Page 30 of Just Say Yes
I enjoyed food but I also tried to be healthy, but somehow I had the feeling I was in a losing battle here and this couple seemed so lovely and friendly, I really didn’t want to offend them. After all, it was just the one day – I’d arrange something different tomorrow. Also, despite the huge and delicious sandwich Lorcan had brought me last night, I was somehow starving.
‘No black pudding, thank you.’
‘Right you are, then. And a big pot of tea, of course. Perfect. Be with you in a while. You just take it easy there and watch the girls,’ she said, pointing to the chickens. ‘Time wasters, so they are, but lovely ones.’
‘I can imagine,’ I said, smiling at their busyness and laughing as one seemed to notice us and turned her black, beady eyes on us.
‘That’s our Helen. Helen of Troy, she’s named after. Thinks she’s the most beautiful creature.’
‘She is rather.’
‘That she is, but don’t you be telling her or we’ll never hear the end of it.’
I laughed again, loving the way Brighid talked about the animals and their personalities.
‘Are they all different? I mean in character?’
‘Oh, absolutely! Just as people are. Have you never had chickens?’
‘I’ve… umm… never actually had a pet at all.’
‘Well, there. Now that’s a shame. I’ll take you out to meet them after you’ve finished your breakfast if you like. Introduce you properly.’
‘Oh, that’s very kind but I really should be getting on.’
‘Mornin’ there, sleepyhead.’
I looked away from the yard to see Lorcan walking through from behind the bar, Bod toddling behind him. When the little dog noticed me, he sped over, resting his paws up against the chair. Automatically I reached down and plopped him on my lap. ‘Slept well, I take it,’ his owner continued. There was a teasing note to his voice and a glint to his eye. ‘Good to have a lie-in, isn’t it?’
Ugh.
‘And we’ve nothing to do until two o’clock this afternoon so there’s plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and then go out and meet the girls.’
‘Perfect.’ Brighid squeezed my shoulder and bustled off back towards where Lorcan had come from, followed by Gerry. Lorcan came to stand by my table.
‘May I?’ he asked, hooking his gaze onto mine.
Gerry was still hovering by the bar, checking on the optics, and I didn’t want to appear rude in front of him so, despite irritation fizzing through me at his smart-alec comment about having a lie-in, I gave a brief movement of my head that was neither yes or no. Lorcan took it as a yes. Shocker.
‘You look rested.’
‘Hardly surprising,’ I said, still a little annoyed at wasting several hours of the day but keeping my eyes fixed outside.
‘You obviously needed it. You have to listen to your body sometimes.’
I thought about what my body had been saying last night as Lorcan’s had moved closer to mine and decided that I would most definitely not be following that advice.
‘I have a lot to do.’
‘There’s nothing to do until the cake-tasting at two.’
‘You may have nothing to do, but I have plenty.’
‘Such as?’ he asked, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms over his broad chest.
‘There’s more that goes into a wedding than just cake.’
‘Believe me, I’m entirely aware of that.’ There was something in the way he said it that caught my attention, a flicker behind his eyes, before his face became impassive once again.
