Page 49 of The Girl with the Irish Secret
‘Cork and Kerry are both in Munster, which is one of the four provinces of Ireland. The other ones are Leinster, which is Dublin, the midlands and surrounding areas, Connacht in the west and then Ulster in the north.’
‘Oh I see,’ Leo said. ‘There’s so much to Ireland that I didn’t know about.’
‘I would have thought your cousins had educated you,’ Vi quipped.
‘They might think I already knew. And I was afraid to ask in case they thought I was an ignorant British git.’
Vi laughed and drained her glass of Guinness. ‘I’m sure they wouldn’t. But you can ask me anything and I promise not to tell your cousins.’
‘Thanks, I will.’ Leo looked gratefully at her. ‘One question I’d like to ask is not about Ireland and its geography, but about your research into Kathleen O’Sullivan’s life. How is it going?’
‘Slowly,’ Vi said. ‘But I’m beginning to understand her better.’ She went on to tell Leo about the letters and what she had found out so far. ‘There was some kind of secret that only her husband and this friend knew about. So I’m going to find her and see if I can talk to her. We had a chat over the phone before Christmas but she didn’t tell me much then.’
‘Where’s the nursing home?’ Leo asked.
‘Somewhere in Dublin. I’m going there before I go back to London for the rehearsals and costume fittings.’
‘I’ll go with you,’ Leo offered.
‘You will?’ Vi stared at him, forgetting her plate of scampi. ‘That’s very kind of you. Are you sure?’
‘Yeah.’ Leo dipped a chip into his tartar sauce. ‘I can just as well go to London from there. Never been to Dublin so I’d like to take a look around the city.’
Vi nodded. ‘Great. I’m going up on the train from Tralee on Tuesday, then I’ll be catching the morning flight to London onThursday. I’m staying in my mum’s flat in Stillorgan. There’s a bus to the airport from there.’
‘I’ll look for a B&B in the centre,’ Leo suggested. ‘I’d like to see all the famous sights. The Book of Kells in the Trinity library and that Guinness place and the pubs in Temple Bar. We could meet up somewhere if you can get away. I’m sure you’ll want to spend time with your mother, though.’
‘She won’t be there,’ Vi explained. ‘She lives in Donegal. She only uses the flat as a base when she’s in Dublin occasionally. She says she’d go mad without a little retail therapy from time to time. It’s tiny, just one bedroom and a sofa bed in the living room. We all have a key and can stay there whenever we need a place to crash for a night or two. I might pop into town on the bus to show you around if you want. In the meantime, I’ll find out which nursing home old Fidelma is in and if I can see her. Shouldn’t be too hard. The guy at the dance studio was very helpful before.’
‘I hope he’ll be able to tell you,’ Leo said before the music started up and it became impossible to talk. He finished his pint of Guinness and stood up, holding out his hands. ‘Dance with me, Vi. It’s nearly twelve o’clock. This year will be last year in a little while.’
Vi laughed and joined Leo on the improvised dance floor, dancing with him and everyone else to the loud music. Then the waiters handed around glasses of champagne and they stopped the music while someone opened the window so they could hear all the church bells in Kinsale ring in the New Year.
It was a beautiful moment, and Vi closed her eyes, feeling as if time stood still while the sound of the bells echoed over the still, black water of the bay. She enjoyed the rush of cool sea air against her hot face, and the pounding of the bells in her ears. It had always been a magic moment: when the old year slipped away, along with all the troubles and negativity of the past, andthe New Year seemed so fresh and full of hope and promises of good days to come.
‘It’ll be your best year,’ Leo said in her ear and then kissed her long and hard on the mouth while a spectacular fireworks display lit up the sky on the other side of the bay. ‘Happy New Year, Violet Fleury.’
‘Happy New Year, Leo,’ she whispered back, trying to decide how she felt after that kiss. It had just been one of those spur-of-the-moment New Year’s Eve things, when everyone kissed everyone else. But Vi saw the sparkle in Leo’s blue eyes and knew it meant a lot more to him than that. Then his cousin put his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek, saying, ‘Happy New Year,’ followed by all the people she had met during the course of the evening and she was caught up in all the hugging and laughing. The music started again and everyone danced and shouted and drank champagne and Vi was lost in the moment and didn’t give herself a chance to think about Leo and that kiss or how she felt about it.
But when she walked to the B&B later that night, she finally had a chance to gather her thoughts. Leo’s kiss had surprised her – not that he had done it, but the intensity and the look in his eyes as he let her go. Then, when she stopped for a moment and looked up at the stars twinkling in the dark sky, she knew that he could be nothing more than a friend to her. Leo was sweet and kind and fun to be with, but that was all she felt. As she stood there, another man drifted into her mind. A man who she should try not to think about romantically, but she couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t stop thinking about Jack Montgomery, and for the first time in a long time, Vi knew how it felt to have her heart broken.
As if reading her thoughts, Jack called the next morning. Vi was on her way to the bus that would take her back to Dingle when her phone rang. She stopped, fished it out of her bag and answered without checking who it was.
‘Hello? I’m running to the bus, can I call you back in a minute?’ she asked.
‘Yes, of course. Talk to you then,’ Jack said and hung up.
Vi stood there for a second and then, her legs suddenly wobbly, managed to get on the bus, show her ticket to the driver and find a seat by the window. Then she called Jack.
He answered at once. ‘Hi, there. Are you on the bus?’
‘Yes,’ Vi croaked, her throat dry.
‘Where are you going?’ he asked.
‘I’m on my way back to Dingle. I was at a party in Kinsale last night with Leo.’
‘Who? Oh, you mean Leo, the makeup guy?’
