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said.
    “What magazine?” Rose asked, rolling her window down and letting the warm, briny breeze drift through the truck. I inhaled a greedy breath.
    “I read a travel magazine on the plane. It had an article about Clonlea. You’re bakery was mentioned, too.”
    “Well! Did you know you were traveling with such celebrities?” Rose looked back at me and winked. The wind scattered her ginger hair in front of her face as Phin pulled back onto the road.
    The pub was a little corner building with a covered porch wrapping around the two street sides. Tables were stacked one after another, running the length of the porch. Greetings were called out to Rose and Phin as we walked through. They answered each with a smile and a wave but kept walking.
    Inside the white stone building a large bar stood near the entry, overflowing with beer taps and a long shelf that sagged under the weight of big glass bottles. To the left was a loud, noisy room overflowing with patrons.
    “Rose! Phin! Over here!” A lady shouted out, standing from her table and waving frantically over the crowd to make herself seen.
    Rose cut through the crowd expertly as I stumbled and fell all over the place, apologizing profusely as I went, feeling like every eye in the place was on me—the new girl. She stopped at the largest table in the room. There must have been 20 people gathered around the table with three seats saved just for us. The blonde haired woman who was waving frantically wrapped me up in an unexpected hug and began rocking side to side with me in her arms.
    “We are so glad to have you here, Faye!” she said in perfect timing with her rocking.
    “Geez, Mary. Introduce yourself before you go scaring her!” Rose scolded, slipping her purse from her shoulder and taking the seat Phin held out for her.
    “You must be Mary?” I guessed when she finally released me and let me sit down in the middle chair Phin held for me.
    “Your Aunt Rose has been telling the whole town about your visit. You’re certainly the talk of the town,” Mary gushed.
    I automatically blushed a deep crimson and looked at my hands folded in my lap, picking at my cuticles as I waited for the burn to leave my cheeks. The center of attention was not where I wanted to be. But apparently that’s exactly where I was in the crowded, noisy room.
    “That’s my Christine over there.” Mary pointed to the opposite side of the table, where a shy looking girl peeked at me through long lashes. I ventured a small wave and smile in her direction. She returned it in the exact same manner and my smile widened automatically.
    “Our Faye is not used to such rowdiness, Mary. We have to remember she is American ,” Rose made an excuse for my silence.
    I was envious of the easy way Rose and Phin interacted with their group of friends. We laughed at ridiculous stories over dinner until my cheek muscles burned with weariness and twitched in exhaustion. I looked around me and saw how happy and carefree they all were. A pang of regret shot through my gut to think of all the wasted, friendless years I’d suffered through.
    The pang of regret, quickly turned to an empty swell of homesickness, and my face felt heavy for the first time that night, thinking of how stupid I’d been, closing myself off from the world. Rose must have seen the look on my face. She pulled me to her in a sideways hug and smoothed my hair, smiling her sweet smile and humming softly.
    Later in the evening, when a few families went home and the place cleared out a little, I noticed a fireplace against the far wall. It was a massive stone structure littered with the stuffed bodies of trophy sized fish and fowl. In front of the fireplace was a sturdy four-sided table surrounded by big burley men. They had dirt from the fields still on their shirts, sleeves rolled up to the elbow and money gripped tightly in their fists. Circled around the table, cheering with each other and yelling at opponents across the