I stood up and stepped, but the floor below me rocked and swayed on a rogue wave, so I grabbed onto the handrail to steady myself. “Hey, Jaime? Can you grab my stuff for me?” I gestured at my backpack and purse on the seat.
“Got it.” He hurried to gather our things and returned, holding onto my arm. We filed one by one down the plank to firm ground, but I wasn’t steady. With every step, the planet tilted and wobbled with the waves and I grasped onto Jaime’s sweatshirt to steady myself.
“I need to sit.” We settled on a boulder at the port, and I focused on the people passing, the waves hitting the rocks, and the sounds of the birds chittering. “Is it cool if we check in at the hostel before venturing out? I need some food.”
A stone’s throw away stood our hostel, an old brick building facing the water. We checked in and dropped our belongings on two of the four beds. So far, no one else had claimed the other beds.
“I’ll take the bottom bunk.”
Jaime threw my backpack on the bed.
“Hey, Jaime?” I searched through my bag, dumping the contents beside me. “My purse. It was that small crossbody, and it had my passport and bank card. It was on the seat next to my bag.” I couldn’t look at him, searching meticulously to make it appear like magic. “Jaime?”
He didn’t answer, but came over and sat beside me. “Your purse?” He said it like he had never heard that word before.
“Yes, my purse. I took it off because it was heavy on my shoulders and was making my anxiety about the boat worse. I put it next to my backpack on the seat beside me.” The clothes I had ripped out of my bag fell to the floor, and I looked at him. “Did you get it?”
His wide eyes and long face told me everything. “No, I didn’t.” I watched his Adam’s apple bob and heard him swallow.
“What am I going to do?”
His body sprang into action. “I’ll be right back.” He dashed out of the room.
Alone, I cried giant tears of frustration. I knew I should have left my passport in Galway. My parents would kill me if I got stuck in Ireland.
To pass the time, I lay on the bottom bunk, staring at the springs above me, and rummaged through my backpack for an already-opened bag of chips. I’m trapped, and Jaime’s gone. I have no ID, money, or way to get home. I couldn’t decide which home I desired more.
The door swung open and hit the wall with a bang. “Got it!”
I sat up quickly, hitting my head on the bedpost as my small black bag soared through the air towards me. I unzipped the main compartment, running my fingers over my personal items. Jumping up, I hugged him, but he didn’t hug me back. When I disengaged and stepped back, he pulled a bouquet from behind his back. “This is me saying sorry. And that,” he pointed at my purse, “is me saving the day. You’re welcome.”
“Saving the day? The day needed to be saved because of you!”
“Nah-ah.” He waved his finger at me. “The day needed to be saved because you got seasick and didn’t tell me I needed to get your purse.”
I tried not to laugh, but a chuckle escaped. “Nah-ah,” I mimicked, waving my finger in front of his eyes. “The day needed to be saved because you invited me to the Aran Islands.”
He stepped closer to me, and the air between us intensified.
I wanted to say something witty, but my brain turned to mush. Instead, I mumbled, “It doesn’t matter. You saved the day.” I leaned into him and kissed his chilled, soft lips. When I tried to pull away, he grabbed the back of my head and pulled me closer. I felt his tongue roam the perimeter of my lips, and my stomach fluttered and flipped.
My little leprechaun saved the day. Maybe if I let him, he could save the princess, too.
Chapter 25
That afternoon, Jaime and I rented bikes and wandered the narrow, paved roads surrounded by towering limestone walls. My calves ached and I calculated how far we had ridden, expecting to fall off the other end of the island at any moment. Jaime dropped his bike on the side of the road and waved me to follow him.
He moved faster than me, and I hustled to keep up, careful not to trip over the craggy rocks. At the top of the hill, a flat clearing opened up overlooking the Atlantic. Jaime stopped and scanned the horizon. “Here we are.”
“Wow.” Breathless and speechless, all I could do was place my hand over my heart and creep toward the edge. To our left stretched miles and miles of flat ground hundreds or thousands of feet above the ocean floor. To our right stood a stone fortress with openings interspersed around the perimeter. “Where are we?”
“Dun Aengus. Isn’t it spectacular?” He walked to the fortress and through an open doorway. We were the only people up there, and the sound of the ocean waves crashing into the vertical cliffs grew as we stepped closer to the edge.
“What is it?”
“It’s a prehistoric site over three thousand years old. It’s amazing how people could survive back then. Especially here.” He settled on the hard ground away from the edge and I sat behind him.
“I’m afraid of heights, so I’ll just stay back a little.” My toes tingled, signifying my increasing anxiety, and my breaths shortened.
