Page 50 of The Granddaughter's Irish Secret
The crystal-clear water gave them a lovely view of the marine life below, as Henri slowed the engine and they glided near a beach with nearly white sand. Fish darted in and out between the rocks, and a large ray flapped away when they were nearly at the shore. Further out, Rose could see seals darting in and out of the translucent water. Farther still, where the water was deeper, there were large dark humps that emitted sprays of water from time to time, and Rose knew they were basking sharks filtering plankton. And then she saw dolphins at play nearby, their shiny backs glinting in the evening sunshine before they disappeared only to appear again, showing their smiling faces.
Rose was so absorbed by the spectacle that she didn’t hear Henri telling her to get out. He had to repeat himself several times before she reacted. They had arrived and would have to wade in, pulling the rib onto the beach. Rose kicked off her shoes, folded up the legs of her trousers and jumped into the icy water. But as it was only up to her ankles, it wasn’t long before the boat was secured. Henri took the basket with their picnic dinner, along with two foldable chairs that he quickly put on the sand.
‘There,’ he said. ‘Now we can have dinner. You like the setting?’
Rose looked up at the cliffs that surrounded the little cove, and out across the endless ocean. Gannets hovered in thedistance, diving in spectacularly from time to time to catch fish. ‘Oh yes,’ she said. ‘This is heaven. What a glorious spot this is.’
‘You’ve never been here before?’ he asked.
‘Yes, as I told you, I’ve been here, a long time ago. With Lily and Vi. We walked along the edge of the cliffs and looked at the seals and dolphins. But the weather wasn’t as nice then. I’ve meant to come back but never had the time. So thank you for bringing me. A fantastic idea.’
‘Thought you’d like it.’ He pulled a bottle of white wine from the basket. ‘I’m going to put this into the water for a while to chill it. Warm white wine is never a pleasure.’ He handed her a small plastic bottle. ‘But maybe you’d like some water while you’re waiting?’
‘Thanks.’ Rose took the bottle and had a drink, while Henri walked to the water’s edge and put the bottle of wine into the shallow pool the tide had left. ‘Perfect,’ he called. ‘Should be chilled in a moment.’
‘Great.’ Rose smiled at him, thinking he looked happy standing there, his jeans rolled up, his hair damp from the sprays of salt water and his sunglasses perched on his nose. She felt grateful they were friends at last and that he had asked her to come with him. It was something a brother or cousin would do and that felt really good. Just as that thought hit her, a ping from her little tote bag woke her up from her musings. She glanced at Henri while she fished out her phone. It was a text message from Noel. At last. He hadn’t been in touch for over ten days, but now here he was.She opened the message.
Hi there, sorry for being so distant. Work and personal stuff took over. I didn’t forget about our project and your search though, so now that I have a tiny window, I thought I’d pop over to see how you’re getting on. I’ll be there in a few minutes.
‘Oh, no,’ Rose muttered to herself. She texted Noel back to say she was on an outing with Henri and wouldn’t be home until late. Then she went on to tell him about her progress and that she was going to Kinsale tomorrow to meet the elusive Penny Lincoln. Noel texted back at once, asking if he could come with her. He had something on but could cancel that.This is too exciting to miss, he wrote.I feel we have a very important clue at last.
Oh yes,she texted back. I’d love you to come.
What about Henri?Noel asked.Is he coming too?
No, of course not, Rose replied.Why would he?
But you’re dating, aren’t you?Noel asked.
Rose stared at the last text. What did he mean? How could he have got that idea?No, we’re not,she typed.We’re just friends. He had the loan of a rib and asked me to come along to the Great Blasket, so I said yes. A trip out to this lovely island was just what I needed.
‘Rose?’ Henri asked as he arrived back. ‘What’s going on? Has something happened? You look upset.’
Rose looked up from her phone. ‘Nothing to worry about. I just got an important message from Noel that I had to reply to straight away. Then he asked about you and…’ She shook her head. ‘I think he’s overworked and stressed. I’ll just tell him I’ll talk to him later.’ She turned back to her phone, finished the message to Noel about when she was heading off in the morning, then turned off her phone and put it back in her bag. ‘There. Done. No more texting, I swear.’
‘I don’t mind. If you need to tell him something, go ahead. We can eat later. What did he want anyway?’
‘It was about the research we’re doing together,’ Rose explained. ‘But I told him I was on an outing with you and wouldn’t be home until later. And that seemed to annoy him.’
‘He wanted to check up on you,’ Henri said, smiling. ‘Sounds like he’s jealous too.’
‘What?’ Rose stared at Henri. ‘No of course not,’ she protested. ‘He’s a friend and he’s been very helpful. That’s all.’
Henri’s eyes twinkled. ‘You’re protesting too much, my dear. I have a feeling the two of you are trying to deny your feelings for each other. He looks at you as if he thinks you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread. And you’re always talking about him with these starry eyes.’
‘What?’ Rose protested. ‘Starry eyes? What are you going on about?’ She felt her face flush and thought for a moment. What was going on? She had been so happy to hear from Noel that she had forgotten everything else. She couldn’t be in love with him. Could she? He wasn’t her type, but more like a best friend; someone with the kindest heart, who was so on her wavelength, with whom she felt so relaxed and secure. He didn’t have Gavin’s gloss and glamour, or the money. But that didn’t seem important at all. ‘Okay, so maybe there’s something going on,’ she confessed. ‘But I don’t know what it is yet. Can we forget about it for now? Let’s have our dinner and enjoy this amazing evening.’
Henri laughed. ‘Finally. I thought you’d never admit it, even to yourself. I mean, your knight in shining armour rescued you from a thunderstorm on top of a mountain. You don’t think that was a sign?’
Rose felt a tiny niggle in her heart as she thought about all the things Noel had done for her. ‘I agree that rescuing me was impressive. And he is the kindest man I’ve ever met.’But it was all the other little things too, she thought,starting at that wedding and him being by my side, supporting me at difficult moments, and all the times he helped me with my research…Her eyes filled with tears as she thought about Noel. ‘Even though I have feelings for him, nothing much will come of it,’ shesaid. ‘He doesn’t feel the same about me. He’s dating a girl he used to be in love with, you see. I’m sure he still is.’
‘Oh. But that doesn’t have to mean anything.’ Henri sank down to the blanket and put his arms around her. ‘But you’re upset about it. What can I do to make you feel better?’
‘Nothing,’ Rose said with a sob and put her cheek against his chest for a moment, taken aback by his sudden sympathy. ‘Except give me food and wine.’
‘Of course,’ Henri said, getting up. ‘Food and wine coming up. I hope it will make you forget your sorrows for a while.’
‘You know it won’t,’ Rose said. ‘But I do need a shoulder to cry on and a friendly ear to listen.’
