Page 53 of Just Say Yes
‘That’s not really something any of us have much control over.’ Lorcan reached out and leant me forward a little, gently freeing my hair and laying it over my shoulder. ‘Don’t worry about the gossip. No one means anything by it. I know it can be a pain in the arse, but they mean well here. You’re a novelty, shipping in from the big smoke.’
‘I don’t live in the big smoke.’
‘Close enough, and compared to here…’
‘So is Calum local too? He seems nice.’
‘He is. A great bloke and a brilliant manager. He’s had it tough at times. Being gay in rural Ireland isn’t the easiest card to be dealt but he’s had people who care about him on his side and now no one really pays it any mind.’
‘I get the feeling you’re among those who were on his side during difficult times.’
‘We’re good friends.’
‘He’s being modest,’ Calum said, coming back into the room. ‘You can’t talk about me without my radar picking it up. I’ve got the ears of a bat when it comes to gossip,’ he said, an infectious bubble of laughter bursting from him as he did so. ‘Lorcan here’s had more than a few fights on my behalf over the years.’
Lorcan turned his attention to the tray Calum had put down in front of us.
‘He’s my hero,’ Calum continued, fluttering his eyelashes at me, and placing a hand on his chest, all the while looking adoringly at his friend.
‘Knock it off, you eejit,’ Lorcan returned, laughing now.
‘He loves me really.’
Of that, I had no doubt. There was a feeling about this village that was already winding itself into my consciousness without invitation. A part of me welcomed it, albeit cautiously. Everyone knew each other, which, in some circumstances, could be awkward but here they seemed to harness that power for good. And certainly for the good of this wedding. From the hints that Peyton had dropped, getting hold of this castle for the dates they’d already arranged with friends and family was all down to Lorcan. Whatever strings he had pulled at such short notice for such a fabulous venue were obviously strong ones, but I’d had no luck so far in discovering what they were. There was clearly more to Lorcan O’Malley than he showed to the outside world. Here, in his own domain, there was something different about him. And, annoying as it was, and as he could be – on that front, I was pretty sure he felt the same about me – it still intrigued me.
18
‘Have you done many weddings here?’
‘Oh, God, yeah. We love a good wedding, don’t we?’ He caught Lorcan in his gaze and the expression returned indicated disagreement. ‘Well, some of us do, anyway.’
I looked across at Lorcan but he kept his eyes averted, concentrating instead on the large slice of cake Calum had put before him.
‘’This is the chocolate cake. There’s three others to try yet, so don’t fill up on that one.’ He rapped Lorcan’s knuckles lightly with a spoon. ‘I’ve never seen such big cake samples. You’re lucky lovely Caitlin forgave you for breaking her heart.’
‘I didn’t break her heart,’ Lorcan said. ‘Besides, it was years ago.’
‘Is there anyone in the village you haven’t gone out with?’ I asked, eyeing him over the edge of my teacup. During our flower planning, Fiadh had told me her and Lorcan had also dated years ago.
He eyed me back before forking up the third choice of cake. His eyes widened. ‘That one,’ he said, swallowing the mouthful. ‘Try it.’ He loaded up a fork and passed it to me.
‘Nice change of subject.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just helping you make decisions as instructed.’
‘Of course you are,’ I said, popping in the cake. ‘Oh my God!’ I exclaimed, my hand over my mouth to help cover my poor manners. ‘You’re right. That’s bloody delicious.’
‘Great minds think alike, then,’ Lorcan returned.
‘It would appear so.’
Calum watched us both for a moment, gave a grin and then dived in to try the cake of choice before Lorcan finished it all.
‘Do you want to see some of the previous weddings we’ve hosted?’ he asked as we sat reclining on the overstuffed furniture, letting our refreshments go down.
‘That would be great, thanks. Peyton and Patrick are going for a Winter’s Fairy Tale theme—’ Lorcan gave a snort and we both gave him a sharp look. I continued. ‘I can see this is going to be the perfect setting for it.’
‘It totally is. Look.’ He produced a beautiful leather-bound album. ‘I know lots of places do this on tablets but we like to stick to the old ways here when we can. There’s something lovely about being able to hand this to a bride and groom and watch them turn the pages. We do, of course, have the information digitally too for those who absolutely can’t cope with anything that doesn’t involve technology.’
