Saving Christmas in the Little Irish Village (The Little Irish Village #5)

Chapter 9

9

Princess Leia was settled in her basket in the kitchen corner, seemingly content with her new surroundings. She lapped up the attention of the Kelly women but bared her gnashers whenever Liam looked her way.

Hannah would have found this funny if she hadn’t been so keyed up, itching to head upstairs, tap on Mr Whizz-Bang Project Manager’s door and tell him exactly what she thought. However, Mam would have her guts for garters if she were to do so.

Instead, she resolved to duck into the pub and find out which villagers were on her side as soon as Shannon and James headed off. They weren’t showing any signs of leaving, though, she thought with annoyance. Shannon was busy texting now, and James was fidgeting in his seat as though there was something he wanted to say.

She wasn’t the only one who noticed.

‘What’s going on with you there, James?’ Kitty asked. ‘You’ve ants in your pants, so you have.’

‘Enough with all the pants references,’ Hannah said, immediately wishing she hadn’t spoken when she saw her mam opening her mouth. ‘Don’t you dare, Mam!’

‘I have to. It’s too good not to share.’ Like James, Nora looked fit to burst.

Bracing for what was coming, Hannah slunk further down in her seat as her mam relayed in painful detail how she’d made a holy show of herself in front of their guest. Shannon was wiping her eyes, and James appeared to momentarily forget whatever had had him behaving like a cat on a hot tin roof as he joined in the laughter.

Liam, however, remained straight-faced. ‘Hannah Kelly, it’s not a good idea to be getting about the place in your knickers. I hope you don’t carry on like that in your house-share. You’ll be giving your housemates the wrong idea.’

‘Dad, you are such a prude! And you missed the whole point of the story.’ Shannon gasped. ‘Hannah didn’t think anybody was home, let alone a strange man.’

‘Well, if she’d let us know her plans beforehand, it wouldn’t have been an issue,’ Liam replied, echoing what Nora and Kitty had both already said.

‘Excuse me, I am still in the room, you know,’ Hannah said, eyeballing her sister. Then she added, ‘We’re even-stevens now.’

‘What do you mean?’

Keen to turn the spotlight away from herself, Hannah elaborated, ‘Have you forgotten about the time you were parading about behind the bar in front of Father Seamus with your skirt caught up in your holey old tights?’

‘And then you showed me upstairs to my room,’ James added, grinning from ear to ear at the memory. He received a playful swat from Shannon.

‘Low blow, Hannah,’ her sister said, but her eyes twinkled.

Hannah felt better now everyone was cackling over Shannon’s unfortunate flash. She watched as her sister got up and fetched her laptop from her bag. ‘What are you up to?’

‘You’ll see.’ Shannon opened it up on the table. Then she picked up her phone and banged out another text.

‘Who’re you texting?’ Hannah asked, sensing something was afoot.

‘Imo. She and Ryan are supposed to be here by now; they’re bringing Maeve.’

As though Shannon had magicked them up, the door to the bar opened, bringing a burst of laughter from inside the pub with it. Ryan, followed by Imogen and little Maeve Doolin, James’s grandmother, crowded into the kitchen and began unravelling layers.

Imogen spoke up, unwinding her scarf. ‘Sorry we’re a little late, everyone, but we were collared by Enda and Mr Kenny in the pub. This garden centre and the Christmas tree farm business are a hot topic. There’s a lot of people who aren’t happy about it.’

Hannah’s ears pricked up. She’d message Dylan later and ask whether he thought putting a petition together to present to the architectural project arse sleeping under the Shamrock’s roof was a good idea. It was an excuse to contact him, and she wouldn’t suffer the wrath of Mam for accosting a guest and berating him about what the hell he thought he was doing in Emerald Bay.

‘Proposed garden centre and Christmas tree farm,’ Hannah quickly clarified.

Nora held her hand up. ‘Don’t go there. We’ve talked enough about that this afternoon; on the bright side, it’s brought Hannah home to us early.’

Hannah tucked her thoughts away and got up to greet Ryan.

‘For or against?’ Ryan asked, zeroing in to give Hannah a burly squeeze.

‘What do you think? Against obviously. You?’

Imogen butted in. ‘It’s tricky. The site will need contractors.’ She glanced toward Ryan.

‘I can’t afford to turn work down,’ he confirmed. ‘Although I’ll be sad to see the old farm carved up. I loved playing there as a kid.’

‘We all did,’ Hannah said, engulfing Maeve in a fond hello hug before fetching her a chair.

‘Don’t get me wrong now.’ Nora’s confusion was evident. ‘Imogen and Ryan, this is your home, too, and, Maeve, you know you’re part of the family, but I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve had a menopausal moment.’

‘What do you mean, Mam?’ Imogen asked as she and Ryan sat themselves down.

‘Am I after inviting youse all for afternoon tea? Because if that’s the case, I can have a batch of scones on the table in under twenty minutes.’

Imogen laughed. ‘No, Mam, you’re grand. It was Shannon who asked us to pop round and pick Maeve up on our way.’

Shannon was busy on her laptop.

Suddenly, Imogen’s eyes rounded, and her mouth formed an ‘O’ as she silently pointed at the basket tucked away in the kitchen corner.

‘That’s Princess Leia, our short-term foster dog,’ Liam informed Imogen, Ryan and Maeve none too happily. ‘James, would you care to elaborate.’

‘Princess Leia,’ Maeve spoke up. ‘That’s Jean Tansey’s little dog. Is she all right?’

James explained the situation while Ryan got up to say hello to the little dog, his solid builder’s frame crouching down to pet her. There was a growl, and he straightened quickly, an indignant expression on his face as he turned toward the table. ‘She bit me.’

‘Really? She doesn’t exactly look vicious, Ryan.’ Imogen was sceptical.

‘She’s not.’ Shannon looked up from the laptop. ‘She’s a total sweetie.’

‘Well, don’t expect me to shower you in sympathy if she gives you a nip.’ Ryan shook his hand. ‘She’s sharp little teeth. Like a rat’s.’

‘Exactly,’ Liam replied like a man vindicated.

Imogen warily ventured over to see for herself and received a dainty little lick.

‘She likes you,’ Shannon said, smiling. ‘Maybe it’s men she’s a thing about. She’s not used to being around them because Mrs Tansey lives alone.’

‘She was all right with James.’

‘But she knows James.’

Then Shannon began waving and smiling into her laptop. ‘How’re you?’

Grace’s voice rang out from the London canal boat she shared with her boyfriend, Chris: ‘Is it Hannah we’re waiting on?’

‘No, she’s made a surprise visit home. She’s here.’

Hannah got up and moved around the table to peer over Shannon’s shoulder. She was surprised to see not only Grace and Chris peering over her shoulder but also Ava and Shane waving out from another box at her. Three other men she didn’t recognise pinged into the Zoom screen.

This better not be some sort of Tinder-Zoom dating intervention , Hannah thought, waiting for her sister to greet the newcomers so she could find out what was going on.

‘Hi, Alex, how’re you, Oliver and Braydon?’

The names rang a bell, and hearing their American twangs as they greeted Shannon, she twigged. They were James’s brothers. She moved out of the way so James could squish in beside her.

Nora and Kitty were jostling, trying to get a look in, and Nora, peering over the top of Shannon’s head, waved at everybody before tapping her on the shoulder. ‘I think you better tell me what this is all about, Shannon.’

‘Well,’ Shannon said coyly into the screen then twisted to see her mam, dad, nan, Imogen, Ryan and Hannah, who’d all joined the huddle now, ‘babysitting Princess Leia is going to be good practice for you all.’

Blank faces stared back at Shannon and James, who were both grinning like idiots. Voices clamoured over the top of one another from the laptop.

It was Kitty who twigged first. ‘You’re not?’

‘I am!’ Shannon squealed. ‘I’m pregnant. Four months today. God, it’s been so hard keeping quiet!’ Her smile stretched from ear to ear, as did James’s.

Hannah forgot all about what had brought her home early as she soaked in the happy news. She was going to be an aunt!