Page 28 of The Widow's Irish Secret
‘I’m sure they won’t mind.’ Cillian smiled at Tricia. ‘I have to go back to work. See you soon, I hope. Bye for now.’ He walked out of the attic, running nimbly down the stairs and out the door.
Tricia stood there for a while as the front door banged shut, thinking about what had just happened. She touched her cheek, still feeling Cillian’s soft lips and the prickle of his beard. It had seemed like the right time for them to meet again and now there was no feeling of rejection or hurt. Just a sweet friendship that connected them to Fred. She knew Cillian had itchy feet and a restless soul so he might want to move to somewhere else when the autumn set in. But she didn’t care how long it would last or even if she wanted it to. This was now and life was so short, whynot grab this little bit of happiness and enjoy it however long it would last? Her experiences had taught her that anything could happen, good or bad, in an instant and life would never be the same after that.
I have to live in the moment, she thought as she slowly went down the stairs,take happiness as it comes and grab it and hold it as long as I can. Who knows what the future will bring? Cillian is such a nice man, but all I want from him is friendship, which he seems to accept. It feels so good to talk to him about Fred.
But there were so many things niggling at her new-found happiness. She tried to push the thoughts away but the questions kept coming back to the surface. Should she have lied to Cillian? Should she have told him why she might need to sell the drawings if they turned out to be valuable? That was something she still needed to find out. Would he be angry if that was to happen?
And why had Cillian refused to tell her about the work project that had brought him here? The explanation he had given her for the secrecy seemed a little lame to her. And then… there was his reaction to the drawing and what she had seen in the bay. Why had he looked so shaken by it? Their friendship couldn’t deepen until all those questions were resolved.
15
The following few days were hectic and left little time for any kind of meeting with Cillian. But they managed to talk from time to time late in the evenings when they were both in bed, chatting about old memories and planning things to do together for the weeks ahead when things calmed down and they would have more time to relax.
‘I’m looking forward to seeing a bit more of you,’ he said one evening. ‘It would be fun to go on a hike like the old days.’
She laughed. ‘Yes but let’s not be too adventurous. What we did when we were in our twenties could be too much for us now, forty years later.’
‘Can’t believe we’ve known each other that long,’ he said. ‘It’s nice to remember those happy days, though. Aren’t we lucky to have had them?’
‘Many more to come, I hope,’ Tricia said wistfully. ‘Even if someone is missing.’
‘I feel lucky to have had Fred in my life,’ Cillian said. ‘I wouldn’t want to have missed knowing him, if you see what I mean.’
‘That’s a lovely thought,’ she said softly.
‘I hope it didn’t make you sad.’
‘No, it made me happy,’ she replied. ‘I don’t want you to feel that you can’t talk about Fred. Because when we do, he’s still with us.’
‘That’s what I feel too.’
‘I’m glad you do.’ Tricia suppressed a yawn. ‘Sorry, can’t keep my eyes open. I was babysitting for Lily today and I took Naomi and Liam to the beach. They were running around like crazy and then they wanted to go into the water so I had to make sure they were safe. They both had their water wings on, of course, but it’s still hard to keep them afloat on the waves. It was exhausting and I was like a drowned rat afterwards. Then they wanted ice cream so I had to take them to the shop and then home to get the sand off them and rinse their togs and get them ready for bed before Lily came home.’
‘I’m tired just listening to that,’ Cillian joked. ‘How old are they?’
‘Naomi is seven and Liam is four. Of course, Naomi is a real bossy-boots and was ordering me around all day.’
‘Well, what did you expect from a Fleury girl?’ Cillian asked.
Tricia giggled. ‘I know. She’s the original Fleury woman with attitude.’
‘I’m looking forward to meeting them one day. Perhaps at the party,’ Cillian said.
‘Oh, you can meet them before that. Lily will want them to get to know their grandfather’s best friend.’
‘That sounds nice.’ He paused. ‘I can’t imagine Fred as a granddad. He’s forever young in my mind.’
‘Frozen in time at the age of thirty-two,’ Tricia said wistfully. ‘Do you remember when the three of us were on that hike to Mount Brandon and we talked about growing old?’
‘Oh, yes, I do.’ Cillian laughed. ‘He said I was already old because I had a few grey hairs and then he kept calling megranddad all through the rest of the day. But I beat him to the top and said he was the old man who couldn’t keep up.’
‘And I was the one who felt like the auld woman trying to compete with the two of you,’ Tricia filled in. ‘Boy, were you fit then.’
‘We all were. God be with the days.’ Cillian sighed. ‘We were so young and fit and hopeful with life in front of us. Little did we know what was ahead.’
‘We didn’t have a clue.’
‘I feel lucky to have you found you again,’ Cillian said.
