Page 5 of The Granddaughter's Irish Secret
‘Nah,’ she said. ‘He’s a bit of a nerd. He’ll talk about birdwatching and hillwalking all night long and bore everyone to tears.’
‘So what?’ Lily said. ‘He’s also a solicitor and runs his own firm. Isn’t that what you’d call successful? I bet your girlfriends coming down from Dublin will be impressed.’
‘I can’t pretend he’s my boyfriend or anything,’ Rose protested. ‘It’s too soon after… well, you know.’
‘Of course not,’ Lily assured her. ‘He’ll just be your plus one, your escort for the wedding. Your arm candy, if you like. That’s what men do, so why not do the same?’
‘Maybe,’ Rose said, not quite convinced. ‘But I haven’t decided what I’ll do yet.’
‘Think about it, at least,’ Lily urged.
‘I’ll consider him,’ Rose promised. ‘If I decide to go with someone and I can’t find anyone else.’
‘You won’t. Listen, I have to go. Naomi seems to be waking up again for her next feed.’
‘Give her a kiss from me,’ Rose said with a fond smile. ‘Don’t forget my offer of babysitting whenever you want to go out.’
‘Thanks, but right now I’m too tired to even think about going out. But maybe soon, when she’s more settled. Dom and I could do with a night out. It seems like years ago.’
‘Whenever you need me, I’m here. Bye for now, Lily-lou.’
‘Bye, Rosie-roo. Don’t forget to pick up the necklace from the jewellers.’
‘I won’t,’ Rose replied. ‘They promised to call when it’s ready.’
‘Great. See you soon,’ Lily said and hung up.
Rose put her phone in her pocket, much cheered by her chat with her sister. Now it was time to go to the house and take a look at how far the builders had got.
As Rose locked the front door, the phone pinged with a text from Lily.
You could always ask Henri to be your +one. He’d look fab in a tux… and that French accent… *smiley face emoji*
Rose groaned. Lily was teasing her – she knew the mere mention of Henri made Rose’s teeth ache. When Sylvia had told Rose about her plans to renovate Magnolia Manor, she’d also dropped the bomb that she was in a new relationship with a Frenchman called Arnaud. He was handsome and charming in that French way and Sylvia and Arnaud seemed so happy. They were even living together. Henri was Arnaud’s son.
Rose couldn’t forget how Sylvia and Arnaud had first met. For a time, Sylvia had thought Arnaud and Henri were going to take Magnolia Manor off her, due to some miscommunication their ancestors had many years ago. And it was Rose’s opinion that Henri had made that situation worse. Arnaud was lovely, but Henri did seem a bit upset that they’d not ended up with the manor, just as investors in the renovation…
Henri wasn’t difficult or rude, but he often tried to annoy Rose for fun. Everyone else seemed to find him charming. With his shaggy dark hair and brown eyes, he was a younger version of his father. But Henri didn’t possess Arnaud’s kindness and consideration or the warmth that everyone loved. Rose suspected those qualities were what had drawn Sylvia to him. And he loved her feisty nature, her controversial comments often making him laugh out loud. Rose smiled at the image of the older couple so happy together in a very unconventional way. They had just moved into the very first apartment on the groundfloor of the manor that had been created, while the upper floors were being finished and would soon be put on the market.
Rose knew it would take a lot of work until all ten apartments were finished and occupied. She liked the way it was being developed – the outer shell of the beautiful Georgian house intact, the magnolia tree at the side of the big house untouched, in full bloom at the beginning of March every year.
All this was going through Rose’s mind as she walked up the gravel path to the manor. Then her mind drifted to the wedding invitation and what Lily had suggested, which started to make a lot of sense.Yes, she thought.I’ll go on my own and look as if I couldn’t care less about Gavin.She would wear her light blue dress and the famous Fleury topaz necklace and laugh, even though part of her heart was missing.Power dressing, she thought,in a glamorous way. I’ll pull out all the stops and show them I haven’t given up.
As she reached the manor, Rose looked up at the ivy-clad façade, at the old windows glinting in the sun and the magnolia tree beside the front steps. She was yet again swept away by the history of it all and the thought that this house, centuries old, was part of her family history. The old stones spoke to her and whispered a welcome that only she could hear. Rose touched the magnolia tree before climbing the steps and entering the house through the massive oak doors that clanged shut behind her. She stood in the vast entrance hall – with its cavernous fireplace, tiled floor and walls festooned with antlers – and breathed in the smell of damp and old woodsmoke. This part of the house hadn’t been touched yet, but she knew it would be a reception area with underfloor heating and sofas and chairs in front of the fireplace, which would have a small woodburning stove instead of a large open fire.
She had seen the drawings and loved how it would turn this cold space into something warm and welcoming – she could seeurns with dried flower arrangements in her mind’s eye. She put on a yellow helmet and walked through the long corridor. She glanced into what would be charming one-bedroom apartments, then into the ballroom that was being turned into a large communal dining room, then into the old dining room and drawing rooms, some of which were still very much a work in progress. Her own office would be in the attic, in one of the former servants’ quarters, but that wasn’t finished yet either.
Contractors were everywhere, hard at work, and she knew they were doing their very best to stick to the schedule. The foreman, a cheerful man with black hair called Kieran, showed her the plans and explained the progress they had made already. As she listened to him, she realised that she would have to work from home for a while, until her office was ready. This didn’t upset her as she was used to being flexible. She thanked him and walked back to the gatehouse, deep in thought. There would be much to do once there was more progress in the house and the apartments were being decorated and furnished. But as they all seemed to know what they were doing, there was no immediate rush. Relieved that she could relax for a bit, Rose was happy about what she had seen.
Once back at home, Rose looked at the wedding invitation again and decided what she was going to do. Going to the wedding alone seemed suddenly a very bad idea, so she sat down in the living room and picked up her phone to call Noel. Better to get it over with. She needed to know if he would agree to come with her so she could reply to the invitation. She didn’t have his mobile number, so she called the landline to his office.
‘Noel Quinn solicitors, Victoria Murphy here, how can I help you?’ a soft female voice replied.
‘Hi, Victoria, this is Rose Fleury,’ she said. ‘Would it be possible to talk to Noel, please?’
‘Oh, hi, Rose,’ Victoria said. ‘I heard you were coming back to town and that you’ll be running the Magnolia Manor thingy. Any news of Lily? Is she still going to be on a career break when her maternity leave is over? She said she’ll be running the garden centre at the new senior place, but I didn’t know if that was really going to happen.’
‘Oh, yes, it is,’ Rose said, trying her best not to laugh at the rapid delivery. ‘Lily is determined to make a go of the garden centre when it’s finished. You don’t need to worry.’
