Chibs became a fixture at the coffee shop over the next few weeks. It wasn't always a conscious decision, but he ended up there more days than not, stopping in for coffee or a melt-in-your-mouth toffee cookie or even a shepherd's pie. He visited on his break or when he was out on a towing or repo run. Sometimes Juice or Half-Sack came with him, but usually he was alone, and that was honestly the way he preferred it. About once a week, he was lucky enough that he got his work at the garage done before Aoife locked the door at 3 pm. On those occasions, he got leftover baked goods and coffee for the club, but he got something else: a few minutes of her company, without other people. He helped her put chairs up on tables, take out trash, sweep the floor – any excuse to be near her.
One late afternoon, he found himself telling her about the time he caught Kerrianne coloring on their walls with crayon. His daughter hadn't been more than 2 years old, with a mop of dark curls and mocha skin, looking positively angelic as she colored in a butterfly just above the electrical outlet on the wall outside her room. Chibs had squatted down, confiscated the crayon box, and pointed at the wall sternly. "D'ya see that, little lassie? I dinnae ever want to see you do that again."
Chibs recalled the fierce stare he received as Kerrianne regarded him seriously. Then she stood up and said. "Come here, Daddy." She grabbed his hand and dragged him to a badly patched wall that he had punched after a particularly frustrating job that nearly got him arrested. Looking up at him, she stabbed her chubby little finger at the hole in the wall and instructed him, "Do you see that, Daddy? I don't ever want to see you do that again."
"And what," Chibs finished his story with a broad grin and a shrug, "could I say to that?" He was sitting on a stool next to the register while she was counting up the deposit a little behind him. They were both facing the front of the store, people watching through the big glass windows while they talked. Chibs had been fighting the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her, an urge easier to resist when he wasn't staring into her eyes.
Aoife was chuckling, her eyes sparkling. "Aye, she had you there. How old is she now?"
Chibs' smile faded and he bit his lip. "She's a teenager. She lives in Ireland with her mother. I don't get to see her," he explained. His throat always tightened when he tried to talk about Kerrianne.
Aoife slid off her stool and came up behind him. She put her arms around his neck so that her hands were splayed across his upper chest. She rested her chin on top of his head. "That has to be hard," she whispered sympathetically, and Chibs put his hands over hers.
"Aye, lass, that it is." Chibs felt warm and at peace in Aoife's arms and the minutes stretched on while they stayed in that position, providing wordless comfort. His thumb caressed her hand, and she responded by planting a kiss on the top of his head.
Chibs felt a vibration against his back. "Stupid bloody phone," Aoife muttered. She answered the phone with her left hand leaving her other arm entangled with Chib's hands. She made several affirmative noises and then she clenched Chibs' hands tighter. "Ok, I'll be there in about an hour. Yes, thank you," her voice quavered on the last words. Once she stowed the cell phone back in her pocket, Chibs asked if everything was alright. "My mum's giving the hospital staff a rough time. When she gets like this, no one else can calm her down. I need to finish up here and go to her."
Chibs slid around on the stool, so that Aoife now stood over him, her hands at the back of his neck. "Why's your mum in the hospital, lovely?
"My mum is mentally ill. I had to move her here when I came to take over Aunt Rois' business and she's not dealing well with it." Chibs could see the pain in her eyes.
He stood and took her hands in his. "Do you want me to come with you?" Aoife shook her head. "Is there something I can do to help here?" Aoife shook her head again. "Are you sure?"
"This isn't your place. I can't ask you to do things like this."
"Lass, I want to help you. I wouldn't offer if I didn't. Let me." He stared into her eyes for a long time before she relented.
"Ok. If you can take care of the dishes and sweeping the floor, that would be amazing. As long as you don't turn the knob as you pull the door shut, it will lock behind you. I'm going to lock up the deposit and change into something else. And, Chibs?"
"Yes, darlin'?"
"Thank you." She kissed the tip of his nose. "For being you."
Aoife dashed up the chairs to change. Chibs went into the kitchen. He stripped off his cut and button-down shirt and draped them over a chair, leaving him in a black wifebeater style tank. He filled the industrial sinks with wash water and rinse water and retrieved the coffee carafes that lined the one end of the counter.
As Chibs picked up the last carafe, he felt it shift in his hands and then the whole thing just fell apart. "Shit, shit, shit!" He tried to catch it, but only succeeded in dumping its entire contents on himself. Mercifully, it was only lukewarm. Chibs ripped off his coffee-soaked tank and grabbed a dishtowel to mop the worst off his jeans.
Aoife tore down the stairs. "Oh, my God, Chibs, are you okay?"
"Aye, I'm alright, lassie. Nothing damaged but my pride," Chibs assured her.
"I'm glad," Aoife nodded, and Chibs noticed that her eyes were devouring every inch of his now-visible muscular chest and arms. And then, in a fraction of a second, her gaze went from seductive to frightened. She stared for another second at the ink that stretched from his waistband to the bottom of his rib cage on his left side. "Chibs, what's that tattoo you have there?"
"That's a phoenix, love." He had gotten the phoenix, along with the word "saoirse" for freedom, back when he was young and stupid. The symbol represented one of the sects of the IRA he had once worked for, although the ancient bird rising from the ashes had come to mean something different to Chibs, as had the Gaelic word for freedom, so he kept them even though he wasn't IRA anymore.
Aoife clearly recognized the symbolism and was freaking out. Considering she was from Ireland, he shouldn't have been surprised she would know it, but the intensity of her reaction hinted at a deeper story. "I have to go," she breathed, sounding on the verge of a panic attack, and then she was out the door. Chibs considered following her, but then he heard the station wagon engine come to life and rumble down the street.
Chibs finished the chores he had volunteered for, mulling over Aoife's hasty departure with a frown. He wasn't quite sure what had happened, but he hated how upset she looked, and he wanted to apologize whether or not it was his fault. On his way back to the garage, he stopped at the florist and arranged for a delivery of a dozen white roses with red tips to the shop tomorrow. When the clerk asked what the message on the card should be, he considered for a moment, and then wrote, "To my Galway girl - If I've done anything to upset you, it was unintentional. I hope these flowers bring that beautiful smile back. Filip."
He paused for a smoke outside the florist to get his head back on straight. He had a run tonight. "Oh, Filip," Chibs said to himself. "You just sent flowers. Roses. What have you gotten yourself into?"