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“Is this where you booked a room?”
I shake my head. “No, there is a local farm that has a room.”
He grunts and opens the door to the pub.
An older man behind the bar says, “Sit anywhere and come up to the bar when you’re ready to place an order.”
I pick a table near the fireplace. “Have you ever been here?”
Alex takes off his backpack. “No. I was too young to go to pubs and had no mates.”
“You must have gone to the local primary school?”
He shook his head. “No. I was not sent to school. My father occasionally brought in tutors, but mainly I fended for myself.”
I glance at the menu. It has both simple pub food and more elaborate soups and chowders.
Alex stands up. “This area has good seafood. Do you want a Guinness and some Killary mussels?”
I put my menu down. “Maybe the oysters and a regional wine?”
Alex returns with our drinks and stretches out in front of the fire. “Winter camping is not particularly easy.”
I take a sip of wine. “We have good equipment, and as I mentioned, the weather is decent.”
He lifts his bottle towards me. “As you wish.”
I lift my glass. “Cheers.”
Alex seems relaxed but keeps an eye on people coming and going from the pub.
The man behind the bar places our plates in front of us. “Enjoy.”
I keep the conversation flowing, and after we finish, Alex places money on the bar, and the bartender rings him out.
Alex looks down the sidewalk outside the pub and says, “We should rent a vehicle. The area that we’ll be camping is at least ten kilometers from here.”
“Is there a place to rent a car?”
“Call Sonia. She’ll organize a company to drop one off. In the meantime, we can go into a few shops, and with a car, we can load up on some groceries.”
“That’s not how I imagined this trip.”
Alex touches his jawline. “We have a limited amount of time. Do you want to spend it hiking through fields?”
I shake my head and call Sonia to organize a rental vehicle. While speaking with her, I notice Alex talking with a couple about to go into the pub. Turning away from him, I answer her questions about him with noncommittal grunts.
I don’t know how he is doing with all of this. It’s too early to call it a mistake, but it doesn’t feel comfortable.
Sonia says, “Don’t give up, Imogen. I know he must be prickly, but he needs this. He needs you.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it. I’ll be in touch soon.”
After ending the call, I walk to Alex and say, “Sonia thinks that the car will be here in an hour. The company couldn’t confirm the make or model, but she assumes it will be a mini or an equivalent.”
He grimaces. “Lovely.”
I look into his eyes. “Do you want to go into a few shops? I want to call my sister.”
