“Sorry,” she said, and started walking again.
Declan rushed out from behind the bar, grinning. “Any decent person would lend a hand?” he asked her. “That’s all you have to say about what happened in the subway?”
The song ended and the music stopped. “Ah, Declan, she’s here, eh?” called the man with the fiddle. “Ladies and gentlemen, three cheers for our own Kieran Finnegan!”
People shouted her name, applauding.
“Thank you,” she said loudly, ducking her head to hide her embarrassment. “Was that a jig? Don’t let me stop you.”
The violinist grinned, picked up his instrument, and the music took flight again.
“You’re looking lovely as always, Kieran,” Declan said. He looked past his sister to Craig. “Nice to see you again. Have you made yourself my sister’s guardian?”
“Maybe,” Craig said with a shrug. “She’s been incredibly helpful to us, so we want to make sure she can get around easily.”
“And he likes the food,” Julie said.
“As any sane man would,” Declan said. “Well, I’d better get back to it.”
“You slammed behind the bar?” Kieran asked him.
“I’m doing all right. You sit and relax with your friends—and our layabout brother,” he added, looking at Kevin.
“You need me?” Kevin asked.
“No, we’re good. Danny is helping out on the floor.”
“I’m too restless to sit,” Kieran said. “I’ll help out.” She turned to the others. “Forgive me, but I’ve got to keep busy.”
And with that, she headed toward the bar.
That was all right, Craig thought. Kevin and Julie were ready to sit and have a meal, so who knew what he might learn.
“I’m so glad you’re looking out for Kieran,” Julie told him as they sat.
He had more or less steered them toward a small booth right by the bar. He could keep an eye on Kieran, see who she interacted with, without being obvious about it.
Meanwhile, he was curious about Julie, since it was her soon-to-be-ex husband who worked at the jewelry store where the theft had taken place. Kieran had said she’d only been there because of Julie.
“She’s been very helpful with our case,” Craig said. “She was there that day to see your ex-husband, right?”
“He’s been behaving like a real bastard,” Kevin said.
It looked to Craig as if Kevin was staring at Julie distrustfully, as if he was worried what she might say.
But Julie didn’t seem to notice. She turned to Craig and said, “He nearly killed our dogs! Well, my dogs now. I have a pair of rescue greyhounds. Benji and Sally. They’re so sweet and so beautiful, and he locked them in their crates and left them without food or water.”
“You should have called animal control. It’s illegal to abuse animals,” Craig said.
“I didn’t want them taken away. I just wanted them to be okay. As soon as I got back I gave them food and water, bathed them and washed out their crates. But I was still so mad.”
“And since Kieran’s degree is in psychology,” Kevin said quickly, “she went to the store, hoping to see Gary and talk him into behaving like an adult.”
“You can’t even imagine everything he’s done,” Julie murmured.
Craig was afraid he was going to hear about all of it.
He was half listening to Julie go on about how badly Gary was behaving and watching Kieran at the same time. He wondered if she’d taken her bartending expertise and used it when working on her psychology degree or if she’d used her interest in psychology as a bartender. Whichever. She was good with the customers—many of them obviously regulars—friendly and efficient without disrupting their private conversations. She spent a fair amount of time talking with an older man at the bar who seemed to be drinking nothing but soda and lime.
But suddenly everything about her changed. She stiffened, and her smile froze.
She appeared to be reacting to a group who’d just approached the bar, two men and a young blonde with huge breasts and a very low-cut blouse that displayed them to their best advantage.
Silicone, he thought.
The younger of the two men was tall, but not overly so. He had wavy dark hair and wore a well-tailored dark blue suit. His arm was draped casually around the woman’s shoulders, his hand dangling near her breasts. The older man had slicked-back silver hair and looked like an aging athlete; he was equally well dressed in a designer suit. They were talking and laughing as they waited for their turn to order.
Suddenly the young man looked up and saw the way Kieran was looking at him. He jerked his head, as if to indicate that he was with the older man and had no choice but to be there.
Gary. That had to be the nasty almost-ex, Gary Benton.
His assumption was proved true when Julie looked up and let out a gasp. Kevin grasped her hand, either to comfort her or to keep her from leaping to her feet and attacking.
Kieran stepped around from behind the bar to speak directly to the trio.
He couldn’t hear their conversation over the music, but the older man was nodding, while the younger man had reddened and was clearly unhappy.