”

He sighed and stopped asking. The tension between us was hideous and only served to make my muscles tense up to the point of pain.

Hudson couldn’t handle the silence. “For god’s sake, Charlie. Will you at least talk to me?”

“After you called me a bitch?” I snapped. “No, thanks.”

He threw his free hand up in the air. “Are you kidding? I didn’t call you a bitch. I said you were bitching at me. That’s not the same thing. Clearly I’ve done something to upset you, and if you won’t tell me what it is, I can’t fix it.”

I finished the bracket and moved to the next one down the rail. Hudson shuffled down a bit too, but we ended up closer than before. The crisp fabric of his pressed denim shirt brushed against the bare skin of my upper arm below the short sleeve of my T-shirt. I’d pulled off my hoodie after helping carry in loads of tables and chairs earlier when I’d gotten overheated, but now I was chilled again in the underheated space of the half-finished pub. I felt the warmth coming off Hudson’s larger body in comforting waves. I wanted to lean over and soak it in.

“It’s not you,” I lied. “I’m in a funk since the weekend. Ignore me.”

I could tell he was trying to puzzle it out, and the moment he thought he’d come to a conclusion, his eyes widened again.

“The club. In Dallas. What happened?”

I looked over at him in confusion. His eyes were narrowed and his lips pressed angrily together. The storm was clearly brewing in his expression.

“Charlie, did something happen? Did you… meet someone? Did it… go badly?”

He tripped over the words he wasn’t used to using. Clearly he meant to ask if I’d hooked up with someone and he wanted to know if they’d fucked me over somehow.

Hudson’s hand suddenly gripped my arm, and he pulled me around to face him. “Charlie, what happened this weekend? Why weren’t West and Nico there? And Saint?” At the mention of Saint’s name, Hudson’s face fell. “Did Saint… did you and Saint… did…?”

I rushed to correct him. “No. Nothing happened with me and Saint. There is no me and Saint.”

The relief on his face spun my heart around in circles until I didn’t know which end was up.

“Then what happened? Please talk to me. I know it can’t be easy being so far from home and from Cait.”

He was so thoughtful, I wanted to confide in him. If only my problem hadn’t been him, I might have.

I suddenly thought of an out. “I’m still upset about Mama. I know I shouldn’t be, but I feel guilty for leaving her with your grandfathers because now they feel responsible. And poor Stevie. I thought the bloke was going to pass out in the garden. I’m going to have to work hard to make it up to him,” I said with what I hoped was a chuckle.

“Oh, right. Will she be okay, do you think?”

I nodded. “Yes, as long as you all help me find good homes for the pups. Usually I don’t breed her until I already have her pups spoken for by farmers or trialers. I never want to be the cause of an unwanted pup.”

Hudson’s smile lit up the dim pub like a ray of Texas sunshine. “We’ll all help. And if we can’t find homes elsewhere, I know a couple of guys who have a ranch with plenty of space and love for extra dogs.”

I leaned my shoulder into his for the briefest moment. “Thanks. I’ll try to relax about it, then.”

We continued working together in companionable silence. I tried to put away my bratty attitude about his reconciliation with Darci because it was stupid and immature. If he was attracted to women, and if he was in love with this woman in particular, my silly crush on him needed to die a swift death.

I thought about the date I owed Stevie. The man wasn’t really my type, but I assumed he’d be a good person to know in case he wanted to go clubbing together. I couldn’t very well ask West and Nico to leave their daughter every weekend, and I wasn’t quite so desperate to drive all the way to Dallas by myself.

When it was time to break for lunch, I walked out of the pub into the early-February sunshine and made the call. Stevie answered with the same dramatic enthusiasm he’d showed on Sunday.

“Hello, gorgeous! I hope like hell you’re calling to ask me out because, honey, I have plans for you.”

I couldn’t hold back a laugh. “I am calling to ask you out. I owe you an apology and would love to meet under less-upsetting circumstances.”

“Praise Jesus and pass the potatoes. Just tell me when and where, Sugar Britches.”

“Did you just call me Sugar Britches?” I asked with a laugh. Stevie’s Texas was showing, and I loved it.

His warm laughter tinkled through the phone. “No, but I may do so in the future. That’s the name of the shop, silly. I was greeting a customer. Haven’t you come in for coffee yet?”

I remembered everyone mentioning Nico’s bakery and coffee shop in town, but I hadn’t been there yet.

“No. Hudson always picks up the coffees after he drops me off at the pub. I’ll have to come in and try your muffins.”

Stevie’s gasp didn’t surprise me. “Well, aren’t you a fresh one? You might need to try some of my other things too if you catch my drift. So, when are we doing this, sweetheart?”

A night out with this character was going to be great fun. I decided to give as good as I got. “You free tonight, cutie pie?”