ChapterTwenty-Three
Chloe tried not to be nervous—or at least not show her nervousness. She’d spent the last two days making new centerpieces for the tables. Mr. Byrne thought they looked nice, and he liked that they were cheap even better. She went with small black vases because between the color and the natural shade from the lighting, the bug would be camouflaged. Then she added some cute silk flowers.
She was setting each of the tables and she’d already texted Brendan to test the wire. It was working fine. They decided tonight would be the best night because Alan and Danny often had dinner together to go over construction company business.
She busied herself with routine bar and dinner prep to ease her nerves. She’d thought for sure by now Ronan would’ve reached out. She supposed she could’ve called him to apologize for her behavior. She’d been angry but to try to make him jealous was childish. Johnny had accepted her apology and said he hadn’t been used to make a boyfriend jealous in a long time.
Danny arrived first, as usual. The more she thought about how much time the man spent at the Rose, it made her consider what his family life must be like. Did he not like them? Or did they all just do their own things? Until she was in college, she saw her parents every night. Most of the time, they had dinner together. She supposed Danny might eat dinner with his family. He usually just had a couple of drinks and held meetings. She texted Brendan to let him know Danny was here.
Brendan said he needed to be nearby to listen to the conversations. Chloe almost offered to let him set up something in the office. Mr. Byrne didn’t spend too much time there, but she wasn’t sure if she was willing to take that kind of risk. Mr. Byrne and Alan were still friends.
At Danny’s table, she said, “Hi, Mr. Cahill. What can I get for you tonight?”
“Just a Guinness.”
“Will your father be joining you?”
“Yes. He’ll be here any minute, I’m sure.”
“Would you like me to bring some menus, then?”
“I think we’ll be having dinner,” he said with a smile. “Sort of a celebration. But we won’t need menus.” He pulled out his phone and began scrolling, effectively dismissing her.
A celebration? She wondered what they’d be celebrating without their whole family. Not a birthday or anniversary. Must be something with the business then. As she headed to the bar to get the beer, she saw Alan Cahill walk through the door. Her heart sped up a little as the old man took his seat across from his son. As soon as he sat, he shifted the small vase over.
She delivered Danny’s Guinness and asked Alan what he wanted.
Alan smiled at her and she suddenly realized that if she didn’t know what the Doyles had told her, she would find him charming in that cute old man way. “I’ll have a scotch. Neat. My son says we’re celebrating something, but hasn’t mentioned what.”
She shrugged with a smile of her own. She hoped Danny wouldn’t say anything until she returned. At the bar, she texted Brendan again. Danny says he has good news for Alan. On your way?
Be there soon. Listen in if possible.
She took the small glass of whiskey to the table. Danny had a creepy grin on his face.
“Do you know what you’d like for dinner?” She pulled out her order pad.
Alan leaned back in his seat. “I haven’t had the shepherd’s pie in a while.”
“And for you?” she asked Danny.
“I’ll have the filet mignon. Rare. Mashed potatoes.”
She scribbled on her pad. “Anything else?”
The men shook their heads. She hurried to put in the order and then spent time cleaning the tables near the Cahills in an attempt to listen. Danny was damn near whispering, though. Not much of a celebration if it was a secret.
She moved one table closer.
“I’ve got the support,” Danny said.
“But not the reputation,” his father countered. “Why now? You’ve never shown any interest.”
“The kids are older. The business is healthy. I’m ready to make my mark on the city just like you did. I thought you’d be happy.”
“I’d be happy if you had a functioning brain cell.”
Ouch.
Alan continued. “Do you have any idea the rigorous vetting that goes into even thinking about an election?”
“I’ve already talked to a strategist. She thinks that as long as I come out ahead of anything and talk about my addiction and sobriety, people will respect it.”
Alan practically growled. “So you can drag me through the mud telling the world how I covered up all of your fuck-ups?”
“It won’t come to that. The narrative reads that I’m a neighborhood boy who succumbed to his vices, but I ultimately cleaned up. I’m an upstanding citizen, father, businessman, and son of a former mayor.”
“You plan to ride on my coattails. I should’ve figured.”
“It doesn’t matter if I want to exploit that or not. That’s your legacy.”
Chloe couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Danny wanted to run for office?
“What about the rest of your ... transgressions? How are you going to skirt around those?”
“As far as anyone knows, my addictions were the only problem. I’ve been keeping an eye on Doyle. He’s turning into quite the company man. He’s quick to take on extra work for cash like his father. No suspicions.”
“You don’t know a damn thing. There are hundreds of companies that he could get a job with. Why come to us? Why now?”