Michael nodded. ‘I agree. We need to let things calm down. Take them unawares.’
Patrick Costello was hearing exactly what he wanted. This was something to be done with finesse. Done properly, it was a message for everyone out there with dreams of the big time. He said quietly, ‘On the plus side, boys, once the Barbers are out of the frame, we will be without any natural predators!’
Declan nodded his agreement as they clinked glasses. ‘Couldn’t have put it better meself, bruv.’
Chapter Fourteen
Hannah Flynn watched her son as he ate his dinner. He had always attacked his food, and she enjoyed watching him eat. He savoured every mouthful and, like any mother, she loved to watch her child devouring what she had provided. Not that she had ever cooked elaborate meals on a daily basis; she didn’t enjoy cooking so she had never bothered with anything fancy. Until now it had never really mattered. Now that her son was so embroiled with the Callahan family, she was making an effort to keep him around.
Lana Callahan, on the other hand, cooked meals as if her life depended on it, and she was teaching young Josephine the finer points of Irish cuisine, as she called it. A contradiction in terms if ever Hannah had heard one. Lana Callahan cooked all the old Irish recipes Hannah’s granny had cooked. It annoyed the life out of her. She was actually far more Irish than any of them. She had been born in Ireland for a start – and she still had the accent to prove it. Second-hand Irish, that’s all they were. They had no knowledge really of where their family had come from originally, and had no contact with people there. They’d never even been to Ireland.
According to Michael, Lana was a really good cook, and Josephine was following in her mother’s footsteps. She was a veritable fecking saint, if her son was to be believed – the Holy Mother of God should watch herself. There was a serious contender for the crown of Queen of Heaven in Josephine Callahan.
They were taking him over, and that he was letting them was apparent. Michael acted like he was already a member of the Callahan family, he spent so much time round there. Hannah didn’t know how she could compete but even after nearly four years, and a wedding all planned and paid for, she still couldn’t accept the girl as a permanent fixture in her life.
Instead, she was determined to spoil him while she could. She was on the offensive now, cooking for her son and giving him the benefit of his Irish heritage herself. ‘You’re enjoying that, son. I can see that.’
Michael smiled, his mouth full of stew. It was rare for his mum to cook something so delicious. Other than Christmas dinner, his old mum wasn’t known for her culinary skills. Breakfast had always been cereal and cold milk – winter or summer. She’d never once made him a packed lunch – just given him money to go to the local chippy. He never complained; what he didn’t have he couldn’t miss. But the Callahan family had opened his eyes and he liked the way they lived. Meals were something to be enjoyed in their house, something to be shared together as a family. It was an alien concept to him at first, but now he found that he looked forward to it. The way they talked about their day, and sat there when they were finished eating, just enjoying being in each other’s company, was something he wanted for his children.
‘It’s lovely, Mum. I was absolutely starving as well, so it’s much appreciated!’