I barked, and she fell over backward on the grass.
Eamon laughed, and I pointed a finger at Shoshanna. “One more puppy comment, and we’re going to stop everything and make out every time we see you.”
“You wouldn’t dare because you two are puppies.”
I grabbed Eamon and kissed him like the sky was breaking. When we pulled apart, he was the shade of a red associated with vine-ripe tomatoes, but I wasn’t done. “Oh no, I smudged his makeup. Let’s find Roxy, shall we? Does anyone know if she’s single? I bet Julian knows.” I took my phone out of my cleavage—because that was the only place I could hide it in this getup—and texted while reading my message aloud. “Julian, is Roxy single?”
“He doesn’t know,” Shoshanna growled. “And he’s got the biggest mouth in LA, Iris!”
“Of course he knows. He’s Julian.” I held out the screen to show Julian’s insta-response.
Single. Why?
“Should I tell him how cute you two are together—or will you chill out?”
Shoshanna opened her mouth and then shut it. “Nice one,” she huffed. “So nice that I think you two have graduated to high school sweethearts. When is the prom?”
Eamon held out his hands between us. “I call truce, ladies. Truce!”
Shoshanna didn’t agree. “So what are you two love birds—”
“Oh, wonderful. We’re birds now,” I muttered.
Shoshanna continued, “—going to do in two days when we finish filming and head back to LA? Eamon’s not coming with. His scenes are done when we finish here. Long distance relationship takes on a whole new meaning when you’ve got the Atlantic Ocean and the length of the United States between you.”
Eamon looked paler than usual beneath his tanned-skin makeup. Did he want to break up when I left? My chest twisted and then bloomed with embarrassment. Of course we were going to break up. How could we stay together?
Time lock, my dad’s voice slipped in. Always makes books more interesting.
Two more days.
I put my hands over my ears, finding them rubbery and foreign. “Shut up, shut up!”
“Hey.” Eamon wove his fingers with mine. “Don’t let Shoshanna get to you. She’s a fiend. A troublemaker. Look at her, she’s the cat who got the cream.”
“It’s not her.”
He gave me a questioning look.
“It’s leaving you. I can’t stand it.”
His expression was as stunned as I felt for saying the words, but he nodded like he felt the same way. The throbbing inside calmed a little. I would miss Eamon beyond belief, and that was…good? It was good to care that much, wasn’t it?
“I know what’ll cheer you two up,” Shoshanna said, leaning in between us and popping our bittersweet moment. “Listen to my bloody awesome Irish accent. How’s the craic, fellas?”
Eamon’s eyebrows smashed together as though they’d been in a vehicular accident. “Is it funny to do that? Is it? You, Shoshanna Reyes, sound like a chipmunk when you play Irish. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but in Ireland we talk at a normal vocal range.”
Shoshanna scowled. Then she repeated the same line and didn’t go crazy high with it.
“See?” Eamon said. “Now you sound like an Irish human.”
“It is much better,” I agreed. “Let’s hear your American accent, Eamon.”
Eamon gave me an overconfident look that had nothing to do with his personality. When he opened his mouth, a movie stereotype fell out, albeit without a hint of Irish accent. “Surf’s up, dude. Hang ten. Did you catch the new Bruce Willis flick, man?”
“No!” Shoshanna and I yelled together to make it stop.
“I can do John Wayne too,” Eamon said. “Howdy, partner. Let’s fire up the iron horse and ride into the Wild West.” I had to admit, his drawl had comedic preciseness.
Shoshanna began to roll with laughter, and she didn’t stop for minutes. “That’s the worst impression I’ve ever heard,” she managed. “That should be on YouTube, oh wait—you are!” She was still laughing, and I mean I was too, when Eamon leaned a little closer to me.
“You’re not impressed? Not even a little?” he said in a perfect, smooth American accent.
“What?” My voice actually shook.
Shoshanna quit laughing and leaned closer.
He smiled, but not like Eamon. Like an American boy with that irrefutable sense of confidence glazed in laziness. “I asked if you were impressed. I can’t be that bad, can I?”
I blinked at him. He was pulling this off far too well, and it was like seeing someone barefoot when they’d always worn boots. I stared at his face as though I’d realized his toes were wicked hairy.
“Keep going,” Shoshanna murmured.
He glanced at her. “You should stop doubting me.”
“Turn it off!” I yelled. “I hate it!”
He grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles. “Sorry, sorry.”
“There you are.” I breathed an actual sigh of relief.
“Wow,” Shoshanna said after a minute of silence. “I did not think you had it in you. Shit, kid. You’re going to win an Oscar someday.”
• • •
Filming mode kicked in and we took our assigned places. All around, the impressive landscape was crowned by an epic smear of clouds against a vivid, azure sky. I spent most of the next few hours staring up into it, learning pretty fast that being a film actor meant a lot of waiting.
Ryder and I had lucked out in that we didn’t have to wear wigs, but our hair had been coifed and cemented with hairspray around our prosthetic ears in a way that became less and less tolerable with each passing hour. We were stationed in a crowd of two dozen extras in similar costumes, all local Irish actors. The ghosts of Castletown. At the bottom of the hill, Shoshanna stood in her Sevyn getup, getting instructions from Cate.
“Keep still,” I warned Ryder. He was fiddling with his leather boots and had somehow convinced Henrik to give him a bow, even though the rest of us didn’t have weapons.
Cate had looked a little green when she put us all in our places
