Irish Chain Read Online Free PDF Page A

back, Gabe diplomatically broke in. “I need to finish my five miles and shower. Do you want me to pick you up tonight?”
    “No,” I said. “I have to be at Oak Terrace early to supervise things. I guess I’ll see you there. Try not to be late.”
    “I’ll try.” He leaned over to kiss me, reaching for something from the back waistband of his shorts.
    He was fast, but not fast enough.
    When his lips touched mine, I pulled a small green water pistol from behind my back and shot him right in the temple.
    “Head wound!” I yelled. “Fifty points. I win!”
    “Okay, pipsqueak, prepare to eat worms and die.” He sprayed me in the face.
    “No fair. Head wounds mean you’re out of commission. That’s cheating.” I fired back with short, rapid bursts.
    “I’m going to whip the both of you,” Dove said, scurrying out of range, but not before getting hit with a stream of water.
    After some artful dodging on his part and some juvenile shrieking on mine, he gave one last pull on his trigger, then shook his empty red pistol.
    “Ha,” I said, waving my still half-full gun in front of his face. “Looks like you’re out of ammunition.”
    “That’s okay.” He stuck his gun in the waistband of his shorts and wiggled his dark eyebrows. “I’m an extremely fast reloader.”
    “You are one cocky son-of-a-sodbuster.” I stepped closer and squirted him between the eyes.
    “Grandson,” he corrected. “And no farmer jokes this early in the day or I will be forced to arrest you. I’ll invoke executive privilege and conduct the strip search myself.”
    “In your dreams, pal.”
    Over on the bed, Elvia cleared her throat. “Considering his means of employment, that is an incredibly sick game. You two need some serious counseling.”
    “What they need to do is decide what they want to do with each other and get on with it,” Dove said. “In my day we didn’t make such a big darn deal of things. You tied the knot, did your business, then got up and fed the chickens.”
    Gabe turned and looked at me, his face solemn. “The deal’s off, sweetheart,” he said. “You never said anything about chickens.” He turned to walk out of the room.
    “Smart aleck,” Dove said, picking up the yardstick leaning against the wall and giving him a sharp smack on the backside. I have to give him credit; he only gave a fraction of a flinch. Without breaking stride, he raised a large hand in good-bye, the back of his neck slightly red.
    Dove turned and shook the yardstick at me. “Trouble with young people these days is y’all make a joke about everything. And you think too much. Discuss everything to death.” She fanned herself and headed for the kitchen. “My heavens, I think I need a cup of coffee. And wipe that water off your dress before it stains.”
    Elvia gave a deep chuckle. “My brother would have paid fifty bucks for a picture of that. Can you imagine Miguel passing a snapshot around the police department of his boss getting a swat on the butt from your grandmother? Priceless.”
    “Dove has four sons, nine grandsons and two great-grandsons,” I said. “Believe me, she is no respecter of men’s butts.” I went into the bathroom and grabbed a towel.
    “So, what is the status between you and Gabe these days?” Elvia asked casually.
    “Quo.”
    “As in nada? ”
    “You got it.” I dabbed at the water that was causing the yellow chiffon to glue itself to my skin.
    “I take it that means you don’t want to talk about it.” She stood up and brushed imaginary lint off the front of her thighs. “I’m deeply hurt. We’ve been friends since second grade. We’ve always told each other everything.”
    I ignored her and reached back to unzip the lamp-shade dress. My relationship with Gabe was something I wasn’t ready to discuss in depth with anyone yet, not even my best friend. I was confused and nervous about going into another relationship, and when I get that way I tend to turtle into myself while