Page 17 of The Widow's Irish Secret
‘Oh, they were all very nice,’ Tricia said. ‘And one of them was even someone I know – or knew,’ she added.
‘Was that the good-looking man at the end of the session?’ Colette asked.
‘The archaeologist,’ Maggie filled in. ‘He’s here on some kind of job, I heard. I was hoping he’d end up at my table. But he seemed to be heading straight to you without looking at anyone else. Did you arrange to meet again?’
‘No,’ Tricia replied, looking around. ‘He said “see you around” or something like that. I thought he’d be mingling with everyone and we’d meet up here at the bar.’
‘Maybe he left,’ Colette said. ‘I think I saw him heading for the door. Is he a bit shy?’
Tricia shook her head. ‘No, Cillian isn’t the shy type. He might not have felt like staying.’ She sipped her wine while the others looked expectantly at her.
‘So what did you talk about?’ Maggie said.
‘Nothing much,’ Tricia replied. ‘There wasn’t enough time to say a lot.’
Colette sighed. ‘No. I think the idea was just to give us a sample and then we’d mingle and meet up with whoever we found interesting.’ She smiled at a tall man who had just joined the group. ‘Hi there. Brian, was it?’
The man smiled at Colette. ‘Yes. I enjoyed our little chat.’ They fell into a conversation, exchanging more facts about themselves.
Maggie looked at Tricia and smiled, leaning forward. ‘Will we leave them to get to know each other better?’ she muttered.
Tricia nodded. ‘Okay,’ she whispered back.
‘Did you meet anyone else that took your fancy?’ Maggie asked. ‘Except for the silver fox from your past.’
‘Not really,’ Tricia replied. ‘What about you?’
‘Well…’ Tricia paused. ‘There was this guy who asked for my number and said he’d call. But I’m not holding my breath as I see him chatting up another woman over there. How about calling it a night and heading home? It was a nice evening and all that but I’ve had enough of the wine and sausage rolls.’
‘Me too.’ Tricia put her half-finished glass on the bar counter. ‘I’d be happy to leave if you are.’
They waved at Colette and made their way through the crowd, smiling at the men they had met and saying it was a funevening and it would be nice to meet up again – or words to that effect. Then they walked out of the hall into the cool, still evening as the sun slowly sank behind the hill across Dingle Bay and a lone seagull emitted a plaintive cry as it flew across the darkening sky.
Maggie took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. ‘Oh, this place… Isn’t it so soothing and healing?’
‘It truly is,’ Tricia agreed. ‘I’m so happy I came back. Aren’t we blessed to live here?’
‘We are.’ Maggie put her arm through Tricia’s and they walked slowly to Maggie’s car, chatting about the evening, the lovely weather and the people they had met during the speed dating event.
‘I’d have a go again,’ Maggie said as they got into the car. ‘Not because of meeting men but because I’m a bit lonely and it’s great to be with people our age who have lived as long as we have and been through a lot but come out of it still laughing.’
‘You’re right,’ Tricia said. ‘Nothing like being with people who danced to Abba, smoked cigarettes when it was still fashionable and wore those crazy nineteen seventies clothes thinking they looked fabulous.’
Maggie laughed and started the car. ‘Yes, the bell bottoms and the weird colours. And then the big hair and shoulder pads in the eighties. I used to binge watchDallasandDynasty.’
As they drove out of Dingle and up the dark road to Magnolia Manor, Tricia’s thoughts drifted to her surprise meeting with Cillian. He had just left without a word and she wondered why. Was he paying her back for her behaviour over twenty years ago? She knew she had been unfair but it had been a very difficult time for her. Now she felt differently. But maybe he would never forgive her. She pushed the thoughts away and tried to look forward and concentrate on her new life and her project. Betterto put a little distance between her and Cillian for the moment – or maybe for good…
10
Tricia stood in the living room of the cottage with Dominic while they went through a list of jobs. It was longer and more complicated than she had thought.
‘You need to dryline the whole place,’ he said. ‘And rewire, of course. Then I would suggest storage heaters here in the living room and the kitchen. They work on the night-time setting which is a lot cheaper.’
‘How does that work?’ Tricia asked.
‘The bricks inside heat up during the night when rates are cheaper and then they release the heat during the day. Very effective. They’ll keep the rooms warm during the day and evening.’
‘Sounds good,’ Tricia said.
