Mike looked outraged. “It’s none of your business what I do with my land.”

Paul leaned forward. “Of course it’s not. Of course it should be left up to a bunch of Yanks to decide what to do with a place they’d never seen and they’ll never see again.”

“This is my family—”

“But not your country, mate—”

Lauren slammed her hands on the table. “Will both of you just shut up?”

The mellow tenor and bass of the singers swung out into our small corner of silence. “No, nay never, no more...”

I took a deep breath in the long, tense stillness. “I just love this song!”

Paul flashed a blazing smile at me that was clearly really intended for the other two members of our party to notice. “Want to dance?”

I stole a glance at Mike as I whirled my finger at my chest. “Me?”

Paul smiled. “Won’t be the same as salsa in Ecuador or dancing at one of the super-clubs, but we have better music here.”

I laughed. “Yeah, well, I’m awful at salsa and can’t stand house music, so this sounds like a great alternative.”

Mike stood up abruptly. “I’ll dance with you.”

I shrugged at Paul as Mike wrapped his fingers around mine and marched us onto the dance floor. A handful of other couples swayed back and forth; no grinding to be seen here, not where everyone knew everyone else’s parents. I draped my hand over Mike’s shoulders and breathed in the woodsy aroma. “What a sweet way to ask me to dance.”

“You didn’t want to dance with him.”

I couldn’t help it. A smile burst out of me and I reached out to touch his cheek. “Aw, cute. He made you jealous.”

He glared at me. “I am not jealous of Paul and the chip on his shoulder.”

I tried to wipe the amusement off my face. “Right. No. My mistake.”

Beyond Mike’s shoulder, I could see Paul turning to Lauren, a sly smile on his face. Whoa. He had totally just out manipulated all of us. Respect bloomed. “I think he just did that so he could get you out of the way before asking Lauren.”

“What?” Mike stopped dancing and spun me around so he could face the two of them.

I laughed even as I stumbled. “What did you think would happen?”

His head tilted as he scanned the crowd. “Where did they go?”

“Calm down. Your sister is a big girl. I’m sure she can handle herself.”

He scowled at me. “You worry too much about some things and not enough about others.”

I smiled and leaned my head against his chest. “Maybe.”

The two men started in on “Whiskey on the Jar,” an old Irish song that had somehow ended up in my music collection as a fifteen year old. Probably from my dad’s Thin Lizzy CD. Warmth seeped into me, followed by a slow tide of comfort and safety. I felt the solidness of Mike’s chest before me and the strength of the arms that encircled me, and I wanted to stay wrapped away with him, just like this, forever.

His words sounded like they’d come from far away. “You know what’s strange? You could have come here all by yourself. You have met the village, and seen the gravestones, and Kilkarten, and the cliff top on the coastal path. And I never would have.”

I stared up at him. In my mind, my heart, Mike had become utterly entwined with Kilkarten. He was right, though. If Patrick hadn’t died, Mike and I would never have met.

I couldn’t imagine being here without Mike.

And for the first time, I truly regretted Patrick’s passing. Not because I wished I’d never met Mike, but because I was so, so happy I had. Gratitude and guilt stirred within me. How many other ways it could have gone. I could have been three seasons into an excavation before Mike came to Ireland. What would that have been like? Would I have liked him so much then? If I hadn’t needed him to sign the papers and he hadn’t distrusted me and his friend Rachael hadn’t liked to matchmake, we could have met like two ordinary people and grabbed a drink in a bar. I bet it would have been wonderful—we had the same sense of humor, the same mentality about life—we ran on the same frequency.

But maybe we would have had our drinks and our fun and gone our separate ways after a while, passing with smiling masks like shallow and pleasant neighbors, who never bothered to see past the veneer. We never would have torn off those masks and opened old wounds if we hadn’t been forced.

We danced through three more songs, until I spotted Kate, sitting at a table with Maggie and several other adults.

“It has to be weird for her.”

“Hmm?”

“Your mom. All these people she doesn’t know, but who knew her husband before she did. Like meeting characters out of a fairytale. They weren’t supposed to exist.” I slowed to a stop. “You should ask her to dance.”

“You don’t mind?”

I smiled. “I can always ask Paul.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You’re hilarious.”

I laughed and handed him off to his mother, whose face lit up. I dropped down at the bar next to Lauren, whose hair poofed out like a cartoon character’s. “I thought you were dancing with Paul.”

She snickered and took a sip of her drink. “Yeah. Verbally. Mentally. Think he hates all of us.” She thumped her beer down on the counter and looked directly at me. “But I like you. You’re good for Mike.”

Was I?

“But he’s still sometimes too much, you know? Like earlier. It’s not his land. So I was thinking.”

A touch of unease crawled up my spine. I turned so I could see Mike. He was smiling at his mother, and I saw her laugh. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen Kate O’Connor laugh. “Oh?”

“I was thinking... You can dig Kilkarten.”

A thousand needles pricked my body and I swung back in her direction. “Wait, what?”

“Anna and I talked it over. If there’s some lost city there, we want it uncovered.”

I gaped at her. “But... I thought it wasn’t a democracy.”

One of her brow’s winged up. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Just... Have you talked to Mike? I thought all three of you had to agree.”

“Oh, yeah, that. Well, it is a democracy. It’s not Mike’s decision.”

My heart seemed to be pounding at twice its normal pace. “You can’t make him sign.”

She smiled. “Oh, yes, I can.” She raised an arm and hollered over the pub’s noise. “Mike! Get over here!”

My head whirled even as every second passed in slow motion. I charted Mike’s path toward us with each step he took.

Lauren and Anna wanted me to excavate Kilkarten.

I could see the whole future spread out, a future I’d turned off months ago when Mike first refused to sign. I could see the dig, the discovery, the report. The articles in journals, the news segment I’d dreamed up for mainstream media.

And then I heard Mike’s voice in my head, saying he would never let me excavate Kilkarten, because of “personal reasons.”

Now the real Mike stopped before us, beer in hand, smile on his face. His gaze kept touching mine. “What’s up?”

I placed my hand on Lauren’s arm. My voice came out faint. “Lauren, I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

Mike looked back and forth between us. “What’s not a good idea?”

Lauren pushed off her bar stool. “Natalie’s excavating Kilkarten.”

Mike swung a surprised look my way. “No, she isn’t.”

Lauren crossed her arms. “Yeah. She is.”

Mike looked at me. “What’s she talking about? You can’t dig.”

“That’s right.” My head felt like it was floating off. “You said that. But I don’t know why not.”

He stared at me. “Because.”

I beseeched him with my gaze. Because why?

Lauren’s voice was unyielding. “Mike, you’ve been saying ‘because’ since I was fifteen. It’s not going to cut it anymore.”

“Dammit, Lauren!”

Several people looked our way. Anna caught sight of us and hurried over. “What’s going on?”

Mike’s jaw and fists clenched. “I’m not having this conversation here.” He turned and walked out the door.