Page 38 of The Girl with the Irish Secret
‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said, stuck for something better to say as the shock of the sudden meeting made her heart contract.
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‘Yes, it’s me,’ Rose said. Her blue eyes were cold as she looked back at Vi. ‘I wasn’t planning to meet you like this,’ she continued. ‘Or at all, really.’
‘Well, I…’ Vi started. ‘I mean, I was hoping we could get together and talk or something.’
‘I’m not ready,’ Rose said.
‘I see.’ Vi put her hands in her pockets and stepped back. ‘I thought I’d see you around town maybe.’
‘Well, we live on the outskirts of town,’ Rose said stiffly. ‘And I’ve been stuck at home with Sophie, who’s been quite sick.’
‘That must be hard,’ Vi said, trying to sound sympathetic. Then she looked at the little girl in the pram. ‘Hi, Sophie.’ She leaned forward and smiled at her niece. ‘How you have grown. I haven’t seen you since last year. Remember me? I’m your auntie Violet. What a pretty girl you are.’ Sophie, at around a year and a half, was indeed enchanting, with deep blue eyes and curly blonde hair and a small, upturned nose. She stared at her aunt for a moment, and then her face broke into a wide smile, showing tiny teeth. Then she pointed to Rose and said: ‘Mamma.’
‘I know your mamma.’ Vi pointed to herself. ‘I’m Violet.’
Sophie let out a delicious laugh like little bells. ‘Vilet,’ she repeated and then chuckled again.
‘Aren’t you a clever girl,’ Vi said. Then she straightened up and looked at Rose. ‘She’s lovely, Rose. And the spitting image of you.’
‘Thank you,’ Rose said stiffly and started to move past Vi. ‘I have to go now.’
‘No you don’t.’ Vi grabbed the handle of the buggy, staring at Rose. ‘Just one question. Are you going to keep this up forever? Or are you waiting for hell to freeze over? Or that I will do – whatever – so you’ll forgive me?’
‘That was three questions,’ Rose remarked.
‘I know. But can you answer any of them?’ Vi demanded. ‘I mean… hey, we’re sisters. We should stick together. Have you listened to any of my voicemails? My apologies? I meant it. I’m truly sorry, Rose.’ Vi drew breath and looked levelly at Rose while she waited for an answer. She knew Rose was always slow to forgive any kind of slight and that it would take her longer than usual to soften towards Vi. But she was tired of waiting and feeling guilty. She also noticed that Rose looked pale and tired and that she had lost weight. ‘It’s nearly Christmas,’ Vi said. ‘And Granny is having her traditional dinner as usual. We’ll all be there together. Wouldn’t it be nice for us to sort this out before then? If only for Granny’s sake.’
Rose looked away while Sophie bounced up and down in the buggy. Then she looked at Vi again and heaved a big sigh. ‘I didn’t realise,’ she said. ‘I thought you were just going to defend yourself all over again. Well, I accept your apology.’ Violet smiled, feeling relieved. ‘For Granny’s sake,’ Rose added. ‘That’s all. I need to think about all this before we can be back to what we were. But it’s okay. Relax. No more aggro from me. We couldmaybe talk some more before Christmas. Try to understand each other and then… maybe.’
Vi felt that there was a ray of hope. There was a long way to go yet, but at least Rose had softened somewhat. ‘Life is too short to fight,’ she said. ‘Especially with your sister. I’m here for quite a while, so we can spend some time together and I’d love to help with babysitting or anything else you need.’
‘You’ll be too busy with the movie and your new boyfriend,’ Rose said with an edge still in her voice.
‘New boyfriend?’ Vi asked. ‘Oh, please, don’t tell me you read the tabloids now.’
Rose shrugged. ‘No, but the butcher does, and the woman in the dry cleaners and the check-out girl in the supermarket.’
‘I see.’ Vi suddenly remembered that she was living in a small country town where people liked to gossip. ‘Whatever they said, it wasn’t a date. I was showing Jack around and we were talking about the movie and how we’d portray the various characters and so on. There’s no romance between us.’
‘Yet,’ Rose said.
‘Never,’ Vi protested. Suddenly, Violet realised why Rose was so angry. She and Rose used to share everything together: there wasn’t a single man Violet had ever dated that Rose hadn’t had an opinion on because she had been so protective. Rose had been the older sister who knew Vi’s best interests, she had said then. ‘No matter what the tabloids say, it’s not true. They try to make up stories all the time. So you can tell the butcher and the dry cleaners and the girl in the supermarket and whoever else wants to know that there is nothing going on between me and Jack. Could you check with me in future before you believe anything you read? And tell others to do the same.’
Rose nodded and her eyes softened. ‘Okay. Fair enough. I see what you mean. But…’ she started. Then her face suddenlybrightened and she shot Vi a mischievous smile. ‘I would like to make one exception. Remember Sinead Morrisson?’
‘From boarding school?’ Vi asked, as the memory of the girl who had been so mean to her popped up in her mind. ‘The girl who was always teasing me about my hair?’
‘Yeah. Her,’ Rose replied. ‘She lives in Dingle town now and she hasn’t improved with age. Always saying nasty things behind people’s backs. I think she’s green with envy that you’ve done so well. And now, to top all that, dating the brightest shining star in the world of cinema that we all fancy. Do you mind if I don’t tell her there is no romance?’
Vi had to laugh, feeling the ice was broken between them at last. ‘That’s okay. Tell her anything you like. I don’t mind if that stuck-up biddy is jealous of me.’ She paused and looked pleadingly at Rose. ‘So then we’re okay? You and me?’
Rose looked suddenly contrite. ‘Yes, we are. I’m sorry I’ve been so slow to forgive you. The more I’ve heard about this movie the angrier I’ve become. I want us to be back to where we were before. Arguing about silly stuff, but being sisters.’
‘Oh, great. That’s a huge relief,’ Vi said, touching Rose’s cheek. ‘I understand that it was hard for you to forgive me. That journalist just wanted to make it into a juicy story.’
Rose sighed. ‘Yeah, I get that. But it’s been a hard year for me. Sophie’s been sick so many times that I had to take time off work and leave everything to Henri which he hasn’t liked one bit. And Noel and I didn’t get much sleep while the baby was sick. I had to do most of the minding because Noel just can’t take much time off. Then there was you with your glammy life and then getting that part. Hearing the news of you dating Jack Montgomery was kind of annoying, too, I have to say. But now that you’ve told me the true story, I feel stupid to have believed it.’
