It’s August. That means plenty of **SUNSHINE** in this neck of the woods so lots of inspiration for the #1lineWed challenge. I sort of stalled out on the WIP but a very wish author once advised, “If you get stuck, move to the next scene you know is going to happen.” That works great for her because she’s a plotter. 🤣 Still, as a puzzler, I can always move to a different scene, and actually, if not the scene after my sticking point, it is something that happens the same morning. So…win! Anyway, This is sort of riff on last weeks scene with Bowie and Fiona. Shannon is Bowie’s sister and they live together. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
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Shannon walked into Rosie’s and didn’t bother with going to a table first. She walked straight behind the counter, grabbed a mug, and poured her own coffee. Melba, the Black woman who commanded the counter, raised an eyebrow.

“I’m guessin’ that’ll be a full Irish for you this morning.”

“For sure,” Shannon replied after taking a sip. “And dibs on my own pot of coffee.”

Melba threw back her head and laughed, still chuckling as she yelled through the window separating the front of the diner from the kitchen.

Shannon marched over to a table occupied by two men. One grabbed a chair from another table and pulled it up. She sank into, still guzzling her coffee.

“Well, aren’t you just a little ray of sunshine this fine day,” the other guy said.

“Shut up, Aidan.”

“Where’s Bowie this fine morning?” Brendan, the one who’d grabbed the chair for her, asked.

“He’s at home making cow eyes at the waif he dragged home last night.” She held up her free hand, index finger wagging, as she slugged back another gulp. “I don’t know a thing nor am I curious. I wait tables at Clancy’s. That’s the only O’Hara business I have.”

“How is the girl?” Brendan actually looked concerned.

“Beat to hell but she cleans up nice. She was still sleeping and Boo’s sitting there in the living room like he expects the cops to burst in any minute to raid the apartment.” She finished the coffee and was about to to pour herself another cup when Melba appeared. She poured, tsked, and strolled off, ample hips swaying to the bluesy tune she hummed.

Melba returned in a few minutes with plates balanced on one arm, in that hand, with the coffee pot in her other hand. She passed the plates like a blackjack dealer in Atlantic City and refilled all the coffee cups.

Without a word, Shannon dug into her breakfast—eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, and baked beans. A basket of warm Irish soda bread, along with a tub of butter and a jar of marmalade appeared moments later. She didn’t speak. She ate. The two men watched her, mouths slightly agape.

“What?” she growled when she looked up. “Have ya never seen a woman eat before?”

They exchanged a look then Aidan spoke. “No wonder your tits and ass are so fucking spectac—” He swallowed the last part of that word as his body slammed forward and his forehead collided with the table.

“Keep a civil tongue in your mouth.”

Two pairs of eyes tracked from Aidan to the tall man standing behind him. Mick O’Connor. Shannon managed to swallow the food in her mouth. Brendan just gulped. Aidan didn’t move but he did mumble an apology.

Mick stared at the woman who drove him crazy. Maybe Ronan was right. But he knew. If he ever let the wolf out to play, little Miss Sunshine would be his. Forever. And he couldn’t afford that. Not now.
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Ahhhh. I love the tension of unrequited love in the air. What about you readers? Do enjoy it when an author makes two characters work for their HEA? Writers, what about you? And do you have any “sunny” words to share?