Page 83 of Weekends with You

The inside of the building was even more gorgeous than the outside. It was quaint in the way we had imagined it would be, with all the charm of the country we missed so badlysometimes in the city. An oak staircase with an ornate banister dominated the center of the small foyer, and the kitchen and living rooms sat humbly on either side.

An antique chandelier cast a warm glow from the center of the ceiling, blanketing the foyer in golden light. The other lights in the house were dim, save for the glow of a roaring fire, which was surrounded by leather armchairs and crooked stacks of books.

Finn’s parents came bustling out of the kitchen, interrupting our collective trance. Rory, Finn’s dad, was as tall and skinny as Finn, with a scruffy gray beard and the same twinkling boyish eyes. Aoife, Finn’s mum, was much smaller, her petite frame wrapped in an apron and her rosy cheeks glowing under big doe eyes.

“Oi! Welcome! Please, please, come in.” Aoife unraveled her apron from her waist and tossed it onto a chair beside a massive grandfather clock. “Oh, it’s so good to meet everyone.” She beamed, making her rounds and kissing us all on both cheeks. She smelled like sugar and gardenias.

“Pleasure,” echoed Rory, firmly shaking our hands and patting our backs, wide smile matching those of his wife and son. “Why don’t you get settled, then pop down for a nightcap?”

“Oh, Rory,” Aoife said. “They must be knackered.”

“Never too knackered for a nightcap,” Jan said, speaking for all of us.

“Isn’t there supposed to be one more of ye?” Rory asked, looking around as if the eighth of us was hiding somewhere.

“He’s just behind,” I said, perhaps a bit too quickly. “Be here in no time.”

“Grand. Perhaps he’ll also be keen to join us for a drink. We’ll let you get settled, then. Finny, lead the way.”

Finn led us up the staircase and down the narrow corridor,flinging open guest room doors along the way. “So, unfortunately, not every room is ready yet,” he said, holding his arms out by his sides. “But the girls said they would share, so there’s definitely room for everybody.”

Raja and Liv scoped out the largest room, noting it held a double bed and a single, as well as plenty of wardrobe space.

“You think you’ll be joining us, Lu, or might you end up in bed with someone else tonight?” Raja said without opening her lips, but still not nearly as quietly as I’d have liked.

“I absolutely think I’ll be joining you, you cow,” I said, shoving her into the room and dragging Liv in behind us.

“Margot, wanna join?” Liv called into the hallway. “Ireland bed-and-breakfast sleepover?”

“Do I have to?” Margot said, gesturing to a vacant room next door. She must have been trying to sound as dry as usual, but I could detect a laugh somewhere in her tone.

“Suit yourself,” Liv said.

Everyone else filed into the surrounding rooms, claiming their own and leaving one open for Henry. The one directly across from ours, not that it mattered.

After we were properly showered and free of the grime of our muddy walk, we started to make our way to the kitchen for a nightcap. I had just finished raking the last bit of product through my hair in hopes of combating the frizz when a text from Henry in the group chat announced his arrival. I changed from a hoodie into a sweater and back again, hoping for effortless while feeling the opposite, then headed out of my room.

“Hey, you.”

I nearly smacked right into him, startling all the breath from my lungs. I’d expected to see him in the kitchen, for our reunion to be at the same time as his reunion with the rest of ourroommates, not alone in this dim corridor, only a centimeter from each other.

“Oh god, you scared me,” I said, forcing a laugh. “I didn’t expect to see you right here.”

“Well, are you happy to? Or should I leave and try again?”

“Of course I’m happy to,” I said, relishing the familiarity of his voice. It was deeper in person than it was over the phone, but the gravel I’d grown so used to was the same.

He pulled me into a hug, and I rested my head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. He wore an open maroon flannel over an off-white T-shirt, both of which made his green eyes look like shamrocks, and his windswept hair was begging to be untangled. I imagined my fingers combing through it with his head in my lap, looking down at his eyelashes as he told me stories of Scotland, or maybe how he’d missed me while he was away.

“Henry, get dressed and get down here, will you?” Finn called up the stairs. Hen and I laughed at the interruption, reluctantly disentangling ourselves. I pulled back, nodding to his room.

“They saved that one for you.”

“Right across from you? On purpose?” He raised a thick eyebrow, and I shook my head.

“Who knows with this lot. I’ll see you downstairs?”

“I’ll only be a minute,” he said, dropping his luggage, then turning around to look at me again. “It’s really good to see you, Luce.”

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