“I got one,” Jaime said, revealing a coin.
I leaned over to get a better look. “What does that mean?”
“Good fortune,” Connor said. He held up a tiny metal thimble pendant. “Looks like I’ll be a spinster for life.” Leaning across the table, he kissed his wife, and Deirdre chuckled.
“You aren’t so lucky,” she said, and I smiled at their cuteness.
I continued digging. “Ooh!” I pulled out a bag and removed the charm. “A ring.”
Deirdre’s eyes widened, and her eyebrows rose to the top of her head. “Ooh, that means you will find love.” Willie Daly’s prediction of finding love within the next six months poked me in the heart. She winked at Jaime and smiled at me. “That’s a great one to have.” After a moment of silence, she said, “It appears the others are still in the loaf. Guess my life won’t be changing this year, aye?”
After dinner, Jaime and I cozied on the couch in front of the telly. My belly was full of comfort food, and my soul was full of love. With the help of Jaime, Deirdre, and Connor, I was falling in love with Ireland. I had never imagined being so welcomed into a family and couldn’t imagine my own parents treating Jaime with the same level of hospitality.
“Jaime,” I whispered.
He looked down at me and stroked my hair.
“Thank you. For showing me what it’s like to be from Ireland. As much as I don’t want to be a trash bag for Halloween, I’m happy I’ll get to spend the night with you.” I gazed into his eyes and counted the freckles sprinkled across his cheeks.
“No, no, if you hate it, you don’t have to wear it.” My body tingled with every touch and I closed my eyes, memorizing the way he made me feel.
“A bet is a bet, and I lost fair and square.”
He smiled and gazed at my face. “Would it make you feel better if I wore a bin bag, too?”
A grin erupted at the thought of Jaime wearing a trash bag with nothing underneath, and I nodded quickly. “Yeah.”
“We’ll both be pirates. It’ll be grand.”
Chapter 21
“I look ridiculous.” The tiny bathroom of the youth hostel closed in on me and I struggled to breathe. My reflection illuminated my shoulders and face, and I jumped up and down to see my body. The swish-swish of the plastic trash bag ricocheted off the bare walls and I tightened the belt around my waist. Black eyeliner highlighted my pirate persona, and I almost didn’t recognize myself.
The door thundered behind me. “Ya’lmost done in there?” I didn’t recognize the high-pitched voice, and I flung my makeup into my small cosmetic bag.
Pasting on my most poised smile, I pulled my shoulders back and opened the door. Whatever. It’s Halloween. I passed a woman dressed as one of the Spice Girls, and sneaked back to our room for the night. Zoey, Marissa, Owen, Aoife, and Jaime lounged around the room; small, empty liquor bottles, Halloween accessories, and the clothing we wore on the train to Dublin splattered the top and bottom bunks like a Jackson Pollock painting.
“How do I look?” I asked, spinning in a circle holding out the skirt of my plastic dress.
“Like a pirate,” Zoey said, “Kind of. I think you need something else, like a telescope or a parrot.”
I looked around the tiny hostel, searching for something I could borrow for the night. “I know!” I ran to the bathroom, ripping off the remaining toilet paper from the cardboard cylinder.
“Argh!” I hollered, as I entered our makeshift bedroom. Holding the used toilet paper roll as a spyglass, I zoomed in on Zoey. “Now do I look like a pirate, matey?” I said, in my best pirate accent.
“Argh, aye-aye, matey.” Marissa grabbed my spyglass and colored it with the gray eyeshadow I had used to create my eye patch. “Perfect.” Her feather headband created animal-shadows against the dim light.
“Where’d you find that?” Jaime asked.
“Bathroom, my pirate pal. Would you like one?”
I rushed to the bathroom and found an almost empty paper towel roll and ripped off the extra sheets of paper, leaving them on the sink. “Jaime, I found you a spyglass, too!” The dark eye shadow created a matching glittery smoky telescope that Jaime shoved in his back pants pocket. “Now we’re twins.” I eyed his costume and hugged him. “Thank you for dressing up with me. I feel less foolish.”
He kissed me on the cheek. “I said I would.”
“How do we look?” Marissa asked. She linked arms through Zoey’s and jutted her hip. Her fishnet stockings traveled under the tassels of her skirt and the flowing, glittery strings swished with each movement. Zoey and Marissa’s tight, sparkly dresses, headband, and elegant makeup contradicted the rough and tumble look Jaime and I wore.
“Like Nicole Kidman, but shorter,” I said.