Right. He hadn’t had a chance to bring Riley up to speed. He gave her a quick rundown of what they learned earlier.
“Holy shit. Is she okay?”
He wasn’t sure how to answer that. Morgan didn’t give much away. She was hard to read, even for him. “She's handling it.”
“That's not what I asked,” Riley said.
“I know,” Patrick said on an exhale. “But it’s all I’ve got. We’ve got her back.”
“Yeah, but does she know that?”
“She’s a smart woman. If she hasn’t figured it out yet, she will.”
The crowd thinned steadilyas the evening wore on. Eventually, the older guys that had been talking with Jack said their goodnights and went on their way. Jack stood, collected the coasters and the glasses, and brought them to the sink under the bar.
Patrick didn’t offer to do it for him. That was a mistake he’d only made once.
“You've been distracted tonight,” Jack said. Not accusatory. Just observational.
“I’ve got a lot on my mind,” Patrick said.
“Do you now,” Jack murmured, amusement glittering in his eyes.
He tossed the bar rag in the bin, then sat back on the seat.
“It's complicated,” Patrick said. “There's a lot going on.”
“There always is. Doesn't make it any less true. For what it’s worth, she’s a good woman.”
“Who?” Patrick asked.
Jack grinned.
“Is it that obvious?”
“Only to another Callaghan man who’s been there.”
Right. His grandfather knew all about finding a woman who was the other half of your soul. He’d lost his decades earlier and was still as devoted to her as he’d ever been.
“Aye, you have the look. Your father tried to deny it,” Jack continued. “As did your uncles. That’s part of the process. You don’t believe it’ll happen to you, and then you meet her and she’s all you can think about.”
Yes, that sounded about right.
Patrick wiped down the already-clean bar for something to do with his hands. “I'm worried about her,” he admitted, after a moment.
“Of course you are.” His grandfather nodded slowly, making it sound like the most natural thing in the world. “That desire to protect her and see to her well-being is only going to get stronger. But I'll tell you something. There's no place safer for her right now than where she is.”
Something in the way he said it made Patrick look up. “You mean Pine Ridge? Or with her grandfather?”
“Both.”
“So you know about what’s going on?” Patrick asked quietly.
“Very little happens in Pine Ridge that I don’t know about,” Jack said matter-of-factly, then immediately changed the subject, a clear signal that there would be no more discussion on that topic. “How's the house coming?”
That, at least, was something Patrick could answer. “Slowly. But we’re getting there.” He gave Jack a brief overview of some of the work they were doing.
“Renovations take time,” Jack agreed. “But you’ve got good men working with you. That’s the key.”