Page 67 of The Granddaughter's Irish Secret
‘I know,’ Rose said, and kissed her grandmother on the cheek. ‘I feel both excited and calm at the same time, isn’t that funny?’
‘It’s the best feeling,’ Sylvia declared. ‘It means that you’ve finally come home.’
Later that evening, when she hadn’t heard from Noel, Rose picked up her phone and called him. ‘Hi there,’ she said when he answered. ‘It’s only me.’
‘Not so only,’ he said with a smile in his voice. ‘I was just telling my dad about you. Well, of course he’s met you from time to time, so you’re no stranger to him. Except now he has to think of you differently.’
‘How did he take it?’ Rose asked.
‘He was delighted. He likes you a lot, but also sad because he assumes this means I’ll be moving out eventually.’ Noel chuckled. ‘I was going to call you later but you beat me to it. Has anything happened?’
Rose smiled, warmed by the sound of Noel’s soft happy voice. ‘Not really, except I told Granny everything. And then we found out, nearly by accident, how the necklace was copied through an old diary from nineteen hundred. It appears that Maria Fleury needed money to pay for her mother to go somewhere sunny when she was suffering from TB. But her mother died before she could go, and then Maria hid the money in the chimney. We just guessed that last bit, but it has to be what happened.’
‘What?’ Noel gasped. ‘Incredible. And amazing detective work, of course. How did your granny take it?’
‘Granny was shocked and happy at the same time. Shocked that the necklace had been copied, and happy about us. She’s very fond of you.’
‘That’s mutual, of course,’ Noel said. ‘She’s an amazing woman.’
‘She is. And then I thought I’d be bold and ask you out for a date.’
Noel laughed. ‘How very forward of you. What did you have in mind?’
‘Dinner on my tiny patio tomorrow. Birdsong and lovely sunset guaranteed. At least the birdsong. The lovely sunset is in the lap of the weather gods. I’m not the best cook in the world, to put it mildly. But if you’re willing to take the risk, and don’t mind some burned steak, oven chips and salad, I’d love to see you.’
‘I’ll bring dessert,’ Noel offered.
‘Perfect. See you at six tomorrow evening. Don’t dress up.’
‘Yes, ma’am. See you then.’
‘See ya.’ Then Rose hung up with a happy smile. There had been no endearments or talk of love in their conversation, but there was no need for that. She knew what was in his heart, and he in hers.
EPILOGUE
A year later, nearly on the anniversary of the fashion show, there was another event that was the high point of the year – the inauguration of Magnolia Senior Apartments. As it was the first of its kind, and because of the location and family history, it had attracted a huge amount of attention in the media and would even be broadcast on national TV. After a lot of discussion and arguments, the board had decided against asking a celebrity or a local politician to officially open the apartment complex. Sylvia was the obvious choice. She had been at the helm of the Magnolia project from the start, and had come up with the idea in the first place. She had worked hard to get the project off the ground and, if it were not for her, it would never have happened. Plus, she was quite well known in the local area, of course.
The fashion show had been a huge success and it helped raise a lot of money, far above expectations. There were enough funds to get the garden project started, and the café in the orangery would be ready in a few months. It had been so popular they’d decided to hold a fashion show every year; it would pay for the maintenance of the gardens and raise a little extra for charitydonations. They hoped that the residents would be models in the future.
The manor looked magnificent, all replastered and painted, the moss and damp patches gone from the façade, the roof and chimneys repaired, partly paid for by the gold sovereigns, and all the apartments were now beautifully decorated and ready to receive their first tenants. Rose had worked hard on the interiors and done most of the designs herself, including choosing wallpaper, curtains and carpets. All the flats were decorated in blues and greens with lovely animal and floral print curtains. It all went so well with the views of the gardens and the sea, making the interiors blend with the exterior in a subtle and harmonious way.
‘Superb,’ Henri had declared, kissing his fingers as they were all walking around the flats the day before the launch.
‘Sublime,’ Arnaud agreed, applauding as he inspected the finished apartments.
‘Perfection,’ Sylvia had exclaimed.
‘You’re a genius,’ Lily had said, hugging Rose.
The best accolade had come from Noel, however. ‘Every single flat feels like a home,’ he said when she showed him around that evening. ‘A true home with a heart. How did you do it?’
‘I just imagined myself living here,’ Rose explained. ‘I wanted to keep the homely feel of Magnolia that has always been there for me.’
‘You succeeded with flying colours.’ Noel kissed her cheek. ‘I’m so proud of you.’
‘That means a lot to me,’ Rose said and kissed him back.
‘You know, my dad would be interested to move in here,’ Noel announced as he stood looking out at the view from the top floor. ‘Not straight away, but when the time comes and hefeels he wants to live somewhere that’s easier to run than our old house.’
