‘Morning!’ he called with a smile.
‘You’ve just caught me. I’m back on the road.’
He was standing in front of her, the open car door separating their bodies.
‘I’m glad I did.’ He looked at the ground, and then, only half lifting his head, said, ‘Listen, do I need to apologise for last night? If I was out of order, I’m very sorry.’
Elizabeth wasn’t sure how she felt. He had annoyed her, it was true, but then they had made out for quite a long time, and she couldn’t deny that she was pleased to see him.
‘You’re fine, Brian. Don’t worry. It was nice.’ She held out her hand with a wide grin on her face. He shook it and the two of them laughed for no apparent reason.
‘Are you heading straight off? I wondered if I could shout you lunch in Clonteer somewhere?’
‘Well, I’m hoping to talk to some woman down in Muirinish, but then I was going to head back to Buncarragh, so that could work.’ She hadn’t been looking forward to returning to Keane and Sons; the idea of lunch was a welcome distraction.
‘Great. I’ll find out where is open and let you know. Should we swap numbers?’
‘Sure.’
They both fished out their phones and exchanged their information. There was another brief awkward pause, neither of them sure if a peck on the cheek or a handshake was called for. Not wanting to get it wrong, Elizabeth ducked back into her car with a cheery ‘See you later’ and drove off.
The road down to Muirinish seemed much shorter in daylight and far more scenic. After passing Carey’s pub, the road curved around the shoulder of a hill, giving her an uninterrupted view of the sea. To her right she could just see the top of the castle ruins sticking out from a group of tall pines. Her house. So strange to think that she owned an ancient Irish castle, even stranger to think that it was her family seat. She would have loved to call Zach to tell him about it, to share jokes comparing it to their tiny apartment in New York, but she knew that she shouldn’t. He needed time to cool down and she needed time to digest the news of his impending fatherhood. What to say for the best? Was there anything to say? Apparently this baby was going to arrive and apart from loading Zach and a bunch of condoms into a time machine, there didn’t seem to be a solitary thing she could do about it.
She slowed down as she went past the gates to Castle House and then at the fork in the road she didn’t head over the causeway but followed the signs for Muirinish. She was keeping an eye out for a garage. The car was low on fuel but she also wanted to find something to eat. The lack of both dinner and breakfast meant she was starving. The narrow road, boxed in by hedges, curved through fields and past a few large newly built houses, until at the bottom of a short hill it widened out. On the right was a series of large grey buildings with curved corrugated iron roofs. A clock was painted on the side wall, telling the world that it would forever more be a quarter to three or fifteen minutes past nine. It was hard to tell since the artist had made both hands the same length. In a window there was a large red and white sign that said ‘Good luck Cork’。 Elizabeth assumed it referred to some upcoming sporting event but it might just as easily have been cheering the county on in case of an impending apocalypse. Further down on the left was another series of buildings painted in a shade of dirty mustard. The large sign declared this to be ‘Supermarket and Hardware’。 Elizabeth pulled over and got out of the car.
Inside there was a smell that reminded her of Keane and Sons in Buncarragh, but this store was laid out in a series of aisles like any modern supermarket. She headed to the back where she could see some chiller cabinets. Bringing a cellophane-wrapped sausage roll and a can of diet Coke up to the counter, she noticed a sign saying ‘Free Wi-Fi’。
‘Is there a café here?’ Elizabeth asked the young woman behind the counter who was hunched over the till, her long dark hair hanging over her shoulders, while both very pink ears stuck out on either side. She looked up and squinted as if Elizabeth hadn’t been speaking English. She made a noise that could be best described as an inquisitive grunt.
‘The free Wi-Fi? Is there somewhere to sit and use it?’
‘Where are you parked?’ the woman asked, pulling a loose strand of hair from her mouth. Elizabeth really wasn’t following this conversation but told her the location of her car.
‘You can get the Wi-Fi out there. It’s the only one and there’s no password. Do you need a bag?’