‘My great-great-grandparents were Irish on my dad’s side. Though I’m not sure exactly where from .?.?.’
‘Hang on! Are you tellin’ me you’ve never traced your Irish roots and you call yourself an American?’
‘One day, maybe when I get more time. I wouldn’t have a clue where to start. My mom suggested I do it while I’m here but once you have internet, I guess you can do it anywhere.’
‘Not necessarily. Sometimes you need to speak to real people in this life, Maggie, not a MacBook.’
‘This is a beautiful wedding to be invited to,’ I tell him, shifting my satchel further up my shoulder. I need to get away from him. I focus my eyes on Aisling and Aaron dancing cheek to cheek.
‘I didn’t know you were invited?’ Dan jokes with me.
‘I was. By the bride in fact, by .?.?. Ais-Aisling.’ I recall the pronunciation.
‘How is the article coming along? Did you want to interview me?’
‘Not really,’ I throw back, looking directly at him now.
‘Ouch!’ He play falls to the side, clutching his heart. ‘Take my picture?’ He strikes a pose. He leans to his right, pointing into the distance, a pout on his lips.
I laugh despite myself. ‘Not necessary. I’m only interested in the castle and the wedding,’ I say as he takes a step closer again, and my body jolts as his shoulder brushes off mine. Though he’s barely touching me I’ve shivers down my spine.
He rubs his jaw as that look falls across his eyes again, sadness and deep thought. He seems to snap out of it as quickly as it came over him as he laughs lightly. ‘Anyway, you’re a busy woman, I just came over to check you weren’t thinking of stealing the gifts? I can’t trust you, you see.’
‘Funny, aren’t you? No, I-I just wanted to see the ballroom. It’s amazing but it’s colossal.’
‘Aye, Maggie. It is.’ His voice low and that tone so sexy and when he says my name I experience that odd sensation again, like my blood is heating up as it flows through every vein I have, catching fire.
‘I’m going to go take some photos if that’s okay?’ I have to get away from him. Calming myself by rummaging in my bag, I pull out the Canon camera, hang the short strap around my neck and adjust the focus.
‘Course.’ He moves away then stops and steps back. ‘C’mere to me. I had that déjà vu feeling earlier when I met ya, ya ever get that feeling?’ he asks, pushing his hands down deep into his pockets, the glint of that brass buckle catching my eye again.
‘All the time.’ I nod, fiddling with the depth of lens on the camera.
‘It was like we’d met somewhere before? Or maybe someone who looks just like you? The whole scene played out,’ Dan says. ‘Bit mad.’
‘Maybe someone you swiped for online .?.?. a little Tinder action maybe?’ It’s my turn to tease him now and I completely surprise myself when it sounds a little flirty.
‘Tinder! Gimme a break. What a load of— No, I don’t do none of that.’ He takes both his hands out of his pockets and holds hishair back, as though the action will help trigger his memory.
‘We’ve never met before, believe you me, I would remember,’ I tell him with a slight flirt, slight sarcasm to my tone.
‘I’m not so sure .?.?.’
‘People read so much into déjà vu. Don’t be silly it’s just .?.?.’
‘.?.?. an illusion of memory. Although I don’t believe that,’ he says quietly now.
‘You think I reversed into your Rolls-Royce in a past life?’ I take a few test snaps of the dancefloor, shaking my head, look back at him, amused.
‘Funny you should say that, Mary said maybe we were married in the castle in a past life.’ He’s bending a little lower to meet my eyeline. It feels like a curiously intimate gesture.
‘Why would Mary say that?’ I ask in wonder. I barely know Mary, she barely knows me.
‘Ah, well she has a bit of a sixth sense.’
‘Don’t be silly.’ I check my auto-focus mode, switching it to a single-shot focus.
‘I made her a cup of tea after she served you earlier, insisted she put her feet up. Well, I made us both a cup in fact, and told her I’d thought I’d seen you before so she read my tea leaves. She said we might have known each other in a past life. In fact, we might have been married right here under this roof.’ He raises his hand toward the ceiling.
