Haley shifts, her cheeks red. “What does that mean? The black suit?” She turns to face me, eyes dancing with amusement.
″It’s nothing, lass,” I say.
″It’s not nothing.” Paddy sits beside Haley, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “My brother, huh?”
She smirks, returning his hug. “I expect you to fill me in on this inside joke.”
Paddy winces, stretching his leg out, and massages his knee. Haley takes notice and her hand drops to his knee, her fingers digging into the muscles. “You shouldn’t still have pain.”
″It’s only sometimes.” He turns away from her, biting the inside of his cheek to hide the pain.
″Still. There could be pieces left in there. Have you had x-rays to make sure?″
He shakes his head as he turns to me. When he catches my glare, he shies away from her touch.
Haley immediately catches my furrowed brows. Her shoulders roll back and her eyes squint as she turns back to Paddy.
″Come by the house tomorrow so I can take a look. Massage therapy might be enough to take the edge off.”
Jealousy surges through me as I refrain from butting in as her hand pats his knee and have to remind myself that she’s just being a doctor.
She’s just being a doctor.
That’s all that it is. I force the bubbling rage away. Haley doesn’t need to see my hot-headed side. She doesn’t need to be scared off when I’ve just finally gotten her to loosen around me.
″Black suits.” Sean cuts in. “It’s a thing Da does. He wears black because it hides blood better. Never wanted to bother Ma with the bullshit of the job. No sense in worrying the wives, he always says. If Cal’s wearing black, it means he’s trying to hide blood from you.”
Haley’s gaze meets mine, and she smiles. “Blood doesn’t bother me.”
″Shit. No wonder he likes you, Haley, ” Saoirse says. She stands from the couch and smooths out her gray pencil skirt. “I like her, big brother.”
Da strolls into the living room, dressed in jeans and a shirt. Normally he wears a suit all evening, not changing until well after dinner. His dressed-down attire tells me he hasn’t left the house today.
It’s a good thing because it means that he couldn’t cause any trouble for me, to find later, but it’s also worrisome. It isn’t like him to skip out on work. He walks stiffly forward, his sight trained on Haley. There’s a twinkle in his gaze and he doesn’t refrain from pulling her into his arms just as the rest of my family has. Da’s hug has Haley, tensing though. Her eyes widen, but then she squeezes him back and smiles. She must be off guard now that both of my parents have hugged her, welcoming her without much effort.
Surely, I’m not so lucky to have them all welcome her with open arms.
″Hello, I’m Cal Senior,” Da says.
″Nice to meet you. I’m Haley.”
″Haley. Beautiful name.”
″Let’s eat,” Ma says, patting Da’s shoulder.
We follow her to the dining room, where everyone is settling into their chairs and drinking their alcoholic beverages of choice. Us boys and Da each have whiskey, and Saoirse sips on a glass of red wine.
″Sean, you were at Paddy’s birthday party at the bar, right?” Haley says.
″You know my Patrick?” Ma asks. She helps Haley find a seat and pours her some wine.
Haley nods, sitting beside me at the table. “We deployed together once.”
″Ma, Haley is the one who saved my leg,” Paddy says.
″Oh?” Ma pauses. “What a small world.”
″It is.” Haley takes a sip of her wine. “I’m from Washington State originally. I never imagined winding up on the east coast.”