Page 39 of An Irish Hope

“I suspect I don’t need to.”

“See? She’s forthright. And you’ll always know where you stand with her.”

Rory grinned. “Even when she’s had a bump to the head.”

The fire in his cheeks escalated. “You know about that?”

Rory nodded. “My mother might’ve mentioned a thing or two and I overheard. But look, it’s okay. You don’t need to heed everything she says. She’s the sort of person who can say a lot but it doesn’t mean it’s all to be believed.”

Oh. His heart dipped. “Well, that’s good to know.” Even if that seemed different to what he’d thought before.

And as the yawns of the others soon propelled them to leave, he sat beside a gas-lit fire in the lounge area, watching a distant lighthouse in the rain. And wondered again just how much of what Aisling had said was really real.

CHAPTER TEN

“How are you feeling today?” Rory asked, coming inside Aisling’s bedroom the next morning.

Aisling yawned. Stretched her arms. “Would you believe I’m itching to get outside?”

“No way.”

“Way. I’m actually kind of bored of my book, and I’m craving fresh air.”

“Well, the air certainly is a lot fresher after yesterday’s rain.” Rory studied her. “And if you’re wanting fresh air then I have a suggestion.”

Uh oh. “What suggestion?” she asked suspiciously.

“Tennis.”

“Tennis? Uh, I don’t think so.”

“Aw, come on. It’s fun! And a great way to get fit.”

“Since when have you been into fitness?”

“Since I realised last night I’ll have to wear a wedding dress sometime in the next six to twelve months, and I’d like to look good in my photos.”

“Okay then. I hope that means—”

“Of course you’ll be my bridesmaid, so you’ll have to help me stay on the straight and narrow and get fit too.”

She sighed. “That’s what I was trying to do in the gym the other day,” she confessed. “And I can’t help but feel like an idiot, especially when Andy was there. I bet he’s never fallen off an exercise bike in his life.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Remember, this is the man who managed to snap a tendon while out running. I’m sure that can’t have been very pleasant. It may well have been embarrassing.”

Oh. She hadn’t thought about it like that. “How would you cope if you snapped a tendon while out running?” she mused.

“That’s something you can ask when you join us at tennis.”

Her eyes widened. “Is Andy going?”

“That’s what he said last night.”

“But I don’t want to see him. I definitely don’t want to play with him. I think I said some pretty dumb things, and—”

“And he probably won’t even remember it,” her sister soothed. “Come on. You just said you wanted to be outside and here I am giving you the perfect opportunity to be outside and get fit.” She grinned. “Who knows? You might even be able to get some of your searing questions answered by him.”

“What searing questions?”