Zeke nodded, although he knew she was looking at him. “That and the control issues he has. I’ll let you in on a little secret about our boy. He can’t hold his liquor.
She chuckled. “Really? Like in one drink and he’s under the table?”
“No, love, he’s on the table. Dancing. I hate to admit that I love a stereotypical drunken Irishman on those nights.”
“But he doesn’t drink anymore.”
“Only when he gets mad. And I mean really fucking mad.”
“So, you’re mother caught him stealing. What happened after that?”
“She dragged him into the house by his ear, sat him in the kitchen and yelled at him. In English and French. Then she fed him. Mum had a soft spot for bad boys.”
“It seems that her son has that trait.”
He smiled thinking about Rory. “Yeah.”
“And I guess I do too.”
“Yeah, I guess you do too. So, after she fed him, she told him he would take the guest room and sleep. He was all skin and bones and it was pretty evident he’d been living on the street. Rory tried to leave. He thought Mum was a softie.”
When he didn’t go on, she groaned. “You Irishmen. Finish the damned story.”
He chuckled. “Rory tried to take a few things, including a silver frame of Mum and my Da. He got to the front door and found my mother standing there.”
“Where was your stepfather?”
“In the kitchen brewing some tea. Mum ran the house, and he was just standing by if needed.”
She sighed. “They sound wonderful.”
Zeke didn’t miss the wistful tone. Maura had lost both her parents at a crucial time in a person’s life. His father died when Zeke was young, but he’d had his mother. He didn’t know how he would have turned out without her. At least she’d had Conner.
“I’d like you to meet them. I was just talking to them last week about coming over for a visit.”
“I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.” It warmed his heart to hear the easy acceptance of his family. He had a feeling his mother was going to love Maura.
“So, he threatened my mother. She boxed his ears and dragged him back to the kitchen and told him she found him stealing from her store so he was under house arrest. So he stayed.”
She laughed. “I think that is probably the best way to handle Rory.”
“You’re right. So, Rory moved in.”
She opened her mouth then shut it. He hated that she didn’t feel comfortable enough to ask him questions. He had tried to be open with her from the start.
“No, ask.”
“When did you become lovers?”
“We were eighteen. We had gone to London for a week and we got a little drunk. We had both been thinking about it but never acted on it. Then, we did.”
“Then you fell in love.”
For all her savvy and her protest that she was sophisticated, there were times that Maura was naïve about the ways of the world.
“No, we both freaked a little bit. Being gay or bisexual is not the thing to be doing when you both want to go in the military, not then. But, we didn’t do that. We were both in the military, and we both found ourselves in the Special Forces.” Conner and he had decided not to tell her of his work for Interpol and MI-6. “And…well over the years we finally got our shit together.”
She laughed. “You always sound funny when you use American colloquialisms, but you know more of them than I do now.”
He smiled and looked back at the water. Who would have thought two poor Irish boys would be living like this now? He was spending a week in Hawaii, in a million dollar house, and enjoying a sexual relationship that was beyond anything he had ever hoped for.
“So, what does your mother think about the relationship?” she asked, cutting into his thoughts.
“She’s okay with it. She does wonder if either of us will give her grandchildren.”
“Your mother does understand basic biology, right?”
He looked down at her and wanted to tell her what he really wanted. He wanted them all together, and he wanted to have babies with her. He had never had that feeling about any other woman, but knowing Maura, and knowing Rory, they would both freak if he told them.
“You two should get out on the water. It’s fantastic,” Rory said as he walked up the beach.
“In a bit. I need some rest because I have these very insatiable lovers and they won’t leave me alone,” Maura said.
He laughed. He bent down, kissed Maura and leaned over to kiss Zeke. Before Zeke could say anything, Rory was on his way out to the water.
“He doesn’t care what other people think and neither should you,” Maura said.