“How lovely.” Fiona moved forward to take the box. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.

“Liam! You didn’t even mention you had a girlfriend the last time I saw you.” A tall woman wearing a colorful woven dress walked toward them, her long auburn hair braided down her back. “Or maybe you did and I don’t remember.” She gave Daisy an apologetic smile. “I’ve been at an ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica. I needed to get the hell out of my head.”

“That’s Aunt Roisin,” Liam murmured.

“And, boy, did your retreat deliver,” Fiona muttered, putting the box on the coffee table. “You’re still not all back.”

“Don’t be unkind,” Roisin said. “Just because you’re unable to let go of your fixed self doesn’t mean you should put down those of us who were able to achieve enlightenment.”

“You spent a month taking psychedelic drugs and living in a hut in the jungle,” Fiona said. “You missed Da’s funeral. I had to hire a security company to hunt you down and drag you out. How enlightened is that?”

“The drugs were a shortcut to glimpsing a higher truth,” Roisin retorted. “It was like a decade of therapy packed into a night. And this isn’t about me. It’s about Liam and his new fiancée.”

“I don’t think anyone believed you when you said you were engaged,” Fiona said to Liam. “It was such a surprise.”

“It all happened very quickly.” Liam clasped Daisy’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Daisy is the sister of one of my old high school friends. We reconnected recently, but with Grandpa sick, I didn’t think it was the right time to introduce her.”

“I thought he was like you, Uncle Seamus.” Fiona nudged the old man beside her. He had the same round face and hazel eyes, but his hair was gray, and he was tall and lean where Fiona was short and round. “Sowing his wild oats until it was too late.”

“It’s never too late,” Seamus said, puffing out his barrel chest. “I’ll be sowing oats until I’m lying in my coffin.”

Liam introduced Daisy to his relatives one by one. Aside from a few polite questions about her job, they were more interested in their own snarky banter than getting to know her. Unlike her family in a “meet the potential partner” situation, she didn’t have to sit in the middle of the room and field questions about everything from her favorite foods to her religious and political views. Liam’s relationship with her was clearly Liam’s business and they accepted his choice.

It was refreshing, but at the same time she had a feeling that if something went wrong, Liam would be on his own. By contrast, when Nasir Uncle had been recovering in the hospital from heart surgery, the entire family had gone to see him. She’d often found her family suffocating, but would it really be better to be left alone?

“Brendan!” Fiona called into the kitchen. “Forget the booze. Come and meet Liam’s new fiancée.”

Daisy turned as Liam’s brother walked into the room. Shorter than Liam by about two inches, with the same wide shoulders but on a stocky frame, Brendan was an older, more rugged version of his brother. Individually, his features were rough, but together, with his thick blond hair and the same intense blue eyes as Liam, he had a dangerous appeal.

Brendan’s gaze flicked from Daisy to Liam and his voice was pure disdain. “Christ, I can’t believe you are actually carrying out this charade. What total bullshit.”

“Bullshit,” Jaxon repeated, his eyes wide with delight. “Fecking bullshit.”

Brendan puffed out his chest. “See, even a child knows it’s a load of cr—”

“Brendan!” A slight, fair-haired woman ran out of the kitchen and scooped Jaxon up. “Not in front of Jaxon.”

“Is this true?” Fiona asked after a protesting Jaxon had been quickly carried upstairs.

“We are engaged.” Liam put his arm around Daisy’s shoulders. “I’ve known Daisy for almost twenty years, but it was Grandpa’s death that made me realize life is too short to waste.”

Damn, he was impressive. Daisy had never mastered the art of lying on cue. Deceit required imagination and improvisation and she leaned toward logic and planning.

“That is so true,” Roisin said. “The world is a lonely place full of lonely people. If you find someone you can connect with, someone who can take you out of yourself and bring you joy, you can’t let it go. My shaman felt that connection with me after we drank our ayahuasca brew.”

“I’m sure he did,” Fiona muttered. “A close and intimate connection.”

“Then why wasn’t she at the funeral?” Brendan challenged. “Or the wake? Why did you never bring her to meet any of us? You didn’t say anything until you found out Grandpa had given the distillery to me.”

“We were . . .” He trailed off and Daisy panicked, terrified he wouldn’t be able to wing this one. What could she say? What made sense? She wasn’t good with making things up. Maybe something close to the truth.

“He cheated on me.” She blurted out the words, her heart pounding so hard she could barely hear through the rush of blood in her ears.

Liam stared at her in shock. “You don’t have to—”

“With Madison. My old boss.” She’d put her foot in it now, might as well keep going with a story she knew.

“I had to quit the job I loved.” She felt both relief and dread when Liam didn’t interrupt, leaving her the center of attention. “We were on a break, but I brought him to the company picnic hoping to reconcile, and he hooked up with Madison.”

“Poor love.” Roisin patted her hand. “Men. Always thinking with their cocks.”

“Roisin! For feck sake,” Seamus said. “Watch your language. She’s just a wee girl.”