“Hello!” his mother said with a bright smile. “I’m Aiden’s mother, Clare Hannigan.”

“Hi, Clare,” Antonia said, holding the phone upward. “I’m Antonia.”

“Oh my, what a fine name! How grand.”

“Real class name,” Sean intoned. She guessed that he must have taken after their father, Sean’s blond hair matched his daughters.

“She’s pretty,” Soircha murmured not too subtly.

“Are you enjoying Ireland, dear?” Clare asked.

“Oh yes,” Antonia said cheerfully. She glanced at Aiden who rolled his eyes. “Your son is showing me a lovely harbor near Clifden.”

“Oooh, he took her to the harbor.”

“I heard her, Mam,” Sean said.

“Is it a date?” Soircha asked, most of her face still out of frame. Antonia could only see her massive hair.

“Uh...” She looked at Aiden for help. He continued only to roll his eyes in response. “Yes, I think I’d call it a date.”

“Oooh, did you hear that? He took her on a date; that’s very romantic.”

“I heard her, Mam.”

“What do you do, Antonia?”

She paused to find Aiden staring at her with new interest. Perhaps he wasn’t expecting her to admit to his mother that they were actually on a date. “I’m a writer.”

“Oh, a writer!” Clare squealed in delight. “And you know that Aiden teaches literature, right?”

She grinned. “Yes, we talked about that. We’ve actually been helping one another with our writing this week.”

“She looks like a model,” Soircha whispered.

Antonia blushed. “Well, I don’t know about that.”

“Oh, she’s right,” Clare agreed. “You look like you could be in the magazines.”

“I’d like to think I’m too smart for that.”

Clare tittered, shaking the phone about. “And she’s funny! D’you hear that, Aiden? She’s too smart for it.”

“I heard her, Mam,” Aiden shouted.

“How long are you in Ireland, Antonia?” Sean asked.

“For about a week or so,” she answered.

“Ah, you should come to Galway. Aiden is keeping Soircha until she goes to Spiddal. He could show you both the sights,” Clare suggested. Aiden’s brows shot up as he moved to take back the phone.

His quick movement rocked the boat, causing Antonia to panic. She screamed and lost her grip of the phone in an effort to steady herself. Luckily the phone landed at the bottom of the boat and not in the water. Aiden caught her by the shoulders and held her still before she could overcorrect the rocking. “Stay still,” he said. “We’re not going to sink.”

“That’s what they said about the Titanic,” she said frantically.

“This isn’t the Titanic,” he said as he searched for his phone.

“No, it’s much smaller,” she cried. “It’s a bloody canoe.”

When he found the phone, he looked into the screen. “See, Mam, this is why I can’t always take your calls. And shame on you for using Sean as a shield.”

“Please don’t capsize the boat with all your carryin’ on, Aiden,” Clare warned. “That’s one quick way to lose a girlfriend.”

“Aye,” added Sean. “No woman’s going to want to swim home from a date, Aiden.”