Free Certain Sure by Reina M. Williams Page A

with blue embroidery on the hem and white espadrilles. She fluffed her hair and blotted her lipstick before cautiously opening her door. She told herself over and over her feelings were ridiculous, pointless, but she couldn’t stop the pleasant jump in her tummy and warm tingling in her limbs. As Katie stepped down, Fin glanced up, his brow crinkled, his mouth soft, his eyes…yearning. Katie almost believed she floated down the stairs, her feet not touching the ground.
     
    “You’re pretty, Aunt Katie,” Rose said as Katie smiled. Rose grabbed Fin’s hand. “Isn’t she?”
     
    “Beautiful,” Fin said, still staring at Katie.
     
    “Thank you.” Katie smiled. A tiny voice yammered at her that she was acting like a goof, Fin wasn’t sincere. She stuffed it back like an unruly jack-in-the-box. “Ready?”
     
    Rose tugged Fin’s hand, pulling him toward the door. “Let’s go,” she said. Fin followed her, opening the door, letting Rose and Katie go through. Katie couldn’t look at him or she might burst.
     
    She drove over to the Dunbars’, her eyes never straying from the road. Rose chattered away in the backseat. When they got out at the Dunbars’, Fin led them in, his hand on the small of Katie’s back. Little pulses shot through her at his touch. She wanted to turn to him, to see if he felt the same, but she didn’t. She followed Rose in. Fin went to get her bags.
     
    “Don’t you two look pretty,” Mary said after they greeted each other. “Wouldn’t you say, James?”
     
    “Yes, indeed,” Mr. Dunbar replied. Katie shifted. She wished she hadn’t seen him with her aunt.
     
    “Mom, how are you?” Fin kissed his mother’s cheek. “Sir.” He nodded to his dad.
     
    “Fin, good of you to bring Rose and Katie over.” Mr. Dunbar rested a wide hand on Rose’s shoulder as she hugged her grandpa’s leg.
     
    “Maggie has dinner ready.” Mary led them into the dining room.
     
    Thank goodness for Rose. Katie wasn’t sure how they’d all get through the evening without her cheerful talk and questions, pulling Fin into her games in the back yard after dinner while the rest of them watched from wicker chairs on the patio. As the sun dimmed, Mary took Rose upstairs to get her ready for bed. Katie and Fin kissed her goodnight and hugged her goodbye. They followed Mr. Dunbar into the living room, where he poured himself a whiskey, offering Fin and Katie a drink. Katie declined but Fin nodded, downing his in a few quick gulps. Mr. Dunbar shook his head.
     
    “You’re not in a pub. You never knew how to act in front of a lady.”
     
    “I haven’t heard any complaints,” Fin said.
     
    “You haven’t kept good company, until recently.” Mr. Dunbar flicked his eyes at Katie.
     
    “Fin’s been nothing but a gentleman to me,” Katie said. She wished he wouldn’t.
     
    “I should think so. He knows his brother and I will thrash him if he isn’t.”
     
    Katie’s cheeks warmed as if she’d had a shot of that whiskey. Fin poured himself another drink and downed it in one swallow.
     
    “Who are you to lecture me about being a gentleman?” Fin turned on his father, who glanced at Katie. She stood still, barely even breathing.
     
    “I’ve tried. It’s more than we can say for you.”
     
    “At least I’m honest,” Fin said.
     
    “Are you now? That would be a change.”
     
    “I think he has changed,” Katie said. Both men stared at her for a moment. The Dunbar look--she wanted to run. “He’s wonderful with Rose and a great help to my dad at the pub.”
     
    “Your dad never was much for knowing a good thing,” Mr. Dunbar said. “Excepting your mother, of course. He’ll regret losing you, Katie.”
     
    “He won’t. You know, my aunt Aleen said you two actually have a lot in common.”
     
    “Did she?” Mr. Dunbar said as Fin chuckled.
     
    “Yes, you both work hard, have your own business, are traditional Irish men with peacekeeping wives and two children.