Page 60 of An Irish Hope

“That is interesting, isn’t it? So Andy didn’t say anything?”

“He barely spoke to me at all. He pretty much ran away.” Oh, why did she let him have such a hold on her still? He clearly wasn’t interested.

“You didn’t seek him out?” Mam persisted.

“No. I’m definitely not hanging around the PE staffroom, waiting for him to appear so I can hijack him and make him talk to me. I figure he’s the one who needs to make some effort if he actually is even interested. I’m not going to chase a man who can’t be bothered speaking to me or even saying goodbye.”

“Ah, Aisling, love. It’s hard to know how to proceed. All I can say is that it’s important to keep trusting God, because He’s always working things out for our good.”

She knew that. So much for getting wisdom from her mother.

“Perhaps you should have a chat with Aine. I know she’s been keen to see you, but hasn’t wanted to bother you, seeing you’re so busy and all.”

But on Sunday after church when she had lunch with Aunty Aine, all her aunt could say was that it sounded like she needed to talk to her friend.

“Which friend?” Aisling asked suspiciously.

“The one with the son who is single too.”

No. She did not want to be set up on a date. “Actually, I think I’m going to be too busy to go on any dates.”

“It doesn’t have to mean much. It’s a blind date. You still need to eat, right?”

“Yes, but—”

“If Andy isn’t the one then you should be doing what you can to find your Mr. Right.”

Part of her wanted to protest and say “He is my Mr. Right. It’s just that he doesn’t seem to know it yet!”, but she figured that would make her sound desperate, so she refrained.

“I’m too busy at the moment,” she said instead. “But once things settle down here I’ll let you know, okay?”

“I’ll be waiting for your call.”

Yeah, Aunty Aine would be waiting for a while. Because the way she felt right now, she didn’t want to be going on any dates. Ever.

When she returned to school the following week, and the week after, and had no Andy sightings, she began to wonder if it was a dream. Maybe that hit on the head all those months ago had damaged part of her brain. Yet he definitely worked here. She saw his name posted in the daily bulletins, his involvement in various sports endeavours meaning he was often busy at lunchtimes, when she was free. Which maybe was a good thing, as it meant they were both too busy or had clashing schedules so couldn’t speak to each other even if he wanted to. Which obviously he did not want to.

With the busyness of her day she barely saw Miles either, which was probably just as well. If she did she might well be tempted to ask about Andy, and there was no way she wanted Miles putting two and two together and getting a big red flag. She was able to maintain a sense of nonchalance with Maisie, but only just.

But when the fourth week passed with no further sighting, she began to reconsider her aunt’s offer. Maybe the fact she was working at Andy’s school was a test from God about trusting Him and not letting Andy become more important than he should. If he did like her, then surely he would’ve said something by now. And the fact he hadn’t still stung.

So it couldn’t hurt to try to deal with that rejection by finding someone else to spend time with, could it? Which was why she finally agreed to her aunt contacting her friend about a blind date.

* * *

October’s rain was cold, sheeting down. Andy hurried from his car to the pub, looked around for Grady, then when he didn’t see him, slid into a booth and nodded to the waitress.

“What may I get ya?”

“A pint of the black stuff.”

She nodded, and finally relaxed for what felt like the first time in weeks.

Ever since that disconcerting moment at school. No, longer than that. Ever since that kiss in the pub at Derryloughlin.

He plunged his head in his hands and closed his eyes, and thought back all those months. He had handled that so badly. He should’ve explained properly about his no dating plan. He shouldn’t have placed himself and her in a situation where feelings had been stirred. It was his fault. He was older, he should’ve known better, he was the one with the personal issues. He was the one who’d vowed to God to not date for five years! He groaned.

“Everything okay?” the waitress asked, placing his drink beside him.