Chapter Six
Ronan
“I’d somethin’ I want ta talk t’ ya boys about, now.”
Both Darragh and I looked up from our lunch, mouths full. We glanced at one another – whenever Ma said that it almost always meant trouble.
Darragh swallowed his mouthful. “Aye? What’s the craic, like?”
“How’d ya boys feel about stayin’ in Appleby a wee while longer? After the fair is done,” she asked, dusting her hands off and resting them on her hips.
I frowned quizzically. “Why, like?”
“Y’remember me wee pal Florence, aye?”
I shrugged. Not really, but I’d heard the name banded around when Ma had been telling us about her nights of partying.
“Well, she’d lost her husband early last year. Her health ain’t the best, now an’ she’s got no one lookin’ out f’her. Ya’d not have ta stay wi’ me, like, but I’d be thinkin’ o’ hangin’ back a wee while. What says yaselves?”
There was a thoughtful silence as both Darragh and I mulled over Ma’s suggestion.
It was dumb, but John-Francis was the first person to cross my mind.
I wondered where he was headed after the weekend was done.
Would it be crazy to ask him if he’d be looking for company? I rubbed the back of my neck.
“I mean, I’d be thinkin’ Appleby is a nice enough hitchin’ spot, like,” Darragh eventually replied with a shrug before looking at me. “Whatcha thinkin’?”
“Aye, it’s decent enough, now. Can I be havin’ some time ta think on it, like?”
“‘Course.” Ma smiled. “Y’know I like ta wind ya up, but the pair o’ ya’d be grown men now. Don’t feel like ya’d be havin’ ta stay wi’ ya ma outta pity if ya got better offers.” She paused to smack the back of her arm against Darragh’s shoulder. “Lord forbid ya give me some grandbabies, now.”
“Oi!” Darragh grumbled.
“S’no’ f’want o’ tryin’, Ma,” I replied, taking a big mouthful of my roll with a smirk. “He’d be tryin’ ta get on anythin’ that moves, like.”
Ma cackled, squeezing Darragh’s shoulder before moving off to check how the wet clothes were drying on the line.
“Feck off, the both o’ yas!” Darragh whined.
It hadn’t gone unnoticed that Ma wasn’t pressing me for wains. It seemed to be an unspoken understanding that it wasn’t ever going to be on the cards, and I was grateful not to have to pretend like it was.
“‘Ey, speaking’ of – how’d ya night pan out, like?” I asked through a mouthful of food. “Y’get anywhere wi’ that Pearl?”
“Pearl?” Ma perked up. “Who’s Pearl, like? A wee girlfriend?”
“Ma,” Darragh groaned, scrubbing a hand down his face before casting me a venomous glare. “Aye, I’d be thankin’ ya f’that, like.”
I shrugged, still smirking. “I’d be takin’ the lack o’ answer as ya struck out, now?”
Darragh didn’t respond, just took a large bite from his lunch, making me laugh. Aye, he’d gotten nowhere, that was for sure.
I’d already been looking forward to catching up with John-Francis again later, but now I burnt to do some digging as to where he was planning to head off to after the fair.
I’d not admitted it to myself out loud, but I’d been disappointed that whatever this was between us was going to be short-lived.
It wasn’t often I hit it off with a fella the way I had with him, and I knew without a doubt that he would say much the same.
Now I had a real opportunity to pursue a relationship with John-Francis, and that was exciting…
Provided he was willing to meet me halfway, of course.
After lunch, Darragh excused himself to get washed off ready for a night on the tiles with Seamus and a few other fellas from the camp. Ma continued to potter about the caravan, cleaning and tidying things up whilst I sat in the sun, soaking up rays.
“So, what’re ya doin’ wi’ yourself tonight if Darragh is off out wi’ the other lads, like?”
Ma’s question made me flinch and I cracked an eye, squinting at her through the bright sunlight. Did she already know or was she genuinely asking?
“Dunno, like,” I hedged.
“John-Francis around, aye?” Before I had the chance to come up with some creative response, Ma spoke again. “Seems a decent enough fella, like. Y’know his family name?”
I didn’t, but I added it to the long list of questions I wanted to ask him when we got together later. I shrugged.
“Well, ya’d be askin’ him, aye? I might know his ma if he’s been comin’ down this way f’a while, like.”
That one I at least had an answer for. “His ma’s no longer with us, now.”
Ma’s face fell. “Ah, I’d be sorry ta hear that. Wee shame.”
“Pretty dark shite from what I’d heard,” I replied. “Said his da did it, like.”
“Oh, Jaysus. He’d be Colm Ayres’ boy.”
I frowned at her. “How’d ya be knowin’ that, like?”
“Colm an’ his wife Mary were newlyweds when I’d been comin’ ta the fair on the regular, like.
Mary was a nice enough sort, a bit quiet, but that fella o’ hers…
I tell ya, I’d not be shocked ta hear he was the cause o’ her passin’.
Nasty piece o’ work he was.” Ma shook her head.
“I knew they’d a wee lad, but I’d never been all that friendly wi’ Mary.
I’d be seein’ him in her arms on occasion, like. ”
I sighed. “Small world, aye?”
“Aye, it is – ‘specially f’folks like us, now.” She held my eye contact, her face serious. “Y’be cautious hangin’ ‘bout wi’ an Ayres lad, y’hear?”
“Ma—” I grumbled, but she interrupted me.
“Just in case that apple hasn’t fallen far from his da’s tree. There’s somethin’ in that Ayres bloodline, I’m tellin’ ya. Promise me, now.”
“A’right, I promise, but ya worryin’ f’nothin’, like. Doesn’t sound like John-Francis spent all that much time wi’ his folks anyhow,” I replied.
“What ya sayin’?”
“They turfed him out when he’d been only a lad, like.”
“Never. Y’know why?”
I faltered, unsure how much of John-Francis’s life I should be revealing. I trusted my ma, I knew she could keep a secret – hell, she’d kept mine no bother – but I didn’t want to overstep and betray the trust John-Francis had placed in me.
I shrugged. “Dunno. Didn’t like ta ask, like.”
“Aye, fair.” Ma began to busy herself around again and I was relieved to let the subject drop.
Soon enough, the sun began to grow hazy, drifting towards the horizon. Darragh said his farewells before heading off to meet up with Seamus, Ma went to visit her wee pal Florence, and I was finally free to go after what I’d been thinking about all damn day.
I was alive with nerves and exhilaration as I hammered my fist against John-Francis’s door, waiting for him to answer. When he did, he had a sexy grin plastered all over his face.
“Howsagoin’?”
“A’right, like.”
“Y’wanna come in?” John-Francis stepped aside, and I hurriedly toed my trainers off before climbing up the steps after him. The door had barely closed before he was dragging me in.
There wasn’t even a moment’s hesitation as he brought his mouth to mine and I hummed with approval, softening and letting him lead the kiss. Just as my heart began to pound, body responding to John-Francis’s lips on mine, he backed off.
“That’s too good, like,” he murmured with a grin. “I’d be savin’ meself f’later though, aye?”
I chuckled and ran a hand through my hair. “Right enough.” I eased myself away, moving to sit on the edge of the bed and leaning back on my arms. “So, what’d ya do wi’ yourself today, now?”
“Not much.” He shrugged. “Unless ya count thinkin’ about yourself, like.”
“Y’such a wee flirt, aye,” I laughed. I wasn’t about to be telling him my day had been spent much the same way. My mind drifted back to that conversation I’d had with Ma, and I cleared my throat.
“I tell ya somethin’ interestin’ I’d found out today. Me ma is plannin’ on stayin’ in Appleby after the fair,” I said, watching John-Francis’s reaction carefully.
“Oh, aye? Where’d ya say y’came from again?”
“Galway. I doubt we’d have been headin’ back that way anyway, but I gotta say I was surprised she wanted ta shack up here, now,” I replied.
“Y’gonna stay behind wi’ her, aye? An’ Darragh?” John-Francis knelt down and opened his fridge, pulling out a bottle of beer. He passed it to me, and we both opened the caps in unison with a loud hiss.
“Aye, I guess so.” I shrugged, sucking on my beer as I built up the courage to ask the question I’d been thinking about all day. “Where’d y’reckon ya’d be of ta after the weekend, like?”
John-Francis held my eye contact even as he tipped his own beer back. I felt like I was on tenterhooks waiting for his response, though I fought to feign indifference.
“Not sure, now,” he eventually said. “Guess I’d be seein’ what Declan wants ta do.”
I nodded, looking away. I took another sip from my bottle, unsure what to say next. Thankfully, John-Francis got there before me.
“Though, I don’t mind tellin’ ya, I’d be havin’ a feelin’ we might not be movin’ on just yet, like.”
I looked up. “Oh?”
“Declan’d be all up in that settled girl he’s been seein’.
I’ve never seen him quite like this over a ride.
I’d be havin’ me suspicions this one might be a wee bit more than just gettin’ his leg over, now,” he said with a smirk.
“An’ if I’m right, Declan won’t be leavin’ her behind f’some other wee fella to be movin’ in on his turf, like. ”
“Y’reckon?” I hesitated before adding: “I can’t be mindin’ the idea o’ us both hangin’ ‘round here a wee bit longer, now.”
“Aye, same here.”
John-Francis and I stared at one another for a long moment. When I smiled, he mirrored it, sending my pulse racing. I cleared my throat and tipped my beer back.
“Y’got anythin’ in f’eatin’, like? I’m starvin’.”
“Nah, but we could take a wee walk inta town an’ grab somethin’ if y’fancy it? Wee chippy tea, maybe?”
“Quality.”
We finished up our beers before making tracks.
The sun had just sunk below the horizon, casting a pretty pink and orange hue across the sky.
The clear, vast expanse of blue was gone, angry, dark clouds lingering in the distance.
A storm was rolling in, that much was clear.
I hoped we managed to get our dinner and back before it hit.