‘I was just making a comment. Lots of people find out their ancestry isn’t what they thought it was.’

Patrick’s brow darkened even more and I sensed that this could escalate very quickly. I needed to keep this wedding on track and, by the looks of it, that meant keeping Lorcan O’Malley in check too.

‘Perhaps that’s something you could get a professional on to at some point, then, Peyton,’ I said smoothly, ‘but in the meantime this is your and Patrick’s wedding, which means you can do and have whatever you want.’ I gave Lorcan a pointed look as I made the statement, which he met, holding my gaze.

Peyton looked up, her face relaxing and smiling at me as Patrick wrapped his hand around hers.

‘Lorcan is rather protective of being Irish and doesn’t really like to share,’ Peyton said in an uncharacteristic dig.

He opened his mouth to reply but I interrupted.

‘I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it,’ I said, grabbing his elbow beneath the table in warning, ‘and I’m sure he’ll be as helpful as it is possible to be in our quest to get you two the perfect wedding. Isn’t that right?’ I said, turning to Lorcan with a wide smile.

‘Absolutely,’ he said, turning a smile on me, his eyes sending a completely different message to his mouth.

We spent a while going over the things I’d already arranged for them, showing them the stationery I’d had designed and some ideas I’d put together for styling the castle, using the photos of it I’d seen online as a base.

‘Well, it looks like we’re in pretty good shape. Now, you said that you’re using a local supplier for the cake, is that right?’

‘Yes.’ Peyton smiled widely. ‘And they said they can fit you in any time for the tasting, so it’s whatever suits you really.’

I pulled up my work calendar on my phone and glanced through the following week. There were a few items in it, but nowhere near as many as I would have hoped for, or as many as my roof needed to be in there. However, image was everything so I gave an umm and aah before advising that I could be pretty flexible and work around them. I felt Lorcan’s eyes upon me, knowing he’d seen my too-empty calendar, and waited for the inevitable sarcastic comment. Instead, when I met his gaze, there was a look of understanding.

‘So, what works best for you, Lorcan?’ Peyton asked.

‘I guess that depends on Miss Maddie here.’

‘OK, we can discuss that shortly.’

‘And we thought you’d probably have a list of preferred caterers and would know who was the best in the area, so felt it was better to leave it to you, especially with our travel plans now.’