‘Aah, Lorcan, lad,’ the man said, extending his hand over the bar to shake Lorcan’s. ‘Good to see you again. Let me just have a look. Oh, yes, here we are. One double room as requested.’ His eyes darted between me and Lorcan. ‘Sorry about the confusion there, miss.’

‘Not to worry. It’s sorted now, that’s the main thing.’

He nodded and gave a wide, friendly smile before turning around and lifting the last remaining key from a small board behind him.

‘Here you go,’ he said, handing the key to Lorcan. ‘You know where everything is.’

‘Oh! It’s my room, actually.’

The landlord looked at me and Lorcan took the key off him. ‘It’s her room, as she says.’ Then, turning to me, ‘Come on, I’ll show you up. Gerry’s got enough on his hands here.’

‘Thanks. That’s grand, Lorcan, and welcome to Ballalee, miss. I hope you enjoy your stay.’

I nodded in thanks, my throat already sore from my in-air exploits and then shouting over the noise of the bar. I’d rather not have had Lorcan O’Malley showing me to my room, but it seemed it was going to be the quickest way of getting there so I went along with it. As I reached for my case, he lifted it by the handle, then took my hand with his free one.

‘Hold on.’ With that, he headed back into the crowd, making a pathway with his broad shoulders. I gratefully followed in his wake until we got to the other side of the pub and the bottom of some narrow stairs.

‘Ladies first.’ He quirked a brow as I glanced up at him, his face still inscrutable, the smile he’d had for his friends – and earlier for me – now nowhere to be seen. The man he’d been on the plane, kind, patient and calming, had disappeared behind a distant exterior. I knew I was probably partly responsible for that but I couldn’t help it. I was tired, embarrassed and out of my comfort zone with the feelings his platonic attention had caused and unfortunately Lorcan had got the brunt of my reaction earlier in the car.

The stairs creaked and groaned as I mounted them, looking at the old black and white pictures decorating the walls as I did so. Images of the village centuries ago showed that, from what I’d seen on the drive in, it had changed very little in all that time.

‘Sorry,’ I said, realising I was probably keeping Lorcan from his friends.

‘No problem.’

I continued up the stairs. I could look at the rest of them tomorrow when I didn’t have an unnerving Irishman behind me.