Lorcan drew a cross on his chest with his index finger. ‘I promise.’

Peyton reached over and squeezed his hand. ‘Thank you,’ she said, before turning to me. ‘There’s a trail of broken hearts behind this one.’

‘I can imagine.’ And I could. The hostess he’d been chatting up when he got here had barely taken her eyes off him all evening, although he hadn’t appeared to notice.

‘Would going that soon be convenient for you?’ I asked Lorcan.

‘Sure. There’s a couple of projects to check up on over in Ireland anyway so it works out just grand for me.’ He smiled pleasantly but the mischief dancing in his eyes was obvious.

‘Are you sure you can make it?’ Peyton asked. There was a tenseness to her shoulders, despite the friendly confidence she was clearly doing her best to project.

‘Of course.’ I nodded. ‘We’ll make it happen.’

‘Fantastic!’ She did a mini clap, her smile wide and genuine, and I palpably sensed her relax.

‘Do you want to make all the arrangements, Lorcan, so you’re happy with everything, and liaise with Maddie?’

‘Sure.’

‘Just bill everything to Daddy,’ she added.

‘I’ll pay for my own flight, but I can arrange for Madeline’s to be on your dad’s account if you like, save her having to add it onto your bill at the end.’

‘If you’re sure? I’m quite happy to pay for yours too.’

He smiled reassuringly. ‘Positive. I’ll make the arrangements, if Maddie’s happy with that?’ Everyone turned to face me.

‘Sounds great.’

‘Grand. I’m pretty sure I can sort something at short notice if you’re available for a long weekend?’

‘This weekend?’

‘Yep.’

‘Oh! Right, well, umm… hang on.’ I knew there was nothing in either my work or social diary that couldn’t be moved but, as Lorcan had already seen my too-empty work calendar, and laughed at my colour-coded diarising system, I didn’t need him snooping at my similarly coded social life.

‘This weekend looks doable,’ I said, putting my phone back in my bag. ‘If you’re able to let me know the specifics as soon as possible, that would be great. I like to be organised and know what I’m doing when.’

‘Is that so? You could have fooled me,’ Lorcan replied.

‘Lorcan…’ Patrick cautioned, although even his mouth had a curve to it.

I didn’t care. Organisation was wonderful. It meant you knew what was happening when and where and why, and that way you didn’t get any nasty surprises. Or at the least you lowered the odds.

* * *

I waved Patrick and Peyton goodbye outside the restaurant, having exchanged hugs and kisses, and watched for a moment as they headed back to where Patrick had parked. They were driving to Heathrow tonight and flying off to the States tomorrow morning.