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“Her father and the lord from the neighbouring land, your farm, Jared, decided they wanted to join the two farms and thus create more power. The only way they could do this was if their children, Eilish and Gerard got married. Eilish was against this because she did not know Gerard, never even met him before. That same summer she was caught fornicating with one of the servant boys. Her father locked her up in the attic and he chased the servant boy away, mercifully.”
I have a weird feeling – I have had dreams about this, where I was a girl named Eilish.
“It was a grave sin in those days for a servant to be seen being too familiar with the people in the ‘big’ house, big enough to get that servant tied to the back of a horse and dragged over a great distance, and probably killed in the process. Gerard’s father heard of this scandal and then refused to let his son marry a tainted girl. This caused a feud between the two lords, which continued for years. Gerard’s father even went as far as consulting the King in England, so it was a dreadful business and placed great pressure on Eilish’s father, one he never recovered from and one this farm never really recovered from either. Gerard later married the girl from his other neighbouring farm, Jade, and had kids with her.
Quickly thoughts rush through my mind. If I am, in a way, Eilish, and Jared is Gerard, then that would mean Sarah is Jade. Is Jared meant to be with Sarah? Alarm settles around my heart.
“When Eilish’s father died, her mum let her out of the attic, but Eilish always claimed that the servant boy was the love of her life. A few years later, she went horse riding, and that was when she met Gerard, by accident. Jade, his wife, died the year before during childbirth and according to the story, Eilish and Gerard fell head over heels in love. Love at first sight.”
Sean’s gaze flicks from me to Jared and then he continues his speech, “They met secretly in the very barn I am now rebuilding, and when this relationship was discovered it ruined her reputation completely and that of the family, my family, even further. She became a recluse and then one day she just got on a boat and nobody ever heard of her again. Her brother inherited this farm and I am his direct descendant. When Jade’s father found out about the indiscretions of Gerard, only a few months after the death of his daughter, he revoked the contract joining the two farms and his own son inherited that farm. Gerard died not long after Eilish left, some say from a broken heart.” He takes a deep breath. “Interesting isn’t it?” His eyes search the room for my mum, and when they find her, his love for her radiates from his face. “That is why your mum and I are meant to be together, so you could come to Ireland, judging by the way Jared looks at you. As they say the wheel turns.”
Embarrassed I wheeze indignantly. “Sean, not necessary.” The wheel might turn, but according to his story Jared and I are never meant be together.
My mum laughs heartily. “Jared, would you like to stay for dinner?”
Jared accepts, “Yes, thank you Ma’am.”
My mum places the bowls and crockery filled with stew and rice, and vegetables on the table. After she takes her seat, we say grace, and then we eat. My mum apologizes to Jared for having to eat in the kitchen, explaining that the dining room was still unfurnished.
Sean adds that it is so much cosier in the kitchen anyway.
We talk amongst ourselves and then Sean starts to give Jared a detailed summary of his renovation plans. I cringe in silence. Jared does not say much, as usual, but listens to Sean attentively.
After we finish eating, and we start to move away from the island, my mum says, “Elizabeth, you can make up for your kitchen duties on Monday.” Her eyes encourage me to leave the room, to escape from Sean while he is preoccupied with clearing the plates and cutlery from the table.
Sean stays with my mum in the kitchen, as he always does, to keep her company and to help her. I can hear their happy banter all the way from the lounge.
Sitting next to Jared on the couch and not the usual on top of him, he looks at me sideways, and he says in a low voice, “I knew we are meant to be together.”
I laugh uneasily. “You are talking about that story Sean told us?”
“I am.”
“Well, if I am supposed to be Eilish and you are supposed to be Gerard, it would mean you will be marrying Sarah and only have an illicit affair with me, after which I will go away and never be heard of again.”
“But maybe it happens again and again until we get it right.”
If it happens the same way repeatedly, as Jared is suggesting, will destiny come between us? What do we have to do to get it right?
He smiles at me with that smile I have come to find irresistible, but his eyes look sad. “I envy you; you know?”
I lean into him, resting my cheek against his arm. “Why on earth would you do that?”
“You all seem so happy. Your stepdad clearly loves your mum very much.”
“I am sure your parents are the same.”
“No,” he says, looking troubled. “They would rather spend their entire weekend at the club than together as a family. My mum is more drunk than not, and my father has had so many affairs. To his credit though,” he adds sarcastically, “he has the decency to keep it out of town.”
An immense feeling of wanting to protect him fills me.
He says insistent, “I don’t want to ever end up in a relationship like my parents’.”
Carefully I ask, trying not to sound intrusive, “Is that the reason why you never had a girlfriend after Sarah?”
“You have probably heard the whole sordid story about Sarah and Dermot, and I suppose it was a shock to realize I was in a relationship like my parents’. Obviously, it hurt that I could trust someone so much, that I could invest so much of myself in another person and then to have it all vanish, as if it was nothing.” He looks at me, and a sad smile lights his face. “But in hindsight, I am glad it happened, because I might not have noticed you.”
I look up at him in mock alarm, trying to lighten the mood. “You wouldn’t have noticed me?”
He laughs softly. “Well, maybe I would have.”
Sean walks in then and asks, “Want to watch some soccer, or must I say football, Jared?”
Jared sits up straight. “Yes, Manchester is playing Chelsea tonight.”
Sean is delighted. “As you can see, I am at a distinct disadvantage in this house.” He is always complaining he has to do girly things, and he is never allowed to watch his boring action movies when we have family movie night.
I hold onto Jared’s hand discreetly, letting our hands rest on the couch between our thighs. I watch the game as well, and the excitement is infectious, so I find myself enjoying the game.
