“I didn’t brush my teeth this morning.”
I swatted him on the arm, and the moment’s intensity broke under his self-deprecating humor.
He stood up and stretched, reaching to take my hand. “You ready to go? My ma and da should be back in about forty-five minutes.”
Brushing the dirt off the seat of my filthy jeans, I followed him to the car in silence. Lost in my thoughts and torn between what felt acceptable and adventurous, I wasn’t sure who I wanted to be or if being myself was holding me back.
Jaime walked to the passenger door and stuck his arm through the open window. He pulled up the door lock and opened the rusty door from the inside. “After you.”
I curtseyed with my invisible skirt and slid into the seat. He slammed the door shut and settled into the driver’s side. “Thank you. You’re quite the gentleman.”
He grinned and turned the key in the ignition, but nothing happened. He tried again, and we continued to sit in silence.
“Bloody car,” he said. “I told my da the battery keeps failing.”
I leaned over to look at the dash, and all the lights blinked at me. “What’s up?”
“We need a new battery. Can you drive a manual?”
I looked at him like he asked me to speak Gaelic. “No. Never tried.”
“Okay. Well, I need you to get out and push.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “You’re not serious.”
“If you want to get back to Galway, you need to push me down the hill so I can pop the clutch.” His mischievous eyes made me giggle. I wasn’t familiar with ‘pop the clutch’ and didn’t know how pushing a two-ton object would help.
When he didn’t laugh back, I rolled my eyes. “You are serious.”
“Help, please.” He waved at me, signaling me to get out of the car. “I can’t do this without you.”
I sighed and walked to the hood.
Jaime stuck his head out the window. “We have to turn the car around. You push on the bonnet and I’ll turn the wheel.”
I leaned on the hood and pushed with all my might. The car rolled about two inches, and my shoulders ached.
“Come on, do it again. You can do it, Rory!”
Annoyed that I was doing all the hard work, I leaned down and grunted, shifting my weight through my left leg and into the hood of the car. It crept toward the castle archway.
“Great, Rory. Now walk around to the back, and push with everything you have.” Visions of me in labor and my future husband telling me to ‘push with everything I have’ flashed at me. In any other situation, I would have laughed at the comparison.
I widened my stance and crossed my arms over my chest. “Why am I doing this?” I called over the front windshield.
He stuck his head out the window, and I saw his face transform into a red-haired Irish setter going for a joyride. “Because you can’t drive a manual. Who comes to Ireland not knowing how to drive a manual?”
I threw my arms up in the air and stomped to the back of the car. “Fine. Are you ready?”
Jaime fumbled with the gears and checked his mirrors. “Ready!”
I lunged forward, placed my hand on the metal bumper, and threw all my weight into the car. The first few inches took all my energy, but the decline helped the car pick up speed. I pushed and ran behind the vehicle until it was going so fast that it left me in the cloud of dust created by the wheels spinning along the dirt road.
The engine kicked on, and the car stopped about a hundred feet in front of me. Jaime stuck his head out the window, twisted backward, and waved. “Great job, Rory! Let’s go!”
I ran to the car and slammed the door. “Good?” I asked, still unclear how he got the car running.
“Bravo, Rory.” He leaned over and kissed me on the lips again. It was quick, tender, and comfortable, like we had been dating for years. I hadn’t expected it, but I didn’t hate it.
