‘So you’re Cleo?’
Cleo. And there you go. I sigh and shake my head because, just like that, she’s somebody.
Brianne’s gaze shifts to me, uncertain, no doubt picking up on the weird energy between us. ‘And … you are?’
I clear my throat, unwilling, feeling like I’m thirteen and in trouble in middle school. ‘Mack,’ I mutter.
I feel her – Cleo – bristle beside me, and I deliberately don’t glance her way.
‘Look,’ Brianne says, reaching a black planner up from beneath the counter. ‘I’ve no clue what’s happening here, so you’re going to have to help me out.’ She flips the book open as she speaks, rifling through the pages. ‘Let’s see what I have written down in here …’
I hold my breath. Please, Barney, come through for me.
‘Cleo Wilder,’ she says. ‘But whoever made the booking ticked the honeymoon champagne package so I kind of assumed there’d be two of you?’
Even I’m confused now. I turn to look at Cleo. ‘Are you on your honeymoon?’
‘Oh, shut up,’ she snaps, irritated. ‘You know perfectly well I’m not on my bloody honeymoon. It’s probably my boss’s idea of a joke.’
Concentration furrows Brianne’s brow. I’m not surprised she’s having a hard time keeping up. So am I.
Cleo’s exaggerated sigh shudders up from her boots, a clear ‘can everyone please just stop speaking and listen to me’。 I don’t think so. I need to get a word in here.
‘My cousin Barney owns Otter Lodge,’ I say.
Brianne’s face breaks into an easy, relieved smile. ‘Oh, so you’re Barney Doyle’s cousin? We were in school together. In fact, he was my secret crush when I was about six years old.’
She’s grinning, pink-cheeked, and so am I because here it is, bona-fide proof of my claim. The only person not loving this trip down memory lane is Cleo.
‘That’s so sweet.’ I laugh for a few seconds too long. ‘Anyway, Barney has offered me the lodge until New Year’s, so Cleo’s looking for someplace else on the island to stay.’
‘Hang on a minute.’ Cleo yanks her beanie off and thumps it down hard on the counter. ‘I’m not the one who needs a new place to stay.’
‘You might not realize this,’ I say, ‘but you express a lot of your anger through hats. Jamming them on, pulling them off, slamming them down.’
‘Oh, just piss right off,’ she says, unable to mask her annoyance.
‘My family owns Otter Lodge,’ I say, pressing my advantage. ‘You heard Brianne. She has a crush on my cousin.’
‘Had a crush,’ Brianne jumps in. ‘I haven’t seen Barney in at least fifteen years.’
‘He doesn’t live on the island then?’ Cleo says, homing in.
‘Not for a good few years now.’ Brianne’s eyes flick towards me, as if I might want to take over the story. ‘His mother moved them across to Donegal after her father died, if I recall correctly?’
I nod, non-committal, not wanting to let it be known that I’m hazy on the finer details.
‘So how do you know who’s letting the lodge?’ Cleo asks, cutting to the point, uninterested in my family history.
‘Alice usually emails me, Barney’s sister. She came back for a while when they first inherited Otter Lodge. These days she just sends me the name of who’s arriving so I can make sure the lodge is ready, hand out keys, that kind of stuff. I don’t really handle –’ she pauses delicately – ‘disputes.’
‘But my name is in your book,’ Cleo says.
Brianne nods, troubled. ‘It is.’
‘And my cousin owns the lodge,’ I say.
‘He does.’ Brianne shrugs her shoulders, unwilling to make the call. ‘It’s a fine mess, for sure.’
‘Okay. So one of us –’ I throw a look at Cleo – ‘needs somewhere else to stay tonight.’
‘You do,’ Cleo shoots, then turns to Brianne. ‘Can you point us in the direction of other lodgings, please?’
Brianne scrunches her face into a grimace that tells me she doesn’t want to say the thing she’s about to.
‘I’m afraid there isn’t anywhere else on the island.’
‘It doesn’t need to be fancy,’ Cleo presses on. ‘Anything will do.’
Speak for yourself, I think, but don’t say.
‘We’re just not set up for tourists here,’ Brianne says, regretful. ‘Never have been. Your family caused a fair bit of controversy opening Otter Lodge up to strangers, truth be told,’ she says, glancing at me. ‘Not everyone approved, even though it’s mostly been used by artists and professionals.’