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I hear my mum calling my name and Jared jumps up nervously, which makes me giggle uncontrollably.
He looks down at me and says guiltily, “Uh-oh, your mum is glaring at me.”
I quickly leap up, waving my hand at my mum, where she is standing in our front door. “Hi, Mum.”
She waves back, turns around and walks back into the house.
“Now you’re in for it,” I say as I grab his hand and start running through the field toward my manor, dragging him behind me. We only slow down once we reach the front door and walk into the house sedately.
I lead him through to the kitchen to meet my mum and she is standing by the stove, trying her hand at another Irish dish.
“Mum,” I say.
She turns around to face me and looking at Jared curiously, she smiles friendly at both of us. “Nice to hear you laughing again, Elizabeth,” she says.
I ignore her, embarrassed, and say, “Mum, I would like you to meet Jared. Jared, my Mum.”
My mum walks across the kitchen to stand in front of us, while Jared steps forward and says politely, “Pleased to meet you, Ma’am.”
“And you,” my mum replies. My mum steps toward me and as she pulls a piece of grass out of my hair, she asks, “Would you like some juice, Jared?”
“Please Ma’am.”
She turns away from us to pour him a glass of juice.
“Can I also have a glass, please?”
She does not answer me, but I see her take another glass from the cupboard.
I glance sideways at Jared, as he brushes his fingertips along mine. My stomach flips at the sudden unexpected sensation.
After my mum hands us each a glass of Apple Juice, she tells us, “Now, shoo. Get out of my kitchen,” with a warm smile, looking at me with an, ‘I told you so’ look.
We walk out of the kitchen and I ask Jared, “Do you want to watch a movie or listen to music?”
“No, let’s do something else.”
“Like what?”
He shrugs. “Let’s just be.”
“You’re such an old soul.” I laugh up at him jokingly.
“No, I am not,” he says softly, indignant.
Just then Esther comes rushing down the stairs. She is probably on her way to my mum with something important she had just remembered to tell her.
Always the same.
“Whoa, Esther.” I laugh.
She frowns up at me. “Are you laughing?”
I clear my throat as I notice Jared give me a fleeting look. “Esther, I would like you to meet Jared. Jared this is my sister, Esther.”
“Pleased to meet you,” they both say simultaneously.
Esther giggles and runs off to the kitchen.
I direct Jared toward the sunroom. It is a large conservatory sort of room. The outer walls are made of glass and overlook my forest. There is an old brownish carpet on the ground with large orangey flowers and pale green leaves on it. One word: unsightly. Another word: nasty.
Jared sits down onto the single dilapidated chair in the corner. Still holding my hand, he pulls me onto his lap. I hope the chair can hold both our weights. His voice is soft. “So, tell me, I noticed everybody pointing out how unhappy you have been. Why?”
“Oh, I have already told you, the whole moving to Ireland thing, and everything that goes with it. I mostly had this crush on a boy and thought I loved him, but...” I chuckle self-consciously. “It was actually very insignificant.”
With the pad of his thumb, he traces circles around my knuckles, as he looks thoughtfully toward the trees of the little forest ahead of us.
I feel compelled to explain, so I force the words through my resisting lips. “It was nothing. What’s important is that I thought my life was complete and everything was as it should be, when in fact it was not.” The words are coming easier now. “My life was only in suspension, waiting for me to meet you.” I rest my head on his head. “Besides,” I say softly, “I always laugh, maybe now there is just a happier sound to my laughter.”
His arm around my waist hugs me closer to him and silently we look out toward my forest.
The clouds are moving in again and as the sky starts to get darker, I see Sean walking through the field toward my manor. He is revamping the stables in anticipation for Esther’s pony and he leaves home early in the morning, trying to do as much as possible before winter really sticks in her claws, as he says.
“Come I’ll introduce you to Sean, he is very nice.” I get up and move away from him. Taking his hand in mine, I pull him up from the chair. It rocks a little from one leg to the other.
We reach the hall just as Sean opens the front door. As Sean walks in the door, his eyes drop to my and Jared’s hands twined together.
Jared does not wait for me to introduce him and steps forward. “Pleased to meet you, Sir.” He reaches out his hand and then shakes Sean’s hand. “I’m Jared from the neighbouring farm and a friend of Elizabeth’s.” As he says the word friend, he gently squeezes my hand still in his.
Briefly Sean looks at me questioningly, then at Jared. Suddenly, he smiles broadly. “Nice to meet you, Jared. Let us go and look for something warm to drink, I am freezing.” He rubs his hands together as he says this.
We walk to the kitchen and Sean walks straight to my mum. When he reaches her, he pulls her into him and holds her tight. Sean kisses my mum in the fold of her neck, and she smiles as he whispers something in her ear.
I glance at Jared embarrassed and frown briefly when I see sadness flicker across his face.
After he lets go of my mum, Sean walks to the kettle and offers everybody a mug of hot chocolate, while Jared and I settle down around the kitchen island.
Jared sits far enough away from me but moves his leg so that his knee rests against my thigh.
Leaning on the table, I slip my arm through his arm, which is already leaning on the table. I feel the warmth from his chest spread out to my arm as it is snuggled close to him. For a moment I rest my cheek against his upper arm.
Sean hands each of us a mug of hot chocolate and sits down across from Jared and me. He looks at me and says with a twinkle in his eyes, “Seeing the two of you together reminds me of a story I heard a long time ago.” I feel mortified, but he does not wait to hear if we are interested. He just starts to tell us, looking first at each of us to make sure he has our full attention.
“Centuries ago there was a girl by the name of Eilish, who lived in this very manor.”
The name sounds very familiar.
