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sharp tone. “What have you been doing?”
    Thrown off balance, Tomas hesitated. Then he put
his mouth close to his mother’s ear and said tentatively,
“Grieving?” The questioning tone of voice just slipped out, and he
doubted his answer would be found satisfactory. Or even believable.
Mari Dempsey was a good mother, but she had always kept the family
in line. She never tolerated disrespect, and even to that day she
could impinge on Tomas with a singular challenging word.
    His mother gave him a strange look, and shook
her head. “Well, we tried to wait but I didn’t know when you’d be
here.”
    “Sorry.”
    Alaina kneed him, and he looked over at her.
“You’re late.”
    Tomas let out a sigh. “You wouldn’t believe it
if I told you.”
    His sister cupped her hands over his ear and
whispered, “You caught up with the disappearing woman?”
    He had to grin, but it faded quickly. “Yes.”
    Alaina looked at him, wide-eyed. “Why didn’t you
bring her with you?”
    The whiskey arrived and Tomas gulped half of it
in one swallow. “I’ll tell you later.”
    The dinner progressed without incident, except
that Tomas got drunker and drunker. He lost track of how many
drinks he had. Everyone else was too involved in conversation to
notice. Although Alaina gave him a disbelieving look when yet
another drink arrived.
    His grandmother encouraged him to order the
sticky duck, whatever that was. And maybe if he had eaten some of
it, the room wouldn’t have begun to move as though the dining room
was in a ship on rolling water. But food just didn’t go with shots
of whiskey and deep depression.
    Mercifully, no one wanted dessert and the meal
came to an end. What he said to anyone, Tomas wasn’t sure. He
smiled and hugged. Much of the evening went by in a blur. After
most of the relatives had filed out, his father called him
aside.
    “We leave in the morning, you know,” Galen
said.
    Tomas nodded and swayed only slightly.
    “Are you okay?”
    “Sure, Dad.”
    With a hand on his son’s shoulder, he said what
he needed to: “Well, listen. I know you have things lined up over
here. But if you need anything, just call.” He gave Tomas a bear
hug, making him a bit queasy.
    He patted his father’s shoulder. “I will.
Thanks.”
    Tomas desperately needed some air. He headed to
the front of the restaurant, and when he stepped outside, he felt a
tug on his jacket. Turning, he saw Alaina. Still in black and with
her hair styled for the evening, she looked pretty.
    “I’ll text you,” she said.
    “I’ll text you back.” Tomas gave her a hug.
    She looked at him with wet eyes. “I’m going to
miss you.”
    “Well, if you get tired of college in Boston you
can always come stay with me, and go to school here.”
    She raised her eyebrows. “Really?”
    Tomas widened his stance to remain steady on his
feet. “Yep.”
    “You might be sorry for that offer. If I need
some space I might just take you up on it.”
    Alaina gave him another big hug and then took
off to catch up with her parents. Watching her go, Tomas knew he
would miss her too. And he should be looking out for her. He was
her big brother. But she was already in college, and didn’t seem to
need too much looking out for.
    More likely someone needed to keep an eye on
Tomas. Considering how his life in Dublin was starting out, that
wasn’t much of a joke. The restaurant was close to the Ashling
Hotel, and he had walked over. But he flagged a cab for the return
trip, not up to navigating the few blocks back.
    In the back seat of the cab, Tomas passed out,
and the driver had to shout at him to wake him up. After paying, he
made it up to his room, where he promptly threw up. On his back,
with the marble bathroom floor cold against his back, he raked a
hand through his hair.
    The good news was that the funeral was over. The
bad news was that Tomas was fucked up. He fell asleep on the floor
and woke up several hours later. Dragging himself upright, he
managed