Keara woke when Maeve pushed open the door of her bedroom and said softly, “You going to sleep all day, muirnín?”
“What time is it?” Keara shoved her hair out of her face and tried to focus blurry eyes on of the alarm clock beside the bed. “Eleven o’clock! Dear God!”
“I thought you needed the sleep.” Maeve smiled as she withdrew from the bedroom.
Keara sat up and stared fuzzily across the room. Yeah. She’d needed the sleep. Losing a few hours in the middle of the night did that to you. Her sleep patterns had been so messed up lately, with nightmares and insomnia and…gorgeous, annoying cops.
She remembered the embarrassing encounter with Shane in the middle of the night. Him on his way home from a hot date where he’d apparently used a whole box of condoms. Her—edgy, sleepless, grouchy…and alone. She sighed and flopped back down on the bed, arms out at her sides.
What was the point of getting out of bed? She had nothing to do. Nobody cared.
Oh brother. Want some cheese with that whine? There was nothing wrong with her. She just needed a little diversion. Coming here had been the right thing to do. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.
She showered. Dressed. Found coffee in the kitchen and drank it while she poked in Maeve’s cupboards for breakfast. Maeve must have gone back down to the store.
She pulled out some bagels and bread. Carbs. Ugh. She’d given up carbs years ago. Cottage cheese and egg whites apparently weren’t part of Maeve’s diet. And yet she was so slim and trim. Not fair.
Keara probably didn’t need to worry about carbs right now either. She’d lost at least ten pounds, and she didn’t have ten pounds to lose. But once again, she couldn’t bring herself to care.
In fact, she wasn’t really hungry, so why she was looking for breakfast she had no idea. Coffee was perfect.
She carried her mug down the stairs to the store to find her great-aunt.
Maeve handed a package to a customer with a smile and thanks, and the customer turned to leave. Maeve eyed Keara. “You’re up, sleepyhead,” she remarked, but her smile and gentle tone softened the words. “You must have been needing sleep.”
“I was up for a while in the night,” Keara told her. “I couldn’t sleep. I happens to me sometimes.” It had happened even before the hostage taking. That was just the way she was.
“Oh, muirnín.” Maeve’s smile faded. “Have you been having nightmares?”
“I had the odd one.” She forced a smile and waved a hand. “But it’s nothing serious. They’re just dreams. The sleep thing kind of has me messed up.”
“Well. I say, don’t worry about it. While you’re here, sleep when you feel like sleeping. You don’t need to be on a schedule. After a while your body will just figure out what it’s supposed to do.”
“I suppose.”
Maeve regarded her, head tilted. “If you need sleep, go sleep. Even if it’s the middle of the day.”
“Good sleep hygiene is sticking to a schedule.”
“That’s a load of ballsch.” Maeve frowned. “I’ve never liked schedules. It pains me to have to open and close the store at the times I’ve said, but customers get annoyed if they come here and I’m closed when they expect me to be open.”
Keara laughed. “Yeah. That’s kinda the way the world works.”
“Just relax, muirnín. A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures. Well, that and sex. It will all come in time. The day of the big wind is no time to be doing the thatching.”
Keara stared at her, coffee mug clutched in two hands, struggling to keep up with her aunt, the mention of sex a little disconcerting. “Uh…what? Thatching?”
Maeve laughed. “There’s a time for everything,” she said. “Just relax while you’re here and let nature take its course.”
It sounded like good advice to her, so Keara nodded.
“Seriously, though.” Maeve tapped her chin. “Sex is most likely what you need. There’s nothing like several good orgasms to relax you.”
Keara’s mouth fell open and thankfully several customers entered the store and began wandering around. Maeve strolled over to offer help, but they all just wanted to look.
“Probably too embarrassed to ask for what they’re looking for,” Maeve whispered to Keara when she returned to the counter. They exchanged a smile, and let the customers browse.
“I have to phone this supplier,” Maeve said with a frown. She picked up some papers. “I ordered these cock rings months ago and they’re still not here. Every time I call they tell me they’ve already been shipped. Can you keep an eye on things for a few minutes?”
Keara nodded, struck dumb by mention of cock rings—if the customers had any questions she sure wasn’t going to be able to answer them. She perched on a stool behind the counter and sipped her coffee, wondering if she needed to worry about shoplifting.
The young couple—were they even old enough to have sex?—were looking at condoms. At least they’d be having safe sex. That was good. An older man explored some toys, and two women were investigating the uh…whips and chains in the BDSM corner. Keara kept her face neutral, found a catalogue under the counter to flip through while she sat there.
Maeve returned moments later with a frown, and rapped the cordless phone down on the counter.
“They still say they sent them?”
“Yes. And…they say I signed for it. February twenty-first. That’s crazy. I don’t have the stuff.”
“Oh.” Keara lifted a shoulder, not sure what to say. “Where could it be?”
“I’ve no idea. Fecking eejits, the lot of them.”
Keara swallowed her smile. “Is there anything I can do? Maybe I could try to trace it through the USPS or…was it FedEx? Some other delivery service.”
“Just a moment. I’ll find the papers. Maybe you can help.”
The young couple approached the counter with their purchases, and Maeve stopped. “I’ll just ring this up first.”
When they’d left, Keara said, “Maybe you could show me how to run the till, and I could help out with customers too.”
Maeve’s emerald eyes fastened on her. “Are you sure, muirnín? You don’t have to work while you’re here.”
Keara shook her head. “I like to be busy.” She couldn’t do nothing. It just wasn’t in her. She’d inherited the workaholic gene from her parents, and she was proud of it.
“I thought this was a vacation?” Shrewd green eyes studied her.
“You know I take after Mom and Dad,” Keara said with a laugh. “They never stopped working.”
“True.” Maeve sighed. “Okay. Let’s do that first. Then I’ll let you try to track down that missing shipment for me.”
Keara got a quick lesson on how to use the till and got to practice as more customers came and went. The Irish Sex Fairy Shop was a busy little place in downtown Kilkenny. Too bad about that sex superstore opening up. Hopefully it wouldn’t take much business away from Maeve.
It was an hour before they had a break in business and then Maeve suggested they stop for lunch. She went upstairs to make sandwiches while Keara manned the store on her own.
“What do you do when you’re alone?” Keara asked as they ate ham and cheese sandwiches while sitting behind the counter.
“Just this,” Maeve said. “I grab something and eat it when there’s a break. Sometimes I just don’t get time to eat lunch.”
“That’s no good, Maeve.” Keara frowned. “You should have someone so you can take breaks.”