Page 113 of The Girl with the Irish Secret
‘Be mysterious,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘Don’t be available for interviews. Don’t pose on the red carpet.’
‘Is that an option?’ Vi murmured back. ‘It sounds like a good one.’
‘Thought it would suit you,’ he said before they joined the party that was promising to go on all night, now with more food and sparkling wine that Arnaud provided. Jack was soon invited to do selfies and to join groups of people who wanted to meet him and tell him how much they admired him. Vi enjoyed watching him being the charming, glamorous film star she now knew was only an act. The real Jack was a differentman altogether, a man she was beginning to feel a spark with. It frightened her. But she had never felt so alive in her life.
21
As always, Christmas was over in a flash. After weeks of preparations, the actual day went by very fast, and then St Stephen’s Day seemed to follow in the same fashion. It had been a lovely Christmas with the usual mishaps in the kitchen, a few arguments, children getting overexcited, too much food and drink and everyone falling asleep in front of the TV. Violet was so pleased it had been a normal Christmas, not one overshadowed by her spat with her sisters. Her mother, Patricia, had arrived from Donegal and the three sisters enjoyed spending a few precious days with her before she had to go back to continue sorting out her late husband’s estate. Vi had even found a few moments to ask Patricia about her father, and they’d spent one long evening huddled over photo albums.
In all, it had been a lovely two days that Vi enjoyed enormously. Sylvia was exhausted but happy and had to stay in bed a whole day to recover, she said, even though they all knew she was using it as an excuse to binge-watch all the episodes ofDownton Abbey, like she did every Christmas. Lily, Rose and Vi served her breakfast in bed and then went to Logan’s Pub in Dingle to sample their famous brunch buffet, leaving Dominicand Noel to look after the children. It was the first time for over a year that the three sisters were together and this time Vi was determined that they would get on and there would be nothing at all to argue about, not if she could help it.
They went straight to the buffet table and helped themselves to smoked salmon, pork sausages, bacon, grilled tomato and an array of bread fresh from the bakery. Then, after ordering a glass of Guinness each, they sat down at a round table beside the window that overlooked the harbour and the Blasket Islands beyond.
‘So… Jack Montgomery,’ Rose started as she dug into her plate of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. ‘I could have fainted when he arrived at Granny’s party. I missed his arrival at the ballet show. Couldn’t get Sophie to settle and then Noel had to work late so I had to make something for him before I went out. I arrived at Granny’s just as Jack walked in. Funny, but there wasn’t much of a commotion but then most people would have seen him at the show. I was the only one who was surprised. And totally starstruck, I have to admit.’
‘Aren’t we all?’ Lily cut in.
‘Oh yes,’ Rose said with feeling. ‘He’s even better looking in real life. I was so mesmerised I couldn’t say anything clever when Granny introduced us. All I managed was, “Hi, welcome to Magnolia,” in a squeaky voice. He laughed and said thank you and that he had heard so much about me. And then I asked, “Like what?” and he said just that I was a wonderful sister to Vi.’ Rose drew breath and laughed.
‘He’s really nice,’ Lily said. ‘Not full of himself at all.’
‘He liked being here,’ Vi said. ‘He said he’s falling in love with Kerry.’
‘Is he falling in love withyouas well?’ Rose looked at Vi.
‘No, not at all,’ Vi protested, trying her best not to show her real feelings. ‘We’re just going to work together on the movie and then we’ll maybe stay friends, but that’s all.’
‘Really?’ Rose looked doubtful. ‘I’d say there’s some chemistry going on, though. I thought you looked very cosy over the plate of mince pies.’
‘It was the mulled wine going to your head,’ Vi tried. ‘Made you imagine all sorts of things.’
‘I didn’t imagine the way he looked at you,’ Rose said.
‘But he left early,’ Lily cut in. ‘Did he have something else on?’
‘He was going to Shannon,’ Vi explained. ‘To catch the flight to New York early the next morning. He was staying with friends over there for Christmas. Then he’s going back to Scotland to finish shooting the movie he’s in. Some kind of thriller. And then we’ll be rehearsing in London in January.’
‘Oh, so that’s what he’s doing in New York,’ Lily said. ‘I thought…’ She stopped.
‘What?’ Vi asked.
‘Oh, nothing.’ Lily sipped her beer. ‘Probably not true at all.’
Vi put her fork with a piece of sausage down and stared at Lily. ‘You’re trying to tell me something.’
Lily and Rose looked at each other. ‘There was a photo…’ Rose said.
‘InThe Irish Times,’ Lily cut in. ‘Of Jack and a blonde woman sitting in a car outside a restaurant.’
‘Looking very… close,’ Rose said. ‘We weren’t going to tell you, but then we thought we should before anyone else did.’
‘Oh,’ Vi said, knowing it would take all her acting skills to appear not to care. She shrugged. ‘So what? If he has a girlfriend, that’s terrific for him. Why should that bother me? We’re friends and colleagues, that’s all. Whatever else you hear, it’s not true.’ She took a bite of sausage, feeling it might choke her, and it tooka lot of effort to chew and swallow. ‘Fabulous sausage. Is it from a local butcher?’ she said in a casual tone that was just a tad squeaky with shock.
‘Yeah. They’re from Donlon’s,’ Lily said, looking at Vi with concern. ‘Sorry if we sounded as if we believed what it said in the newspaper. It was just a photo taken out of context. Probably happens to him a lot.’
‘Must be hard to be stared at and photographed all the time,’ Rose said. ‘It’s bad enough that journalists do it, but people with their phones at the ready all the time must be such a pain in the neck.’
‘It is,’ Vi agreed. ‘But I think he’s learned to ignore it. I’m certainly not going to rush to look up that photo,’ she lied, knowing that’s exactly what she’d do as soon as she had a chance. ‘And I’m also going to ignore anyone aiming their phones at me if that ever happens.’
