Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Benny chuckled and excused himself.
I took a bite of my lunch and let out a soft moan. “Oh my God. I think this is the best food I’ve ever eaten.”
Lucas laughed. “It is good. How are you feeling?”
“Better now that I’m getting some real food. Um, can I have a bite of yours?”
He slid the bowl my way, and I took a few bites and smiled. “That’s good too. I have a feeling we’ll be eating here often.”
Lucas’s smile faltered. “I just hope Benny’s able to stay open.”
“Things are that bad?” I asked in a hushed voice. Benny was engrossed in a conversation with the older gentleman.
“It’s not only here; a lot of the older pubs are shutting down. I think the younger generation wants to go to hipper bars or clubs. Which sucks. I love the feel of this place and would kill to have something like it back in Salem.”
I nodded and shoveled another bite of food into my mouth. Once I swallowed, I said, “The driver who brought me here from the airport also said a lot of younger people are leaving for places like Dublin.”
Lucas nodded. “It’s true. These smaller pubs are slowly disappearing.”
“What do we do?”
He paused with his fork at his mouth before he slowly lowered it. “We do nothing, Hollie. And by that, I mean you will not do magick. At all.”
I laughed. “Do you think I’m incapable of doing anything without magick now?”
“Yes, I do.”
Leaning back, I folded my arms over my chest. “That’s mean. And might I add that the few spells I’ve done have all turned out great!”
“Yeah, after you did another spell to correct the first one you messed up.”
My mouth dropped open so I could argue with him, but then I quickly realized he was right. “Touché.”
Benny made his way back over to us with a wide smile on his face.
“How’s the food?”
“It’s amazing!” Lucas and I replied at the same time.
“Ma is good in the kitchen.”
I nodded. “I’ll say.”
A few more people walked into the pub, and I saw the excitement on Benny’s face. Lucas dove back into his food while I watched Benny interact with his customers. They were a bit older than me, though not by much. One was in a suit, the other dressed more casually. As they ordered lunch, Benny poured them each a beer. There was clearly an art to pouring a pint of Guinness, Ireland’s most popular beer.
After placing the pints down for the two gentlemen, Benny slipped into the kitchen and quickly came back out with two plates and bread. The three of them were soon lost in conversation.
“The one thing you’ll notice in Ireland: they love to chat. That’s what’s so great about the local pubs,” Lucas stated.
“Are there any other pubs in this little town?” I asked.
He nodded as he chewed. “Down the road about a mile or so. But Benny’s is right here on Main Street, so it’s generally considered the local pub.”
“What would he do if it closed?”
Turning to look at Benny, Lucas shrugged. “I don’t know. I’d hate to think of him having to sell this place since it’s been in his family for so long.”
I chewed on my lip before I went back to my lunch. My mind started to race, and I made a mental note to call my sister Sarah. She’d know the best spell to put on the pub so we could help out Benny.
Lucas
After spending nearly all afternoon and night in bed with Hollie, I hated to leave the next morning. But I needed to get to the dig site; I had a lot of catching up to do since I’d been gone most of yesterday. Missing work had been worth it, though. Hollie’s surprise…her two surprises…still had me feeling like I was walking on cloud nine.
Leaning down, I kissed Hollie gently on the forehead. “Hollie, I’m leaving for work.”
She grunted something that sounded like I love you and have a good day.
I grabbed an apple and a protein bar and made my way to the dig site. Once I was there, Ryan and Matt caught me up everything that had happened yesterday. They’d found the corner of what appeared to be the stone base of a building. It was another exciting discovery, and I quickly jumped into action.
“You’ve documented the find in the notebook? And you took photos?” I asked Ryan.
He nodded. “This isn’t my first dig site, Lucas.”
Smiling, I replied, “I know, sorry.”
“How was your time with the missus?” Matt asked. His Irish accent was so thick that I constantly ended up staring at him in confusion because I couldn’t understand half the shit he said.
“My missus?”
“Your future wife, your girlfriend.”
“Oh! Right. It was great. Took her to O’Brien’s for lunch. She loved it. Wanted to go back for dinner as well, but we were busy catching up on lost time.”