Page 84 of Verses Of Us

Her laugh filled the car. “This is all about you and me.” Without thinking, she took his hand, settling it in his lap. “The real estate is a bonus.”

He lifted her hand to his lips, planting a soft kiss that sent waves of joy and heat through her. “You know, I don’t live in the same cottage I did back then.” He glanced at her. “Had to sell it. It was, shall we say, too much for me?”

“Too much?”

“It wasn’t even a cottage. I called it that, but it was a ten-bedroom mansion on the outskirts of the city.”

“Ten?”

“It was ridiculous.” His nose wrinkled. “A frivolous expense I bought when I was a kid because I could, not because I needed it. Anyway, a while back, I had to downsize… for various reasons.”

He pressed a button on the radio, skipping a Taylor Swift song, but she knew he was using it as a distraction. She didn’t push, though. If he wanted to tell her about it, he’d do it when he was ready.

“So, where is this cottage? Is it even a cottage, or a five-bedroom mansion?”

His face lit up, a smile reaching from ear to ear. “Ah, you’ll have to wait and see.”

COUNTRYSIDE

Alexis

TheyturnedontotheM50 and headed south. Alexis had always envisioned a drive through Ireland would be magical, surrounded by rolling pastures of green and beauty. Instead, they drove down roads and highways resembling those back home.

A half hour later, they passed through a small, charming town with quaint shops and townhouses before continuing down a road far too narrow for cars. Houses grew sparser, and the forests grew thicker. They drove by homes made of stone, with immaculately trimmed hedges, and fields with grazing cattle and horses. The clouds rolled through the sky, their shadows tumbling across the landscape, and Alexis released a contented sigh, enjoying the Ireland she’d hoped to see. The one she’d dreamt of. Flanked by hills of rolling greens and deep browns, her heart filled with inexplicable joy, a thick ball of emotion sitting in her chest.

The road soon turned to a gravel one. Ciarán drove around dips and turns, taking them at higher speeds than she was comfortable with. Worried about vehicles coming in the opposite direction, she held onto the door’s handle, making Ciarán laugh.

They reached a cow-crossing and Ciarán slowed down. Alexis’ jaw dropped. “This actually happens?”

Ciarán hummed, tapping the steering wheel with his finger, clearly impatient to get to their destination. Once the cows had passed, they continued on their way.

Soon, houses became rare and the plots of land became broad. Trees grew larger, denser, blocking out the afternoon sunshine, then they drove over a wooden bridge that crossed over a small creek.

“This is me.”

Alexis searched for a driveway, a gate, anything that might define an entrance to a property. All she saw were woods.

“Whatis you?”

“All of it.” Ciarán pointed out his window. “One hundred acres this way and,” he pointed to her side, “One hundred and fifty that way.”

Her eyes widened. “All of this is your land?” He nodded, proudly. “I thought you downsized?”

With a chuckle, he drove through a small separation in the shrubs and then another three or four hundred feet before reaching an open waist-high iron gate that was more ornamental than for security.

Ciarán beamed when, over a small hill, the house came into view.

On their drive, Alexis had tried to imagine what his country home would be like. She’d imagined a Cotswold-type house, with a thatched roof, ivy-covered stone walls and smoke billowing from the chimney. What they pulled up to was nothing how she imagined. It was a million times better.

Along the winding driveway were dark wooden fences behind which two horses grazed.

“Are they yours?”

“They came with the property,” Ciarán explained. “The old man who owned it was nearing his end, and he wanted them to stay where they’d been born.”

She placed a hand against her chest, over her heart. “That’s so sweet. And horribly sad.”

He parked in front of the medieval style home, which had grey stone walls and brown shingles, and contrasted starkly against the vibrant green meadows surrounding it. Square and circular stained-glass windows speckled the sides.

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