Page 46 of The Book of Irish Secrets
Jo smiled with a dreamy look in her eyes. ‘Yeah, well he’s only eighteen.’
‘And not bad looking either,’ Claire said.
Jo smiled. ‘No, that’s true.’
‘He seemed to like you,’ Claire said. ‘Because you were nice to him.’
‘Do you think so?’ Jo asked, her cheeks turning pink.
‘Definitively,’ Claire assured her. ‘He was so embarrassed when he thought I was your mother, and you put him at ease.’
‘Yeah, I suppose.’ Jo suddenly scowled and picked up the menu. ‘Can we order now? I want a pizza with chorizo and lots of cheese,’ she said before excusing herself to go to the bathroom.
Pierce looked at Claire when Jo had left. ‘I’m so glad you came. You’re brilliant with her. So calm and understanding, even now when she suddenly turned sour.’
‘I like her, despite her mood swings,’ Claire said. ‘It’s not easy being fifteen these days. And she’s smart.’ She smiled at him. ‘And she adores you.’
‘I hope you’re right,’ he said.
‘I know I am. But I also want to say sorry for being so abrupt to you on the phone earlier. Didn’t mean to upset you.’
‘I know. You were busy. Don’t worry about it.’ Pierce put his hand on Claire’s and squeezed it. Claire wanted to talk to Pierce about her research, to say that she had decided to stop looking for the moment and that he didn’t need to help her. But then she looked up and saw Jo standing by their table, glaring at them.
TWENTY-FIVE
Claire didn’t know how she got through the rest of the evening. Jo had been sour and resentful as she ate her pizza. Pierce had tried to calm Jo’s suspicions by joking that he had been trying to imitate Arnaud and bechevaleresquein a French way, but Jo didn’t buy that. ‘I thought you were just friends,’ she said. ‘But that was a lie, wasn’t it?’
‘It wasn’t a lie,’ Claire cut in. ‘Wearevery good friends. But maybe that’s not the whole story.’
‘What’s the story, then?’ Jo asked glumly.
‘We don’t really know,’ Pierce said with a quick glance at Claire. ‘It’s between Claire and me to sort out. Can you accept that for the moment? I will spend as much time with you as I can while you’re here.’ He grabbed Jo’s hand and looked into her eyes while he continued. ‘You are my number one priority and you always will be until the day I die. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ Jo muttered.
Claire felt awkward sitting at the table, wondering whether she should have excused herself and left so Pierce and Jo could have some privacy. They all ate in silence for a while until Jo had finished her pizza. Claire said goodbye to father and daughter and walked to her car shortly after, hoping that Pierce would callher as soon as he could. They had hardly glanced at each other after Jo’s return to their table but Claire had enjoyed the feel of his warm hand on hers, and felt it was a sign that Pierce had feelings for her that matched her own for him.But what use is it to think like that?Claire wondered as she drove away. If I leave, I’ll have led him on and he’ll think badly of me. Oh what a mess I’ve created, both with Pierce and the Fleurys.
When Claire arrived home to her flat, she threw her jacket and bag on the sofa, but picked up her bag again as her phone pinged. It was a text message from her sister, Marian.
Amazed at what you found out. Call me tomorrow so we can discuss.
Anxious to talk to Marian, Claire decided to call her straight away.
Marian answered immediately. ‘Hi there, where have you been?’
‘I was having pizza with Pierce and his daughter,’ Claire replied. ‘An evening full of tension, I have to say.’
‘Why?’ Marian asked. ‘Did the daughter feel you were getting too cosy with her dad?’
‘Something like that.’
‘Must be a tricky situation,’ Marian said.
‘To say the least,’ Claire said with a sigh.
‘I can imagine,’ Marian said. ‘But that’s not what you called about, is it?’
‘No, I wanted to talk about what I found in the attic room,’ Claire replied.
