I shrugged, still smirking. “I’d be takin’ the lack o’ answer as ya struck out, now?”
Darragh didn’t respond, just took a large bite from his lunch, making me laugh. Aye, he’d gotten nowhere, that was for sure.
I’d already been looking forward to catching up with John-Francis again later, but now I burnt to do some digging as to where he was planning to head off to after the fair. I’d not admitted it to myself out loud, but I’d been disappointed that whatever this was between us was going to be short-lived. It wasn’t often I hit it off with a fella the way I had with him, and I knew without a doubt that he would say much the same. Now I had a real opportunity to pursue a relationship with John-Francis, and that was exciting… Provided he was willing to meet me halfway, of course.
After lunch, Darragh excused himself to get washed off ready for a night on the tiles with Seamus and a few other fellas from the camp. Ma continued to potter about the caravan, cleaning and tidying things up whilst I sat in the sun, soaking up rays.
“So, what’re ya doin’ wi’ yourself tonight if Darragh is off out wi’ the other lads, like?”
Ma’s question made me flinch and I cracked an eye, squinting at her through the bright sunlight. Did she already know or was she genuinely asking?
“Dunno, like,” I hedged.
“John-Francis around, aye?” Before I had the chance to come up with some creative response, Ma spoke again. “Seems a decent enough fella, like. Y’know his family name?”
I didn’t, but I added it to the long list of questions I wanted to ask him when we got together later. I shrugged.
“Well, ya’d be askin’ him, aye? I might know his ma if he’s been comin’ down this way f’a while, like.”
That one I at least had an answer for. “His ma’s no longer with us, now.”
Ma’s face fell. “Ah, I’d be sorry ta hear that. Wee shame.”
“Pretty dark shite from what I’d heard,” I replied. “Said his da did it, like.”
“Oh, Jaysus. He’d be Colm Ayres’ boy.”
I frowned at her. “How’d ya be knowin’ that, like?”
“Colm an’ his wife Mary were newlyweds when I’d been comin’ ta the fair on the regular, like. Mary was a nice enough sort, a bit quiet, but that fella o’ hers… I tell ya, I’d not be shocked ta hear he was the cause o’ her passin’. Nasty piece o’ work he was.” Ma shook her head. “I knew they’d a wee lad, but I’d never been all that friendly wi’ Mary. I’d be seein’ him in her arms on occasion, like.”
I sighed. “Small world, aye?”
“Aye, it is – ‘specially f’folks like us, now.” She held my eye contact, her face serious. “Y’be cautious hangin’ ‘bout wi’ an Ayres lad, y’hear?”
“Ma—” I grumbled, but she interrupted me.
“Just in case that apple hasn’t fallen far from his da’s tree. There’s somethin’ in that Ayres bloodline, I’m tellin’ ya. Promise me, now.”
“A’right, I promise, but ya worryin’ f’nothin’, like. Doesn’t sound like John-Francis spent all that much time wi’ his folks anyhow,” I replied.
“What ya sayin’?”
“They turfed him out when he’d been only a lad, like.”
“Never. Y’know why?”
I faltered, unsure how much of John-Francis’s life I should be revealing. I trusted my ma, I knew she could keep a secret – hell, she’d kept mine no bother – but I didn’t want to overstep and betray the trust John-Francis had placed in me.
I shrugged. “Dunno. Didn’t like ta ask, like.”
“Aye, fair.” Ma began to busy herself around again and I was relieved to let the subject drop.
Soon enough, the sun began to grow hazy, drifting towards the horizon. Darragh said his farewells before heading off to meet up with Seamus, Ma went to visit her wee pal Florence, and I was finally free to go after what I’d been thinking about all damn day.
I was alive with nerves and exhilaration as I hammered my fist against John-Francis’s door, waiting for him to answer. When he did, he had a sexy grin plastered all over his face.
“Howsagoin’?”
