Page 61 of Just Say Yes
Calum laughed and poured us the tea that had been delivered by a young girl who smiled shyly before disappearing again.
‘Lara,’ he said. ‘She helps out on the weekends and holidays,’ he explained as she closed the door behind her. ‘Such a great girl. She’s interested in getting into event planning so came to us to try and gain some experience.’
‘That’s great.’
‘I know she’s probably got a whole host of questions for you.’
‘I’d be happy to help any way I can.’ I rummaged quickly in my bag. ‘Look, here’s my card. Tell her to email me and we can set up a video call to have a chat and obviously I’ll be back here before too long anyway.’
‘Now, that’s something to look forward to.’ He grinned, brown eyes twinkling in good humour.
‘Oh, you’ve got all the Irish charm, haven’t you?’ I replied, laughing.
‘I do. Absolute bucketloads of it! Not that it does me much good around here. Still, we live in hope.’
‘Have you never thought about moving somewhere else?’
‘Oh, God. All the time! But then I think about leaving and, when it comes down to it, I don’t want to. Sure, growing up was tough at times. People can be set in their ways, but I have great friends here and my family and that makes up for the rest. If something else is supposed to happen, it will.’
‘I can understand you not wanting to leave. It’s a gorgeous place and the feeling of community in the village is wonderful. Growing up in an area where your family has so much history and everyone is so close seems wonderful. It’s been lost now in so many places. It’s great to discover that it does actually still exist.’
‘It is.’ He chinked his china cup delicately against mine. ‘To friendships old and new.’
I smiled, nodded my head in acceptance of the toast and took a sip of the light Darjeeling tea.
‘So, Lorcan tells me you have all the glassware, cutlery and crockery available? Is that right? I don’t need to arrange extra?’
‘No. We cover all that. Found it was easier after a few events just to have our own. That way we know it’s always available when we need it, even at short notice.’
‘Sounds good.’ I took another sip of my tea. ‘Lorcan certainly did his homework when he reserved this place for Patrick just in case, didn’t he?’
Calum looked at me. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, he knew all this about the arrangements. I assume he must have gone through that with you? I was just double-checking really for my own peace of mind.’
Calum was frowning at me.
‘What did I say?’
‘Nothing wrong,’ he said, laying his hand on my arm for a moment. ‘Not at all. I’m just a bit confused.’
‘About what?’
‘What you said about Lorcan.’
‘Yes. He acts all anti weddings, but he’s obviously taken the time to ensure everything here is going to be perfect for his friends. It’s lovely. There’s clearly more to him than he likes to show.’
‘He has his reasons.’
‘Oh! I’m sure. It wasn’t a criticism. It’s great, actually. Peyton and Patrick have left a lot of the boots-on-the-ground preparation to me and Lorcan so the more I know he’s actually invested in this, despite what he says, the easier that makes my job.’
‘Oh, he’s invested. Don’t worry.’
‘Yes, I can see that now.’
Calum was studying me.
‘What?’ I asked, taking a bite of a feather-light biscuit.
