Now free from my son’s handshake, Eoghanan moved across the room to fill his own plate, speaking with his back toward us as he did so. “’Tis only that yer ‘nickname’ as ye called it, made me think of someone verra dear. She too has trouble with me name and decided on the same name as ye have, lad. And aye, ye may call me E-o for I know she wouldna mind sharing it with ye.”
With his plate full, he joined us at the table, sitting next to Morna and across from me and Cooper with Jerry rounding out the table by sitting at its head. The table was smaller than what one would find at the average restaurant. As a result, the five of us found ourselves sitting in very close proximity. No matter that most of us were strangers to one another, I found it impossible to behave that way with the familiar way in which we sat, and I unthinkingly blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“The woman who called you by the same name—was she a girlfriend? Or an ex-wife perhaps?” The questions slipped out, and I groaned internally. It was absolutely none of my business. Apparently, lack of sleep had the remarkable ability to loosen my tongue. It no longer seemed safe for me to be in the presence of those I might insult, and decided it time that Cooper and I leave to explore the area for the rest of the day—just as soon as we finished our meal.
With an even deeper blush than before, I raised my eyes to see a look of amusement on the man’s face.
“I doona believe that I know yer name, lass.”
“I…I’m sorry. It’s. I’m Grace.” I sat down my fork and held out a hand in between stuttered words. He took my fingertips into his hand, kissing my knuckles before pulling away and directing his attention back to his food.
“’Tis a pleasure to meet ye, Grace. Aye, the lass is the bonniest of girlfriends. Can one have an ex-wife as ye said? I doona know, but she is no me wife. She is me brother’s.”
“Ah.” The noise made little sense, but neither did his explanation. Either he didn’t understand what a girlfriend was, or he’d just gleefully confessed to sleeping with his sister-in-law. And to my knowledge there were few places left in the world that didn’t acknowledge some sort of spousal separation. Perhaps it was his way of making some sort of joke I didn’t get. I very much hoped he wasn’t a comedian.
Not wishing to delve further into that can of worms, I finished my food as quickly as possible and waited patiently for Cooper to do the same. Once he’d clearly had his fill, I stood scooping up both our plates so that I could rinse them, only stopping at Morna’s insistence.
“If ye know what’s best for ye, lass, ye will leave those dishes be right this instant. No guest of mine will ever clean a dish if I have anything to say about it. Why doona ye go with Jerry, and he’ll help ye carry yer bags to yer room and allow ye some time to settle in?”
Obeying, I left the dishes inside the sink, turning so that I could properly address her. “Thank you, but I think we’ll wait to get our bags if that’s alright? I’d like to go ahead and scope out the lay of the land and decide just what I want to work on photographing tomorrow.”
Morna stood as Cooper hopped down from his seat to make his way over to me. “Aye, o’course. The two of ye are free to do as ye wish.”
“Okay, great. We will be back sometime this afternoon. Thank you for the food. It was delicious.” I reached to rub my fingers through Cooper’s hair as he approached me. “Wasn’t it, Coop? You ready?”
“Yep, but can I ask E-o one question first?”
A scary question coming from someone as inquisitive as Cooper, but I didn’t imagine there was much chance of him asking something as intrusive as I had done. “I don’t mind, but it’s up to him whether or not he answers your question.”
Eoghanan smiled, clearly ready to hear what Cooper meant to ask him. “Ask whatever ye wish, lad. I’ll answer ye.”
“If you didn’t come here on the plane with us, did you fly in on a spaceship? ’Cause I know you’re the same man I saw at the playground and at the airport.” Astonishingly, he didn’t smile or laugh as he asked. He meant it as an entirely serious question.
“What? Cooper, why would you ask him that?” I answered in Eoghanan’s place, wishing to spare him the oncoming conversation.
“Maybe he’s like the little prince in the book, Mom. He flies around to different places like the little prince did to different planets.”
“Oh, I see.” Realization dawned on me as I remembered our flight time story. At least he was making text-to-world connections, regardless of how far-fetched they might be. “Coop, you know that was just a story, right?”
He twisted where he stood, crossing his arms as he looked up at me, disappointed. “Oh man, Mom. I guess that means you’re a real grown-up then. Only a grown-up would say it was just a story. Don’t you remember the problem with grown-ups from the book? Kids see things more clearly.”
This would require a longer conversation than I was willing to have in front of our captive audience. “Often times they do, Coop, but I don’t think your new friend is the same man. We’ll talk about it more in a minute. Let’s get out of everyone’s hair for a bit.”