Chapter Eighteen
The fifteen rescues took up everyone’s attention that Sunday. Dad and Molly were in full vet mode, with help from Liam who was bringing dogs back and forth from the kennels for individual physical exams. Darcy finished grooming the last of them while Shane, Garrett, and Trace exercised and fed the healthier ones. The kids, Pru and Christian, helped clean and prepare kennels by doubling up some of the current residents. Through it all, Andi rocked on the porch with a belly so distended she could barely stand, and Jessie and Chloe flitted in and out of the kitchen, refilling cold drinks for everyone.
That left Gramma Finnie as an audience of one for Aidan and Beck’s pizza making that would feed the hungry troops. She made herself comfy at the kitchen table, her laptop open in front of her, chatting easily with Beck, who was making a more elaborate salad than they normally served at Slice.
Aidan only half listened to their conversation as Gramma told Beck about her background and life. He’d heard the stories a million times, and his head buzzed with a whole new set of vibrations that felt an awful lot like…possibilities.
Beck was a genius. Why hadn’t he thought of it? Garrett had mentioned flying rescues in and out of Waterford years ago, long before Aidan ever seriously considered getting out of the Army, but it hadn’t been brought up again in the time he’d been home.
He’d need a plane, that was all. Which would take a loan, possibly from Dad, or maybe an investment from the business. There wasn’t much money in the rescue end of the business, but there was heart. And that’s what Dad had in spades.
Eager for his father to come back and essentially finished with all the prep they could do before actually getting the pizzas in the ovens, Aidan grabbed a Bloody Mary refill and slid into the bench side of the kitchen table next to Beck.
“Don’t worry, I’ll eat it,” she was saying to Gramma Finnie, who’d remarked on the size of the salad. “Man cannot live by pizza alone,” she teased, making his grandmother’s old blue eyes light up and her fingers move.
“I can use that for tomorrow’s blog. I like each entry to start off with a proverb or quote, and I’m running out.”
“I can help you there,” Beck said. “My mom was a big ‘sayings’ person. She liked them on pillows and mugs and hanging on the wall.”
“I love her already,” Gramma chimed in, making them laugh. “What was her name?”
“Karen. Karen Fitzgerald Spencer.”
Gramma Finnie actually gasped. “Fitzgerald? Oh my saints above, lassie. Ye from the same part o’ Ireland.”
Beck laughed lightly. “Many, many generations ago, Gramma Finnie. Not like you. I’m afraid the history is lost and I don’t know where those Fitzgeralds are from.”
“Well, I can tell ye. There were Fitzgeralds in County Kilkenny, where my family was for hundreds of years. And another clan right over in Cork, with Waterford between the two of us.” She beamed. “It’s like we’re already related, lassie.”
Beck smiled right back, maybe not catching the already part that the sneaky old lady slipped in with Gaelic flair. If she did notice, she laughed it off, as bright as the sunshine through the window accentuating the gold in her eyes and in her hair.
Oh, Kil. You’ve got it so damn bad.
The problem was, Aidan didn’t care.
“Maybe we are related,” Beck quipped. “I certainly feel at home around this family.”
“Ah, that’s the Kilcannon magic,” Gramma Finnie said. “Now, tell me about your mother, lass. What was her favorite saying?”
Beck didn’t hesitate. “‘Turn your face to the sun, and you won’t see the shadows.’”
“Oooh.” Gramma Finnie drew out the response, her voice actually cracking with delight. “That’s a good one.” She pointed her ancient fingers over her not-ancient keyboard and gave Beck a questioning look. “May I use it?”
“Of course,” she agreed. “I have tons more in my memory banks.”
“I want them all,” Gramma Finnie said with a playful, greedy laugh. “Tell me, but not too fast. These old fingers don’t type as quickly as they cross-stitch.” She looked over the laptop at Beck. “Which I do quite well, but it’s so low tech.”
“Okay, let me think.” Beck closed her eyes for a second, unlocking her memory, but Gramma Finnie used the moment to jab Aidan’s shoulder.
I love her! she mouthed, raising her brow with a very obvious question. When he stared at her, her eyes widened in a silent demand.
He lifted a shoulder and gave a slight nod. Did that count for like and not love?
He couldn’t communicate more, because Beck’s eyes popped open. “She liked to say, ‘The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they make the best of everything.’”
Gramma Finnie fell back against her chair. “Oh yes. We’re related. I bet if I go through my Ancestry.com files, I’d find a Kilcannon or a Brennan—that’s my maiden name—married to a Fitzgerald. In fact…” She started clicking away at the keyboard. “I seem to recall—”
“Um, you guys?” Andi opened the kitchen door and held the doorjamb, looking from one to the other with eyes that were uncharacteristically wild.
“Are you okay, lassie?” Gramma was up with a speed that belied her years.
“Maybe. I think so. No. Oh my God, my water broke.”
They were all up, then, instantly coming to hold her and guide her to the closest chair. She clung to Gramma Finnie the most, as all the women in this family did, half laughing and half moaning with anticipation or fear or whatever women felt when they were about to give birth. “I need…”
“Liam,” Aidan finished for her. “I’ll get him.”
He didn’t wait for a response, tearing out of the kitchen door, across the drive, around the pen, bolting into the kennels, ignoring Darcy as she rushed closer holding a dog, all the while calling his brother’s name.
“What’s up?” Shane shot out from around the curve.
“Is everything okay?” Garrett popped into view, holding one of the new dogs.
“He’s in the vet office with Molly and Dad,” Chloe said, coming into view next to Shane. “Is it Andi?” she guessed.
He nodded, turning to go back out. “Water broke,” he called on his way.
He could practically hear the stampede behind him. They all tore across the path toward the vet building. His brothers nearly caught up with him, but Chloe and Jessie broke off to go see to Andi, who by best calculations was on the early side for delivery.
He thrust open the door and powered through the tiny waiting area, pushing the door to the back exam rooms. “Liam!”
The big guy was out in the hall in a second. “Is it Andi?” he asked.
Before Aidan could answer, Dad and Molly showed up through another door, in scrubs. And behind him, the cavalcade of Kilcannons practically mowed Aidan over. For one split second, they all stood in the hallway in silent shock.
“Her water broke.” At least three people, including Aidan, said it at the same time.
“Holy…” Liam turned from one side to the other, blood draining from his face. “She’s early.”
“It’s okay,” Molly assured him. “Two weeks.”
“Babies come early all the time,” Dad said, giving him a nudge. “And if it goes too fast, we can handle it, right, Molls?”
Molly shot Dad her best you’ve got to be kidding me look, but it wasn’t nearly as vile as the one he got from Liam.
“My child isn’t going to be born in a vet hospital.”
“There are worse places,” Shane cracked.
“Like in the kitchen, if you don’t get her to a hospital,” Trace added.
Liam held his hands up, then dropped them, his chest heaving. “Yeah, yeah. I gotta go. I gotta drive. I can’t drive.”
“I’ll drive,” Garrett said.
“I’ll follow,” Darcy promised.
“Molly and I are in minor surgery, but then we’ll be right behind.”
Liam started to bolt, then stopped, frozen. He looked from one face to another, his dark eyes crazed, his face pale, his mouth actually quivering. “I’m having a baby.”
“Technically, your wife is.” Shane gave him a tug. “And if you don’t want Gramma Finnie pulling that child into this world, move.”
Liam nodded again and again, making them all fight smiles. “I’m having…” He turned to Dad. “Does it always feel like this?”
And Dad, the old softie, was already in tears. “Every time, Son. Every single time.”
Liam let out a hoot and headed off, leaving them all in his dust once he finally got his act together. There was one more beat of silence, then it all broke loose. The hollering, high fives, laughter, and plans of who’d go where and who’d stay with Christian and how they’d all pull together to support Liam and Andi as they started their family.
When it died down, Aidan’s adrenaline dump was replaced by something he hadn’t felt in a long, long time. A bone-deep, rock-solid, impossible-to-deny love for this clan and their ability to rally around each other with the precision and focus of a finely tuned military unit. For the first time since he’d left his comrades-in-arms behind in Kabul, he felt grounded.
And a little bit jealous of Liam.
* * *
Despite the chaos of the rescues and excitement of a new baby, the family certainly didn’t lose its appetite, Beck noted. Once Andi was officially admitted to Vestal Valley General Hospital for delivery, everyone agreed the taste test should continue at least for those who stayed behind.
They’d divided into shifts, and right now, Dr. Kilcannon, Darcy, Garrett, Jessie, Shane, and Chloe were at the hospital, sending home reports, mostly of how nervous Liam was and how well Andi was doing.
Christian had already been well prepared that he would not be at the hospital when his brother or sister was born, but the arrival of all the new dogs and the constant love and attention from his family kept him in great spirits. He did stay close to Gramma Finnie, Beck noticed, who was clearly one of the solid rocks of this family.
As Aidan pulled the second pizza from the oven to oohs and aahs, Beck explained to the group gathered around the kitchen counter how they were working to find a secret ingredient, but nothing her uncle had tasted so far met his very high bar.
“This smells so good,” Molly said. “Maybe you’ve invented your own secret recipe.”
“But you’re missing pineapples,” Pru said, up on her tiptoes to check out the toppings. “We like pineapples, don’t we, Trace?”
“The only way to eat pizza,” he agreed.
Beck caught the quick, shared smile between the teenage girl and her father, their affection for each other palpable even to a stranger. Aidan had told Beck the story of how Molly had raised Pru alone for thirteen years before a man, recently out of prison, showed up at Waterford Farm looking for help for a sick dog. Not just any man, Aidan told her, but Pru’s father, long thought to be dead. Once again, Daniel Kilcannon was credited with pulling the strings to make that romance happen.
“No pineapple,” Beck said. “But we have Version A and Version B, and we want you to taste each and pick your favorite.”
“Is it a battle?” Molly asked.
“And if it is, I hope you weren’t so obvious as to make A for Aidan and B for Beck,” Pru teased.
“And C for Christian!” The little boy came zooming in, ready to grab a slice, but Aidan adeptly snagged his hand before he touched the steaming pizza.
“Why don’t you wash these things?” he suggested, turning the little fingers over for an examination. “While we set up for dinner in the kitchen.”
“Sunday dinner in the kitchen?” Christian looked horrified and thrilled at the same time. “Grandpa wouldn’t like that.”
“Grandpa’s not here.” Gramma Finnie moved in to guide the little man to the sink. “Let’s wash up, laddie, and eat wherever we want tonight.”
The screen door opened as Christian let out a wail of “Yay!” but his expression changed as he saw Shane and Chloe enter. “Is there a baby yet?” he demanded, dinner forgotten.
“Not for a few hours at best,” Chloe told him, wrapping the child in a hug and planting reassuring kisses on his cheeks. “But your mama told me to tell you she loves you sooooo much.”
“At this rate, she may finish those last two weeks in labor,” Shane said softly to the adults. “Apparently, nothing moves fast except our family in a crisis.”
And they sure did that, Beck mused.
“You’re just in time to eat,” Aidan said, greeting his brother with a man hug and pat on the shoulder, one of the warmest exchanges Beck had ever noticed between the two.
Was it the pending birth? The pizza? The day of new dogs and life-changing ideas? Something had Aidan very chill, very happy, and very…settled today.
When he stepped away from Shane, Aidan caught her looking at him and gave the quickest wink, which did crazy, stupid things like curl her toes and make the hair on her neck dance.
Maybe it was…her.
Shane came over to the counter to examine the pizza and inhale noisily. “Bro, you are gifted.”
“One of these is Beck’s.”
“Then you’re an awesome team. And I am so hungry, I do not know what the rest of you are going to eat.”
“There are two more in the oven,” Beck assured him.
“We can’t all fit at the kitchen table,” Christian said, calling over all of them from the other side of the room. “So I have the best idea ever in the world.”
“Three…two…one,” Shane whispered.
“Mario Kart,” Trace, Molly, Pru, and Aidan all said quietly at exactly the same time.
“Mario Kart!” Christian yelled, cracking them all up.
Still laughing, they all took off to set up in the family room and left Aidan and Beck to cut and serve the pizzas.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Beck said, watching as they streamed from one room to the next, leaving a wake of laughter and love.
“What I can’t believe is that kid used to be shy, at least to hear Andi tell it. Now, he’s the loudest one in the bunch.” He concentrated on making perfect slices with the pizza cutter.
“Because he’s so comfortable here.” She sighed like a kid at Christmas. “This place is wonderful.”
He smiled, his gaze on her as he came closer and put his hands on her cheeks. “And it’s all better with you.” He kissed her forehead, then her nose, then stole a kiss on her mouth that tasted as sweet as the exchange. “Andi’s baby had bad timing, though,” he added.
“Ruined our pizza party?”
“Ruined my chance to talk to Dad.” He inched back and added some tender pressure, his fingers grazing the nape of her neck in a way that made her feel breathless. “About the plane.”
“You like that idea?”
“Mmm.” He smiled. “I do. I like that idea a lot.”
“Aidan!” She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave a squeeze. “That’s awesome.”
“So are you.” He kissed her again. “I’m starting to think you are the secret ingredient.”
The compliment warmed her right down to her toes.
“We’re hungry out here!”
“Mario’s ready to race!”
“Bring the ’za or get a room.” That was Shane, in the doorway, who might have been standing there the whole time. Who knew? Not Beck, and she didn’t care. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so…at home.
They delivered the pizzas to more showers of compliments, but it was Chloe who practically jumped out of her seat on the first bite.
“You guys could win for sure. This pizza is that good!”
“Win what?” they asked in unison.
“Best of Bitter Bark. It’s coming up in three weeks, you know.”
Aidan and Beck looked at each other, silent.
“You didn’t know,” Shane presumed.
“We’re living in a pizza bubble,” Aidan shot back. “We could win,” he whispered to Beck. “For Slice of Heaven. Number twenty-five.”
“Only if Uncle Mike actually makes the pizza,” she said. “He wins the awards, not the restaurant. We could win, but it would be number one for you or me.” She turned to the group. “Which is better? A or B?”
All of them threw different answers, including Christian, who offered up a cheesy mouthful of “C!” and fell onto the floor, giggling.
“Doesn’t matter,” Trace said, holding up a slice. “They’re both the best pizza I’ve ever had.”
“And because it’s the Best of Better Bark this year,” Chloe added, “I managed to attract a dog-loving producer from Food Network who’s enamored of our town’s tourism campaign.”
Shane gave her a look. “Pretty sure that guy’s enamored with our town tourism director.”
She flicked off her husband’s tease. “He told me on Friday that he’s going to include two of the restaurant winners in the Best Kept Secrets show they’re doing on North Carolina small-town restaurants. Linda May is killing herself to win the Best in Baked Goods. You guys have to get pizza. Ricardo’s is the only real competition. And maybe that new guy who opened a delivery business. There’s no one else who can compete.”
Beck stared at her, the words floating around, almost making no sense. “Food Network is coming to Bitter Bark?”
“Better Bark.” At least three people, none of them Chloe, corrected for her.
“They sure are. And you better believe if Slice of Heaven wins, I’ll get that producer to feature the restaurant on the show.”
“That’d send sales through the roof,” Molly said.
“I watch that show every week.” Gramma Finnie scooted closer on the sofa and put a hand on Beck’s leg. “They do like the history, lass. If your uncle is a twenty-five-time winner, that host will gobble him and the pizza up. And you’ll have a line out the door for a year.”
Beck fell back against the sofa, speechless.
But no one else was. The room exploded with ideas, suggestions, and words of support.
“Plus, it’s Aidan,” Molly said, beaming at her brother. “I’ve never seen you fail at anything you put your mind to.”
“Thanks, Moll.” He held a slice of pizza up in a mock toast. “To Best Kept Secrets. I hope we found one.”
While they ate and Beck settled onto the sofa and picked at a salad, she couldn’t think about anything but Uncle Mike and not only getting him to taste the pizzas and pick one, but also convincing him to come back and make the pizza so he could win.
Could he do that in three weeks? Enough time in this house, and Beck was beginning to think anything was possible.
Next to her, Gramma Finnie patted her leg. “I do think ye could win, lass,” she whispered under the ruckus of the racing game.
“I hope so.”
“You know what they say about hope,” she said.
Beck drew back. “Hold On, Pain Ends?” she guessed, pulling out the old acronym her mother used to use when Beck had a boo-boo.
“Walk with hope in your heart, and ye never walk alone.”
Wow. She tried to smile and react normally to that, but a flutter in her chest took her breath away. It was exactly what Mama would have said. Exactly. It wasn’t the sentiment or silly saying that got her, it was the…familiarity.
Slowly, Beck put her salad bowl on the table, eyeing the remaining slices of pizza on a tray. But a shout at the TV stole her attention, as Trace nearly beat Pru on the animated racing course, but she slid ahead of him at the last second.
“Mr. Bancroft!” Pru yelled. “You let me win!”
“Umproo,” he fired back, making everyone laugh at a joke Beck didn’t get. “You won fair and square.”
Gramma Finnie leaned forward. “There are a lot of inside jokes in this family, lass.”
“I noticed.”
“If you stick around long enough, you’ll make a few.” She put her arm around Beck, somehow the most natural move in the world, fluttering a few strands of her hair. “I’d like that,” Gramma added softly.
“I’d like that, too,” she whispered back, closing her eyes as crooked, aging fingers slid through her hair tenderly.
And just like that, this old woman’s touch sent Beck back a few decades, a hundred miles, and a lifetime into the past.
“You should try your pizza,” Gramma Finnie whispered. “The one you made is better.”
“You think?”
“I know.”
Beck swallowed and let the sensations of the moment roll over her. A tender older woman. A happy, solid family. The smell of food, the sound of laughter, the knowledge that everything, in that moment, was secure.
“I think I will.” She leaned forward, slid a slice onto a napkin, and brought it to her lips, completing the memory with the first bite.
It was so delicious she had to close her eyes to fully appreciate it. When she opened them, she glanced to her left and caught Aidan looking at her. They held each other’s gaze, not needing to speak a word, but both of them sharing a moment as intimate as any kiss they’d exchanged. He knew. He understood. He got what this meant to her.
She could have stayed in that place forever, except Shane jumped up and thrust his cell phone in the air and yelled, “It’s a girl!”
And then there was nothing but Kilcannon chaos, which tasted almost as good as the pizza.