Tied Up with a Bow: A County Cork Novella (County Cork Novellas Book 1) by Sheila Connolly

Author:Sheila Connolly [Connolly, Sheila]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mother and son, family, Christmas, Ireland
Publisher: Beyond the Page
Published: 2018-11-28T16:00:00+00:00

• • •

Just past six, Seamus and his band of friends started drifting in. “Good evenin’ to yeh, Maura Donovan. I hear yeh’ve taken up gamblin’, like I suggested.” He grinned to soften his statement.

“What, our piddly little game of chance? It’s for a good cause.”

“And what would that be?”

“I haven’t really decided. You tell me: who needs a bit of cash for the holidays? A family? The school? I won’t consider the church, since they’ve got enough fund-raisers of their own going. Any ideas, Seamus?”

“You could set up a fund for those of us who find themselves short of coin but are perishin’ fer a pint?”

“Nice try, but I don’t think that qualifies as a charity. You can keep thinking about it. I assume you want a pint now?”

“Please. Even if I have to pay.”

“Coming up. Is your whole gang going to be here?”

“Where else would we be? The cattle are in the barn and fed, and the wives are lookin’ fer a bit of peace and quiet while they put together supper. We just wanted to check out how yer plans are goin’.”

“Fine, so far. I think.”

Seamus leaned over the bar. “Any word on what that structure might be?”

“Nope. I don’t know, and I told the guys who are putting it together not to share—in exchange for a free pint for them.”

“Ah, so yeh’re bribin’ ’em to keep their mouths shut. Smart woman, you are.”

Once Seamus had settled himself at a table, Maura set about filling pints. She looked up from the bar to see Danny, followed by his mother—her shift at the bar must have ended. Since it was fairly dark already, Maura couldn’t read Hannah’s expression, but she put on a smile anyway.

Hannah came straight to the point. “Danny here tells me you’ve offered to pay him to work fer yeh.”

“Yes, providing you agree, and he gets his homework done. Is that a problem?”

“We’re not lookin’ fer charity.”

“It’s not charity. In case you haven’t counted, mostly there are only three of us running this place, and we can’t always keep up with the sweeping and cleaning during the day. Danny could be a big help to us, if he could give us a couple of hours in the afternoon. But if you aren’t comfortable with it, no problem.”

Hannah’s expression softened a bit. “Anne doesn’t like him hangin’ about over at her place. Thinks he’ll get in the way, most likely. But it’s hard, since he’s too young to be left on his own, in a place he doesn’t know well, and I need the work. And Saturdays are harder, since that’s Anne’s busiest time, but I’ve no one to leave Danny with.”

“He’d be safe enough here. Look, I know you haven’t been in Leap for long, and you haven’t been in this pub here. But this is not a place for hard drinkers. Mostly we get farmers who want a break after a long day with their herds, or people who want a chance to talk with friends and enjoy a pint before heading home.

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