Page 85 of Road Trip
“I should warn you, the Grogans are, erm, a lot,” Liam said as he pulled the Jeep alongside half a dozen cars parked in a meadow below his brother’s farmhouse.
“I could say the same about my family,” Maeve replied. “Don’t worry. I don’t scare easily.”
Liam reached for her hand as they walked through the pasture. “Watch, now, for cow patties. Luke thinks of himself as a gentleman farmer, and he keeps all manner of livestock around the place.”
“He isn’t a farmer?”
“Of sorts, I suppose. Luke’s the family success story. Dropped out of university and started a software company with some drunken mates he’d met there. Angela, his appropriately named wife, supported him in the early years of his madness. Ten years on, to the shock of everyone except Luke, they sold the company for an obscene amount of money. So now he plays at farming. They’ve three kids; Eamon and Aidan, the twins, are nine and Claire, the baby, is four.”
As they got closer, the house came into view. It was white, Georgian Revival, with fluted columns and pilasters and wings stretching out on either side of the two-story entrance. A plume of smoke curled from the back of the house. Liam sniffed. “Good God, Luke’s been barbecuing again.”
Maeve gasped. “It looks like Tara. You know, fromGone With the Wind.”
“Exactly. Poor Angela couldnottalk him out of buying the place once the estate agent showed it to him. ‘Incredibly vulgar’ and ‘bougie’ are the phrases she uses, but Luke adores it.”
“Tell me about who else will be here,” she urged.
“Cormac, the middle brother, and his wife, Siobhan, and their two kids; Augusta, or Augie, as we call her, is thirteen, and Mallory is nine I believe.”
“Cormac’s the one who helped you build the Jeep?”
“Good memory. And there’s sure to be an assortment of other cousins as well, including Maddie and Jamie and their crew. I did tell Maddie you’re wanting to ask Jamie about his mum, and she thought that would be all right.”
He squeezed her hand as they approached the house. “Here we go.” Suddenly the front door flew open and a barefoot little girl with dark curls dressed in a sparkly pink tulle princess dress hurtled across the porch toward them, arms open wide.
“Uncle Liam! Guess what?”
Liam swept the child into his arms. “What? Tell me quick, will ya. I’m dying of suspense.”
“Maisie had kittens, and I get to keep one for my very own!”
“What?” Liam’s eyes went wide. “You’ve got a kitten? What spectacular luck. What’s its name? Can I see him?”
“It’s a girl, silly. Her name is Pepper. Because she’s white with black spots.”
Claire reached into the bodice of her dress and pulled out a tiny, wriggling creature and thrust it into her uncle’s face.
“Isn’t she beautiful?”
Liam took the kitten in both hands and held it in mock reverence. “I think this is the most beautiful kitten I’ve ever seen.”
Claire’s gaze turned toward the stranger. “Uncle Liam, Mum says you have a new lady friend, all the way from America.”
Maeve felt herself blush from the roots of her hair down to her shoes. A full-body blush. It was a first for her.
Liam threw his head back and roared with laughter. “Your mum is right. Would you like to meet her?”
The little girl bit her lower lip as she considered. “Is she nice? Nicer than Bonnie?”
It was Liam’s turn to blush now. “Much nicer. The nicest, actually, lady friend in the world.” He took a half step away and bowed from the waist.
“Claire, this is my lady friend, Maeve.”
She looked Maeve up and down. “Hello,” she said finally. “Are you going to make my uncle move to America?”
“What? No, of course not,” Maeve told her.
“Okay.” Claire’s face brightened and she tucked the protesting kitten back down into the bodice of her dress. “Do you like children?”
