by Sophie Love
“Then of course times changed. Different sorts came to the town. Wars depleted the male stock. The threat of famine made people desperate to marry young, and marry anyone. It was a hard time for the matchmaker. When I took over the business from my pa I was mainly paid by farm apprentices to match them with one of my local girls.” He patted a book. “So I kept a list of them.”
“Is that legal?” Keira said, finally breaking her stunned silence. “It sounds a bit stalkerish to me.”
“Nonsense!” William laughed. “The girls loved it. They all want to get married. Even if it is to a farm hand with no brain cells to his name and terrible hygiene habits.”
Keira just shook her head. Her article was writing itself!
Just then, the door opened. Keira was expecting to see the flame-haired Maeve again, but when she looked over her shoulder it was Shane she saw entering the building. She suddenly felt tingly all over and sat up, stiff-backed, in her chair.
“Morning,” Shane said, taking a seat in the corner.
William continued. “Now here is my book of matches.” He handed her a huge, hardback leather tome. “Well, one of them. I’ve been doing this for so many years now I’ve got quite the collection.”
Keira began to thumb through the book, reading all the names of happy couples. Some included photos, others had dates of weddings. There were cards addressed to William from couples he had matched. It all looked very twee. Keira, ever calculating, began to formulate a paragraph for her article in her mind.
“You know,” William said, leaning across the table toward her. “I could match you. Maybe a nice Irish lad is just what you need.”
Keira felt her cheeks burn. “I have a boyfriend,” she said. Maybe she imagined it, but out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Shane flinch. “Zach. He works in computers.”
“You’re happy with this man?” William asked.
“Yes, very,” Keira replied, trotting out the old party line.
William didn’t look convinced. He tapped the book that Keira had set down on the desk. “I’ve been doing this a long time. I’m an expert in love and I can see it in people’s eyes. I’m not so certain this man is right for you.”
Keira knew he wasn’t trying to be rude, but his skepticism touched a nerve, especially with her and Zach arguing so much at the moment. But William was also journalism gold and she wanted as much out of him as possible.
“Not right for me in what way?” she pressed.
“He doesn’t support you in the ways you need. You’re no longer growing together, no longer following the same path.”
Keira felt chills all over. This was far too close to the bone.
“You’re a fortune teller as well as a matchmaker?” she quipped. “You hiding a bunch of tarot cards under there?”
William let out a belly laugh. “Oh no, nothing like that. But I have developed an intuition over the years. There was no sparkle in your eyes when you said his name. No lilt in your voice.”
“I think that’s just my cynical New Yorker personality,” Keira said.
“Maybe. Or maybe it’s because you don’t really love him.”
Keira pondered that statement. She and Zach rarely exchanged the L word. In fact, she couldn’t even recall when they last had.
“I don’t think love always has to come into these things,” she said.
“But why waste your time with someone you don’t love when you could be out looking for The One?”
Keira folded her arms. “Because maybe there isn’t a ‘One.’”
“You don’t believe in The One?” William pressed.
Keira shook her head. “Nope.”
This admission seemed to excite William. “We have a naysayer,” he exclaimed with a laugh. “Which means it’s our challenge to change your mind. Shane, lad?” He gestured for the tour guide to come over, which he did. Once he was standing beside him, William slung an arm across his shoulders. “You’ve been promoted,” he joked. “You’re no longer just to guide this young woman through the festival, you’re to guide her towards true love. I fear it may be a tall order!”
Keira shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. But despite her discomfort at being the center of the strange meeting, she knew she’d collected some excellent material for her article, thanks to the doddering old man and his antiquated opinions on relationships. Elliot was going to love this. And writing it, for Keira, would be somewhat therapeutic.
She just had to get through her first day with Shane and then she’d be able to purge herself of all this silliness by typing.
CHAPTER FIVE
“I don’t know how long this trip we’re going on is supposed to be,” Keira said as she got into the passenger side of Shane’s car and fiddled with her seat belt. “But I need a coffee ASAP. And if you could get me back with a few hours to spare before the festival kicks off that would be great. I need to get in some solid writing hours.” She finally got buckled in. “So, where are we going?”
When she received no response from Shane she looked over to see him wearing his characteristic amused expression. She folded her arms. “What?”
He gave her a shrug. “Well, it’s hardly the weather for sunglasses, that’s all I was thinking.”
Keira pushed her sunglasses resolutely against her nose. “There might be early morning glare,” she replied, cringing at the haughtiness she heard in her voice. “And anyway, you’re hardly one to judge someone else’s attire. Did you even use a mirror to dress this morning?”
Shane tipped his head back and laughed with abandon. Keira felt her lips twitch with satisfaction, then checked herself. She’d just allowed herself to take one step closer toward flirting with him, which definitely was not part of the ain’t nothing wrong with looking philosophy!
“I thought I would take you somewhere nearby to start off with,” Shane told her as he accelerated onto the main street. “So I’ve chosen the Burren, which is only a twenty-minute drive. It’s a national park. You heard of it?”
Keira shook her head. “I can’t wait,” she said as a mental picture formulated in her mind of a beautiful Irish scene.
She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw Shane smirk. When they pulled up in the parking lot of the Burren twenty minutes later she realized why. There wasn’t a blade of grass in sight! The Burren was made of bleak, gray rock.
She turned to Shane, frowning. “Is this a prank? I thought you said it was a national park.”
Shane started laughing. “It is! One and a half thousand hectares of protected land, consisting almost entirely of limestone.”
Keira let out a sigh of exasperation. “So of all the places you could have taken me to show off the majesty of Ireland, you chose this.”
“I picked up on some snooty vibes back at William’s place,” Shane said, raising a combative eyebrow. “I figured this would be the best place to take you to get you off your high horse. Ireland isn’t some fantasy land filled with leprechauns, though there are some parts that play up the stereotypes for the sake of the tourists. But if you dig a little bit beneath the surface we’re a country with real heart, real romance. We have a rich and interesting history, if you let yourself give us a chance.”
Keira folded her arms. Everything he’d said about her was right, of course, but she wasn’t about to admit that. “I’m not snooty,” was all she said.
Shane just shrugged. “Come on, this way. The view from the top of the hill is incredible.”
Keira followed. “I don’t really have the appropriate footwear for a hike,” she complained.
“Don’t worry, I won’t take us on the three-hour mountain trek, although it’s breathtaking and a shame to miss out on.” He gave her a withering look. “Think you can handle a half hour loop? It’ll take us through meadows and some amazing woodland.”
“Yes, I think I can I manage thirty minutes,” Keira muttered.
“I meant without killing me,” Shane laughed.
He seemed to enjoy w
inding Keira up.
“I feel like we’ve gotten off to a bad start,” Keira said as she tried to keep up with his brisk pace. She wasn’t used to hilly walks. “Have I said something to insult you?”
At first, Shane ignored the question. Instead, he pointed to a wooden stake in the ground with several colorful arrows on it. “We’re following the orange trail, okay?”
Keira nodded. They continued ascending the gray hillside. The landscape was so barren Keira felt as if she were walking on the surface of the moon. The craggy craters on either side of her added further to the illusion. When she saw a tuft of grass—somehow growing through a crack in the rock—it gave her a bit of a shock to think that grass could grow on the moon. She had to remind herself that this place was actually on Earth.
“Well?” Keira pressed. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“About whether we got off on the wrong foot or not?” Shane said. Then he chewed his bottom lip in contemplation. “Why does it matter?”
“Because we have thirty days to spend together so we may as well get along.”
Shane fell silent again. Keira couldn’t help but feel frustrated by the amount of time it took him to answer a question. She wasn’t comfortable with the silences he was constantly bestowing on her. It made her feel awkward.
“I wonder,” he said finally, “if you just don’t like the idea that someone might not like you.”
“Excuse me?” Keira felt instantly insulted by his comment and immediately put up a defensive front.
“You have one of those nice-guy complexes. You expect everyone to find your quirky Americanness charming and I don’t.”
“Me charming?” Keira scoffed. “You’re the one with the whole cheeky Irish chappy thing going on!”
“That bothers you?”
“It’s an infuriating stereotype.”
Keira could hear herself growing snappy. In complete contrast, Shane’s tone hadn’t changed at all. He was completely neutral, as though the conversation wasn’t even remotely irksome.
“I think you’re finding a lot more than just me infuriating,” Shane said. “I mean, you weren’t that nice to William.”
“And?” Keira scoffed. “I’m here to work, not make friends. And I feel no obligation to be nice to someone with such old-fashioned ideas about love. It annoys me when people think they know exactly what men and women want from one another.”
Shane raised his eyebrows. “For someone who says they’re happy in their long-term relationship you seem very hostile towards the concept of love.”
Keira shot him a look. “It’s not love that’s the problem. It’s this idea that it’s a picture-perfect thing. That some old man who’s never met you in your life can just match you to someone else he doesn’t know from Adam, and then you’ll fall instantly in love and stay that way forever and ever. Real life isn’t like a novel.”
Even as she spoke, Keira could tell that Shane was enjoying her reaction. He was deliberately winding her up. Two can play that game, Keira thought.
“So you’re a romantic then?” she said. “Is that what you’re telling me? I suppose you’ve only ever been with your high school sweetheart and plan on marrying her.”
Suddenly, Shane fell silent, and Keira could tell she’d accidentally spoken out of turn. She snapped her lips shut, knowing not to press it any further.
They reached the top of the hill and an incredible view opened up before Keira. It was like looking at the cooled lava of a volcano, or the surface of an asteroid. Keira had never seen anything quite like this alien landscape, and never had she felt so small or insignificant.
For the first time since arriving, Keira felt a new sense of humbleness. Maybe Elliot had made a mistake sending her to Ireland. Joshua would never have come over all sentimental at the sight of a beautiful, mystical landscape. He’d remain cynical and cold just like Elliot needed him to be. But Keira herself could feel something in her core softening. For the first time since arriving in Ireland she felt as though something in its bleak barrenness had touched her.
“Come on,” Shane said, his voice lacking all of the joviality she’d become accustomed to. “Let’s go.”
“Can we stay a bit longer?” Keira asked.
“I thought you needed a coffee.”
“It can wait.”
They stood side by side, silent, watching the world. There was no one around for miles, not another living soul. Keira couldn’t recall any other point in her life when she’d been in such a remote location. Back home in New York City she was always surrounded by people, by noise and civilization. But here there was just nature in its starkest form.
“Did I say something to upset you?” Keira asked Shane.
It had been a good ten minutes since he’d uttered a word. It felt so strange to not hear him taking a swipe at her.
“Actually, yes,” Shane said finally.
“Oh.” Keira hadn’t been expecting such candor. In some ways it was refreshing. But the brutal truth could be just that: brutal. “I’m sorry for whatever it was I said.”
Shane looked at her for the first time in a long time. “I’m not sure you are.”
He began walking again, descending now, leaving Keira standing, floundering on the precipice of the world. She finally pulled herself together and followed.
“That’s not fair,” she said, stepping up beside him, swinging her arms in wide arcs in order to keep up.
“Oh?” was all Shane deigned to give her.
Keira felt that now familiar sense of irritation. “You can’t accuse me of not being sorry.”
“Well, you don’t know what you need to be sorry for,” Shane replied. “So how can you know if you’re sorry about it?”
Keira frowned. Shane was talking in riddles again. “I can know I’m sorry for hurting your feelings even if I don’t know how I did it!”
Shane shrugged. “Maybe.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Keira challenged. Then in her best Irish accent, she mimicked, “Maybe.”
Shane burst out laughing. “Wow. I knew Americans were bad at accents but that was exceptional. You could win an award for that.”
Keira let out a frustrated exhalation. At least Shane was back on form. Back to his predictably irritating state.
They reached the car. Keira could feel the warmth in her cheeks. Her breath came in short puffs.
“You’re not very fit, are you?” Shane joked as he opened the passenger door for her.
“I’m just not used to hills,” Keira replied testily. “But let me guess, you’re some kind of Olympic hiker?”
Shane let out one of his deep laughs and Keira felt a tingle inside of her; she liked making Shane laugh like that, it made her feel good about herself, confident.
“Olympic hiking, now that’s an idea,” Shane said, shaking his head. “No, not quite. But my dad taught me how to box. And I grew up beside a lake so I’m not too shabby at swimming, either.”
As she got into the car, Keira pretended to be unimpressed, but a mental picture had formed in her head of Shane’s muscular body emerging from a lake, his boxer’s biceps glistening with water. It was hard to imagine a firm, muscled body existing beneath his ill-fitting shirt and jeans combo, but now that Keira had done so she couldn’t seem to shake it.
Shane came and sat in the driver’s seat beside her. Keira was never going to get over how small the cars were over here, and how close it made her feel to whoever was in the car with her.
“So you’re strong?” she said, noting the completely unintentional flirtatious lilt in her voice that she hoped wasn’t too pronounced.
She half expected Shane to pull up his sleeve and flex, but instead he just gave one of his nonchalant shrugs. “You could say that.”
He gunned the engine and reversed them out of the Burren’s parking lot. Keira gave it a long, wistful look as they drove away, knowing that she’d experienced something profound there, something that would stay with her foreve
r.
*
They returned to find Lisdoonvarna festival in full swing. The streets teemed with men and women alike, all dressed up to the nines. Shops and bars had opened their doors and turned on their lights, making the town a disco ball of color. Everywhere Keira looked there was another musician, another band surrounded by a crowd of people singing and dancing, beer-filled glasses raised to the sky.
It all looked quite fun, but Keira had a brief to stick to, so when she pulled her notebook out of her purse and began scribbling down some descriptions, they were all scathing—gaudy lights, a poor-man’s Vegas, nothing more than a nightclub spilled onto the streets.
“What are you writing in there?” Shane asked as he parked.
Keira snapped her notebook shut guiltily. “Nothing.”
Shane looked suspicious. But he didn’t press it further. “We may as well get some food,” he said. “This way.”
Keira followed Shane through the throng of party-goers, some wearing crowns and sashes, all very drunk despite the fact it hadn’t even fully gotten dark yet.
They stopped at a long picnic table that had been set up in the middle of the road beside a smoking barbecue. Plates of half eaten chicken and burgers lay strewn across the table.
“We’re eating here?” Keira asked, raising an eyebrow at Shane.
“What’s wrong? Too messy for you, Princess?”
Keira wasn’t about to take the insult. In an attempt to prove herself, she sat down at the picnic bench, pushing a plate with crumbs and ketchup away from her. “I’ll have a burger, thanks,” she told Shane. “Well done.”
He smirked and went off to order.
While he was gone, a group of young women came and sat at the picnic bench, sort of surrounding Keira. They were very loud. It was the perfect opportunity, Keira realized, to conduct some interviews. She turned to the girl next to her.
“Hi, sorry to interrupt,” she began. “I’m a writer, working on a piece about the Lisdoonvarna Festival of Love. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?”
