Burn (Michael Bennett 7)

In my mind, I pictured her in a golden field somewhere, happy and waiting for me. The fields of Athenry, I thought.

I finally wiped my tired eyes and finished my beer and laid the bottle carefully on the night table.

Those Irish ballads, I thought with a sigh in the dark as the heavy lids of my eyes finally and joyfully closed.

They’ll get you every time.

CHAPTER 82

I WOKE INSPIRED AT six-thirty the next morning, and by seven-thirty, the dining room table was set for ten and everything was lined up.

There was a platter of bacon and sausage, both Irish and American, no cultural bias here this fine morning. A steaming yellow hill of scrambled eggs. Next came a bowl of peppery golden home fries crisped to my exacting standards. Set beside it was a loaf of white bread, toasted and liberally buttered and fanned niftily around the rim of a plate like a deck of cards. The only thing not made from scratch was the towering stack of pancakes beside the syrup.

No one’s perfect.

Well, except for Mary Catherine, of course, but she wasn’t here.

“What the…?” said Ricky as he came in, followed by a groggy Eddie and Brian. Ricky looked at the food and then down at his plaid tie.

“Oh, no, is it Sunday?” he said.

“No, son. It’s still Tuesday. Thought I’d give you guys a surprise hearty breakfast to kick-start your brains into learning mode. Pull up a chair and a plate and have at it.”

I didn’t have to tell the boys twice. Or the girls. Pretty soon, ten backpacks were ready and waiting by the front door as my ten little Indians dug in around the table like lumberjacks.

When I’d gotten out of bed, I’d wisely decided to do as MC would occasionally do and drop a surprise Sunday breakfast on everyone in the middle of the week to shake things up. It seemed to be working. There was no fi

ghting and even an occasional giggle as I stood sipping a cup of coffee, watching the gang eat.

Seamus arrived five minutes later, startled and seemingly impressed to see the kids gathered around the dining room table in relative quiet.

“I see you’ve woken up on the right side of the bed this morning,” he said as he poured himself some joe. “I thought I’d have to pry you out of bed with a crowbar with that long face you had on last night, but here you are, running the Bennett Diner.”

I winked as we clinked mugs.

“Carpe diem, Padre,” I said.

Then something great happened. Something really great and even more unexpected. It was a text on my phone. A suggestion, along with some instructions.

“What is it? What’s up?” Seamus said.

“Stay right there,” I said, running into my bedroom.

When I came back to the dining room, I was holding my laptop. I cleared away some dishes and laid it on the corner of the table and turned it on.

“What are you doing, Daddy?” Chrissy said, trying to peek.

“It’s a surprise,” I said. “You can’t look. Just wait one sec.”

I clicked some more buttons, changing screens.

“Ta-da!” I said as I held up the laptop to show Mary Catherine smiling ear-to-ear on Skype.

“Mary Catherine!” everyone cried at once.

Chairs scraped loudly as the kids rushed over beside me. Chrissy and Shawna jumped into my lap as Seamus practically jumped on my back. A dozen heads bonked together as everyone tried to get a look at our long-lost nanny.

“Now would you look at all the happy faces,” Mary Catherine said. “On a Tuesday morning before school, no less. I guess I’m not that missed after all, seeing you so happy.”