‘You’ll have to give us some recommendations,’ said Izzy.
‘Bear in mind, he’s eighteen,’ drawled Conor. ‘His idea of good craic is significantly different from mine.’
‘You’re just an aul stick in the mud, so you are,’ said Fergus with a mocking grin, which took the sting out of his words. ‘We had great craic at Foley’s last night.’
‘Less of the aul, young fella.’ The brothers, despite the significant age gap were obviously close.
‘Ever tried surfing?’ asked Fergus.
‘I’ve always wanted to, but it looks far too difficult,’ said Hannah, looking down towards the beach where there were quite a few surfers.
‘Just takes practice and a bit of balance.’
‘Ha! That’s me out then,’ said Izzy. ‘I have no sense of balance. I couldn’t even stand up on a skateboard.’
Hannah hadn’t ever been on a skateboard, another thing that had looked a bit too scary when she was a child. She’d always preferred to play it safe. Her adventures came through her books.
‘You ought to have a go. The board hire here is pretty reasonable.’
‘I might,’ said Izzy and suddenly laughed, turning to Hannah. ‘I bet Jason and Fliss would be up for it, can you imagine?’
‘Oh yes. Those two would turn it into a duel to the death. They’re fiercely competitive. Our very own Lady and The Tramp, though with maybe more of a sibling vibe.’
It was a blessed relief when Fergus suddenly swallowed down the last of his coffee. ‘Back to the sea. Coming, aul man?’ He kicked his brother under the table.
‘Nice chatting with you ladies.’
They picked up their boards and headed back down to the beach, Hannah watching Conor’s wetsuit-clad form. Even in neoprene he looked something else.
They climbed the path back up to the farm after another swim and hour on the beach.
‘You lucked out with this place,’ said Izzy when they came to her cottage. ‘Having it all to yourself. I couldn’t afford one of these, even sharing. Right, I’d best be off. See you later. I think Jason was talking about a return trip to the pub tonight. Not sure I’m up for that. I’m going to see what Meredith’s planning. I’ll text you if there’s a plan.’
‘Why don’t the two of you come down here? There’s plenty of room and I could nip out and get some wine or something.’
‘That sounds like a great idea. Let me find out what Meredith is up to.’
Izzy walked away up to the path to the main farmhouse and Hannah stood and admired the cottage for a moment. She liked living on her own, but she’d enjoy the company tonight. As she walked up to the front door, she frowned. The bed of flowers under the sitting room window looked trampled upon as if some animal had sat down in them. What a shame. She crossed to the patch and picked a few of the less-mangled flowers, deciding she’d pop them in one of the many vases of flowers inside. Determined to forget about Conor Bloody Byrne, a girls’ night was just what she needed.
Chapter Eleven
‘Oooh, isn’t this lovely. And haven’t you got a great view!’ exclaimed Meredith as she and Izzy came through the front door at half past seven. It was still a lovely evening but the breeze had picked up and rather than sit in the garden as she’d originally planned, Hannah was glad she’d decided to lay everything out in the sitting room. She was still miffed about the desecration of the flowers outside the window and looking at it would have irked her.
‘Come in,’ she said and led the way into the kitchen. ‘Would you like a glass of Prosecco?’
‘Yes,’ said Meredith with delight. ‘Who doesn’t love a bit of fizz? Where did you find that, then? There wasn’t any in our fridge.’
Hannah laughed. ‘I popped into Tralee earlier and found an Aldi on the outskirts of the town.’ If she’d had more time she would have phoned Aidan and Sorcha’s and popped in to see them. How could she have been here a week and not called them yet?
She’d had a lovely soak in the bath, come down and got some nice glasses out of the cupboard, arranged some dips in bowls on the coffee table, lit the candles on the mantlepiece and put out the crisps. It was funny how quickly she become quite proprietorial towards the cottage and how excited she was about welcoming her first guests to come and enjoy its hospitality. At home, she rarely invited people round to her apartment. Most people if they were coming into the city preferred to meet at a restaurant or bar.
‘That’s the downside of not having a car here,’ said Meredith. ‘I hadn’t thought about it before, although to be honest I’m not much of a driver. The thought of driving in a strange country put me off too.’
‘Thankfully, they drive on the same side of the road as us, although some of the road signs are quite different. But it’s pretty quiet round here. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go,’ offered Hannah. ‘I’ve got a hire car and I’m paying for it, so I might as well make use of it.’
‘That’s kind. Alan’s offered as well. He knows Kerry quite well. In fact, we’re going for a drive tomorrow.’
‘Are you now?’ Izzy’s arch teasing brought an exasperated sigh from Meredith as Hannah eased the cork out of the bottle and poured the gently fizzing wine into three glasses.
