3 Seconds (Time for Love Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page A

toward a booth in
the back.
    Once we were
seated I said, “I’m glad you texted me tonight.”
    “Well, I wanted
to talk, and I didn’t think the school was a good place to do
that…”
    “Yeah,” I
responded, then looked around. I didn’t want to get right into all
of the reasons she thought we shouldn’t see each other, so I asked,
“So, you own this place with your dad?”
    Bronagh pushed
her hair back from her face and looked around the pub with
pride.
    “Yes. We always
talked about opening a restaurant when I was younger, something to
remind Da of his homeland. Then I went to culinary school and lived
abroad for a while. When I came back here, it seemed like the
perfect transition, to open a place of my own … and I knew I didn’t
want to do it without my da. We’ve been open for two years now, and
so far it’s been great. It’s a lot of work,” she amended. “But it’s
really been better than I’d imagined.”
    “Is your father
here tonight?”
    “No,” she said
with a shake of her head. “He’s actually back in Ireland visiting
family right now.”
    “And your mom?”
I asked, curious.
    “My ma died
when I was just a little girl. I never really knew her.”
    Bronagh’s face
took on a look of longing, mixed with sadness that I understood all
too well. I placed my hand on top of hers and said, “I’m sorry, I
get how you feel. I lost my parents too.”
    She brought
eyes, wide with sympathy flashing in their green depths, to mine
and asked, “Both of them?”
    Now it was my
turn to feel sadness creep in.
    “Yeah,” I
responded, needing to clear my throat to get the lump out. “They
died in an accident when I was fourteen. Both died on impact. My
oldest brother Brock took us on and has been our father figure ever
since.”
    Bronagh made
sympathetic sounds and turned her hand under mine so that she was
holding on.
    “It’s crazy …
They’ve been gone now for twelve years. I’ve been without them
almost as long as I was with them.”
    “You were lucky
to have had your brother,” she said softly, then asked, “How old is
he?”
    “He just turned
thirty,” I answered, so caught up in thinking about my brother, and
how much he’d sacrificed for Brady and me, that I didn’t notice the
change in Bronagh’s demeanor right away.
    “Wow,” she said
softly, and I realized that her hand had stiffened beneath mine,
right before she let go. “That’s a lot of responsibility for
someone so young.”
    “He was barely
eighteen at the time, so, you’re right, it was, but Brock’s the
most headstrong, hardworking, loyal man I’ve ever met. He never
made us feel like having us depend on him was a chore.”
    “No, of course
not,” she said, lost in thought. “It’s just hard to fathom. I’m
thirty-five, and I’ve never had to deal with anything like that;
it’s hard for me to imagine. Your brother must be an incredible
man.”
    “He is,” I
replied, then frowned at her. “What’s going on in that mind of
yours, Freckles?”
    “I don’t think
this is going to work,” she said, her eyes a little wild.
    “Why?”
    “ Because … You said it yourself, your father-figure is a thirty-year-old
man, and I’m thirty-five, so what would that make me?” My eyes
narrowed as she spoke, and I had to clamp down the anger that was
threatening to overcome me. “And you’re, what … twenty-six? Still
in culinary school and playing in a band on the weekends. We just
don’t make sense … We’re in different places in our lives.”
    “Are you seeing
someone?” I asked, my mind working overtime as I tried to figure
out the best way to approach this.
    “No,” she
answered, then blew out a deep breath. “But that’s not the
point.”
    A customer
called out and waved to her. I watched as she waved back and waited
until her attention was back on me.
    “Then what is
the point?” I asked, my frustration evident. “I think we have a lot
in common, and I’ve never felt a pull toward