HANK GOD IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL day, Holly thought, as she locked her car and walked around to the back of her parents' house. The weather had drastically changed that week and it had rained and rained continuously. Ciara was in hysterics about what would become of her barbecue and she had been hell to be with all week. Luckily for everyone's sake the weather had returned to its former splendor. Holly already had a good tan from lying out in the sun all month, one of the perks of not having a job, and she felt like showing it off today by wearing a cute little denim skirt she had bought in the summer sales and a simple tight white T-shirt that made her look even browner.

Holly was proud of the present she had bought Ciara and she knew Ciara would love it. It was a butterfly belly button ring that had a little pink crystal in each wing. She had chosen it so it would coordinate with Ciara's new butterfly tattoo and her pink hair, of course. She followed the sounds of laughter and was glad to see that the garden was full with family and friends. Denise had already arrived with Tom and Daniel, and they had all flaked out on the grass. Sharon had arrived without John and she was sitting chatting to Holly's mum, no doubt discussing Holly's progress in life. Well, she was out of the house, wasn't she? That was a miracle in itself.

Holly frowned as she noted Jack was once again not present. Ever since he had helped her carry out the task of cleaning out Gerry's wardrobe, he had been unusually distant. Even when they were children Jack had always been great at understanding Holly's needs and feelings without her having to point them out to him, but when she had told him that she needed space after Gerry's death, she didn't mean she wanted to be completely ignored and isolated. It was so out of character for him not to be in contact for so long. Nerves fluttered through Holly's stomach and she prayed that he was all right.

Ciara was standing in the middle of the garden screaming at everyone and loving being the center of attention.

She was dressed in a pink bikini top to match her pink hair and blue denim cutoffs.

Holly approached her with her present, which was immediately grabbed from her hand and ripped open. She needn't have bothered wrapping it so neatly.

"Oh Holly, I love it!" Ciara exclaimed and threw her arms around her sister.

"I thought you would," Holly said, glad she had chosen the right thing, because otherwise her beloved sister would no doubt have let her know about it.

"I'm gonna wear it now actually," Ciara said, ripping out her current belly button ring and piercing the butterfly through her skin.

"Ugh," Holly shuddered. "I could have gone without seeing that, thank you very much."

There was a beautiful smell of barbecued food in the air and Holly's mouth began to water. She wasn't surprised to see all the men huddled around the barbecue with her dad in pride of place. Hunter men must provide food for women.

Holly spotted Richard and she marched over. Ignoring the small talk she just charged right in. "Richard, did you tidy my garden?"

Richard looked up from the barbecue with a confused expression on his face. "Excuse me, did I what?" The rest of the men stopped their conversation and stared.

"Did you tidy my garden?" she repeated with her hands on her hips. She didn't know why she was acting so angry with him, just a force of habit probably, because if he had tidied it he had done her a huge favor. It was just annoying to keep returning home to see another section of her garden cleared and to not know who was doing it.

"When?" Richard looked around at the others frantically, as though he had been accused of murder.

"Oh, I don't know when," she snapped. "During the days for the past few weeks."

"No, Holly," he snapped back. "Some of us have to work, you know."

Holly glared at him and her father interjected. "What's this, love, is someone working on your garden?"

"Yes, but I don't know who," she mumbled, rubbing her forehead and trying to think again. "Is it you, Dad?"

Frank shook his head wildly, hoping his daughter hadn't finally lost the plot.

"Is it you, Declan?"

"Eh . . . think about it, Holly," he said sarcastically.

"Is it you?" she turned to the stranger standing next to her father.

"Um . . . no, I just flew into Dublin . . . um . . . for the . . . um, weekend," he replied nervously with an English accent.

Ciara started laughing. "Let me help you, Holly. Is anybody here working on Holly's garden?" she yelled to the rest of the party. Everybody stopped what they were doing and shook their heads with blank expressions on their faces.

"Now wasn't that much easier?" Ciara cackled.

Holly shook her head with disbelief at her sister and joined Denise, Tom and Daniel on the far side of the garden.

"Hi, Daniel." Holly leaned over to greet Daniel with a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi, Holly, long time no see." He handed her a can from beside him.

"You still haven't found that leprechaun?" Denise laughed.

"No," Holly said, stretching her legs out in front of her and resting back on her elbows. "But it is just so odd!"

She explained the story to Tom and Daniel.

"Do you think maybe your husband organized it?" Tom blurted out, and Daniel threw his friend a look.

"No," Holly said, looking away, angry that a stranger knew her private business, "it's not part of that." She scowled at Denise for telling Tom.

Denise just held her hands up helplessly and shrugged.

"Thanks for coming, Daniel." Holly turned to him, ignoring the other two.

"No problem at all, I was glad to come."

It was weird seeing him out of his usual wintery clothes; he was dressed in a navy vest and navy combat shorts that went just below his knees with a pair of navy trainers. She watched his biceps as he took a slug of his beer. She had had no idea he was that fit.

"You're very brown," she commented, trying to think of an excuse for being caught staring at his biceps.

"And so are you," he said, purposely staring at her legs.

Holly laughed and tucked them up underneath her. "A result of unemployment, what's your excuse?"

"I was in Miami for a while last month."

"Ooh, lucky you, did you enjoy it?"

"Had a great time," he nodded, smiling. "Have you ever been?"

She shook her head. "But at least us girls are heading off to Spain next week. Can't wait." She rubbed her hands together excitedly.

"Yes I heard that. I'd say that was a nice surprise for you." He gave her a smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

"You're telling me." Holly shook her head, still not quite believing it.

They chatted together for a while about his holiday and their lives in general and Holly gave up eating her burger in front of him, as she could find no easy way of eating it without tomato ketchup and mayonnaise dribbling down her mouth every time it was her turn to speak.

"I hope you didn't go to Miami with another woman or poor Ciara will be devastated," she joked, and then kicked herself for being so nosy.

"No, I didn't," he said seriously. "We broke up a few months ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," she said genuinely. "Were you together long?"

"Seven years."

"Wow, that's a long time."

"Yeah." He looked away and Holly could tell he didn't feel comfortable talking about it, so she quickly changed the subject.

"By the way, Daniel," Holly lowered her voice to a hushed tone and Daniel moved his head closer. "I just wanted to thank you so much for looking out for me the way you did after the documentary. Most men run away when they see a girl cry; you didn't, so thank you." Holly smiled gratefully.

"No problem at all, Holly. I don't like to see you upset." Daniel returned the smile.

"You're a good friend," Holly said, thinking aloud.

Daniel looked pleased. "Why don't we all go out for drinks or something before you go away?"

"Maybe I can get to know as much about you as you know about me." Holly laughed. "I think you know my whole life story by this stage."

"Yeah, I'd like that," Daniel agreed, and they arranged a time to meet.

"Oh, by the way, did you give Ciara that birthday present?" Holly asked excitedly.

"No," he laughed. "She's been kind of . . . busy."

Holly turned around to look at her sister and spotted her flirting with one of Declan's friends, much to Declan's disgust. Holly laughed at her sister. So much for wanting Daniel's babies.

"I'll call her over, will I?"

"Go on," Daniel said.

"Ciara!" Holly called. "Got another pressie for you!"

"Ooh!" Ciara screamed with delight and abandoned a very disappointed-looking young man.

"What is it?" She collapsed on the grass beside them.

Holly nodded over at Daniel. "It's from him."

Ciara excitedly turned to face him.

"I was wondering if you would like a job working behind the bar at Club Diva?"

Ciara's hands flew to her mouth. "Oh Daniel, that would be brill!"

"Have you ever worked behind a bar?"

"Yeah, loads of times." She waved her hand dismissively.

Daniel raised his eyebrows; he was looking for a bit more information than that.

"Oh, I've done bar work in practically every country I've been to, honestly!" she said excitedly.

Daniel smiled. "So do you think you'll be able for it?"

"Ooh, would I ever!" she squealed and threw her arms around him.

Any excuse, Holly thought, as she watched her sister practically strangling Daniel. His face started to turn red and he made "rescue me" faces toward Holly.

"OK, OK, that's enough, Ciara," she laughed, dragging her off Daniel. "You don't want to kill your new boss."

"Oh sorry," Ciara said, backing off. "This is so cool! I have a job, Holly!" she squealed again.

"Yes, I heard," Holly said.

Suddenly the garden became very quiet and Holly looked around to see what was happening. Everyone was facing the conservatory and Holly's parents appeared at the door with a large birthday cake in their hands singing "Happy Birthday." Everyone else joined in and Ciara jumped up, lapping up all the attention. As her parents stepped outside, Holly spotted someone following behind them with a huge bouquet of flowers. Her parents walked toward Ciara and placed the birthday cake on the table before her and the stranger behind slowly removed the bouquet from his face.

"Mathew!" Ciara gasped.

Holly grabbed Ciara's hand as her face went white.

"I'm sorry for being such a fool, Ciara." Mathew's Australian accent echoed around the garden. Some of Declan's friends smirked loudly, obviously feeling uncomfortable at this open show of emotion. He actually looked like he was acting out a scene from an Australian soap, but then again drama always seemed to work for Ciara. "I love you! Please take me back!" he announced, and everyone turned to stare at Ciara to see what she would say.

Her lower lip started to tremble and she ran over to Mathew and jumped onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

Holly was overcome with emotion and tears welled in her eyes at the sight of her sister being reunited with the man she loved. Declan grabbed his camera and began filming.

Daniel wrapped his arm around Holly's shoulders and gave her an encouraging squeeze. "I'm sorry, Daniel,"

Holly said, wiping her eyes, "but I think you've just been dumped."

"Not to worry," he laughed. "I shouldn't mix business with pleasure anyway." He seemed relieved.

Holly continued to watch as Mathew spun Ciara around in his arms.

"Oh, get a room!" Declan yelled with disgust, and everyone laughed.

Holly smiled at the jazz band as she passed and looked around the bar for Denise. They had arranged to meet up in the girls' favorite bar, Juicy, known for its extensive cocktail menu and relaxing music. Holly had no intentions of getting drunk tonight, as she wanted to be able to enjoy her holiday as much as she could the next day. She intended on being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for her week of relaxation, thanks to Gerry. She spotted Denise snuggling up to Tom on a comfortable large black leather couch in a conservatory area that overlooked the River Liffey. Dublin was lit up for the night and all its colors were reflected in the water.

Daniel sat opposite Denise and Tom sucking fiercely on a strawberry daiquiri, eyes surveying the room. Nice to see Tom and Denise were ostracizing everyone again.

"Sorry I'm late," Holly apologized, approaching her friends. "I just wanted to finish packing before I came out."

"You're not forgiven," Daniel said quietly into her ear as he gave her a welcoming hug and kiss.

Denise looked up at Holly and smiled, Tom waved slightly and they returned their attention to each other.

"I don't know why they even bother inviting other people out. They just sit there staring into each other's eyes ignoring everyone else. They don't even talk to each other! And then they make you feel like you've interrupted them if you strike up a conversation. I think they've got some weird telepathic conversation going on there," Daniel said, sitting down again and taking another sip from his glass. He made a face at the sweet taste. "And I really need a beer."

Holly laughed. "Oh, so all round it sounds like you've been having a fantastic night."

"Sorry," Daniel apologized. "It's just been so long since I've spoken to another human being, I've forgotten my manners."

Holly giggled. "Well, I've come to rescue you." She picked up the menu and surveyed the choice of drinks before her. She chose a drink with the lowest alcohol content and settled down in the cozy chair. "I could fall asleep here," she remarked, snuggling further down into the chair.

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Then I would really take it personally."

"Don't worry, I won't," she assured him. "So, Mr. Connelly, you know absolutely everything about me.

Tonight I am on a mission to find out about you, so be prepared for my interrogation."

Daniel smiled. "OK, I'm ready."

Holly thought about her first question. "Where are you from?"

"Born and reared in Dublin." He took a sip of the red cocktail and winced again. "And if any of the people I grew up with saw me drinking this stuff and listening to jazz, I'd be in trouble."

Holly giggled.

"After I finished school I joined the army," he continued.

Holly raised her eyes, impressed. "Why did you decide to do that?"

He didn't even think about it. "Because I hadn't a clue what I wanted to do with my life, and the money was good."

"So much for saving innocent lives," Holly laughed.

"I only stayed with the army for a few years."

"Why did you leave?" Holly sipped on her lime-flavored drink.

"Because I realized I had urges to drink cocktails and listen to jazz music and they wouldn't permit it in the army barracks," he explained.

Holly giggled. "Really, Daniel."

He smiled. "Sorry, it just wasn't for me. My parents had moved down to Galway to run a pub and the idea of that appealed to me. So I moved down to Galway to work there and eventually my parents retired, I took over the pub, decided a few years ago that I wanted to own one of my own, worked really hard, saved my money, took out the biggest mortgage ever and moved back to Dublin and bought Hogan's. And here I am talking to you."

Holly smiled. "Well, that's a wonderful life story, Daniel."

"Nothing special, but a life all the same." He returned her smile.

"So where does the ex come into all this?" Holly asked.

"She's right in between running the pub in Galway and leaving to come to Dublin."

"Ah . . . I see," Holly nodded, understanding. She drained her glass and picked up the menu again. "I think I'll have Sex on the Beach."

"When? On your holidays?" Daniel teased.

Holly thumped him playfully on the arm. Not in a million years.