“I’ll be nearby.” I should do any number of things down in the pub, but it’s covered for now, and there’s no reason I can’t spend some time up here with Izzy. “I’ll be right here.”

“Okay.” Her voice is soft, and her face is that of an angel as she drifts off to sleep.

I’ve never loved anyone more than I do the woman lying next to me.

“Just look at our girl on the television,” Frank says from his stool at the bar. “She’s a pretty sight, and that’s the truth.”

“That she is, my friend.” I turn to look at her and smile. She’s standing on a residential street, bundled up in a black coat with the station’s logo on the chest, a hat, and gloves.

“As you can see, the rain from just a few hours ago has turned to pure ice. It coats the trees, the powerlines, and most definitely the streets. Officials are asking everyone to stay inside as much as possible and off the roads. This could certainly turn deadly very quickly.”

The screen shifts to the anchors in the studio, and I get back to work.

“Izzy might be the coolest person I know,” Maeve says. “And I know some very cool people.”

“I couldn’t agree more, but I’m just a smidge biased.” I laugh as I set two pints of Guinness on Maeve’s tray.

“How early did she have to leave this morning?” Shawn asks as he walks out of the kitchen to fill up his water bottle.

The entire family is here, just like they were at Kane’s on Izzy’s first day of work. Shawn, Lexi, and Ma have been in and out of the kitchen to keep an eye on the TV, and I finally called a halt to food service until after the last part of the news so everyone could watch.

No one complained.

“Around eight, I guess. She wanted to have plenty of time to prepare at the office before they drove down. And it’s good that she did because they got down there just as the cold weather set in. She’ll probably be there overnight.”

“It’s probably for the best,” Shawn says. “I wouldn’t want to drive in that. It’s crazy how the weather is. It’s dry as a bone and sunny outside here, yet she’s in an ice storm just a few hours away.”

“You know what they say,” Frank adds, “if you don’t like the weather in the Pacific Northwest, just hang out for ten minutes because it’ll change. Reminds me of my beloved Ireland.”

“Oh, she’s coming back on,” Maggie says, pointing to the TV. “Turn it up, Keegan.”

The whole pub hushes as Izzy starts to speak.