“My grandmother still makes soda bread from a recipe passed down six generations. I grew up with an Irish harp—a Cláirseach—in our living room.”
“A what?” Owen squinted.
“KLOOR-shah,” Meg repeated slowly. “It’s the traditional Irish harp. The one you see on the Guinness logo.”
“Fancy,” Paxton teased.
“My point is,” Meg continued, “I’m as Irish as a four-leaf clover.”
“And I’m as Irish as a leprechaun’s pot of gold,” Adam shot back.
“Yep.” Uncle Sean sighed again. “Definitely remember this argument now.”
Head down, Nicole hid a smile behind her napkin.
“So you two actually did DNA tests over this?” Grinning, Aunt Eileen shook her head. “A bit drastic, don’t you think?”
Adam shrugged. “We needed some way to settle the debate.”
“And?” Morgan leaned forward. “Who won?”
“Define won.” Meg smiled.
Most faces at the table frowned with confusion.
Adam hefted a shoulder in a lazy shrug. “Apparently, I am 75% Irish, 20% United Kingdom, and 5% Iberian.”
“Iberian?” Uncle Sean frowned.
“That’s Spain and Portugal,” Declan explained.
Sean Farraday glared at his son. “I know that. What I don’t know is where did the Iberian come from?”
“Now that I think about it,” Aunt Eileen looked to the ceiling, “I seem to remember my grandmother telling us that we were descended from a Portuguese Princess.”
“Portuguese?” Echoed around the table.
Aunt Eileen shrugged. “We never believed her, but maybe she knew of which she spoke.”
“So then,” Nora held her fork midway to her mouth, “what’s Meg’s Irish?”
A grin bloomed on Meg’s face. “77 percent.”
“Tell them the rest,” Adam leaned back and crossed his arms.
“And 5 percent Scottish.”
“That explains the red hair,” Aunt Eileen muttered.
“And…” Adam’s grin grew wider.
Meg sighed. “18 percent Southern European. Calabria.”
“Isn’t that Italian?” Becky tipped her head sidewise.
“Stubborn Italian.” Adam straightened. “Which means that she has more full Irish but I have more Irish and British Isles.”
Shaking her head, Aunt Eileen smiled. “Sorry, handsome, but like it or not, seventy seven percent trumps seventy five percent.”
