Stephanie Doyle: Baily's Irish Dream: Baily's Irish Dream / Czech Mate

“Hey. Don’t knock it. Housebreaking a man is harder than it looks.” Okay, so Harry had all the qualities of a fine dog. There were worse things in life. Harry would give Baily children. Something a dog certainly couldn’t do. Just think of the children, Baily reminded herself. Unfortunately, that meant that she had to think about how she was going to get those children with Harry. Ugh-hh.

“You’re not taking this seriously. This is your life, Baily Monohan. You’re about to throw it all away,” Janice fairly shrieked.

“Not throw it all away. More like start it all over…again.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Baily announced with a firmness that surprised her. She was making the right choice. In her mind she knew that. It was just her heart that was doing little anxious flip-flops every time she thought about spending the rest of her life with Harry.

With a determination she knew she was faking, Baily stood and lifted her two suitcases.

“Theodora! Let’s go, Miss Roosevelt. We’re leaving!”

“Miss Roosevelt” peeked out from her perch on one of the kitchen shelves. “Meow.”

“Now, Theodora,” Baily coaxed, “we talked about this. You agreed. So stop being so stubborn and move your tail.”

Reluctantly the cat joined her. An indignant mew at Baily’s feet let her know it wasn’t without complaint. It was obvious Theodora wasn’t at all happy about moving, but she apparently knew she wasn’t going to have any say in the matter.

Janice shook her head in wonder. “You treat that animal like a human. It’s not natural, you know.”

“Shh. Do you want her to hear you? You know how she gets when someone reminds her that she wasn’t the president of the United States. I know I’m encouraging her delusions, but it’s less crying this way.” Baily gazed down upon the black ball of fluff with loving adoration. “Are you ready, Madam President?”

“Meow.” Theodora practically sighed, as if she realized she had no choice.

“Tell me again which of you is the delusional one?” Janice asked under her breath, not exactly sure she wanted an answer.

The two friends made their way out of the apartment with the President in tow. Baily popped the trunk of her antique yellow Volkswagen Bug and shoved the suitcases in place. There was a litter box already set up in the back seat and a six-pack of Diet Pepsi on ice in the passenger’s seat. Baily was ready.

“Are you sure you are okay driving across the country by yourself? What about the maniacs that prey on helpless women?” Janice wondered out loud.

“Way to put me at ease.” Baily had driven out to Seattle with her brother, Nick, the first time. At the time, Seattle had seemed as far away from New Jersey as she could get. Nick, a Philadelphia police officer, had insisted that she be accompanied. Currently he was rebounding from a nasty divorce and was unfit company for fish. No way Baily wanted to put up with his ex-wife bashing for three thousand miles. Which meant that this was a solo trip. She wasn’t exactly thrilled about that, but she also had to be practical. Besides, how dangerous could it be?

Okay, so maybe she was a little nervous. But she was tough. One had to be to be a Monohan. Just in case, she’d packed a can of Mace.

“Be careful. And whatever you do, don’t pick up hitchhikers.” Janice threw her arms around Baily and clung tight. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too.”

Baily situated herself in her car and drove off. Through semi-watery eyes, she watched as Janice became smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror. The next time Baily looked up, Janice was gone.

“Well, Theodora, it’s just you and me. Are you ready to go home?”

“Meow.”

“Me, too.”

DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! Damn! Daniel Blake simply refused to believe his ears. It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be happening. Not to him. Not now. Not Sarah. With an impatience born of fury, he stabbed the rewind button on his answering machine then hit the play button once again. Maybe during the process of rewinding, the tape would somehow alter itself and a new message would play. One that did not cause his pulse to leap and his blood pressure to soar.

Beeeep. “Hi, Danny! It’s me, Sarah. I’ve got wonderful news. You’re never going to believe it. Well, I mean you’ll believe it because I’m telling you it’s the truth, and you know I don’t lie….”

Daniel closed his eyes. It was his sister’s habit to explain every exaggeration she ever made. He used to find the quality endearing. It declared her honesty. Now it was just time-consuming, and he was in a hurry to get to the punch line. Again.

“So what I really mean is that you’ll probably be stunned. Oh, here it goes…I’m getting married! Can you believe it? Me, married. It’s Pierce, of course. I know you have your reservations about him, but trust me he’s really a doll, and sweet, and funny. I could go on forever. I mean not really forever because I would run out of words, but…well, you know what I mean. He says he can’t wait. So we’re doing it on August 3.”

Seven days! Actually six, since the message was a day old.

“I know what you’re thinking…I always wanted a big wedding with all the trimmings, but with Mom and Dad gone and Pierce not having any family, either, we decided to keep it small. Just you and a friend of Pierce’s. Oh, and I know that’s only seven days away, but it should only take you three or four to get here if you drive all day. That’s probably faster than the train what with all the schedule juggling you’d have to do. So I’ll expect to see you at the end of the week. Can’t wait!” Beeeeeep.

His sister’s voice seemed to echo throughout the house. She was going to marry that sleazy, two-bit fortune hunter, and he only had six days to stop the wedding. Six days. It simply wasn’t enough time. For a moment he considered flying, but the idea was gone as soon as it had entered his head. He had given his word to Sarah that he would never fly, and his word was his bond. She was right about the train schedules being a hassle, too. There was no point in trying to reason with her on the phone, either. She may be flaky, but she could also be very stubborn. The only way to handle this was face to face. Which meant getting in his car and driving.

Without wasting any time, he opened the suitcase that was still filled with his clothes from the trip he had just returned from late last night. He had driven down to San Francisco to meet with a potential client interested in his unique software package. Daniel’s product was one of a few that the large timber company had shown an interest in, and he had a hunch that his trip had all but sealed the deal. Still, nothing was concrete, and the last thing he needed was something to distract him from winning the bid.

Family, however annoying, came first. His only choice was to do what Sarah suggested: drive to Philadelphia. Not to attend her wedding, but to stop it. His vice president, Bruce, could handle the California bid while he was away.

Decision made, Daniel’s next step was to find some clean clothes to replace the ones he’d just dumped in the hamper. Thankfully his maid had taken care of the laundry in his absence. Neatly laundered jeans and crisply ironed cotton polo shirts hung in his closest. Barely taking the time to fold them, he shoved them into the suitcase. A quick check to see that he had his wallet, and he was ready. He practically sprinted down the stairs of his Seattle, Washington, home and out the door, only to climb back into the car he had recently vacated.

After a tiresome drive back from California he’d had visions of unwinding for the day before getting back to work. Now he was going to have to make a marathon drive across the country to where his incredibly naive sister was about to make the biggest mistake of his life. Her life, he corrected himself.