Chapter 7

“You big wuss. And it was Safeway.”

He treated me to another 1000-watt smile. I sat down quickly to hide the reappearance of Mr Happy.

“Why are there no cucumber sandwiches?” Liam asked as I dished out the goodies.

I was about to tell him that I didn’t make any because cucumber always gave me wind, but then spotted the glint of mischief in his eyes.

“There were no cucumbers in the market this morning, sir. I went down twice,” I said.

“No cucumbers!”

“No, sir. Not even for ready money,” I came back.

We had been quoting lines from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest,the play that had inspired my name.

We dissolved into laughter.

During the meal, I asked, “So, as your dad was such a fan of James Joyce, have you any Leopold’s, Molly’s or perhaps a Simon or a Stephen Dedalus in your family?”

He laughed. “One of my sisters is called Molly, but Mammy swears that’s because of Molly Malone.”

“Oh, right.” I smiled. “By the way, I don’t know your last name.”