Chibs Telford had woken up a lot of places in his life: on random couches, in seedy motels, in jail cells, behind dumpsters. Because he never knew what he might find, waking up was not the leisurely experience that people who lead more secure lives enjoy. He came out of slumber with every sense on high alert, and only when he had established where he was and who was with him would he breathe easily. Before he even opened his eyes that morning, his nose filled with the scent of coffee. There was someone warm pressed against him, the source of the coffee smell. He was up on his right side, with Aoife's back against his chest. His left arm was curled protectively around her. Her left arm followed the same path, and their hands were entwined and pressed against her sternum. He propped his head up on his right hand, trying not to jostle her while his eyes surveyed the scene. She had fallen asleep wearing her clothes from the day before. A few black curls spilled over her freckled face, and the worry lines that framed her eyes were almost gone. He wanted to memorize everything about this moment, to lock it away and treasure it in his heart in case his world went to shit in the blink of an eye again. He hadn't known to do that when he was a younger man. He knew there must have been moments like this with Fi – and then he stopped that line of thinking. Fiona was his past. Aoife was here, now.
And she wanted him to meet her beloved aunt today as part of their "date," Chibs thought nervously. He wanted to make a good impression. He pressed a kiss to Aoife's hair and then another to her shoulder as he disentangled his hand from hers. She shifted as he pulled away, and he whispered, "'S alright, love. You sleep. I need to take care of things before we go out today." He dropped another kiss on her cheek while he pulled a blanket over her. She smiled in her sleep and snuggled into her pillow.
He opened the duffel bag to see what Gemma had brought him to wear. On top was his best shirt, a silvery-gray dress shirt with faint vertical stripes. It had been a Christmas present from Gemma and Clay three years ago and came out only on special occasions. Chibs thanked his lucky stars that Gemma had thought spending a day with Aoife was a special occasion. He dug underneath that shirt to come up with a plain black t-shirt. Scribbling a quick note to Aoife that he would be back within the hour, Chibs shrugged his cut onto his shoulders and let himself out of the apartment with the spare key she kept next to the door.
His first stop was Floyd's barbershop. While Aoife seemed to favor his currently shaggy hair, Chibs figured a trim couldn't hurt with a good first impression. After that, he stopped at the flower shop for something to take on their visit. He settled on a little potted sweetheart rose bush with yellow blooms. As he predicted, he was back in just under an hour.
Chibs heard running water and Aoife's voice singing some barely distinguishable tune. Leaving the sweetheart roses on the kitchen table, he walked back to the bedroom. Intending to give a quick shout so that Aoife would know he was back, he headed for the bathroom door. "I'm back, love," Chibs called out, and then his heart raced. The bathroom door was open, and he could see the outline of Aoife's body through the frosted glass shower door. Desire flooded Chibs' veins. He wanted so desperately to shuck his clothes and join her in the shower, but that would be the precise opposite of not rushing things that she had requested. He forced himself to lie back down on the bed and began cleaning under his fingernails with one of his knives. He couldn't help but keep glancing towards the shower, watching the outlines of her body with a fierce hunger.
"I'll be done in a minute," Aoife answered. The water stopped, and she stepped out, wrapping a towel around herself, but not before Chibs got a glance at her entire naked body. Aoife turned red, a flush that crept from her upper chest to her neck and then finally to her cheeks. "There's no fan in this bathroom so I usually shower with the door open. I didn't think about you being here. I'm sorry."
"You can't possibly be apologizing for being beautiful. Because the only thing that open door did was let me see just how fucking gorgeous you are," Chibs said as he rose from the bed and sauntered over to her. He wanted to honor her request not to rush things, but he wanted Aoife to know just how much he desired her. He had to touch her. He put his hands on her bare shoulders and kissed her hard. She responded by putting her free hand on the back of his neck, pulling him further into the kiss. When they needed to breath again, he pulled away only far enough to rest his forehead against hers.
"I called hospice so that Aunt Rois would be expecting us," she said softly. "We had better finish getting ready."
"Aye," Chibs breathed. He kissed her once more before she exited the bathroom, pulling the door shut behind her. He stripped quickly and turned the shower on, grateful that she had put unscented shampoo and plain soap next to her shower gel. It wasn't until he was wrapping a towel around his waist that he realized his duffel was sitting on the closed toilet. She must have snuck in while he was showering. He wondered if she had lingered and watched his naked body through the frosted glass the way he had watched hers.
When Chibs emerged from the bathroom fully dressed except for his cut, Aoife was pulling her hair into a loose bun. She wore a raspberry-colored halter-top dress with a black shrug. Chibs walked up behind her and kissed her neck. "You look nervous, darlin'. Afraid your aunt won't like me?"
She gave him a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "No, that's not it."
He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder. "Then what's wrong, love?"
Aoife leaned back on him and closed her eyes for a minute. "I need you to help me with something when we go see Aunt Rois today." Her eyes met his in the mirror and he cocked an eyebrow upward. "You and Aunt Rois both deserve the truth about what happened to my brother. And what I did about it. She knows Thomas was murdered, but I've spared her the details. And all I've told her about the men who killed him is that they've been taken care of." Chibs nodded, uncertain of what help she needed with this. "She needs to know. I can't tell her these things sitting in a hospital bed. Please help me take her out somewhere."
"Of course, love." He hid his surprise: Chibs had thought getting this story out of her would take a lot more time to build up her trust.
The worry lines around Aoife's eyes decreased by about half then, and Chibs held her until she said," I don't know what I did to deserve someone like you," and turned to give him a kiss.
"That makes two of us, lass. I don't know what an old biker like me did to deserve a woman like you."
Aoife was quiet on her way to the hospice. She fed a CD into the player and soft, traditional Irish music drifted out from the speakers. "I'm just thinking about how I'm going to explain all of this to Aunt Rois," she said after about 10 minutes of silence. In response, Chibs reached over and put his hand on her thigh, squeezing it in a show of support. He left his hand there for the remainder of the ride. They pulled into the circular driveway at the hospice, and Aoife glanced over at Chibs and said, "Ok, get ready for the hurricane."
Aoife parked the car in the loading zone and got out. Chibs opened his door to follow. A voice with an Irish accent bellowed, "It's about damn time you got here, lass! Once they told me you were taking me out, I made Mary here wheel me out so we could get moving as soon as you got here!" Aunt Rois didn't look like Chibs had pictured. She was tall, even in the wheelchair, and her plump face looked ready to burst with pleasure even as she harassed Aoife. It was only after studying her for a moment that he could see the slight gray pallor to her and the places where her skin hung on her frame loosely, the only clue that she had been plumper still before the ravages of cancer. She had finished hugging and kissing Aoife and turned her attention to Chibs. "And who's this? You got yourself a new lad? Damn fine looking one, too," Rois commented, her eyes trailing slowly down his lean, muscular frame.
"Aunt Rois, this is my friend Filip Telford." Rois extended her hand, and Chibs took it and pressed his lips to the back.
"A pleasure, ma'am. Most people call me Chibs."
"A Scots gentleman, no less," Rois said with a wink to Aoife. Mary the aide wheeled the chair alongside the station wagon. Chibs reached for Rois and she said irritably, "I'm dying of fucking lung cancer. I'm not a cripple. They just insist on wheeling me around like an invalid," she said as she jerked her thumb in the direction of the hospice entrance. She stood, albeit a little shakily, and Chibs held his arm out so that she could use it to steady herself and get in the backseat. They stowed the folding wheelchair in the back of the car in case they needed it.
As they drove out of the parking lot, Aoife glanced at Rois in the rearview mirror. "I thought we'd go to O'Flaherty's. Mickey will enjoy seeing you."
"Oh, thank you, sweet Jesus! I haven't had a decent glass of whiskey since I went into that place." Rois retorted. Aoife tried to hide her smile. "Oh, and you're due to refill my flask before you go home, my dear." Rois spent the rest of the 15 minute drive to the pub interrogating Chibs – where was he from in Scotland, where did he live now, what did he do for a living?
At O'Flaherty's, Rois insisted on walking, but she took Chibs' arm and leaned hard on it. The owner, who greeted them personally, seemed to be an old friend of Rois', or even something more as he gave her a lingering kiss on the cheek. "Mickey," Aoife said, "I have to tell Aunt Rois about some things. I'd appreciate it if we didn't have anyone else too near us."
"Understood. I'll make sure of it," he assured her leading them to a round booth in the very back corner of the pub.
Once the drinks were on the table – a tumbler of Irish whiskey for each of them – Rois looked at Aoife expectantly. "Well, out with it."
"Aunt Rois, when Thomas died, I didn't tell you the whole truth."
"I know, lass. I knew you'd tell me when you were ready."
"That's why I brought you here. Two days ago, a man came into the coffee shop looking for me. He gave me these cuts on my arms. If Filip hadn't come in when he did, I might not be sitting here talking to you. I realized I couldn't keep this secret anymore. I need you both to know." Aoife took a sip of whiskey, and set the tumbler down with trembling hands. In the same instant, Aunt Rois reached in to put her hand over Aoife's right and Chibs entwined his with her left. Tears came into Aoife's eyes. "This is why I love the both of you." Steeled by their support, Aoife began to tell her tale.