Page 33 of An Irish Summer

“Is that the lesson of this one?” I asked. “Keeping a level head? Good decision making and all that?”

“That much is up to you,” he said, glancing over at me. “Thefairy stories give you whatever you need at the time you hear them.”

I hummed but said nothing by way of actual response. Would I ever stop being surprised by Collin?

“Thanks,” I said after a while. “For telling me the story, I mean.”

“Thanks for listening,” he said. “And for at least having the decency to hide your cynicism.” His wide grin made it seem like he was joking, but the undertones weren’t lost on me. I could tell the fairy stories weren’t always well-received and that a captive audience meant more than he was willing to let on. Lucky for us both, I could have listened to him tell stories all summer, whether or not I really believed them.

And whether or not I really believed them, I wondered what else they would give me.

Chapter 10

The dreaded task of updating my résumé only took about five minutes, seeing as the only change in my career since O’Shea’s was the Wanderer.

I thought more about the fairy story in the days after the hurling match—about decision-making and levelheadedness—and I decided if the man was brave enough to referee the fairy hurling match, I could be brave enough to apply for a job.

“Lars,” I called from the desk when the breakfast rush settled. “Can you come out here for a sec?” Thankfully, he appeared in under a minute, because if he had taken any longer the odds were high that I would have lost my resolve.

“What can I do for ya?” he asked, leaning his long arms on the edge of the counter.

“Does anyone ever use that projector?” I gestured to the device collecting dust in the corner of the lobby.

“To be honest with you,” he said, leaning in, “I didn’t even know we had a projector. What are you thinking?” He narrowed his eyes and tapped his fingers together like we were concocting some sort of evil plan.

“What about a weekly movie night?” I asked. The idea had only come to me about thirty seconds before I called Lars intothe room, when I’d first spotted the projector, but now I was committed. We’d done “Scary Movie Mondays” in my dorm freshman year when we’d been trying to get to know one another and adjust to a new place, and I was beginning to think something like that wouldn’t be a terrible idea here, either.

“Is this what I think it is?” he said. “You, Chelsea from Boston, arevolunteeringto get involved with the Wanderer community? Beyond the duties outlined in your contract?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, waving him off. “I updated my résumé this morning, and since I’m including event planning here, I’d like it to be legitimate,” I said.

“Ah, so you’re still just trying to make it easier for yourself to leave? I’m onto you, Chelsea.” I rolled my eyes, and he reached across the counter to nudge my shoulder. “Projector’s all yours,” he said. “Go wild.”

“It’s just a movie night.” I laughed. “Do you think Lori will go for it?”

“Are you kidding?” he said. “There’s virtually nothing Lori won’t go for. And she’ll be thrilled you’re getting involved.”

“It’s just a movie night,” I said again.

“Whatever you say.”

I shot Lori an email for approval as soon as Lars left the lobby, trying to keep the ball rolling before I could change my mind. She answered almost immediately with nothing more than a string of emojis: thumbs-up, smiley face, movie reel, popping champagne bottle, red exclamation point. Then a follow-up:So glad you’re getting into the spirit of The Wanderer!

I added it to the event calendar between Collin’s tours and Lars’s outdoor activities, settling on Thursday night as the recurring date. Beneath the event calendar on the bulletin board, I posted a suggestion sheet for guests to recommendmovies. And to my surprise, there were a handful of entries on the sheet by the end of the week, one of which was circled and underlined by different colored pens.

Movie night was on.

If only I could figure out how to work the projector.

No matter how many times I turned it on and off, unplugged it and plugged it back in, and pressed every glowing red button until it turned green, it wasn’t showing a damn thing. Just as I was cursing the very idea of the movie night in the first place, I heard Collin’s familiar low chuckle from the back of the lobby.

I turned around to see him leaning against the wall, arms and ankles crossed, watching me with a smirk.

“Can I help you?” I said, pushing my hair from my eyes.

“I think I should be the one asking that,” he said. “I reckon I’ve watched you struggle long enough.”

“Oh, how kind,” I said. “I hope you enjoyed the show.”

---