Love Like This (The Romance Chronicles-Book #1)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The next morning, Keira wasn't surprised when there was no breakfast waiting for her at the bar. When Shane didn't arrive to take her on an excursion, she was equally unsurprised. Her stomach twisted and turned with grief.

She knew she should attend some festival events anyway, but she felt too numb to do so. Without Shane it would just be depressing. So instead she ran back upstairs to her room and shut away the outside world.

Keira wanted to leave, to run away from this place, this whole country, and forget all about it. But there were still four days left of her trip. She knew even a pleading phone call to Heather wouldn't result in a reschedule of flights. Even if Heather herself was kind-hearted about the situation (which Keira knew she wouldn't be anyway) Joshua would veto it. He'd say something about how much she'd cost the company already. How it would be his head on the chopping block, not hers, or something equally dramatic. The last thing she wanted right now was any kind of interaction with Josh.

Keira felt at a complete loss. She wished there was some means to communicate with Shane but she didn't even have his number. If he could just give her a chance maybe they could talk this through, resolve it.

Suddenly, she remembered the itinerary Heather had given her. Josh's assistant had planned everything meticulously. Surely she'd have included Shane's number in there somewhere!

Keira searched in her bags for Heather's itinerary. She found it and scanned the document, searching for Shane's number. There it was! He was listed as "The Guide." How strange it felt now to think back on him as her tour guide, when he had become something so different, something so much more.

She felt her nerves grow as she typed his number into her phone. She listened to the phone ring, then voicemail kick in. Deliberating for a moment, Keira decided to leave a message.

"Hey, Shane, it's Keira. Can we talk?"

Her voice sounded stilted, more nervous than she would have liked. She lost her confidence and hung up before she had a chance to say any more. What she really wanted to do was apologize. Grovel. But that hadn't exactly done her any favors before and now it felt like she'd lost all her inner strength.

Her phone pinged, indicating a message. She tensed, hoping it wasn't Joshua. Praying that it was Shane. It was neither. Instead, it was a text from Nina.

I've had an idea. You need to see who the matchmaker matches you with. It would make a great concluding paragraph, don't you think?

Keira's heart sank. The thought of approaching William for a matching made her feel sick. She didn't even want to think about being with another man. She just wanted things to go back to how they'd been with Shane.

But Nina was right. She was consumed with writer's block as it was. Maybe a visit to William would give her the spark of inspiration she needed. A bad match now could provide her with the final paragraph or two for her article.

Keira wasn't quite sure how, but somehow she managed to get out of bed and out onto the streets of Lisdoonvarna. She strolled slowly to William's, biding her time. But there was only so slow she could go down the one road before she found herself outside the burnt orange house far too soon.

She took a deep breath and knocked. Maeve answered.

"Keira?" she said. "I was wondering when we'd see you."

The comment made her stomach clench. Had it really been that obvious to everyone that things with Zachary would end? Did she really appear to everyone as such a hopeless wretch that a trip to the matchmaker's would become inevitable?

She followed Maeve inside, and the flame-haired woman went off to make a pot of tea. William looked up from his desk at Keira and smiled.

"Take a seat," he said. "You're here for your match, I presume?"

Keira gave a small shrug of affirmation and sat down, filled with trepidation.

William began thumbing through his tome of names, taking his time. Maeve poured Keira a cup of tea, which she drank quietly.

Suddenly, William slammed the book shut. The verdict was in. But what he said next hurt Keira to the core.

"No match."

"I don't understand," Keira said.

"I'm unable to find someone for you. I can't match you."

"What do you mean you can't match me?" Keira said, appalled.

"Well," William began, "it's not that easy finding suitable partners. Not when I want every match to be the next Simon and Sylvia."

"Who are Simon and Sylvia?" Keira demanded, feeling insulted by William's inability to match her.

"I matched them fifty years ago at the festival," William explained. "They fell so head over heels in love they married while they were still here. They've been married ever since."

He showed her their photograph; a happy, smiling couple in black and white, beaming from ear to ear on their wedding day. She recognized William's office in the background of the photo by the cupids painted on the walls.

"They married here?" Keira asked, surprised. "Right here in your office?"

"In front of it," William explained. "They come back to Lisdoonvarna most years to catch up and for a celebration."

Keira handed him back the photo. "Well, I'm not looking for a husband," she contested. "I just want a date. For inspiration. For my article. Surely you can do that?"

William looked less than impressed by her admission. He folded his arms. "That is a misuse of my services," he told her.

Keira left William's office feeling frustrated, her ego bruised. Typical, she thought, that even the matchmaker couldn't find anyone for her. She must be a leper or something.

The only good to come out of the whole thing wasthat when Keira sat down to write that evening, she managed to write two wholebitter pages on the topic of being unmatchable. Nina loved it. Even Joshuaseemed quite keen on it, though Keira had to wonder whether his good mood wasto do with his painkillers. Either that or he took great pleasure in hermisery. Keira concluded it was more likely to be the latter.