When Jo heard his name called a second time, in a broad English accent, she followed the sound and saw, as suspected, Lorcan walking along the sand, looking absolutely terrified.
‘Paddy!’ he shouted. ‘C’mere boy! Where are you?’
Paddy turned his head in the direction of the call and Jo hoped he would run off towards Lorcan before he spotted her. She would hide behind the bin, or hotfoot it as fast as she could back to the hotel without him ever knowing she’d been there.
But Paddy being Paddy, let her down at just the exact moment she needed him to step up for her. He simply barked as loud as he could, attracting Lorcan’s attention immediately to her. His tale still wagged, as if he was exceptionally happy with himself for bringing them back together.
‘Jo?’ Lorcan called as he got closer.
She didn’t want to talk to him, but she didn’t have the nerve to blank him or throw him a dirty look. She straightened her back and waved back. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see Paddy here, or you for that matter,’ she said, keeping her expression as neutral as possible.
‘I can’t say we were expecting to see you either,’ Lorcan said. ‘We just wanted to come down to the beach for a walk. I thought it would be a good idea to bring Paddy since you were away.’ He paused. ‘Although you’re here, and not away somewhere in the wilds of Donegal.’
‘To Ewan, these are the wilds of Donegal,’ she said. ‘We’re here tonight, then move on tomorrow.’
‘Oh,’ Lorcan replied, staring awkwardly at his feet. ‘I thought you’d be further away.’
‘And I didn’t think you’d be here, obviously,’ she said, bristling at how awkward he seemed at running into her. It wasn’t her fault he was here. Of all the beaches in all the world, he had to be on this one.
‘It was a last-minute thing,’ he said. ‘Grandad wanted to go out for a drive, so we brought his car. Since we were going to the beach, I thought I’d offer to take Paddy here with us. Especially since his usual walker was away. We were going to walk him on Lisfannon Beach, but, well, Grandad seemed to have other plans. He’s sitting in the Drift Inn, claiming his legs were no good for a walk after all. I couldn’t deal with the guilt of not letting Paddy have a good run about, so we headed to the beach alone. The rascal ran on ahead of me. He must’ve spotted you.’
‘I’d say it’s more likely he caught a whiff of the chips I was eating,’ Jo said.
‘Mr McLachlan not treating you to dinner then?’ Lorcan asked and if Jo wasn’t mistaken, there was something smug in his assertion.
‘No, he’s not. He’s working. He did tell me to order room service, but I decided to go for a walk, grab a bag of chips and blow the cobwebs away. I was just heading back to the hotel to do some work myself. I hate to disappoint you, but this hasn’t been some big plan of his to take advantage of me. We actually have been working today. And now I’ve a head full of ideas that I really want to write down, so lovely as this unexpected meeting is, I need to head back. I’m sure Harry will be wondering where you’ve got to as well.’
Lorcan’s eyes widened. ‘I never said this was a plan for him to take advantage of you!’
‘Are you sure this isn’t his equivalent of showing you his etchings?’ she mimicked. ‘Or whatever it was you actually said. The implication was very clear, Lorcan. He couldn’t possibly be genuinely interested in mentoring me. There had to be another motive.’
‘That’s not what I meant, Jo. C’mon! You know me better than that.’ His expression was pained, as if he was truly shocked at how she had interpreted his words.
‘Here’s the thing, Lorcan. I don’t know you better than that. I barely know you at all. And you don’t know me. We spent a couple of days in each other’s company. That doesn’t mean we know each other inside out. Or that we have the right to judge each other for our decisions.’
‘Really?’ His face hardened. ‘We don’t judge each other? Except when it comes to who came to stay with grandad when he was ill. Then we judge as much as we like. We make up our mind about people without knowing it all. And sometimes, that’s fair. I get that. And sometimes, it’s not. So don’t talk to me about judging people.’
She could see the hurt in his eyes. She could see he was upset at how she had questioned him about his past actions and, much to her shame, she realised he had a point. His decision not to visit his grandad wasn’t her business. She didn’t know the story, she’d just chosen one narrative and stuck with it. Embarrassment raged through her and she just wanted to get away as quickly as possible.
‘I won’t talk to you at all,’ she said. ‘About judging people or anything else. I’ve work to do.’ She wanted to storm off, but she couldn’t do that to Paddy. She’d be crippled with guilt if she did. So she crouched down and pulled Paddy into a hug while she whispered into his fur that she loved him and she’d see him soon. Then she stood up and stormed off, grateful that it had started to rain and she could hide the fact she was crying.
25
Stand By Me
‘He gets under my skin and I don’t even know him and I don’t know why I feel awful that we’re now officially fighting and not just maybe fighting, and damn it all anyway. And, by the way, I almost made a complete arse of myself with Ewan McLachlan, thinking he was going in for a kiss when all he wanted was to know if I wanted another drink. So now I’m thinking of moving country and changing my name. If you’ve any suggestions as to what my new name should be, I’m open to them. Do you think I need an interesting backstory too?’ Jo was prone on her hotel bed in her pyjamas.
‘Just take a breath,’ Erin said. ‘But, before you do, tell me, when you thought he was going in for a kiss, did you actually put your lips on his lips because he’s one very ridey man.’
‘No touching of lips or any other body part,’ Jo replied. ‘Thankfully, I caught on to what he was doing before I went full creepy stalker on him.’
‘I don’t know whether to congratulate you or commiserate,’ Erin said, ‘but I’ll assume it’s a good thing you didn’t throw yourself at him.’
Jo felt herself start to relax. Erin’s teasing had helped her put what had happened – or almost happened – into perspective. There was a chance, albeit a small one, that Ewan hadn’t even realised she was pouting seductively at him. She didn’t even want to kiss him. Not really. He was, as Erin said, ‘very ridey’, but lust was not the same as genuine attraction. It wasn’t the same as a meaningful connection. Lorcan came into her mind again and she swore under her breath.
‘It was. It definitely was,’ she told Erin. ‘And, really, it’s the argument with Lorcan that is getting to me the most. I wonder if he’s telling Harry what a horrible person he thinks I am right now.’
‘Harry wouldn’t believe him, love,’ Erin soothed, over the noise of The Ivy Inn. Jo could hear the chatter of the Friday-night revellers and the thrum of the music from the live band. It sounded exactly like her comfort zone, and she felt an aching for it as if she hadn’t been there in months, and not just a day and a half.