Page 37 of The Irish Goodbye

“Okay, hold on, let me get my shoes. I’ll walk you home.”

Cordelia slipped into her boots, threw on her raincoat, then grabbed her camera and sling out of habit. The rain wasn’t bad, only a light mist, and Pocket wove around Cordelia’s legs, herding her to the side of the road whenever a car or horse-drawn cart passed. Cordelia assumed they were going to Fiona’s house, but Pocket shepherded her off down the long driveway to the white house.

Niall and Colin’s house. Her knees locked and she stopped walking.

Well. She was just dropping off the dog. She didn’t need to be such a coward about it. Maybe he wasn’t even home. He was probably working.

But there were lights on in the front room.

Who cares if he’s home or not? They’d had a perfectly pleasant conversation the other night at the session. She didn’t need to be tiptoeing around him or walking on eggshells. He was her neighbor, for god’s sake.

Pocket circled around and nudged the back of her calf, pushing her forward.

“Grow up, Cordelia,” she muttered to herself.

She stomped to the red front door, took a deep breath, and knocked.

11

The door flew open and Niall stood staring down at her with a look of complete surprise.

His hair was disheveled and he wore a red-and-white striped apron over a blue button-down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a bottle of olive oil in one hand.

“Oh. Hello,” he said, his eyes going wide. They were clear blue today, like a summer sky.

Stop staring at his damn eyes, Cord.

“Hi,” she said, shifting from one foot to the other. “Pocket was at my house and I thought I’d …” She gestured feebly.

“Ah. Trying to sneak in a pre-dinner snack, were you?” Niall said to the dog, who came up and licked his free hand.

Cordelia chuckled. “It was a futile attempt, I’m afraid. I’ve got, like, zero food in the fridge. I was planning on chocolate for dinner.”

“What’s this about no food?” Colin came bounding up to the door. “Cordelia! Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. Come in! Niall’s cooking. Fecking finally, if you ask me. There’s plenty. I think he got enough fillet steak to feed all of Kilronan.”

“I did not,” Niall said. “I bought what looked good.”

“Yeah, a whole cow, it seems.” Colin smiled at her and brushed his brown hair out of his eyes. “Come on then. You can’t be eating chocolate for dinner. Can she be eating chocolate for dinner, Niall?”

“Please come in or I’ll never hear the end of it,” Niall muttered to her. “No, she can’t be eating chocolate for dinner, Colin, will you get off my fecking back now? Here, make yourself useful and take this to the kitchen with the dog.”

“Come, Pocket,” Colin said, grabbing the olive oil from Niall’s hand and heading down the hall.

“You can leave your boots here,” Niall said pointing to the neat row of shoes lined up by the door. “I’ll take your coat.”

His fingers brushed the bare skin at the nape of her neck as he helped her out of her jacket and goose bumps blossomed across her shoulders.

“Thanks,” she said. “You really didn’t have to invite me, you know.”

“Nah, Colin’s right. I bought far too much food.” He hung up her coat and turned. “Are those … avocados on your socks?”

“Oh.” Cordelia flushed. “Yeah. Liz got them for me.”

The socks were purple with happy dancing avocados on them, some with pits in their bellies and some without. Cordelia felt a little embarrassed. But then Niall smiled so wide his dimple popped.

“Cute,” he said.

For some reason, that word in his brogue made her toes curl.