Page 3

Do you guys need a room?

Matthew

No. She left.

Graham

Best run after her, mate.

Finn

While Matthew’s chasing after his girl again, you lot still planning on Saturday?

Cedric

Wouldn’t miss it.

Graham

Absolutely.

Matthew

I’ll be there. And Winnie, too, if I can catch her.

Finn grinned. He couldn’t wait to see the four of them again. The prospect of spending his time off with them this weekend in Belfast was the only thing getting him through the thought of spending the next two weeks on a bus with a group of people as dull as a rusty two-pence coin.

He made to type out another response but was cut short as harried footsteps tramped up the bus with a swift pattering.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” said an airy voice.

A flash of a lavender dress and waves of blonde curls passed him by before he even had the chance to see the face of the woman who’d entered his bus, dropped her ticket on his lap, and scurried to the seats midway down the aisle.

Without sending the text, Finn turned off his phone, tucked it away in the slot to the right of his seat, and glanced at the ticket. Here was the wee straggler from the States—Maisie King. Interesting that she’d used a printed ticket. Most people simply presented the digital versions emailed to them.

Well, that didn’t matter. He only hoped her late arrival wasn’t a forecast for how she’d be throughout the duration of the tour.

He ticked her name off the now-finalized list, then stood to greet the group of individuals who would be his closest companions over the next two weeks.

“Alright?” he greeted with a friendly smile, tipping his flat cap to them as he scanned the group.

A few of them responded, most of them nodding. Maisie King, who’d chosen her seat halfway down the bus, had her head ducked as she situated her belongings beside her. Was she as attractive as Joshua had said? Finn still had yet to see her full features. Why would she not look up? Was she even aware that he was speaking?

Ach, well. He didn’t need one hundred percent attention from every single person on the bus. At least, not all the time.

“The name’s Finn O’Meara,” he continued. “I’ll be your tour guide and bus driver for this trip. I was born and raised in a wee town by the sea just north of here called Whitehead where I grew up playin’ footy and singin’. I hope you’re ready to learn a wee bit about my beautiful country and see a wee bit more than a wee bit of gorgeous scenery.”

A few people cracked smiles, and the three older women toward the front of the bus delivered a few chuckles.

Finn would take it.

“I’ve been doin’ this job for eight years now, so I consider meself a wee expert, see,” he continued. “As such, I’ve learned a few things on my travels that’ll help us have a craic each day, and that includes adherin’ to the rules. Number one, come on time.”

He glanced toward Maisie King again, but she continued situating her items, her features still hidden from his view.

Boys a dear, the woman brought a lot with her. Backpacks, pillows, and—what was that, a blanket?

“Number two,” he continued, doing his best not to be too distracted by her fiddling around, “clean up after yourselves. Put your rubbish in the bin up here or at our various stops. Number three, take advantage of the stops we make to use the toilets. I don’t want to have to clean up anyone’s…mess, see.”