Atonement by Winter Austin Page A

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    “What’s the special for tonight?”
    She straightened, wiping her hands on a bar towel. “Bacon burger with a spicy cheese sauce and cheesy fries with bits of bacon. Or you can have what you always eat, steak with a loaded spud and carrots and parsnips.”
    “Special sounds good. I need me something greasy and artery-clogging.”
    She swatted his backside with the towel as she passed. “I don’t make food that clogs the arteries.”
    “Ha!” Con followed her into the kitchen. “It’s still greasy.”
    “Can’t argue that.” Farran coiled her brown hair into a loose bun then positioned herself at the grill to slap a thick patty onto the flat griddle. The meat sizzled and steamed. “You don’t normally come in during the middle of the week.”
    “It’s been a hell of a week so far.” Con finished the Guinness and tossed the empty bottle into the recycling bin next to the exit door. “Haven’t you watched the news?”
    “Don’t have time.” Farran flipped the patty. “Though I heard something about a police-involved shooting yesterday on the radio. That wasn’t you, was it?”
    “Sheriff’s department actually, but I was brought in.”
    “Con, did you leave Cadno cooped up in your house?” At the thick, female Irish brogue, he turned in time to receive a kiss to his cheek.
    “Nay, Mam. He got a good run of the yard before it started storming.”
    Maura O’Hanlon pinched his cheek then gave it a light slap. “I still t’ink he should come stay with me.”
    Con rolled his eyes. His mam would spoil that dog rotten, and Cadno wasn’t used to pampering. The former military working dog responded better to men. He’d gone through two tours in Iraq with one handler until the man was killed by an insurgent’s bullet. After a year, Cadno had been reassigned to a new handler, and together they served two tours in Afghanistan. Then the U.S. Army decided to retire Cadno and put him up for adoption, while his second handler moved on to a new MWD.
    Through a stroke of luck and a strong interest, Con managed to be paired with Cadno. The rest, as they say, was history.
    “Mam, he wouldn’t listen to you even if you were covered in bloody steaks.”
    “T’at’s because he’s a male.” Mam gathered a stack of pre-wrapped silverware. “Could you take a look at the light fixture in the men’s restroom? It’s been flickering off at odd times.”
    “I’ll check it now.”
    With a nod of her head, Mam disappeared through the main room door. Con was about to follow when a hand on his arm made him pause.
    Concern etched Farran’s smooth features. The weariness that lined her hazel eyes belonged to someone much older in age than his sister’s twenty-six years. She should have been enjoying herself at college or trekking all over some far-off country with friends to find her place in the world. Instead, she remained in Eider with Mam to run Killdeer and continue creating her unusual pottery that sold well every summer and fall during the craft festivals the surrounding villages and towns held.
    “Con, something is eating Mam. She won’t talk about it.”
    The tension that had been locked into his muscles from the moment he got off of Nic’s sofa this morning tightened painfully. Farran spent most of her day around their mother, and she could read her well.
    “What day is it?”
    Farran ticked something off on her fingers then her face paled. “September twenty-eighth.”
    They had both forgotten. So many years had passed, and they had new lives. It made it easy, but not for Maura.
    “Seamus’s birthday.” Their oldest brother who was killed, along with their father, in a bombing in Ireland when they were younger. Con swallowed. “Best keep her busy tonight.”
    “That’s easy while the pub is open. What do we do after we’ve closed up? Memories are worst in the dark.”
    Perhaps he should think of letting Cadno stay with his mam for tonight. The dog had an uncanny sense of