That was incredible. The more she talked to him, the more alike their interests seemed. If he seemed like a renaissance man, maybe she was too. “Brilliant,” she said softly. “I don’t remember all of the words, but I think it’s a call and response, right?”

“That’s right. Start again?”

She nodded.

“Oh we’d be alright, if the wind were in our sails.”

“We’d be alright, if the wind were in our sails,” she joined in.

“And we’ll all hang on behind... And we’ll roll the old chariot along...”

“...we’ll roll the old chariot along.”

They sang in unison taking turns to recite the refrain, until she lost track of the words and giggled along. “Your voice is beautiful,” he said, eventually giving up.

“You lie,” she said.

Aiden shrugged. “It seemed like a nice thing to say to a woman who was wailing her head off in the middle of the sea.”

“Shut up,” she said as she reached over the side of the boat. She splashed water on him and laughed as he shook his head.

“Careful, darling. I’ll leave you out here with your seal friends.” He cut the engine and wiped his face with his sleeve. “Jaysus, who is this?” He shifted in his seat to pull his phone from his back pocket.

“Your boss?”

“Hold on just a second, it’s my brother,” he said as he swiped his screen. Aiden held his phone in front of his face. “Sean?”

“No, it’s your poor old mam.”

“She hijacked my phone,” said a man’s voice in the background. Aiden’s eyes darted to Antonia’s.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Who are you with, son?”

“I’m with a woman,” he said. “Mam, you don’t have to use FaceTime for everything.”

“I like seeing my children when I talk to them,” his mother said. Antonia hid her smile behind her hand as she watched him struggle. “And did you say you’re on a date?”

Aiden shook his head while staring at Antonia. “No mother, I didn’t say I was on a date.”

“You wouldn’t call this a date?” Antonia asked.

“You’re making a mistake,” he said in a low voice.

“I can hear her,” Clare said. “Could you swing me over to her?”

Aiden closed his eyes. “Mam...”

Antonia could barely contain her laughter. “I wouldn’t mind.”

“Mam, I’m actually operating a currach right now. Remember what you said about multitasking?”

“You’re hardly going to hit anything out on the water,” his mother said. “Just hand me to her while you row.”

“Do it, Aiden,” said Sean’s muffled voice in the background. “She won’t stop until she’s thoroughly embarrassed you.”

Aiden heaved a sigh and handed the phone to Antonia.

Three people had managed to push their way into the screen. At the front must have been Aiden’s mother, a handsome woman with the same brilliant green eyes as her son. Her salt-and-pepper hair was braided into a bun with silver wisps around her forehead. This woman could not have been older than fifty-five. Behind her, a man, close to his early forties, waved at her. Next to him, must have been the young Soircha whose blonde hair was a halo of unruly ringlets threatening to take up most of the screen. Apparently, Antonia was to speak to all three of them at once.