There was more, though: the sight of the mountains, the thought of spring, babies and children and basically every person of every age in the world, ice-cream, fresh herbs, the unreasonable beauty of every feckin’ blade of grass in existence.
Yep. Everything seemed so damn good right now.
In the back of the car were his three favorite people in the world. They’d been kissing and chuckling while he drove them. He was amazed that he didn’t feel jealous. All he wanted was for the three of them to have a good time. Iftheywere happy, thenhewas happy.
‘We’re almost back,’ he said. He saw the Liberty valley up ahead.
‘I feel nervous,’ Tammy said. ‘What if dad’s gone back there?’
‘No chance,’ Conor said. ‘I’ve been in touch with Angel — you’re dad’s nowhere to be seen. Hopefully, he’s got the message. Liberty is out of bounds.’
‘He comes anywhere near you,’ Finn added, ‘well… I won’t hit him, but I’ll put forward a very convincing case for why he shouldn’t be involved in your life.’
Tammy burst out laughing. A short time later, they were home.
They pulled up to The Den, and waiting outside was Haze.
Except it didn’t exactly look like the Haze they knew. There was no clashing, extravagant outfit. Instead, he was wearing… sweatpants? A running top? And he was smiling.
What the…?
‘Who is that and what the feck have they done to Haze?’ Finn said, voicing exactly what was on everyone’s mind.
They all stepped out of the car, into the balmy, Texan air.
‘Welcome home!’ Haze exclaimed, arms thrown wide. ‘Glad to have you back.’
‘You look better,’ Tammy said.
Haze grinned and nodded. ‘I’ll be even better after a 5k run and twenty minutes of yoga.’ He took Tammy’s hand and said, sincerely: ‘I hadn’t realized how bad things were, Tammy. I want to thank you for alerting me to the dangers of stress. Setting up this place has really gotten to me. I wanted so much for it to be perfect that it made me ill.’
‘Of course,’ Tammy said. ‘Chasing the impossible will do that to you.’
Shay wondered if she was talking about her dad in some way. He’d have to ask her about it sometime.
‘I’ve made some changes,’ Haze said. ‘And I’ll be making more. You wouldn’t think that forcing myself to take some time off every day would be so hard, but it’s getting easier every day.’
‘Good,’ Tammy said.
‘What I want to know,’ said Conor, with a wry smile, ‘is where I can get myself some fancy jogging pants like that.’
‘Maybe I kicked the wrong Healy brother out of this place,’ Haze laughed. ‘Hey, Shay, your friend arrived.’
Shay felt a surge of excitement. He hoped that this would help Tammy out — it was essential to keep the place safe from potential litigation from her father, but he wasn’t sure how she was going to take it.
‘Dr. Scott!’ Haze called back toward The Den. ‘Your colleague has arrived.’
The front door of the pub opened, and out stepped Dr. Cassius Scott. He was dressed more casually than Shay had ever seen before, but he also looked way happier than usual.
Tammy gave a confused look. ‘Who’s this?’
‘Your new assistant,’ Dr. Scott replied playfully.
‘I’m going to have an MD working reception?’
Cassius chuckled. ‘I’ve been looking for a way to reduce my workload for years. With your permission, Dr. Tammy, I’ll take on a few of your patients. In fact,’ he said, ‘Irish brothers are my specialism.’
It was a good plan — Cassius would look after the Healy’s health, and a few of the other Daddies, and he’d help with booking appointments and organizing tests. It would take some pressure off Tammy. When Shay had first asked Cassius, he hadn’t been too hopeful that he’d agree. But, it turns out, the chance to live in a community of Bigs and Littles had appealed to the doctor immensely.