Wild Chance (Wilder Irish #13) - Mari Carr Page 0,4

things casual. By tacit agreement, neither of them mentioned the phone call, instead falling right back into their normal fun-loving friendship.

But since the holidays, she’d doubled down on sorting her shit out. She had a definite vision of her future and it was way past time she found a way to get there, instead of sitting at the end of a bar, pining for her best friend.

This was going to be her year.

Of course, that determination hadn’t really been tested because she hadn’t seen Padraig since Christmas Day. He’d left for a grand tour of Ireland just a few days after. The two of them had maintained the status quo on their relationship through texts and phone calls. And now, Padraig was in the last week of his six-week trip with his grandfather, dad, and brother.

She’d put the weeks away from him to good use.

Or at least, she hoped so. Only time would tell.

She glanced up at Kelli’s favorite Mexican restaurant, wishing for the thousandth time that she was meeting her friends at their usual stomping ground, Pat’s Pub. It had been a long winter for Emmy since the place she’d come to consider her second home—actually, she was there so much, it was probably her first home—had been closed down following the fire.

She shook off that sadness, trying to comfort herself with the knowledge that the Collins family, who owned and operated the pub, were rebuilding it and, according to Padraig—during their last text exchange—it was slated to reopen just a couple weeks after he returned home from Ireland.

She got out of her car and crossed the street. Entering the restaurant, she glanced around, then grinned when she spotted her friends.

Sometimes she was amazed how much her life had changed in just two years. And she had the table full of women waiting for her, as well as the entire Collins family, to thank for that.

Ever since she’d walked into Pat’s Pub that first time, nothing had been the same.

Thank goodness.

Her journey to the pub that initial time hadn’t been intentional or thought out. Instead, it felt like karma, or perhaps the spirit of her parents, had led her there. After all, Mom and Dad had met at Pat’s Pub, set up on a blind date by mutual friends.

Her reason for venturing out of her apartment two years prior had been driven by a celebration after she’d achieved a pretty major life goal. Every second of that day was etched so deeply in her memory, it could have happened yesterday.

She’d woken up to find an email from one of her superfans, telling her she’d made The New York Times best seller list. She’d begun writing romance novels when she was a teenager, and she’d sold her first book when she was just twenty. In the seven years since that first sale, she’d managed to make a name for herself, as well as more than enough money to live on after both her parents’ passing.

Emmy had been certain the reader was mistaken about her hitting the list.

But nope.

It had been the truth. Her book was right there at number nine.

Her immediate flash of indescribable joy was instantly dashed. She’d accomplished a major life goal—maybe the biggest—and…

She hadn’t had a single soul to share it with.

She’d thought of her parents, of course, wishing they were still alive. Her mother—in her healthy years—would have flipped out, put on music, danced around the apartment, and then made Emmy a four-layer chocolate cake to celebrate. Her father would have hugged her, bought her flowers, and told her how proud he was of her.

But without them…

Loneliness hadn’t been a stranger to her, but that was the first time it crushed her. The first time it felt truly unbearable.

Emmy had turned a corner that day as well, aware that at some point, she’d dropped the reins on her life and had failed to pick them back up. So she’d walked away from her computer, gotten dressed in real clothes—rather than her usual loungewear—and headed outside. She’d decided to treat herself to lunch, not takeout or delivery, but to a real meal in a real restaurant.

She’d walked into Pat’s Pub and boom!

New life, new friends, newfound happiness.

Emmy was certain the Collins family didn’t have a clue how much they’d impacted her world, changing it for the better.

“Emmy!” Kelli called out from across the restaurant, her loud voice drawing the attention of pretty much everyone in the place. “Get your ass over here. We’re halfway through the first