Page 10

CHAPTER 10

Dee

“D ee, I swear to God, if you think I’m payin’ for that busted keg, you’ve another thing comin’!”

I groaned. Of course, it was Martin Glancy, Ballybeg’s walking complaint department and Ballybeg’s most mediocre (alas, only) beer delivery man.

Setting the pint I’d just pulled for Liam in front of him, I turned to face Martin, already regretting everything that was about to take place.

“Don’t you raise your voice at me,” I hissed. “And I don’t care what you think. You delivered the keg; it’s faulty, so it’s your problem.”

Actually, it was my problem! Hell, I needed vendors and deliverymen I could rely on, or I was screwed.

“It’s not faulty! You must’ve tapped it wrong!” Martin bellowed, gesturing wildly, overreacting like I’d not insulted his dumb keg but his entire family.

“Tapped it wrong?” I scoffed. “This isn’t amateur hour. I’ve been tapping kegs since before you learned how to drive your bloody van!”

He went redder, spluttering as the entire pub tuned in to watch. Ballybeg loved a spectacle, especially when it involved me losing my temper.

I caught Jax turning on his stool, curious. “What’s going on?” he asked Ronan, who was leaning against the bar, looking entirely too amused.

“Keg’s busted.” Ronan shrugged lazily. “This happens at least once a feckin’ month. Dee’s sorting it. Martin’s just making it harder for himself, as usual .”

“You think she needs help?”

I glared at Jax, and Ronan snorted. “You sit right on down, Yank, unless you’ve got a death wish.”

Ignoring them both, I turned back to Martin, jabbing my finger at him. “You’re replacing the keg, Martin Glancy. Either you swap it out, or I’ll have every Guinness drinker in this village show up at your house and demand satisfaction, including your da.”

“You wouldn’t,” he muttered, but his confidence was cracking.

Martin Glancy Senior was a regular and continued to intimidate his twenty-eight-year-old son. Nobody said he was a good parent.

“You wanna test me?” I arched an eyebrow in challenge.

Before Martin could dig himself any deeper, Jax appeared at my side, hands in his pockets, wearing that infuriatingly casual grin. “Everything alright here?” he asked, not to rescue me, but just enough to let Martin know I wasn’t alone in this. I could tell the difference, and even though I wanted to tell him to mind his business, I liked that he’d made the effort.

“Stay the feck out of it, Yank,” someone called.

“Yeah, we’re having a laugh here,” another said.

I glared at the two offending patrons who were sitting at a table. “You ain’t gonna be laughing when I can’t serve you your pint of Guinness, not today or tomorrow.”

They quietly went back to their pints and card game.

Jax stood, his hands tucked in his pockets, trying his best not to laugh. Since this happened on the regular with Martin, there was some humor to be had, sure, but if I didn’t have a fresh keg here before the evening rush in an hour, there’d be ructions in Ballybeg fierce enough to wake the dead.

“Martin, my man,” Jax said softly and respectfully. “Do you want to keep arguing, or do you want to make some money tonight? “

“Jax,” I warned.

He winked at me. I’d been winked at by Jax more in the past three weeks than in the past three years by anyone.

Martin raised his chin. “Say what you got to say, Yank.”

“Swear to God, Jax, you pay him a bribe, and I’ll?—”

“Here’s two hundred.” Jax slipped him the money right as I warned him not to. “Think of it as a tip from me for a job well done.”

My hands were on my hips. I scoffed.

Martin looked at the money and then at me as if waiting to see how this was a trap. He wasn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

“Hey, I’m just saying, it’s not my fault—” Martin started, but Jax cut in smoothly.

“Martin, mate,” he cut him off, his drawl disarming. “This offer is time-limited and it also requires you to apologize to Dee.”

Martin was torn. The two hundred euros looked good, better than he’d had in a while, but the idea of apologizing to me was….

“Come on, man, it’s one keg. Swap it out, and you’re a hero. Keep arguing, and you’ll be the guy who killed Guinness night in Ballybeg,” Jax cajoled.

Martin’s mouth opened, then closed. For once in his life, he thought better of saying whatever was on his mind. “Fine,” he grumbled. “I’m sorry, Dee. I’ll go get a new keg for you.”

“Don’t forget to take this one.” I pointed to the one I’d pulled out when I realized the damn thing was unusable.

Martin wasn’t happy, even though he had two hundred in his pocket for his incompetence. “Don’t think it’s gonna happen again, though, Dee.”

Jax sighed. Aye , I thought, you couldn’t teach a moron to save his own life.

“Of course not,” I remarked, my voice saccharine sweet. “Next time, I’ll just call your competitor, the one from Cork who has been sniffing around Ballybeg for one whole year.”

This was true, but it would cost me more and hurt my already slim profit margin, but Martin didn’t need to know about that.

Martin stomped out of the pub, and everyone clapped and then went back to their business.

“We live to fight another day,” Ronan cried out like we were in an old battle scene before he went back to the kitchen.

I turned to Jax, crossing my arms. “What was that?”

“What?” He feigned innocence, his grin widening.

“You think you can throw your money around and things will happen?”

Jax frowned. “Yeah, I do think so.”

“You can’t just?—”

“Sure, I can.” He leaned down, and before I could step away, he kissed my nose. My nose? No one kissed a nose, did they? Yes, they did when they were in a close relationship, married for five hundred years, those couples kissed like this: affectionate, intimate, playful, all in one.

There was more clapping.

“And you can’t just do?—”

And, so, he did it again. Kissed me on the nose, that is.

I needed to have a spine, I thought, and tell him what was what. But damn, it felt good to have had someone stand with me and fight this little battle with me, and then give me affection and tell me that what he’d done came with no price tag.

Oh, yes, I was falling for this eejit because I was one too, a big, dumb, stupid eejit .

Mercifully, I didn’t have to dwell on what just went down with Jax because Martin came back with a fresh keg, and the crowd was applauding and cheering. As I connected the keg and pulled the first beer, my nose tingled.