Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 92629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“She is nice.” And gorgeous and passionate and smart. Fuck, he really was head over heels for the woman. He didn’t know if it was a good sign or a bad one that he didn’t care that he’d gone and lost his mind where she was concerned. He opened the back door and led the way into the house. “Do you want to get drinks with us sometime and actually get a chance to have a conversation with her?”
“Yeah, I would. Though don’t say that too loudly in here or you’ll bring all three of our sisters down on your head, demanding the same thing.”
And, just like that, an idea spawned. He grinned. “Devlin, you’re brilliant.”
“You’re not the first to say that.” He gave Teague a playful push. “Now go hatch your plans. I have a paper due Monday that I need to work on.”
“Better get an A.” Another thought occurred to him. “Hey.”
Devlin turned. “Yeah?”
“You want to get a beer tomorrow?” He suspected he’d been neglecting his siblings recently, and he damn well knew it for sure when his brother’s face lit up.
“That’d be great. I’ll let Cillian and Aiden know.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Devlin not to, but the truth was he had to face Aiden eventually. And Cillian might drive him up the wall, but he was still family. “Good. We’ll go down to Jameson’s and have a few beers.” He waited for his brother to disappear through the doorway before he made his way up to the attic.
Carrigan looked up from a giant box she was digging through when he climbed up the last step. “You’re late.”
“I was talking with Devlin.”
Her entire expression softened at the mention of their youngest brother. “He’s really kicking ass at school.”
“Good.” Though they both knew he wouldn’t get a chance to use that web design major any more than Teague would use the master’s degree in business that he was working on in his spare time. “How are you doing?”
She raised her eyebrows. “I’m the same as I’ve ever been.” Which wasn’t a damn answer.
He crouched down to peer into the box holding her attention. It was filled with what looked like embroidered handkerchiefs. “What’s all this?”
“Mother Dearest has me on a wild-goose chase, looking for Grandma Donaghue’s second-favorite blue handkerchief to give to your fiancée for the wedding.”
“Second-favorite?”
She shoved her hair back from her face and adopted a stern look and a tone terrifyingly similar to their mother’s. “Of course, Teague. We can’t be giving that Sheridan girl the best of the best, now can we?” She rolled her eyes. “I’ve been up here for two hours. Did you know we have four boxes this size filled with handkerchiefs? Why in God’s name would we need so many?”
They shared a look and said the word at the same time. “History.”
Teague looked around the dim attic. “I haven’t been up here in years.”
“No one has. That’s the point of it being an attic. The only things up here are boxed-away memories and maybe a ghost or two.” She dug deeper into the box. “But you didn’t text me because you were dying to dig through family heirlooms.”
No, he hadn’t, but he looked around the attic, and couldn’t help seeing it as a physical reminder of everything they had to lose. It was entirely possible that Callie’s secret wasn’t something that could potentially be a grenade, but he wasn’t about to place bets on it. Life was far too willing to rise up and kick him in the teeth for him to hope for the best. “How did things go with Callie last week?”
She sneezed when a cloud of dust rose out of the box. “She’s not what I expected, but I suppose I was a little biased. She managed to placate our mother without insulting her, which is something I’ve never pulled off, so she’s smarter than I gave her credit for. Prettier too.”
High praise coming from his sister. “Do you like her?”
She shrugged. “I don’t hate her.”
He suspected it was as good as he was going to get. “I’d like you to take her out—spend some more time with her. She’s going to be family, after all.”
“If you’re trying to endear her to me, comparing her to family isn’t the way to go about it.”
He laughed. “I’m family.”
“My point stands.” But she was finally smiling. “But since you are my second-favorite brother, I will see about some sisterly bonding time.”
“I appreciate you—” Then he stopped to consider her words. “Wait—second-favorite brother?”
Her smile widened. “You’re great and all, but Devlin is—”
“Devlin. Yeah, I get it.” He reached into the box and grabbed a scrap of blue that had caught his eye. “Is this it?”
“Oh, thank God, yes.” She took it out of his hand and frowned at it. “It doesn’t look like much. But, back to Callie, don’t worry about it. The girls and I are taking her out tomorrow night.”