you believe I saw young Shay Sullivan hopping into a taxi When Shay looked at it that way she understood why Sean had pulled her out of the taxi so fast Once she calmed down Shay settled into her seat in Uncle Sean’s car and fell asleep They arrived at his farmhouse almost three hours later Shay was bleary-eyed from sleep and practically stumbled inside She sat at the table and hungrily spooned the stew she was given into her mouth After several mouthfuls she realized what she was eating lamb stew On a sheep farm but by the time she did she no longer cared She was hungry And honestly the stew was delicious After a few more bites she was finally feeling normal She felt less cranky than she had in the airplane In fact she was starting to look forward to this adventure Two months in Ireland without her parents
Shay also felt much less nervous about Uncle Sean He looked softer than he had in her picture His brown hair was thick and a bit wild and his green eyes were kind and warm behind his glasses He was a bit taller than her dad and much thinner He wore a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up She looked up from her bowl to see Uncle Sean staring Sorry she said She wiped a drip of stew from her chin I was just just hungry She looked down at her bowl for more but found it was empty It’s me that’s sorry said Sean He stood up to refill Shay’s bowl Don’t know what I was thinking falling asleep Then scaring you like that What would your father say Shay had almost forgotten about her parents and why she was in Ireland to begin with All of a sudden she couldn’t eat another bite of stew Uncle Sean is it okay if I go unpack 11
The upstairs of the farmhouse wasn’t like any second floor Shay had ever seen It had angled ceilings that made Shay feel taller than usual The walls were papered over in an old-fashioned floral print They were covered with photos There were probably more than fifty photos all in wooden frames They hung on the walls of the short hallway Shay looked in fascination at the pictures She had photos hanging in her own house but nothing like these For starters every single one was in black and white And most of them were of large families parents and lots of children None of them smiled at the camera Everyone loves these said Sean noticing Shay staring at the pictures They’re nothing to do with me All of these are people who lived here or on the property My grandmammy had em all hung up when she and pappy owned the house
