Page 49 of An Irish Kiss
“If we knock on the door I’m sure we’ll find out.”
“Would you come with me?”
“Sure.”She grinned.“And for certain.”
He laughed, relaxing.So she hadn’t been too offended before.
She led the way, opening the picket gate that led to a garden path, with flowers planted either side.
“I feel like you’re leading me up the garden path,” he murmured.
“I feel like if you’re going to make jokes like that all day it will be a very long day.Or perhaps a very quick one.”
In that case that would be the last dumb joke he made.
They paused at the door, and he looked at her, hesitant.
“Go on.You should do the honours,” she encouraged.
Fine, then.He knocked, and they waited.Was it a home lived in by a family?An older couple?Or rented out as something like an Airbnb?He really hoped it wasn’t the latter.
The thick wooden door swung open, and he smiled.“G’day, my name is Aidan.”It never hurt to ladle on the Aussie vibes.
The woman’s eyes widened.“Are you Australian?”
He nodded.“My family came from around here, and I’ve come all this way in the hopes that I might see this place because I believe they once lived here.”
“Really?What were their names?”
“The Quinns.I believe it was James and Orla Quinn in the mid 1600s.”
“Is this house that old?”The woman offered a small smile.“We’ve only lived here a few years, and it was renovated just before we moved in.So I’m afraid there would be little that would be original.But you’re welcome to come inside.”She opened the door wider.
“Thank you so much.”He glanced at Rory.“Will you come in too?”
“Is this your girlfriend?”
“Oh no.Just a friend.”She held out a hand.“Rory.”
“Bernie.Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
“Well, come in, come in.”She waved a hand at the open plan room, which had thick walls and a huge fireplace that took up one side.“I'll put the kettle on,” she said, then bustled over to the adjoining kitchen area.
“You don’t have to.”
“Oh, but it would not be very hospitable of me to not offer you both a cup of tea, now would it?”
He glanced at Rory who nodded slightly.“Well, in that case, thank you.”
“You can see the stairs are quite narrow, obviously not built with the likes of you in mind.”
“They didn’t have Weetbix back in the day.”
“Weetabix, did you say?”Bernie asked.
“Weetbix.It’s pretty similar, but different.But never mind.”He moved to a window, the foot-deep sill showing just how solid the walls were.“I can’t get over the thickness of the walls here.”
