#19 The Quay

Molly and Kevin headed back to Molly's to change for dinner.  As the time approached to head to her parents, Molly became more and more nervous.  She knew how tough her father could be when you first met him, and knew he would push Kevin to make sure he was worthy in her father's eyes.

Molly was not sure how to prepare Kevin for this except to tell him that he needed to stand on his own. Kevin assured her he could handle himself against any challenges as they headed to dinner.  While Molly had seen Kevin deal with others, she still was concerned about how he would react with her father.

Molly and Kevin arrived at Pete and Kara's home and were welcomed by Molly's mum.  The aroma of freshly baked bread and beef stew floated through from the kitchen into the living room.  The room opened immediately to the main room and there sat Pete in his chair, not even getting up.  Kevin took the cue and walked over to him to shake hands and introduce himself.

"So you're the one I've been hearing about down at the local?  My daughter seems to be very taken with you.  We'll have to just see why that would be tonight?, came the gruff response from Pete.

"Sir, I'm go glad I finally get to meet the man who taught Molly all she knows about sailing. I was so lucky to find her and have her share some of that experience with me."  Kevin was doing his best 'I'm a good guy' impression.

"Oh, by the way, I brought a little something to enjoy tonight," as he handed Kara a bottle of wine.

"I'm a Guinness drinker myself," Pete retorted looking for any reason to put Kevin in his place.

Molly was already a nervous mess, and listening to her father talk to Kevin like this was making her even more nervous.  She immediately opened the bottle of wine and poured herself a glass gulping down the first half.  She could see how dinner was going to be like a run away train and she had no way of stopping it. Why was her father doing this?  She looked at her mum and all she got was a shrug back.

As they sat down for dinner, Pete continued with his harsh questions, "So you find out little village only good enough to come visit for escape from the Big Smoke?  Not good enough to live here?"

"Well, sir, I never had the opportunity to think about moving here as my family lives in the Dublin area.  Molly met them and they thought she was wonderful," Kevin was trying to hold his ground, but it wasn't easy.

Molly gulped another glass of wine, finishing off the bottle that Kevin brought and quickly found a second bottle to open.  Everyone else was still on their first glass.

"Kevin you must be a good salesman to be living in Dublin.  It's quite expensive there, isn't it?" Pete was feeling on top of his game.

"Da, please, this is not the conversation we should be having tonight," Molly pleaded, but it was on deaf ears.

"Molly, dear, we are supposed to be getting to know this young man, correct? I'm just trying to see what kind of character your boyfriend has." Pete grumbled.  Something was obviously upsetting him.

As dinner ended Pete led Kevin into the main sitting room while Molly gulped another glass of wine, now almost quite relaxed and feeling the buzz of the alcohol as she helped her mum with the dishes.

"Molly, you have to forgive your father.  He's never had to deal with this before and he's very protective of you,"  her mum explained.

"He could back off just a bit mum.  I'm so embarrassed by all these questions,"  Molly replied as she gulped yet another glass of wine, and started to feel a bit light headed.

As Molly wove her way back into the main room, Kevin could tell she was well beyond her tolerance of wine, and knew they had better return to her cottage before Molly's temper started on her da.

Kevin bade Kara and Pete good night saying that he needed to get some sleep as he had an early start back to Dublin the next morning.  But he really was worried about Molly and getting her back to her cottage.  After many thanks for an interesting evening and a wonderful meal, Kevin got Molly into her coat and with arm wrapped around her, helped her down the front steps, and along the path to her cottage.