He gave him a pointed look. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”
***
Thoreau Wayne was waiting for him out front with his brother Hugo. “Long time no see.”
Seamus glanced down the road at the crowded sidewalks. “Is there a festival or something I don’t know about?”
“End-of-summer thing,” Hugo said as he shook his hand, his broad smile making his dimples pop. He was handsome, Seamus thought, suddenly remembering his suspicion about his cousin’s feelings. “I came over to see if I could help Thoreau finish up so he could enjoy the party with the rest of the Waynes.”
“I didn’t get an email about an end-of-summer thing,” Seamus muttered. As a business owner, he usually got a heads-up about art festivals and block parties. He sighed, unable to find the energy to be that upset about it. And he still hadn’t had any damn coffee.
The front door opened before Thoreau could answer and Fiona was smiling at him, her pastel hair glowing in the sun. “I thought that was you. Get in here, old man. We need to hurry so we can make it to the—”
“End-of-summer party, yeah, I heard.” Seamus studied them suspiciously as he stepped into the dimly lit but thankfully cooler bar. “I thought there was an emergency.” People didn’t usually look this happy about an emergency.
“This is an emergency, from what I hear.” Hugo leaned against the front door and crossed his arms casually. “You know, the last time I was in here I was opening this door for strippers, do you remember? For your brother’s bachelor party?”
“Of course I remember.” Owen had been so damn happy and Stephen was on pins and needles, worried about leaving his pregnant wife at home. Of course, she was the one who sent the strippers. “That was a great night.”
“That it was.” Hugo tilted his head, watching Seamus. “And you said something about the bartender’s curse, right? Knowing love when you see it? Good stuff.”
Too bad he didn’t know it when he had it. “Yeah. Well, I think Fiona’s better at it than I ever was.”
“So true,” Fiona said with a laugh. She was standing behind the bar pushing an Irish coffee in his direction. It had extra whipped cream.
“Bless you,” Seamus groaned, walking toward her. “Now if someone wants to tell me what’s going on, that would be great.”
“Pull up a stool, old man. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
He was too tired for this shit, Seamus thought, but he sat down and placed his elbows on the bar. “There’s no brewing emergency is there?”
“Nope.”
“That was a trick to get me here?”
She smiled and gave him a generous helping of foam. “Yep. Yeah, it definitely was.”
“Why? You two have been handling everything just fine this week. You didn’t need me to come in.”
She looked at him as if he were missing a few brains cells. “Because you have people who love you, Seamus. You mean so much to them, that they decided to give you a uniquely tailored, specially designed for you Finntervention.” She chuckled. “I love how you all do that, by the way. Just add your name to everything? It’s adorable.”
“No.” Hell no. He spun off the stool and walked toward the Wayne brothers. Hugo shook his head and took a step forward.
“Sorry, we can’t let you do that. Not yet.”
He hoped Hugo was kidding.
Owen’s voice had him closing his eyes and muttering a prayer for patience. “Watch out guys, he’s got his Hulk face on again.”
“I can take him.” Hugo looked more thoughtful than intimidated.
“Owen?” Seamus spun around and saw his brothers, his sister, his cousins and their significant others, all spilling out from the back of the bar and quietly finding their seats. “Another family meeting? I don’t need this, guys. I’m fine.”
“Prove it.” Fiona’s lip ring glinted in the dimly lit bar. “Come back, sit down. There’s someone in the back who went to a lot of trouble to put this together, so do it for him. What have you got to lose? More time on your couch feeling sorry for yourself?”
Seamus sighed and moved back to the stool, sending a frown over his shoulder. “I wish I knew what privacy felt like.”
“No, you don’t.” Fiona pushed his cup toward him and sat on a stool toward the back. “You wouldn’t be the man you are if you didn’t have your family.”
“Yeah, I know.” Seamus laughed, resigned, but it was muffled by the coffee he was already drinking. “Just keep these coming.”
“Hey, Dad.”
“Jake?”
When his son appeared beside Fiona, Seamus set down his cup so no one could see his hand trembling. “What are you doing here?”
And who put you up to this? I was just thinking I needed to hit somebody.
Jake had a stack of printed emails in front of him. “I was worried and I wanted to help, but I didn’t know how. You’re the one who always knows what to say. So I sent out an email and asked everyone to tell me the best advice you ever gave them. I got these back in response.”