“Even when he licked his balls?”
“Welcome to Derrydun,” the lawyer said with a chuckle. “It’s a magical place.”
“It’s…eccentric.” Old men with dogs riding on donkeys, ball-licking cats in church, Goth girls in crystal shops, hot guys with a thousand and one jobs, crazy broom-wielding grandmas…the list went on.
Robert chuckled. “All the best places are.”
After that came the crushing wave of mourners. A blur of faces passed before me in a solo procession as Robert gave their names, and they gave their condolences, offering me stories about Aileen.
That man was Roy, whose farm bordered the village. That was the guy who owned the pub. That sweet little lady was Mary Donnelly from the teahouse. Those people were the Ashlyns who gave me that tasty casserole. Mairead and her parents swung by for a chat, telling me how excited they were that Irish Moon was staying open for the summer, which was news to me. Some other people made themselves known. More names were thrown in my face. More sweet stories about how lovely and caring Aileen had been and how much she’d given to Derrydun.
It hadn’t even been a week since I found out she’d died, and paired with traveling from the other side of the planet to be here, I felt the beginnings of a panic attack tearing at my frail patience. I excused myself and legged it around the side of the church, finding myself among the dead once more. At least they couldn’t talk. Dead men told no tales and all of that.
Leaning against a solid-looking headstone, I breathed in deeply. The air was so crisp here it hurt my lungs and made my head spin. There was something about this place that felt odd, and it had nothing to do with its eccentric population.
Footsteps crunching on gravel drew my gaze, and I found the hot Irishman walking toward me. His hands were shoved into his trouser pockets, and his tie was loose and skewed slightly to the side. I noticed he was wearing a pair of well-worn black boots, which were a stark contrast to all the shiny shoes the other men had donned. He wasn’t used to wearing a suit—that much was clear.
He approached somewhat nervously, his gaze raking over me with unmasked interest.
“I’m Boone,” he said, smiling lopsidedly. “You must be Skye.”
“What gave it away?” I replied with a sigh.
“The accent for starters.”
“I stick out like a sore thumb, huh?”
“I just wanted to offer me condolences… Aileen was like a mother to me.”
I scowled. “Well, at least she was to somebody.”
He stiffened and began to backpedal at an alarming rate. “I didn’t mean to offend you…”
“I…” I clamped my mouth shut and roared in frustration. Spying a path beside the graveyard, I made a break for it, leaving the mysterious Boone in my dust.
I strode down the path, my feet crunching on gravel, desperate for some space. Soon, trees gave way to an open lush field dotted with black and white sheep, bordered by a haphazard stone fence. I dragged myself up the incline, the power in my legs starting to wane.
Ahead were the ruins I’d spotted on the hill the day before. It looked like some kind of tower, all crumbled and covered in moss and vines. A tree was growing on the inside, its trunk splitting the ancient wall until they had become one. I wondered who’d lived there.
Coming to an abrupt halt, I stared up at the ruins, a weird tingling rushing up and down my spine. It was…nice here. Better.
Thinking about everything that had happened at the church, my irritableness began to simmer down. I suppose the hard part was done now. The funeral was over, and Aileen was buried, so now I could take a breath and pull myself together.
What now?
“Skye!”
I turned at the sound of Boone’s voice and cursed under my breath. He’d followed me down the path and up the hill, and his presence made my blood pressure rise again. And here I was thinking a hot guy running after me would excite all my naughty bits and be completely romantic. All I was thinking about was smacking him with my right hook instead.
“I’m sorry,” he said, standing a few paces away. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“You didn’t have to run after me,” I muttered. “I’m a big girl.”
He began wringing his hands together and glanced down at the village below. Silence opened up between us, the complete absence of noise freaking me out.
“I will never be able to understand what it was like for you, Skye. All I can tell you is what I know. Aileen loved you.”
My hands began to shake as anger rose hot and hard at his words. If she loved me, then where was she? If she couldn’t come home, then where were the letters, the birthday cards, and the phone calls? Where was she?
Glaring at Boone, I exploded. “Everyone down there is telling me what a wonderful woman she was, and all I can think about is how she abandoned me! I don’t know her, and she didn’t know me. She wasn’t there on my birthdays. She wasn’t there at Christmas or at stupid school plays. She especially wasn’t there when my dad died of brain cancer! But I was. I was there for it all. What a wonderful woman! I’m sorry for your loss!”
A sob burst from deep within my chest, and before I could stop myself, tears practically exploded out of my eyes Exorcist style. Boone reacted immediately, pulling me into his arms.
“It’s gonna be okay,” he crooned in a soft, soothing voice. “You’ll see.”
I allowed him to comfort me for a moment before pulling away with embarrassment. He was a stranger—a hot stranger—and I’d left a wet patch on his white shirt.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” I mumbled, wiping at the stain. “You all expect me to be… I don’t know. Like her, I suppose.”
“For what it’s worth, I expected you to be like
