Something to Prove (32 page)

Colin avoided his entire family for the next two days. He’d worked around the clock
to keep his mind off Elizabeth. He’d listened to her message a dozen times.
I wish you were here.
Like some lame postcard. Not “I’m sorry I fucked up.” Certainly not “I love you.”
And then she had just left. She went back to Florida without a good-bye, like a toddler
who’d lost her favorite game. As if he didn’t have a good reason for being pissed
off and hurt. She obviously didn’t want to speak to him, so he got to work to forget
her.

He’d received a very businesslike e-mail informing him that the bar and bowling alley
would be on the market immediately. She kindly asked him to return to Brannigan’s
and complete the kitchen so it would be ready to sell.

The kitchen was finally finished for the bar, and they had a temporary license. Mike
and Bianca took it upon themselves to organize and do a taste test for menu items.
He heard them laughing and joking in the back. Every now and then, Mike would stick
his head into the hallway and ask if Colin needed help.

He needed too much. He’d fallen in love with a woman who didn’t trust him, who lived
thousands of miles away, and who planned to sell his business out from under him.

No, there was nothing Mike could do.

The door to the bar opened and his mom came in. For someone who had worked in a bar
for years, Eileen O’Leary looked completely out of place.

“Mom. What are you doing here?”

“I came to see what you’ve been doing with your life.” She sat on a stool and looked
around the bar, as if she could offer an official appraisal.

His mom nodded. “He would approve.”

There was no need to clarify who she was talking about. Colin had always sought Dad’s
approval.

“He’d be proud.”

He felt his face flush. “Thanks.”

“Where’s Libby?”

He cleared his throat. That was as emotional as his mother would get. “Florida.”

“Vacation?”

“For good. That’s where she lives, remember?” He busied himself with wiping down the
counter.

“Her business is here with you.” His mother’s back stiffened. It wasn’t often that
he witnessed his mother going into mama bear mode, but this time was unwarranted.

“She’s selling the business. That was always the plan.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“You just let her walk out.”

How did she manage to spin this back to an attack on him? “What was I supposed to
do?”

“Do you remember what you told Ryan after he had brought Quinn to the house for dinner
the first time?”

He thought back to almost a year ago and shook his head. “I think I called him a stupid
shit for letting the best thing in his life walk away.”

Eileen slid from her stool. “You should take your own advice.”

What the hell did that mean? He couldn’t tell his mother that he and Elizabeth had
agreed to sleep together and when the project was over, so were they. Talking about
sex with a parent was creepy. But beyond that, he knew she would call him on being
a liar. His relationship with Libby had evolved, and his mother obviously knew. He
just didn’t know what to do about it. Telling Elizabeth he loved her had meant nothing.

He couldn’t offer Elizabeth what she wanted. CEO of Brannigan’s Sports Bar wouldn’t
be enough for her.

Sleeping for a week wasn’t in the cards for Elizabeth. She tossed and turned and cried.
Being in bed by ten p.m. had become a foreign concept. She sat awake watching
Highlander
until two every night. She’d tried to meet with her father twice, and both times
he put her off.

She was supposed to be using the time to figure out her life, but she couldn’t focus.
Every day she went into the office and pushed papers around but accomplished nothing.
She checked and rechecked her bank balance and began searching for a project of her
own.

Maybe striking out with her own company was what she needed. She’d proven, at least
to herself, that she could do it. Starting over was a frightening prospect.

When her father called her into his office, she prepared for his verdict. Her mother
had started planning his retirement party, so Elizabeth knew a decision was imminent.
She knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

From the door, she saw her father standing in front of his desk, with Keith by his
side. Nothing in Keith’s expression hinted at what they’d been talking about.

Her father picked up a box from his desk. “This is for you.”

He handed it to her. A brown box, nothing special. No paper or ribbon. She slid the
side open and pulled out a nameplate.

“For a long time, I assumed Keith would take over, being the eldest, but I saw a spark
in you in Chicago, Elizabeth. You showed some gumption. That’ll take you far in this
business.”

Her heart stuttered. Tears welled and she smiled at her father. “I don’t know what
to say.”

“Don’t get too excited yet,” Keith said, flashing a nameplate of his own.

“What?”

“Dad wants a trial run. I think it’s a stupid idea.”

Their father bristled. “Nonsense. How else am I supposed to know if you can handle
the job? I’ve spent most of my life building this business.”

No, not another competition. She couldn’t do that. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“I quit,” Keith said, startling everyone. “We shouldn’t have to jump through hoops
for you. We’ve continuously proven we can handle the business. It’s not fair to pit
us against each other.”

Both Elizabeth and their father stared in stunned silence.

Keith grew a pair, who knew? He stood and walked out of the office, leaving his nameplate
on the desk.

Her plaque weighed heavily in her hand. What the hell?

“Well, Elizabeth, looks like you’re it. Congratulations.”

Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to be it. At least not this way. She’d wanted
her father to choose her. She didn’t want to be given the position by default. All
the work she’d done wasn’t so she could win by forfeit. She wanted more than an empty
victory. “I quit too.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Keith was right. I’m done competing for everything.” She thought of
the O’Learys. “We’re family, but you’d never know it to look at us. I’m done.”

She slapped the nameplate on the desk beside Keith’s and quickly left the office before
she could falter. Working without a plan had never been her forte.

Down the hall, she knocked on Keith’s office door. “Hey.”

He looked up from his desk. “I guess congratulations are in order.”

“Not quite. I quit.”

“Why would you do that? He was going to give you everything you wanted.”

She stood in front of his desk, fingering the small items sitting there. “I didn’t
want it as runner-up. Plus, you made an excellent point. He shouldn’t pit us against
each other. We’re more effective when we’re on the same side.”

The thought sparked an idea, then another. She and Keith did work well together.

“What’s that look about?”

“Were you serious about quitting?”

“The competition, yes.” He swung his arm out. “But this is my home. I’m fine with
my position. Dad can hire someone to be CEO.”

“I have a proposition for you.” A jolt zinged through her at the thought of a challenge,
much as when she’d first decided to take on The Irish Pub.

They made plans to meet for dinner to discuss a new business venture. Colin was right;
there was no reason why she couldn’t work with a partner.

Colin had spoken to the real estate agent that Elizabeth signed with. The asking price
for the bar was out of his reach, but if he had a new partner, he could swing it.
Something his mother had said about letting a good thing go stuck with him.

There was no getting Elizabeth back. She’d made it clear that her goal of CEO was
more important than anything. He’d gone into their relationship with his eyes open.
It was never supposed to be a permanent thing. They were always supposed to go their
separate ways. He might not be able to get the woman, but he could hold on to what
they’d built. It wasn’t as good as having her, but it would do.

He knocked on Ryan’s office door. “Got a minute?”

“What’s up?”

“Elizabeth left town and put Brannigan’s on the market.” He moved into the room and
sat in front of his brother. “I want to buy it.”

“Why? I thought the place was a mess.”

“It’s better.” Colin paused to gather his thoughts. This had been so much easier in
his head. “I helped build that place. I really want it, but I can’t afford it on my
own.”

Ryan started to shake his head.

“Before you jump all over me, look at this.” He placed his carefully crafted proposal
on Ryan’s desk. “This is not some scheme for me. I’m looking for a silent partner.
Emphasis on silent. I just need the financial backing.”

“I told you before—”

“This isn’t like before. Look it over. If it’s a no, it’s a no. I wanted to give you
first stab since we’re family. I’m not looking for charity. This is a business arrangement.”

Colin stood and left the office. He had no idea what Ryan was thinking. To Ryan, Colin
would always be the family fuckup. Colin didn’t know how to change that; he’d earned
the title. Eventually, he would prove to everyone that he’d changed.

He drove back to Brannigan’s and let himself in the back door. The place felt like
his, more than O’Leary’s as of late. One way or another, he’d own this bar. He’d tried
to take over Elizabeth’s office, but no matter how he rearranged the few crap pieces
of furniture, it still felt too cramped. The biggest problem was that he couldn’t
rid the space of her.

He worked the bar every night and took his laptop home with him to complete the office
end. The business stuff still wasn’t his idea of fun, but it also wasn’t as difficult
as he’d thought it would be. He gave himself a mental pat on the back. Hell, if no
one else could recognize that he had succeeded, he would.

The delivery of food for their newly opened kitchen arrived, and Colin started unpacking
and organizing when Ryan walked in.

Showing up the same day that Colin had asked for a partnership could only mean one
thing: Ryan was going to shoot him down. He probably hadn’t even looked at the proposal.

“Hey,” Ryan said.

Colin looked at him and waited.

“Your proposal makes sense. You obviously put a lot of thought into it.”

He’d actually read it?

Colin waited for the “but.” He knew it was coming.

“But I wonder if this place is worth the asking price.”

Colin set down the box he held on the stainless-steel table. “We’d obviously negotiate
a better deal, but I’m willing to pay for this place. It will be successful. I’ve
worked too hard for it not to be.”

“Why now?”

Colin leaned against the table. “What do you mean?”

“Why should I trust you now?”

He shook his head. He knew he couldn’t win Ryan over. What a waste of time. “It’s
pretty sad that a total stranger had more faith in me than my own brother.”

“Sometimes a clean slate is easier to work with.” Ryan inhaled deeply. “I don’t understand
why you left, but you expect me to forget you did. Why didn’t you stay and prove O’Leary’s
should’ve been yours?”

The fear Colin had buried crept up again, and he wanted to lie as he had been but
couldn’t. He sucked in air before forcing out the words. “I left because I couldn’t
hack it. Without Dad here, I knew everyone would look to me to be in charge. And I
was a fuckup. I knew I’d let everyone down. So I left.”