Sweet Days (Four Days Book 2) Read online

  A Four Days Novel

  Book 2

  A . S . K E L L Y

  Copyright © 2018 A. S. Kelly

  Translation by Kathleen Fitzgerald

  Sweet Days

  A.S. Kelly

  English Edition

  All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction

  prohibited.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters,

  places and storyline are the fruit of the author’s

  imagination or are used in a fictional sense.

  Any similarity to facts, places or people living or

  deceased is purely coincidental.

  To all those who think they’re never enough.

  The book

  Patrick Doyle is a rude, selfish and cynical man,

  but for his friends and family, he’d do anything.

  His dream of pursuing music came to an abrupt

  halt after a car accident involving those he loves

  most in the world after which he dedicated himself

  to working full time in the pub he manages with

  his childhood buddies, keeping his distance from

  love or any other kind of bind.

  Erin O’Neill is a bright young woman with her

  future well planned: she’s about to graduate, she’s

  got a part-time job in Patrick’s pub and the perfect

  boyfriend until the unexpected happens, upsetting

  her life and turning all her well-laid plans upside

  down, leaving her alone and desperate.

  Patrick isn’t the kind of guy to get caught up in

  other people’s problems, especially if it involves a

  damsel in distress, but he can’t help coming to her

  aid and finds himself catapulted into her life

  against his will—even if he would like to maybe

  be part of that life—even if that means getting

  hurt, and hurting her too. Because Patrick destroys

  everything he touches.

  Prologue

  Erin

  “Rain?”

  “Erin, hi.”

  “Could you … could you come to the pub?”

  “Something happened? Are you all right?

  Everybody okay?”

  “Yes, everybody’s fine, Rain. I need…” I take a

  deep breath, trying to hold in the tears.

  “Something’s happened and I didn’t know who to

  call.”

  “You’re making me worry.”

  Rain’s voice is a trembling whisper that

  instantly makes me feel like a moron for calling

  her.

  “I need a friend, Rain. I need you. Please, I’m

  desperate.”

  “Okay, take it easy, I’m on my way.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” I say, while the hot tears start

  running down my face.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  “Thanks,” I blurt out, but she’s already hung up.

  I close the conversation and let my telephone

  slide into my jeans pocket. I’ve been locked in the

  bathroom for ten minutes. My break is finished by

  now and I have to get back to work. I take a look

  in the mirror and it’s just what you’d expect: a

  disaster. My mascara has run down my cheeks and

  my eyes are dressed in dark circles due to the lack

  of sleep, the uninterrupted crying last night and the

  make-up, which has completely melted.

  I wash my face and take a few deep breaths

  before opening the door and going back out there.

  Luckily, the place isn’t very crowded tonight

  because I’m telling you I don’t have it in me to

  smile at a bunch of people tonight. Not a joke in

  me. I take a few steps towards the counter where I

  find Patrick talking with Alan, one of the regulars

  at Only4You, a middle-aged man who prefers

  spending most of his nights here instead of at

  home with his wife. I offer a half-hearted smile

  and grab the tray to collect the empty glasses on

  the tables when Patrick lets go with one of his

  typical comments that normally don’t bother me.

  However, tonight could be the final straw.

  “Hey, what’s going on over there, you were

  gone forever!” he tells me. “I have to go on break

  too, ya know.”

  “Sorry, I was on the phone.”

  “Problems in paradise? ”

  He’s making fun of me and he has no idea how

  much it hurts.

  “Nothing that would interest you, Patrick.”

  “You can be sure about that. I think no sane man

  should be forced in any way to have just one

  woman.”

  I turn slowly, pursing my lips and trying not to

  burst out sobbing before answering him.

  “And yet your friend doesn’t seem to be having

  a bad time of it,” I say, referring to Liam, Rain’s

  boyfriend.

  “Huh, not exactly what I’d call an expert

  source. And then we’re talking about Rain, the

  only woman on the planet who is intelligent,

  beautiful and sensual.”

  “Gee, thanks,” I reply dryly, holding the tray

  against my chest.

  “Don’t get into a hissy Erin, you know what I

  mean.”

  “Sure I do Patrick, perfectly: you’re an asshole.

  What did women ever do to you?”

  “Women?” He breaks out in a rude laugh.

  “Women don’t have any effect on me and you

  know it. Or maybe they do have an effect but I

  doubt you’d want to hear the details.” He

  concludes, chuckling.

  I know Patrick well by now. I’ve been working

  in this pub for about a year and I’ve met all his

  women. His general rule of thumb is to have two

  women a week and with no strings attached.

  And I shake my head and turn away from him

  because tonight I don’t feel like going over the

  same old conversations again. We all know

  Patrick’s got some kind of allergy to the words

  relationship, couple and most of all, love.

  Just in that moment, Rain makes her entry. Her

  face is red and she’s winded. She must have run to

  get here and I feel guilty for having made her

  worry and drop everything to come.

  “Hey,” she says, running across to hug me, “I

  got here as fast as I could.”

  “Not here,” I whisper, drying my newly wet

  eyes.

  “Something wrong?” Patrick asks to my back.

  “Erin’s going on break,” Rain announces, taking

  my arm and bringing me toward the back of the

  pub.

  “She just got back,” Patrick adds, “it’s my turn.”

  “Well, you can wait another fifteen minutes, or

  half an hour or however long this takes,” Rain

  concludes, nodding her head to indicate that I

  should follow her.

  Patrick mumbles something about women and

  PMS and Alan laughs at his joke. Instead of

  answering him back like I normally would have, I

  shoot him a bitter, resentful look, but he must have

 
read more into it because the entertained

  expression on his face changed in an instant. His

  eyes narrowed slightly as if to study me closer, and

  his forehead wrinkled as if he was thinking.

  Almost as if he was worried.

  Rain takes a key out of her pocket and asks me

  to follow her upstairs to the apartment Liam left

  after having moved in with her.

  “Come on up, it’ll be calmer here.”

  I nod and follow her up the stairs, trying to find

  the right words to tell her that my world just fell

  apart right on top of me.

  Patrick

  Erin takes off with Rain, leaving me alone at the

  counter. I needed a break, more than anything else;

  I needed time to check out the scene tonight. I

  have pinned down at least five possible lays and

  I’d like to get started testing out the territory in

  order to see who I should concentrate on.

  I dry the glasses that I’ve just pulled out of the

  dishwasher and put them away on the shelf, while

  Alan goes on with his vulgar jokes that I smile at

  to be nice, while my cell phone vibrates

  incessantly in my back pocket. I pull it out and see

  my mother’s name on the display. I step away from

  the counter to answer her.

  “Hello, darling.”

  “Mom, everything okay?”

  “Sure it is!” she explains with a bit too much

  enthusiasm.

  “Why are you calling me?”

  “Just wanted to say hi,” she says, but I can tell

  by her voice that something is wrong.

  “What’s going on?”

  She lets out a big sigh on the other end of the

  line.

  “I didn’t want to call you. You already do so

  much for us.”

  “What is it that you need?”

  “It’s for Ciara.”

  “Is she well? Has something happened?” I look

  at the counter and see a crowd starting to form,

  customers waiting for me to get back.

  “She’s fine, don’t worry. It’s for University.

  There are taxes to be paid and it’s just too

  much…”

  “How much is it that you need?” I cut her short.

  I know how much it costs her to call me for these

  kind of things and I don’t want to drag out her

  discomfort.

  “Just this one time, a little help.”

  “Mom,” I interrupt her before she can go on.

  “You don’t have to worry, okay? You know I’m

  always here for you and the family.”

  I hear her sigh again.

  “Carl tried to get some extra work as a delivery

  guy in the evenings but he works so hard during

  the day and he’s never home with his family. He’s

  a good man and a real worker.”

  “Yes, I know, Mother, and that’s why I’m here.

  He doesn’t have to be the only one to take care of

  everything himself.”

  “He would do anything for us, you know.”

  “Yes, I do know and I appreciate it, but this

  time, let me handle it, okay?”

  “Thanks dear, you’re the best.”

  “You know that’s not true.”

  “I know that I’m a lucky woman to have a

  wonderful son.”

  “Knock it off,” I tell her, shaking my head even

  though she can’t see me. “I have to go now. I’ll

  call you tomorrow, okay? You can give me all the

  details.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t want to bother you at work.”

  “You didn’t bother me, it’s just I’m working the

  counter and I have to go now.”

  “Sure, of course. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  “Okay, we’ll talk tomorrow, Ma.”

  “And … Patrick?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thanks. I don’t know what I’d do without

  you.”

  I bite my inner cheek to stop an outpouring of

  rage that shoots right to my head.

  “Bye, Ma.”

  I hang up and slide the phone back into my

  pocket. I take a big breath and make my way back

  to the counter where Aaron has taken my place.

  “Hey, where’d you go?” He asks me while

  serving someone from the bar.

  “Sorry, it was my mother, I had to answer.”

  “Everything okay at home?”

  “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just the usual

  problems.”

  “Anything I can do?” he asks me, stopping for a

  moment to look me in the eyes.

  “Nope, it’s all taken care of.”

  “You know if you need anything—”

  “No,” I stop him. “I have it under control.”

  And I hope I really do.

  “Patrick,” he says empathetically, “you know

  that I’m here for you and that I love your family. If

  they need anything…”

  “I can take care of my family myself Aaron,” I

  answer resentfully. I always have taken care of

  them since I was fifteen years old. I don’t need

  him or anyone else.

  Aaron nods his head and goes back to work as I

  try to gather my thoughts. Last month Danny

  needed a new uniform, the month before that Carl

  had an accident at work and was off for two

  weeks. And now Ciara … I know how much it

  costs Mom in pride to ask me for help and I have

  to be honest, sometimes I really am afraid I won’t

  be able to take care of all of them, but they are my

  family and I’d live in the street in order to give

  them what they need. I’ll make it. In a short while,

  they’ll be able to take care of themselves, at least I

  hope so. I have to hang tough another three, four

  years, and then I’ll be able to think about myself,

  like I’ve always planned to.

  And I’ll think only about me.

  1

  Erin

  I go downstairs the minute it’s daylight. I spent the

  night in the apartment over the pub following

  Rain’s advice that kept me company until the first

  rays of dawn. She didn’t want me to go back home

  and have to face him again. I need some caffeine

  or some kind of shot in the arm after having spent

  the night awake, but there’s nothing in the

  apartment except the furniture and a few sparse

  accessories. Nothing to drink or eat. It had been

  empty for a long time before Liam moved in after

  moving here from Dublin.

  Liam is one of Aaron, Jay and Patrick’s best

  friends. Collectively, they are my bosses and Liam

  is Rain’s boyfriend. They’ve been together a few

  months, after he came back to Ireland from having

  lived in London for two years. Liam was a famous

  singer in the UK but he gave it all up to come back

  here to be with the woman he’d always loved.

  Rain is a sweet girl, we became friends right away.

  She was in an accident just over two years ago in

  which her boyfriend – Liam’s brother Neil – lost

  his life, which also cost her grave consequences in

  addition to losing her memory. She’s better now,

  she’s not without difficulties nor has she recovered

  all of her memories, but
now she’s got Liam, who

  came back to take her heart and to give her his.

  They’re happy in spite of everything that’s

  happened.

  Rain was Neil’s girl since a tender age but it

  seemed like subconsciously she was in love with

  Liam, who obviously reciprocated her feelings.

  And how could he not? They never declared

  themselves until a few months ago when the truth

  came to light and Rain couldn’t help falling into

  his arms, and I have to tell you the truth, I can’t

  blame her. Liam can be dark and melancholy at

  times, but he’s good and sweet in his own way.

  Now he works at the pub too and he went to go

  live with them, all of them settled in one big

  house. They’re a great couple.

  I live with Nate, or at least I did until last night.

  We’ve been together for more than a year and have

  been living as a couple for four months since my

  father decided to accept a prestigious teaching

  position in England, something which would also

  make it easier for him to continue his research in

  genetics.

  My parents separated ten years ago. My mom is

  American and after the divorce, she decided to go

  back to San Francisco. She wanted to take me with

  her but my life was here. My school, my friends …

  so, she and my dad decided that I’d stay in Dublin

  until I finished school and then we’d make a

  decision about it. I love Ireland, America is too …

  American. Too much chaos, too many people. Too

  much everything. So, at the end of my studies, I

  decided to stay here with my dad and follow in his

  footsteps.

  I study at Dublin City University, reading

  molecular biology just like he did. He didn’t force

  me into that choice but having grown up

  surrounded by charts and graphs, research and

  formulas it couldn’t have gone any differently.

  When my father was offered a position in

  Liverpool however, with a rich budget that would

  allow him to do the most important research of his

  life, he didn’t feel it was right to ask me to follow

  him. I’ve got my whole life here, I had Nate.

  I go to America to visit my mom every chance I

  get. My dad is always willing to buy me a ticket,

  but with my studies, my obligations and an

  upcoming graduation, I can’t afford the time off as

  frequently as before. We talk on Skype a few

  nights a week and we get along, despite the

  distance. We’re like two friends, and I don’t mind