Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Finn watched Maisie disappear through the castle entrance, and concern clenched in his stomach. He’d seen her in the poke line, when she’d left it, and when she’d spoken with the ladies from England—all with Trifle being gone—and he knew something was up.
“Finn?”
He paused, tearing his gaze from them and looking back up at Fiadh Murphy.
“Sorry, what was that?”
“I was just askin’ how the group was,” she continued, her hair long and smooth over her shoulders.
“Oh, they’re cracker.” He looked away from the woman, grateful he finally had a way out of their conversation. “But, hey, I think I’m missin’ one of me passengers. Excuse me, will you?”
Disappointment crossed her features. ”Will I see you this weekend still?” she asked. “Da’s lookin’ forward to hearin’ you lot play again. Me, too.”
“’Course,” he said, backing away.
When he was off Friday night, Finn was scheduled to sing a few songs at the pub Mr. Murphy owned. If Finn and his band Nine Leagues Under could find any other pub that would take them, he wouldn’t be forced to speak with Fiadh as often as he was.
“Nine sharp,” she continued.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” he said, then he walked away with relief.
He’d been friends with Fiadh for a few years now and enjoyed her company as much as the next person, but boys a dear, she was a talker. Even more than he was. She’d been a fine enough distraction until Maisie had appeared. No one held a candle to that blonde American.
Still, he needed to focus. In a matter of minutes, he’d spoken with the English ladies, received word of Trifle missing, then headed into the castle himself, determined to find the lost pup for Renee.
And if he happened to find Maisie in the process, that’d be fine, too.
He’d done a fine enough job keeping away from her today, though it’d been a lot more difficult than he’d thought it would be. She’d obviously noticed, what with her asking after him earlier, but he really hoped he hadn’t offended her. He was just trying to keep his job—and more realistically, he was just trying to help his da keep the house.
Last night, Da had said he was going to list the property, but Finn had convinced him to hold off for a month. Now more than ever, he was determined to help.
Unfortunately, that stress had pushed him into self-preservation mode. He’d hardly spoken to anyone on the bus that day. He hadn’t even made the traffic stop entertaining. Luckily, Maisie had been there to step in, helping Renee and Trifle, then the Dünsers with their crying baby. And shutting up that Mrs. Waterstone. He’d never been prouder of someone he’d only known for a few days.
All of that made him realize, however, that his attempt to stay away from Maisie had made him duller than Thomas on the tour. Somehow, for some reason, being around her significantly lowered his stress levels, which amped up his ability to perform for the group.
So, if he wanted good reviews—if he wanted that bonus—he needed to be as enthusiastic as before, which meant that he needed to be around Maisie again, at least more than he had today.
But would she still want to be around him ?
After chatting with the staff in the entrance, Finn moved throughout the castle, calling out Trifle’s name, though his eyes focused higher than the dog’s height as he hoped to find someone else entirely.
As luck would have it, a few minutes later, he rounded a corner and found Maisie leaning over a crumpled wall to peer on the other side of it.
He couldn’t help but smile at her devotion. She really was everyone’s guardian angel today, wasn’t she?
And there he was, chasing after an unattainable, unreachable angel.
As he continued toward her, she seemed completely unaware of him, carrying on with her search until she glanced back and spotted him. She did a double take before delivering a noncommittal smile and faced forward again.
So he had offended her. He should probably let her be, then. He’d gotten what he’d wanted—distance from the girl he could too easily find himself breaking rules for.
And yet, if today had taught him anything, swinging to the other side of the pendulum and not speaking with her at all was hardly the answer.
Anyway, it wasn’t in his nature to retreat from a challenge, and that impartial look she’d given him was challenge enough.
“Any luck?” he asked, catching up to her.
“With Trifle?” she clarified.
“Aye.”
“No, unfortunately.” She kept up her search without looking at him.
“Are you worryin’ about locatin’ her?” he tried next.
“No. I’m sure with everyone helping, we’ll find her.” She paused. “Although, I don’t imagine you’ll be helping much.”
He stared after her. “Why would you say that, like?”
She turned back to face him. “Knowing her dislike of you, she’d probably run in the opposite direction if she found you looking for her.”
He’d wondered if she was being rude before, but after seeing a shadow of a smile cross her lips, relief flooded him.
He hadn’t muddled things up too badly, then.
“I’ll have you know,” he began, “I’ll be able to help more than anyone.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Because Trifle is more likely to attack me than run from me. I’ll be sure to be the first to catch her.”
Maisie made a “hmm” noise that sounded slightly like a laugh, then she carried on with her search.
She wasn’t making this easy, was she? But he could hardly blame her. Still, his determination only grew. “Maybe we should work together to find her,” he suggested. “Cover the grounds more efficiently.”
Splitting up would be far more helpful, but then, he wasn’t known for his logic.
She took a minute to respond, her body turned away from him. “Sure,” she finally said. “Anything to help find Trifle.”
He nodded. Right. Trifle. That’s why they were there. “Anythin’ for Trifle,” he repeated. “And for Renee. She treats the dog like a child, so she does.”
He hadn’t meant it as a slight, merely an observation. But he caught Maisie’s brows raising almost instantly before she turned away again.
“Sometimes, that’s all a person has,” she said softly. “Anyway, it’s not the worst thing for someone to treat another living thing with love and kindness. If we all did that, the world would be much happier as a whole. ”
Finn stared. He didn’t feel like he’d been chastised, what with how softly she’d said the words. But he’d certainly been humbled.
Even more so due to the way she’d spoken it, as if she felt her words on a personal level.
“You’re right,” he said.
He wanted to ask what she knew about it, but she cleared her throat and looked away.
“How much of the castle did you search before you found me?” she asked.
He wasn’t about to answer truthfully . “Oh, I didn’t look at an inch of it ’fore I came lookin’ for you.”
“Not much of it, I’m afraid,” he answered.
“Too busy, probably,” she said softly.
He looked at her. Those words had been spoken heavily, too, though he didn’t have a guess as to what she’d meant by them.
“Did you enjoy your walk round the castle?” he asked, deciding to shrug off her comment.
“Yeah, I did. Loved it.”
She walked two steps ahead of him still, and Finn let out a sigh. Time to rip off the Band-Aid.
“Are you tryin’ to avoid me?” he asked, stopping in his tracks and watching her from behind.
She leaned over another crumbled wall, then straightened. “What? No. I’m just trying to find Trifle.” She averted her eyes again and kept moving forward.
“Really? Because it feels like you are avoidin’ me.”
“Nope,” she said flippantly. “Hey, if you’re done searching for Trifle, you could probably go back out to Renee. Or, you know, get some more ice cream. Whichever you’d prefer.”
Finn narrowed his eyes, slowly putting two-and-two together. The ice cream. Had she seen him speaking with Fiadh? Was that why she was upset, because she was jealous?
Deciding to pursue this new development, he caught up to her again. “Ah, I’d rather help out in here.” She didn’t respond. “Did you manage to get a wee poke yourself? ”
She looked at him in confusion.
“Ice cream,” he clarified. “Poke.”
“Oh. No, I didn’t. I mean, I wanted to. But the line was taking a really long time.” She glanced at him sidelong. “The lady seemed distracted or something.”
His smile returned. “I’m no doubt the reason for that. Fiadh likes a bant.”
“Apparently. But it’s no big deal. I’d rather help Renee out than eat ice cream anyway.” She took a few steps forward, then paused, and to his surprise, she whirled around and confronted him head-on.
“You know what?” she began. “I’m sorry if this is too American for you, but I just have to say, I wasn’t coming on to you yesterday when I got your number. I was just trying to get you those photos—for your mom, by the way—so if that’s the reason you’ve been super off with me today, you can let it go because I know you’re obviously interested in this Feeyuh…Fiauh…That ice cream girl more than me, which is completely fine. I just wanted to clear the air between us by letting you know that I wasn’t making a pass at you.”
She paused, taking a deep breath and allowing Finn to recover from the firehose that was her explanation.
“Anyway,” she said, “I’m gonna go look for Trifle now. You can do whatever you want.”
She turned around, then, and walked away without a glance back.
He watched the confident steps she took away from him, unable to help but admire her. He’d never met a girl who was so comfortable in her own skin before, let alone someone who could be so straightforward. He wished he could be the same with her, but how could he explain his family’s financial woes to a practical stranger?
He knew he needed to keep away from her, but then, his level of attraction to her continued to grow whether he was around her or not—so where did that leave him ?
Whatever he did, he knew staying away from her for the next week and a half was simply not an option. He had to be near her, to speak with her. And he had to explain.
So, like a little dog desperate for attention, he trailed after her. “Don’t I get the chance to say somethin’ now, too?” he asked.
Maisie shrugged, her eyes fixed on the stone flooring they walked across. “I guess.”
“I just wanted to say thank you for your honesty,” he began. “But I have to admit, I’m a little disappointed.”
Maisie paused, swinging around to look at him. “What exactly are you disappointed about?”
“That you weren’t tryin’ to come on to me.”
She stared, and he forced himself to not feel unnerved under her gaze.
“Why?” she asked, folding her arms and narrowing her eyes at him.
He could’ve laughed at her directness. This was a side of Maisie he didn’t mind seeing.
“Why, what?” he asked, faking ignorance.
“Why would you be disappointed? You seemed to be perfectly fine with that cute little brunette back there.”
Jealousy had never looked so good. It wasn’t rage or anger. Just straight up irritation. He wanted to throw his head back with gleeful laughter.
Of course, the thought of the roles being reversed, of her receiving attention from some other lad, well, that just made something roil inside of Finn.
He brushed the thought aside. He much preferred Maisie being jealous instead of him. “She is cute,” he said. “Isn’t she?”
Maisie watched him in silence, clearly debating on how to respond, then she turned and walked away. “Sure, if you like that type.”
“Absolutely,” he said, following after her. “But I’ll be honest now. I’ve never really had a thing for brunettes .”
He emphasized the final word, flashing a grin as she turned back around to face him for what seemed the hundredth time, as if she couldn’t keep her eyes off of him.
He hoped that was true. Because he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her .
She searched him in silence. “I just don’t get you,” she finally stated. “You’ve been outright flirting with me for days until I, what, scare you off? Then you come back and start flirting with me all over again, but only when I tell you I wasn’t coming on to you. What is that about?”
Finn hesitated. It was no wonder she was confused. He was confused. He was torn between wanting to explain everything and wanting to tease her more just to see her blue eyes sparkle.
He was torn between wanting to share with her that his hands were tied—that his family was poor, he was poor, and he was doing everything in his power to hold them all together—and wanting to share with her that flirting with her was the only thing he could do to maintain some semblance of normalcy. That if he stopped speaking with her like he had today, he would lose all sense of hope in this world and drown in his stress.
But none of that could be shared with a woman he’d known for barely three days.
“I, erm…” he began, but nothing else came. Her eyes bore into his, but still, nothing. “I…”
A low growling sounded beside them, and he paused. “Is that…?”
“Trifle!” Maisie whispered, looking to the side of them.
Finn had never been more grateful to hear the spiteful little pup.