The Irish Fall: A Sweet Romantic Comedy Novel

Chapter 5 | Eyre

"Are you actually capable of friendly conversation?" I asked, as I hurried up to him. Poking the grumpy leprechaun may not have been my smartest idea yet, but I couldn't help it. There was just something about him. He was an enigma that I was hoping to unwrap, and it seemed the more I poked him, the better chance I had of unraveling that handsome wrapping. I don't know if it was his surly, sarcastic attitude mixed with my feeling that there might be a soft heart hidden away in him, or if it was something else entirely, but I was finding myself drawn to him like a moth to a bonfire. And I'd seen way too many of them "dive bomb" right into the flames. It was a glorious exit out of this world and made quite the impression, but it wasn't really how I wanted to go. A part of me felt like getting involved with him would be dangerous, not that I thought he'd ever open up to me enough to get to that point. I wasn't going to be able to crack through his bad boy's apathetic exterior, and I was already too tired to try. So why not have some fun?

Darby heaved a sigh of exasperation. "Really? Didn't I just get done telling ya, like a minute ago, that you were gonna be walking home alone? Do you ever listen? I think I'm being pretty generous, taking a complete stranger to my hometown."

"Well, generous would have been kindly escorting me onto the warm bus with the sweet old ladies," I scoffed.

"Ha, you need a new definition of sweet," he said with an eye roll.

I glanced over my shoulder at the rolling hills of the countryside that created a sea of pastoral beauty. I wanted to swim in the essence they created of a simpler life. I could get lost in their shadowy blanket of simplicity. One where mother nature created the timetables, instead of our artificial fast-paced, media-focused society. It was like my own version of Leap Year sprawled out before me. As I absorbed the lush greens and idyllic nature unfolding before my eyes, I instinctively knew Ireland would be good for a wounded soul like mine in ways no other place could be.

I let the calm soak through me before I turned to glance back at Darby. "Those ladies didn't seem too bad to me; that is, until their near geriatric revolt when I was about to become their new Marie Antoinette."

That finally received a laugh. Good. A chink in that cynical coating. I could handle that. I liked a man that laughed at my jokes. I hadn't had one that laughed at mine in a while. The one I left behind hadn't laughed at mine in quite some time. And this Irishman's laugh was glorious. I promise it was like the sun appeared upon hearing the first notes of his laughter, as if I could actually see the sun's rays shining through the dreary weather. The overcast skies and remnants of rain were brightening in its wake. The depth of color made my bones warm. Their deep aching was actually ceasing for the first time in what seemed like forever.

I continued speaking as I looked at the puzzle beside me. "So you don't like your job, I take it? Not a fan of all the attention? Here I had you pegged as meeting your wife on one of these tours and then becoming happily ever after married. You do seem to do so well with a certain age group of ladies. You mean you don't knit all weekend long to provide clothing for the whole entire village? And then go out together with your wife, clad in your matching hand-knit sweaters, to distribute your knitted apparel among the people?" I was joking, but secretly I would have loved to have that kind of bond in my life.

"Ahmm." He cleared his throat again as if I had managed to physically irritate it. A little twitch accompanied the sound, something that I hadn't noticed earlier but now I thoroughly enjoyed. Oh, this was delicious. Yes, I was going to quite enjoy myself. We were getting along in Ireland about as well as that bantering couple in Laws of Attraction. As long as I didn't come back accidentally married like them . . . Darby penetrated my thoughts. "No, I know you'll find this extremely hard to believe, but I'm single. And I don't like dating."