Her friend finally turned to her, “Oh, shit—the immersion. I never explained; sorry. You must have been freezing.”
“Yesterday, yes. Today, I refused to go through that again. When you didn’t answer your phone….”
“Oops. I accidentally left it here.”
“I texted Finn. It was really sweet of him to call back on his break and let me know how to work it.”
Bonnie placed the two plates down, took a seat across from Penny, and leaned in to get a better look at her. “Hmmm.”
“What?” Penny asked innocently.
“You like him.” Bonnie’s lips turned down as if perplexed.
“I just said he’s really sweet. That’s all.”
“Yes. Twice. And he’s cute.” Bonnie waved her hand up in the air. “That’s not up for discussion; he is. I can see that, even if he is my cousin. But I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Because he’s your cousin?” Even as Penny asked, she realized she was admitting she was interested.
“Not exactly. It’s more, well, as much as I would never admit it to him because it would go straight to his head, you are two of my favorite people. I would love nothing more than for the two of you to be a couple.” She paused, seeming to choose her next words carefully. “But Finn went through a bad breakup not so long ago. It messed with him. I’m not sure he’s completely over her yet. And you rarely ever date, Penny. I would love for you to find someone here, at least to have fun with. But I don’t think Finn is a good idea.”
“Verboten?” Penny asked, using the term they’d developed in college for a guy off the market for them.
Bonnie made a face. “I don’t want to say that. I’m just not sure it’s a good idea. It’s not something I think you should pursue.”
“Right,” Penny nodded while her fingers played with her scone.
“But he makes a great friend. You should definitely hang out as friends!” Bonnie added quickly.
“Sure,” Penny agreed with a shrug, even as she shoved down the pang of disappointment in her chest.
“Now, Seamus, of the gorgeous blue eyes and charming smile, he might be someone of interest.”
Penny covered a new blush by stuffing a big bite of scone into her mouth. “These are delicious,” she said around it.
“I saw the way he was looking at you.”
“I thought you were drunk.”
“Not that drunk. Or at least not the whole time. He kept coming back to check on you. If you hadn’t been there with me, he probably would have asked you out.”
“Bonnie….” Penny protested.
Bonnie continued, ignoring her, “But today is my day of making amends. I am going to apologize to Seamus, so maybe you’ll get another shot at him,” she said with a playful wink. “I bought him a scone too.”
Returning to the scene of the crime, their casual conversation came to a sudden halt as it echoed through the empty bar. They hadn’t bothered to think about it, or they might have realized that two o’clock on a Thursday afternoon possibly wasn’t the busiest time. Then again, not much was going to stop Bonnie, and the fewer people who witnessed her apology, the better.
Without the haze of jetlag and the overwhelming foreign feeling this time, Penny was able to note the lowish ceiling, the tall round tables closer to the door, and the long wooden bar where she’d sat tucked into the corner. She now recognized thatthe lower tables further down surrounded a small stage, the spot where Finn had been setting up. The smell of cleaning products was the same. It still couldn’t entirely cover the deeper smell that spoke of the evening before.
Penny continued to let her eyes wander, avoiding the bartender in the far corner, who she’d immediately clocked as Seamus.
“Well, if it isn’t yourself.”
Her body reacted to his sultry voice without her permission. But by the time she turned her head his way, his expression had darkened.
“And you.”
“Hold on now,” Bonnie said quickly, holding both hands up, one of them holding the white paper bag. “I come bearing gifts, well, gift and apologies.”
