Dublin Rose
by
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Ian had always been a hard boss when it came to his employees, but when it came to Chloe, he’d always had a special care. She had been there since the year he bought the pub, and the hard work the two of them had put in to make the business what it was had brought Ian and her closer together, like family. To Ian, Chloe was like a sister he never had.
So when news came his way that there would be a new developer coming to town, he felt obligated to break it to her himself - as gently as possible.
“Chloe darling, come have a seat at the bar, and give me a minute with your ears.” Absently, he threw a towel over his shoulder and walked behind the bar.
Stacking the dirty plates she had onto the pass bar, Chloe dusted her hands on her apron and slid onto a stool. “What’s up Ian?”
“What’s up is there is a new development going up in Portmarnock, and the company will most likely be using our area for housing for the crews. I hear that Aiden Ludlow is the contractor.” He leaned into her as if he were telling her some state secret.
Chloe stared at Ian blankly. “Are you expecting some sort of response from all that, Ian? I don’t know a man by the name of Ludlow.” Unsure of what odd connection he was trying to make, Chloe began to slide herself down from the stool and get back to work. She turned to walk away when Ian broke the silence.
“Aidan Ludlow is none of your concern, but his head job foreman, a man by the name of Callum Flint might be. By the looks of my dear god daughter over there, I’m thinking he might in fact need some news broken to him. Flint has never struck me as the dead beat sort of man.” Ian nodded to a large glossy picture of Eden hanging on the wall near the cash register. ““She deserves to have her father, Chloe. And he deserves to have his family. It’s about time you deal with all this, don‘t ya think?”
She stopped where she stood, back still to him, and listened for him to finish saying what he had on his mind. “Is that all, Ian?”
He smiled a little at her tenacity. “I heard on good authority that Flint no longer works with Seth O’Donnell. Thought you might like to know that I heard too that Flint broke O’Donnell’s jaw in two places some time back. The bastard had to have it wired shut for 6 months. Just thought you might like to know that too.” He grinned, knowing she would be too, and continued to clean the bar.
Chloe smiled deviously and spoke under her breath. “That a boy, Cal.”
“I heard that, missy. Ya ought to think about the fact that maybe you deserve to be with a good man like Callum Flint. I know ya want to buck up on me and argue it, but we both know that I’m right about this, Chloe. Since you have been here, I have watched ya grow from a girl to a woman, like watching a flower bloom. You’re like our very own Dublin rose, and I know you should have the best.” He didn’t look at her, but he heard her scoff at his metaphor.
“Ian, have you ever given roses to a girl? They wilt and die rather quickly, and they attract bugs as well. So, I love the metaphor.” Her sarcasm was palpable, and he laughed at her twist on things.
“See there, you are proving you have grown into a woman. Only a smart lass that had some wisdom behind her could take a man’s kind words and manipulate them into something bad! It’s official! And for the record, no I have never given a woman roses or flowers of any kind. But with you, I was thinking in particular of one still attached to its roots - wild rose with thorny stems surrounding it. You are beautiful, Chloe. You have become more beautiful even through things that have caused you a great deal of pain, and it would take a strong man to reach through all those thorns to have ya. You don’t need to come up with some witty comment, just think about what I’m saying. He’s coming back. You get another chance.” He was gone to the kitchen before Chloe could respond, and so silently she returned to her work and her thoughts.
Chloe thought again about Callum breaking Seth’s jaw and laughed. She was not sure how she felt about Callum being back in the area, but knowing that he had possibly made some things right in the world reminded her that the man she fell in love with this time around did in fact have a good heart, and, as Ian had so graciously pointed out, a daughter as well. Maybe Ian was right. Maybe this was a chance for her to bring everyone together.
Chloe had never tried to hide Callum from Eden. She never said a bad word about the man and in fact, she had made efforts to try an locate and keep track of his whereabouts over the past three years. Eden knew who her daddy was. Callum, on the other hand, had no idea what or whom her had left in Dublin three years ago. And Chloe swallowed her guilt daily for keeping such a precious gem from the man she loved.
But the idea of them all coming face to face was too overwhelming at the moment. She would do her research, find out what the real deal was, and she would make her move in her time and on her terms. She was in charge now - of her life and Eden’s. And she would protect them both at all costs.
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About the Book
Callum Flint has lived a life most only dream about. Growing up in a loving family with supportive parents and countless opportunities to find his niche, Callum finds himself doing what he loves as a production manager of a large construction company based in Ireland. Now confident that he can direct his own path, Callum finds himself swept away and fumbling for the super suave nature he usually permeates as he finds himself face to face with a feisty pub waitress in the heart of Ireland. Chloe Wakefield has spent all of her adult life as a loner. With all of her family gone and having moved to a foreign country right out of high school, the hard-working Montana native is determined to make a new life for herself. After years of heartbreak from which she never intended to recover from, Chloe finds herself in the unexpected grips of an emotional roller coaster with her one true soul mate. Through life's twists and turns, Chloe's life falls back and forth from the easy predictability of being alone to the frightening vulnerability that comes with giving the heart away to another. Follow along as Chloe and Callum find through life and death, victory and tragedy, and love and loss, who they are truly meant to be and the beautiful disastrous life that they are truly meant to live.
About the Author
A native of New England, Cash Sullivan spent most of her childhood in rural Vermont. She later moved to the South East United States, pursuing a law enforcement career. Through her unique view of society as a detective, she has been able to create perspectives not commonly seen by the public eye and share those in an expressive way. She now lives with her family in the mountains of western North Carolina.