My father and Cormac begin walking toward Da’s new office, their voices fading the farther they get down the hall.

Eileen slips her arm through Mam’s. “Come on,” she says. “Let’s have a slice of that pie while it’s still warm.” Mam laughs and lets herself be pulled toward the kitchen. When I look back to where the boys were standing, Mick and Ronin are heading toward Da’s office as well. Ronin glances back once before disappearing around the corner, and I watch him go.

There’s something about the way he looked at me that I can’t quite explain. Even after the hallway grows quiet, I stay where I am, still trying to make sense of it.

I don’t know it yet, but the green-eyed boy my father welcomed into our home that morning will one day be the man who breaks my heart.