Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“I think he’s sayin’ it right,” she said to me, then looked at Jax and pronounced it clearly. “Eye-nah.”
“Eye-nah,” Jax repeated and squealed. “Ina.”
“Ye’ve got it, little man,” Ina praised. “That’s how ye say me name. What’s your name?”
Jax looked at me for guidance, so I said, “Tell her your name, go on.”
He turned from me to Ina and said, “Jax.”
“Jack?” Ina repeated, leaning in closer to my nephew with her eyes squinted. “Your name is Jack?”
“No!” Jax gasped. “No, no, no! Jax. Jax. Jax!”
“Oh!” Ina laughed. “Jax.”
“Yes!” Jax cheered. “Jax!”
“Well, Jax, you’re a very handsome little boy, and it’s very nice to meet ye.” She moved her hands fluidly and said, “That means ‘hello’ in sign. Can ye do that?”
Jax didn’t move his hands in a majestic way like Ina had. He sort of just wiggled his hands around, and it made her chuckle. She repeated the same motion with her hands, and I glanced down at Jax and saw him concentrating as he tried to copy her movements exactly.
After a few tries, Ina clapped her hands and said, “Good job, honey. That means hello.”
She playfully held out her hand to shake Jax’s, but he surprised her by grabbing it and turning it over. Then he leaned down and placed a big wet kiss on the back of it. “Hi,” he announced, beaming.
Ina stared at Jax and then placed the hand he kissed against her chest like it was a treasured jewel. “That was possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen in me entire life.” She breathed, then turned her gaze on me. “Did ye teach him that?”
“His da did.” I chuckled. “He’s watched him do it to his ma loads of times, and now he does it to every woman he meets.”
“You aren’t his father?” Her dark eyebrows shot upward. “But he looks so much like ye.”
“I’m his uncle. Trust me, when ye see his daddy’s side of the family, ye’ll know who he takes after in looks. I’m babysittin’ him and his brother tonight to give me sister and brother-in-law a break.”
“That’s very good of ye,” she said, then winced. “I’m terribly sorry about the bangin’. I don’t have me aids in, so I didn’t realise I was makin’ so much noise.”
I had forgotten why I was standing in front of her door. Talking to her erased the reason, and I found myself enjoying her company.
“Don’t worry about it.” I winked. “We were awake anyway, and I just wanted to see if everythin’ was okay.”
Big. Fucking. Lie.
“Oh.” Ina seemed relieved. “What’s your name? If ye said it, I didn’t catch it.”
“Dante,” I answered. “Dante Collins.”
The second my name left my mouth, I was surprised. I couldn’t remember the last time I had introduced myself by my given name and not by Date.
“Dante,” Ina repeated. “Nice to meet ye. I’m Ina O’Shea.”
The way her tongue flicked as she spoke made my throat run dry. Her accent was different from mine. It had a heavy country brogue to it.
“Nice to meet ye too, love. You’re not from around here, are ye?”
Her lips twitched. “Nope. I’m a Carlow girl.”
I’d guessed as much.
“By the might of God,” I playfully teased. “A culchie.”
“A culchie through and through.” She straightened with pride. “I couldn’t pretend I was a Dub even if I wanted to. Me accent is a dead giveaway.”
She had that right.
“Are ye okay?” I asked, bouncing Jax lightly as he rested his head against my shoulder. “It sounded like ye were havin’ a bit of bother.”
It sounded like she was at war with someone, but I wanted to be polite.
“I’m fine,” she assured me. “I just had a really, really long day, and I was tryin’ to put the last of me things away before I went to bed. I just moved in this evenin’. I got home only a few hours ago from the City Centre and started unpackin’ … I didn’t realise it was so late until ye knocked at me door. The time got away from me.”
“If ye don’t mind me askin’,” I began. “How did ye hear me if ye haven’t got your hearin’ aids in?”
“I was sittin’ with me back against the door havin’ a bit of a breakdown when ye knocked. I felt the vibrations on me back.”
I cringed. “Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to knock so hard.”
I did, but she didn’t need to know that.
“I’m not profoundly deaf,” she explained. “Without me hearin’ aids, all sounds are muffled and blended at an incredibly lower volume. I can’t register speech. The best way I can describe it is to have lots of cotton in your ears twenty-four seven.”
“Sounds like a hard way to live.”
Ina shrugged. “I had bacterial meningitis when I was eight. I was very sick, and in the end, it robbed me of me hearin’. It was a long time ago. I’m used to it.”