Page 36 of Just Say Yes
‘Hi, Maddie,’ she said, slinging a small towel around her neck, clearly having just finished a workout.
‘Hi, Peyton. I didn’t like to call straight away in case it was early.’
She gave her tinkling laugh. ‘Oh, it is early, but I have to keep in shape.’
‘You are in perfect shape, woman. Now come back to bed like a normal human being.’ Patrick’s voice, off camera, was thick with sleep.
‘Too much to do, sweetie! You should be up too.’
There was some more grumbling and a word we’d have had to bleep out if we’d been broadcasting but Peyton seemed unperturbed. ‘How’s Ireland? Isn’t the village gorgeous? Have you been to the castle yet?’ She fired questions at me and Lorcan shook his head. I nudged him with my knee.
‘Ireland is lovely, and yes, it’s a beautiful village. We’re going to tour the castle tomorrow. Right now, we’re at the caterers.’
‘You found one?’ She squealed with excitement and there was another pained groan from Patrick.
‘Lorcan did, actually.’ I turned the camera towards him momentarily and he gave a small wave before I turned it back, catching the look he gave me as I did so. ‘It’s a restaurant in the village so everything is sourced locally. They were kind enough to see us today and we’ve just tasted a selection.’
‘Oh, that’s wonderful!’ Peyton clapped her hands excitedly. ‘And what do you think?’
‘I’m going to send you the menu that we think might work, having discussed it with Lorcan and Eoghan, who owns the restaurant, together with a photo of each dish to see what you think. If you want something different, or feel it’s not what you want, just come back to me and we’ll work something out.’
‘That sounds perfect. Thank you! I can’t believe you found someone so quickly.’
‘Well, as I said, it’s thanks to Lorcan entirely.’
‘Tell him I owe him a big hug.’
‘I will,’ I said, smiling widely at him as he gave me a long-suffering look. However, I had a feeling it was more for show than anything else. The fact that he’d gone to all this effort to arrange today showed there were cracks in his put-upon-best-man-who-doesn’t-even-like-weddings act. ‘He’s looking forward to it.’ I smiled back at Peyton. Lorcan’s knee nudged me back and I turned the smile on him. ‘Hang on, let me send you the info and you can look with Patrick and get back to me.’
‘OK.’
I gave a quick wave and hung up, then sent over pictures I’d taken of the dishes we were considering before we’d tucked in, and, with help from Eoghan, explained what was in them. He then busied himself making tea and coffee while we waited for Patrick and Peyton’s decision.
‘Just for future reference, I’m more than happy for you to take all the credit,’ Lorcan said.
‘Credit where credit’s due,’ I replied without looking up, making some notes in my planner.
‘I’d just prefer if you kept me out of it in the future.’
I closed my planner and turned towards him. ‘What exactly is your problem?’
‘I don’t have a problem.’
‘Clearly you do.’
‘I just don’t want to be dragged into all this wedding malarkey further than I need to be.’
‘I hate to tell you that you’re already in this up to your neck, especially with Patrick and Peyton out of the country. Believe me, if I could do this alone, I would. But right now, both of us will just have to put up with things we’re not thrilled about because all this…’ I made a circle with my hand around my planner. ‘This is not about you or me. It’s about Patrick and Peyton. I want them to be happy and have what they want, and you can help with that, so we each just have to put up with our own inconveniences and get on with things.’
‘And I’m your biggest inconvenience, I suppose?’
‘I never said that. You’re currently extremely helpful as a local contact.’
‘Good to know I have my uses.’
I gave him a brief side glance, and watched as he spread his hands on the table and studied them for a moment, his mind clearly somewhere else.
‘What happened to you?’ I asked, my voice soft.
