InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance) (10 page)

Tia
felt much better about everything as they pulled up to the curb next to
Paddy’s.
The introductions at the club went better than she’d hoped, she’d been able
to introduce Dylan to most of her family at her parents’ place afterward, and
she was looking forward to now being able to share the real Dylan with her true
friends.

Ryan’s
Mustang pulled up across the street just as they were getting out of the car,
and Lexi opened the door before he even stopped, causing him to have to slam on
his brakes.

“This
is so exciting!” she yelled across the street as she came running over. “I
mean, the looks on the faces of the people at the club were absolutely
priceless, but I can’t wait to see how all these guys react—I mean, they’ve
actually met Dylan before—this is going to be crazy.”

“Yeah
it is,” Tia said excitedly. “I was nervous about the club, but I seriously
can’t wait for these introductions.”

Dylan
turned to Ryan. “That’s a really sweet ride,” he said, looking at the Mustang.
“Great paint job.”

“Thanks,”
Ryan said proudly. “I had it done at Midwest Craft Motors…you know the place
that has the TV show? They actually featured it on one of their shows.”

Lexi
rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah. That was Ryan’s fifteen minutes…or should I say
fifteen
seconds
of fame. He actually got to be on television when he went
to pick it up.”

“Really?”
Dylan said. “That’s pretty awesome, mate. They did a great job. I’ve never seen
anything like it.”

“Ten
coats of clear over that baby,” Ryan added proudly. “And the engine’s bored
thirty over, so she rides like a dream.”

“Sometimes
I wonder if he loves that car more than me,” Lexi smirked. “But hey, I look
good in it, so I don’t complain. Not too much, anyway.”

Tia
pulled out her phone. “I’m going to text Sean and have him meet us at the
kitchen entrance around back,” she said as she tapped out the message. “I want
him to “meet” Dylan first,” she said making air quotes with her fingers, “and
maybe let him do one big introduction on the mic so we can get that out of the
way and just mingle.”

Lexi
shrugged. “We’ll go in the front, then, and meet you inside. We’re on the list,
right?”

Tia
nodded. She’d asked Sean to close the place for a private party, telling him
that she had a surprise for him and that she wanted to be surrounded by her
friends when she shared it. She really wanted the night to be just about the
people she cared about, and he was happy to oblige. It wasn’t like the usual
crowd wouldn’t pack the place, anyway.

“Hey,
it’s about time you showed your face again, my friend,” Sean said as he opened
the back door. “About damn…” He stopped short when he saw who was standing
there, his mouth still forming the next word and his eyes widening.

“Sean,
you remember Dylan,” Tia said slyly.

“Great
to see you again, mate,” Dylan said smiling.

“Oh,
fuck me man!” Sean exclaimed, blinking his eyes to make sure that what he was
seeing was real. “No way!” He grabbed Dylan’s hand in an enthusiastic shake and
pulled him into a tight embrace. “Seriously?” When Tia told him she had a
surprise for him, he’d been sure that she was going to announce that she and
Dylan were engaged. He was thrilled for her; knowing how hard it had been to
recover after the loss of his cousin, Nick. Tia had shared a lot of information
about their relationship over the past few months, but had never hinted that
her new love was Dylan Miller. Oh yeah, this was a surprise, alright.

“Holy
shit,” he said again. “Dylan effing Miller. I knew there was something…I knew
you looked familiar…I should have known!” He shook his head and raked his
fingers through his hair. “I’m such an idiot. You even told me you worked in
the entertainment industry, but I never put it together…” He punched his fist
into his open hand. “This is just so crazy…you and Tia…”

“Sean,”
Tia said, a warning in her voice. “Chill out. You’re the one I’m counting on to
stay grounded with this whole thing.”

Sean
shook his head vigorously, as if trying to make the pieces fall into place. “Of
course. Absolutely. Just let me have my little freak-out minute of shock here,
will you? It’ll be cool in a sec. I mean, you can’t spring something like this
on me and not expect a reaction.” He turned to Dylan. “Am I right?”

“Take
your time,” Dylan teased. “We’ll just stand here and wait for you to get your
head out of your ass.”

“Screw
you,” he teased back, giving Dylan a friendly shove. “This is just…completely
unexpected. I can’t believe…”

“Believe
it Sean, and shut the hell up already,” Tia joked. “You’re making an ass of
yourself. Not that that’s any different from a normal day, but still…” she
grinned.

 Sean
put his hand over his mouth in an exaggerated gesture of self-imposed silence.
Before Tia could say another word, he parted two fingers and muttered through
the gap, “You’ve got some ‘splaining to do, though—and I’m all ears.”

Tia
sighed, and pulled Sean into a hug. “I owe you an explanation
and
an
apology,” she began, “and I need to get the apology out of the way first. I’m
so sorry I lied, Sean,” she said sincerely. “I hated not being able to tell
anyone the truth.” She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.  “No one except
for Lexi knew about me and Dylan before today. The night you met Dylan? That
was the first night I met him, too.” A look of confusion crossed Sean’s face.
“I have a big confession to make, Sean,” she said sadly, looking down before
continuing. “I was so afraid to come to the memorial that night. So scared, in
fact, that I had no intention of coming.  I was so worried that you’d all be
mad at me for not being around, or even worse that you’d pity me…just when I
was feeling like I could actually move on.” She caught the look on his face,
and spoke before he could. “I know it was stupid,” she said quickly. “I
should’ve known then, too, but it was all so much…” Sean pulled her to him, and
gave her a reassuring squeeze. “I was convinced that I had to do it alone, and
that’s how I met Dylan. He was at this other pub in disguise, trying to have a
normal night for a change, and through a crazy bunch of circumstances we ended
up hanging out together and kind of accidentally ended up here…” 

“Wow,”
Sean said, bewildered. “I had no idea, guys.”

“Of
course you didn’t,” Tia said. “And neither did we. At the time, I didn’t think
I’d ever see Dylan again after that night; and certainly not after the weekend.
He was only in town for two shows, and then he was doing the summer tour in
Europe…I knew that if I told everyone who he really was, I wouldn’t have the
chance to get to know him. We were getting on so well, and I was completely
blown away because I thought it would take so much more time before I felt that
comfortable with another guy…and so I kept him to myself. Plus, his original
plan was to have a normal evening out, and he was having so much fun just
hanging with everyone without the celebrity thing getting in the way…”

Sean
turned to Dylan, who quickly agreed. “I don’t get too many chances to just hang
out with people, as you might imagine,” he said, “and it’s one of the things I
miss most about having a normal life. I really appreciated being able to do
that. I couldn’t remember the last time I was just able to blend into a
crowd—to play some darts, have a couple beers, and let someone else play the
music…” 

Sean
blushed, remembering that he’d played some of the band’s music that night, and
that Dylan had complimented him on his performance and his song choice. He
smirked as the memory sharpened. “Shit. I asked if you were a fan of InHap, and
you said something like you’d followed them from the beginning. How did I not
figure that out?”

“Guess
you’re not terribly observant,” Dylan joked, inciting another smirk from Sean.

“Or
maybe the mullet just looked so natural on you…”

Tia
put her hands on her hips and addressed the boys sternly. “Can we get on with
this, please?” They both snapped to attention, facing her and trying to tamper
down their sarcastic smiles. When she was sure she had their attention, she
pushed back her own smile and continued. “Truth is, I kept the secret from
everyone—Dylan just met my parents for the first time earlier today. But now
that he’s back, we’re going public with our relationship. We leave for
California tomorrow, and—holy crap, this scares me to death—we’ll be on all the
talk shows and radio shows and God knows what else.”

 “That’s
awesome, really! Congratulations!”

“Thanks
mate,” Dylan said. “But before we go tell the whole world, we wanted to make
sure we told our friends. We want them to be the first to know. I just got back
yesterday, and we have bloody little time, so here we are.”

 Tia
added, “Judging by the number of cars in the street, I’m guessing it’s pretty
crowded tonight…” Sean nodded. “So I thought that maybe the easiest way to
reintroduce him would be to do it in one shot—tell the story once, and then
just hang out so Dylan can get reacquainted with everyone. Do you think you
could get on the mic and get it done?”

“Oh,
I can totally do that,” he grinned. “I’d be glad to.”

His
enthusiasm gave Tia pause. “No celebrity stuff, Sean, OK? That’s not what this
is about.”

“Don’t
worry, I do have some class. I have to call it up from the very depths of my
being, but I can pull it off, don’t worry.”

“Not
worried at all, my friend,” Dylan said with confidence. “The thing is, Tia and
I are serious about each other, and I want her friends to be my friends—not
because I’m a fucking celebrity, but because I’m part of her life.” He smirked,
and added, “And because I’m a hell of a guy.” 

“I
get it,” Sean confirmed with an uncharacteristic seriousness in his voice.
“Really. Consider it handled.” He shook Dylan’s hand again. “Really good to see
you again, man.”

“You
too,” Dylan said sincerely.

“You
still owe me a poker night, you know,” he grinned.

“As
soon as I possibly can,” Dylan smiled back.

Tia
jumped in. “Why don’t you send Paddy and Siobhan back so we can say hi to them
in private, too, before we do this whole thing.”

Dylan
held up a paper shopping bag. “Good idea. I got a little something for Paddy
that I picked up over in Ireland on the tour.”

Sean
smiled. “If that’s what I think it is, then you’re fucking golden, man. I’ll go
get them.”

“Young
Master Dylan, I’m so glad to see you again!” Paddy exclaimed when he entered
the kitchen.  The two men shook hands, and Paddy pulled him into a rough hug.
Siobhan hugged Tia and then Dylan in turn. “It’s been much too long since our
paths have crossed. I must say, though, that with as much as Tia talks about
you, it’s almost like you’ve been here all along.”

Dylan
smiled. “There are few places where I feel so welcome, that’s for sure. It’s
really good to be back.”

“I
think this calls for a little celebration drink, don’t you?” Paddy said. “Still
have a taste for the Tully? It kind of gets under your skin, doesn’t it?”

 “That
it does,” Dylan grinned back. “And I know it’s your favorite, so I picked these
up for you when I was in Ireland a few months back…” he placed a bag on the
counter top, and Paddy reached inside, holding up a bottle with a glint in his
eyes.  

“This
is the liquid gold!” he said. “When were you in Ireland?”

“It
was one of the early stops on the tour,” Dylan answered. “One of the stops Tia
missed, unfortunately.” Paddy’s head turned in question, and Sean was quick to
make the clarification.

“Uncle
Paddy, this is
Dylan Miller
…you know…Incidental Happenstance?” Sean
added, “That’s Dylan’s band!”

The
recognition dawned on his face. “Well now, that name I definitely know! That
was my Nick’s favorite group—I think I probably know all of your songs,
too—they’re played on my stage all the time. Now that definitely calls for a
shot of Tully!”

“At
least one,” Dylan winked. “Once we get the introductions done I want to get
another round for the house; but keep the good stuff for us, right?”

“This
boy’s got to have some Irish in his blood somewhere!” Paddy exclaimed, smiling
at Tia and pouring a round for the little group huddled in the kitchen. Sean
downed his and headed out into the bar to make the announcement. 

 “Here
Here!” Sean said into the mic, in his usual
Paddy’s
greeting.

“Where’s
here?” came the standard answer from the patrons.

“Listen
up, everyone,” he started. “I have some news to share with you and I need you
to all pay attention!” Something like a moan came up from the crowd.
“Seriously,” he continued, “it’s important.” He paused to be sure he had
everyone’s eyes on his. “I called a lot of you today asking you to come
tonight. I said I had a surprise, but at the time, I had no idea how big a
surprise it would actually be.”  He scratched his head, trying to put together
the right words as the crowd mumbled under its collective breath.