Page 21 of Where the Waves Kiss the Shore
She took a long slug from her beer bottle. She didn’t often drink beer, but it was Joey’s beverage of choice, and she still couldn’t face vodka.
“What about the Christmas bookings?”
“I’ll be back for them. Unless I get an offer I can’t refuse in the city.” She felt the bitterness in her laugh.
Joey picked at the paper label on their bottle. “This is your home, Kasia. If you leave, you might not come back.”
She looked across the deck to the fire pit where Joey had cooked the freshest fish she’d ever tasted. Beyond, the bright but waning moon glinted across the sea. “I don’t want to leave, Joey. I don’t know how I could say goodbye forever…to you and this little island that makes me feel so rooted.” She took another drink. “But living on Inishderry relies on me having a job. And it needs to be a job that makes sense.”
Joey nodded. “I know. You shouldn’t have to work so hard to keep it going if no one else cares. It’s just so unfair.”
“Life’s unfair sometimes. But where we have control, we should always take it. I’m taking it.”
“So your friend’s hotel has a job for you, if you want it?”
“Yes. It’s not at the level I was at in Dublin before I left, but hour for hour, I’ll definitely be better off.” She studied Joey’sdowncast face, lit by the flickering flames. “I’ve not accepted anything yet. I’m just going for a break and to check things out.”
“Yeah, right.” Joey threw the bottle into a crate and stood. “Another one?”
Kasia nodded, pulled the rug tighter around her shoulders, and stared out at the sea. Was she doing the right thing? Leaving the island, Peggy’s legacy, and her best friend felt painful enough. The pace of Dublin would feel very different from her island life. But without security, her life would run out of control. She needed to make some decisions. When Joey returned, she said, “I need to check out my options. Even if I take the job, I’ll only be four hours away. I’ll come for weekends, I promise.”
Joey dropped to the seat. “I want you to be in the place that’s best for you. Won’t stop me missing you, though.” They smiled weakly.
“Tierney didn’t even bother to stay to tell me what they were going to do with the hotel.” That had hurt her more than she cared to admit. “For all I know, I may not even have a job anymore. And I woke up so exhausted this morning, I actually felt ill. But she wouldn’t know that because she’s gone.”
“She was as embarrassed as you were about the…incident.” Joey’s mouth twisted as they tried to repress a grin.
“It’s not funny, Joey. Of all the people.”
“It’s a little funny because it’s not your usual behavior. You’ve always been so discreet.” They picked at the new label. “We slept together once.”
Kasia looked up in disbelief. “Who? You andTierney? When you were young?”
“Oh, no, I was a few years older than Tierney, so I never thought about her like that. Until a couple of years before you arrived. I was having a hard time trying to talk to my family about my identity, and my mental health wasn’t good. We had along heart-to-heart, and it all got very emotional. She maybe…overcompensated in trying to support me.” They flicked a ball of paper into the fire. “It was a bad idea. We were sober, so we didn’t even have alcohol to blame. She ran away, and I didn’t see her or even hear from her, apart from the occasional postcard, until this trip.”
Kasia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Tierney had stayed out of Joey’s life for over six years to avoid an awkward conversation. “She’s spectacularly unreliable.”
“It wasn’t her fault, really. She was trying to help and then she thought she’d made things worse, so she took off. As she does. I knew where to find her too, and I guess I kept my distance.” They hunched closer to the fire. “But we’ve talked it through, and she deeply regrets not hanging around when I needed her. I think she’s growing up a little, Kasia. Trying to take more responsibility for her actions.”
Kasia let her laughter ring out, not caring how bitter it sounded. “As evidenced by her latest escape?”
“That’s a little unfair. She said she tried to talk to you, but you were up to your neck with work. I don’t know exactly what Anthony said to her, but I’ve never seen her so upset.”
“He likely took out all his bitterness on her for being overlooked for his share of the hotel.”
“Desmond didn’t even bother to speak to her.”
“I’m guessing she wasn’t at her best that day, either.” Kasia remembered the effort it had taken to greet her high-maintenance party that morning.
Joey chuckled. “I had to take her on the boat. She was so ill she fed the fishes on the way home.”
Poor Tierney. Joey had warned her that evening about being fit for the meeting. But Kasia could hardly judge her after her own behavior that night.
“I should’ve woken her that morning, but I was so mortified.” She rubbed her eyes. “I really do need a break. Get some rest and think things through while I find out about my options.”
“Why don’t you write Tierney an email explaining that you’re taking a break? You’re entitled to time off, and maybe seeing that the hotel can’t be open all the time with just one member of staff will make them act.”
That had been part of Kasia’s thinking too. “Will Kevin be pissed, do you think? If there’s a chance of me keeping my job long term, I don’t want to jeopardize that.” Her bout of bravery was waning, being replaced with doubts about making a move that could mess things up further.
