“Ah, the dog’s been fine. Other than he’s collected some things from around the house and stashed them behind the couch there.” Donal winked at Miki when he groaned in disgust. “It’s all right, Miki boy. He’s a dog, and it’s all new for him. New smells and new people. We only had one small talk about dragging in the pool skimmer, but after that, he’s kept to shoes and the like. Now, cheese or no cheese on yer burger?”
“Cheese would be cool.” Miki caught himself before he hitched up onto the counter, remembering Kane’s shocked expression. Several stools were tucked under the table set in the middle of the kitchen, and he pulled one out to sit on. Resting his elbows on the scarred wood, he watched Donal move from the fridge to the oven, gathering up cheese, meat, and onion rolls.
“Are ye a vegetable eater?” Donal asked over his shoulder.
Miki curled his lip. “Only if you make me.”
“Good, then since it’s just us carnivores, we shall say we had some of the greens and agree not to speak of it if anyone asks,” he rumbled, shifting over to the table. After cracking an egg into a mixing bowl, Donal added the hamburger, breadcrumbs, and some seasoning, then gave Miki a look. “Ye mind me hands in there?”
“Dude, you’re feeding me.” Miki smirked. “I don’t care what you use to mix it with.”
“We’re going to be getting along fine there, then. Can ye grab the ketchup from the fridge there? Add some to this while I mix it up.” Donal washed his hands, then returned to massage the meat together. Miki squirted a few tablespoons into the meat and Donal nodded. “That’ll do. Thank ye, Miki. Leave it out on the table in case we want some more. I’ll toss some chips into the oven. We can have them with our burgers.”
It was a comfortable space, and Miki glanced around, taking in the room without a battalion of Morgans surrounding him. He hadn’t seen much of it the first time, relegated to a rushed introduction, then hustled off to the family room to sit on one of the soft, long couches as Brigid shoved a plate of leftovers at him. Now he took his time studying the kitchen Kane grew up in. It was bright and cheery, much like Brigid. A china cabinet held some porcelain platters and a large wooden bowl carved so thin he could see light pouring through the translucent sides.
“Did Kane do that?” Miki asked, pointing to the rough-edged bowl. It looked almost like a tiger lily, undulating up from the base, then flaring out suddenly. It was pretty, a rich golden grain run soft with darker sienna veins. “Make that bowl thingy?”
“Aye.” Donal’s smile was a quiet light in his face. “He’s very good with his hands. I wish I had that kind of beauty inside of me but, ah, the best I can do is carve a turkey and hope there’s enough left for me by the time my hellions are done snatching up theirs.”
The love in Donal’s face hurt. The softness of his pride stabbed Miki deep into his broken, screwed-up mind, and he had to look away, pinching his lips together to swallow the uneasiness welling up from his chest. Donal continued, but Miki couldn’t make sense of what the man was saying. Just hearing the affection in his voice stung, and Miki shook his head, scolding himself to pull it together.
“What’s bothering you there, Miki?” Donal’s voice rolled over him. “I’m gathering it’s not the cheddar cheese.”
“Nah, the cheese is fine.” Under the table, Dude gnawed at the end of a bone he’d been given, and Miki tsked at him to be quiet when he started making slurping noises. “Just thinking.”
“About being in this crazy house while waiting for Kane to figure all of this shite out?” The man lobbed Miki’s unspoken anxiety into the middle of the kitchen, smiling as it went off. “I know that look on yer face. I had it myself when I met Brigid’s family. There’s eleven of them there, all underfoot and talking up a storm. It was like wading into an Irish tidal wave wearing nothing to protect me but a pair of stolen knickers.”
“Those are panties, right?” Miki gave him a sidelong glance.
“Aye, big blue ones, with flowers on them, even. My gran had a pair like that. She hung them out on the line to dry, and I used to worry they’d catch the wind and the house would sail away like it was on a kite.” Donal winked and tossed the heel of the bread loaf to a waiting Dude. “Don’t ye be telling my bride I’ve been feeding the dog in here, or she’ll have my nuts.”
“Only one who’ll say shit about it would be Dude.” Miki shrugged. “And he knows keeping his mouth shut means more food for him.”
“So if ye can imagine me, at the ripe age of twenty, sitting at a long table at the Finnegans’ and waiting for my girl to sit down next to me, when her da ambles up and whispers into my ear, ‘Boy, yer in me seat.’” Sliding the cheese over to Miki, he continued. “Unwrap a few of those for us, Miki. Four should do.”