Page 1 of The Widow's Irish Secret
1
Tricia was sitting at her desk in the living room of her small flat in Dublin, looking out through the open window, lost in thought. It was a beautiful day in early spring and the gentle breeze brought with it the sound of birdsong and faint traffic noises from the main road nearby.
Tricia had only been here for two years; but it had been a difficult time, after the loss of her husband. She had thought she’d pick up her life again. But Dublin didn’t appeal to her after years of living on a farm in the wilds of Donegal. City life was not for her, she had come to realise. And it had been hard sorting out the belongings Sean had left behind in their Dublin flat. She knew she needed to finally say goodbye to their life together. They were just things, but they all had memories attached to them. The guitar he used to play, sitting at the window looking lovingly at her while he softly sang some romantic song. The rucksack he used for hikes up the Dublin mountains which he found rather tame compared to the high peaks of Donegal; the leather boots, the hipflask and the binoculars for birdwatching all had to go. Only the little crystal vase that he had liked to put red roses into every evening when they were in town, andthe silver bowl he had given her on their twentieth wedding anniversary were things she would keep and treasure. But what remained, including his suits and leather jacket, would be given to charity.
Tricia had felt a mixture of sadness and relief as the last items were disposed of. She could now concentrate on her own life and what to do in order to get as far away from her recent past as possible.
Lately, her Kerry roots had begun to beckon. Even though Donegal was beautiful in a wild way, it didn’t have the soft air or the gentleness of Kerry and its people. She was beginning to pine for the views of the Atlantic she’d grown up with, the beautiful beaches and the colourful houses of Dingle town on the edge of the ocean. She longed to live again, to laugh, to dance and do fun things with friends, to be happy and carefree.I’m only in my early sixties, she thought.Still young enough to have a life worth living.She thought of her daughters. Lily, Rose and Violet had all settled there, the two eldest now mothers with children of their own. Tricia had been too busy with the probate and everything to do with the will to visit her grandchildren, which made her sad. She sighed, thinking of the predicament she was in that she had kept from her daughters. She wanted to keep it secret from them for as long as she could. It would be too painful to talk about it just yet and she didn’t know how they’d react. She had done something that could cause a lot of trouble and might even bring shame on the family. Now rumours were flying around, all started by someone who wanted to put pressure on her.
She had left it all behind in Donegal, hoping that somehow it could all be resolved in time and forgotten about. Now that she was able to live a little again, the time had come when she could finally be a real hands-on grandmother. Kerry felt like the placewhere she could escape it all and begin afresh. She longed to go back to the place where she had first fallen in love.
Tricia ran her fingers through her hair knowing she needed a cut and colour before she went anywhere. Her blonde curls had become dull with strands of grey running through them, which was a bit ageing. The latest trend of showing off the grey didn’t appeal to her. She hadn’t had the time or energy to do anything about her appearance during the past difficult years. But now she felt ready to face the challenge of going out into the world again and meeting new people.
Tricia made a mental note to make an appointment with her hairdresser. Then she turned her thoughts to the plan she and Sean had had a few years ago, to rent a cottage in Dingle for the summer. The one they had found had been tiny but the rent had been cheap. Located near the road to Ventry, where her eldest daughter, Lily, and her family lived, it would have been ideal for Tricia and Sean. Rose, her second daughter, lived nearby as well with her husband and little girl, Sophie.The children are growing up so fast. I want them to get to know me and Sean properly before it’s too late,Tricia had thought then.But she had dropped the idea when Sean fell ill. She had been so taken up with his illness, nursing him while he slowly faded away during the heartbreaking year before his passing. And then the deep sorrow when he was gone and the winding up of his estate that had taken so long. But now here she was, finally able to look forward and live again. Maybe that little cottage was still available?
Right now seemed to Tricia the best time to start her new life, to connect with her daughters and their children, and to get far away from all the trouble in Donegal. A whole summer near the beach, long lazy days playing with those little children, spoiling them with ice cream and trips to town and the Aqua Dome, picnics on the beach, teaching them to swim and all thethings she had done when her own daughters were small. Fish and chips on the pier, walks in the gardens of Magnolia Manor, where she had spent so many happy years with Fred, her first husband and the father of her girls. It all seemed like an idyll that was hard to resist. It was as if all Tricia needed to do was to find that cottage, make the downpayment and get ready to go. But she knew it would not be that easy. There was one obstacle to all that perceived happiness. Sylvia, her former mother-in-law. She would have taken over as the most important person to the children, the grandmother and great-grandmother, the matriarch of the family. It would be hard to compete with her.
The front door opening and then slamming shut pulled Tricia out of her reverie. She turned to find Violet, her youngest daughter, running into the room.
‘Mum,’ Vi exclaimed. ‘I have some amazing news.’
Tricia got up from the desk. ‘What has happened now?’ she asked. Vi had a habit of bursting in with ‘amazing news’ at regular intervals, be it a part in a movie or TV series; she had a flair for the dramatic. ‘Did you get another part in something amazing?’
‘Yes, in a way.’ Vi wrapped her arms around her mother in a tight hug. ‘I’m getting married! Jack proposed last night. Got down on his knee in the middle of a restaurant and held out a box with a ring. How cheesy is that? And just look at this rock.’ Vi held up her left hand with a beautiful square-cut emerald surrounded by tiny diamonds. ‘“It’s to match your eyes,” he said.’ Vi drew breath and looked at her mother, her green eyes shining. ‘We want to have the wedding at Magnolia Manor the end of August, before Jack goes to Cornwall to film. Isn’t it incredible?’
‘Yes. Quite… wonderful.’ Tricia sat down on the sofa feeling as if she had been hit by a tornado. But that was Vi, always dramatic, never calm and composed like her sisters.‘Congratulations, darling. Where is Jack?’ she asked, suddenly feeling overwhelmed that a film star like Jack Montgomery was going to be her son-in-law.
‘He’s on his way. I wanted to tell you first before he comes.’ Vi joined her mother on the sofa. ‘Please say you’re happy for me. I mean, we’ve been together for two years, so you should have known it was on the cards.’
‘I didn’t think it would happen so soon,’ Tricia confessed. ‘I knew you were dating, of course, everyone did. And that you bought the gatehouse together as well. But…’ She ran her hand down Vi’s silky red hair that hung to the middle of her back. ‘I thought maybe you’d wait a bit. We’ve only started to get to know each other, you and I, after all that’s been going on with me.’ Vi had arrived in Dublin only a few days ago to see a play and to meet Jack at the airport as he arrived from England. They were planning to drive to Kerry later that week.
Vi nodded. ‘I know, Mum. You’ve been through a tough time. But we’ll be together while we plan the wedding. After all, the mother of the bride is a very important person.’
‘What about the grandmother of the bride?’ Tricia asked with a wry smile. ‘I’m sure she’ll have opinions and ideas about the wedding.’
‘Oh, I can handle Granny,’ Vi said. ‘I know she’ll want to take over if she gets a chance. But we won’t let her, will we?’
‘We can try,’ Tricia mumbled. But she knew Sylvia would be a tough nut to crack. In her mid-eighties, she was still as strong and feisty as she had always been. Age certainly hadn’t withered Sylvia, or made her mellow in any way. Tricia had always admired Sylvia for her strength during the many tragedies that had hit her through her life and felt a huge respect for her mother-in-law. They had been united during many difficult years. Fred had died in a freak accident at sea with his own father. So Tricia and Sylvia had mourned their husbandstogether. Sylvia had been a tower of strength and helped Tricia both financially and morally while she was bringing up three daughters single-handed. But there had always been a feeling of rivalry under the surface, a feeling of not quite living up to Sylvia’s high standards. ‘Never explain, never complain’ had always been Sylvia’s motto. Tricia had never been able to follow that example.
‘Does Sylvia know about your engagement?’ Tricia asked.
Vi squirmed. ‘Eh, yes. Sorry, Mum.’
‘I see,’ Tricia said, trying to hide the slight resentment she felt that Sylvia had been told about the engagement before they’d told her.
‘But she doesn’t know about our wedding plans,’ Vi continued. ‘I wanted to talk to you about it first and then tell Granny when we had decided everything. That way she’d find it hard to put her oar in and…’
‘She’ll do that anyway.’ Tricia sighed and got up. ‘I was actually planning to look at cottages for rent near Magnolia right now. I thought I’d spend the summer there. Now with your wedding coming up, I will definitely spend as much time there as I can.’ Tricia felt calmer now that she had the perfect excuse to move down to Kerry for a few months. It would be natural for her to help plan her daughter’s wedding. Nobody would question why she’d run away.
‘Oh, that’s terrific,’ Vi exclaimed, bouncing up from the sofa. ‘Let’s look at them together.’
Tricia tried to find the website but couldn’t remember which one it had been. ‘I thought I’d rent something near Ventry.’
‘But they’re all so tiny,’ Vi argued, staring at the screen when a list of cottages came up. ‘Maybe you can stay with us at the gatehouse? But we’re doing it up at the moment, so it could be a bit noisy.’
‘What are you doing with the gatehouse?’ Tricia asked. ‘Wasn’t it restored with all mod cons recently?’
‘Yes, four years ago,’ Vi replied. ‘But we’re changing the heating system to electric and putting solar panels on the roof. We want to do as much for the environment as we can. And we’re turning the small bedroom into Jack’s office. He’s getting more into writing screenplays and directing than acting, you see.’
