Page 56 of The Widow's Irish Secret
‘From Noel about – what?’ Cillian looked confused.
‘Oh, nothing much. Just something to do with a legal problem. I can’t discuss this right now.’
Cillian looked at her for a moment in the light of the dashboard without speaking. ‘I have a feeling you’re hiding something from me,’ he said.
Tricia bristled. ‘Oh, yeah, and you’re not hiding anything? You told me some story about your job in Dingle that I now feel wasn’t really true. You asked me to keep it quiet, which I did. But now I suspect it was all a ruse to lead me down a false trail. The real story is something different altogether, isn’t it?’
Cillian gripped the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. ‘We’re both hiding secrets,’ he mumbled. ‘If we can’t trust each other, then what are we doing here together?’
‘I’m beginning to wonder that too,’ Tricia countered with a horrible feeling deep down that their so-called romance was doomed to fail. She gritted her teeth and tried her best not to burst into tears. ‘I think we should take a break from all this.’
‘Yes, maybe we should,’ Cillian said, looking as miserable as she felt. ‘Do you want me to take you back to Magnolia? It’s only about an hour and a half away.’
‘If you’re not too tired, yes,’ Tricia said quietly. ‘I want to go and see Sylvia as soon as I can tomorrow morning.’
‘Well, I can see that I’m not at the top of your list of priorities, which tells me where we’re heading.’ Cillian started up the van and they rumbled down the road south.
Tricia felt the atmosphere become close to hostile. Gone was the resolve to tell him about her legal problem. He would probably think the worse of her if he knew. She stroked Paddy absent-mindedly, feeling the return journey was taking days instead of just a little over an hour. When the van finally pulled up outside the cottage, she gathered up her things and climbed down, relieved to be home at last.
Cillian stepped down from the driver’s seat while Tricia fumbled with her keys at the front door. ‘Will you be okay?’ he asked.
‘Of course I will. Don’t worry.’
He took her hand when she had opened the door. ‘I’m sorry it turned out like this. But it doesn’t mean the end, does it?’ He pushed his hand through his hair. ‘We rushed things a bit maybe and I need time to think.’
‘Yes, me too.’ She hesitated. She wanted to tell him everything but it would be too rushed and he seemed in a bad mood. ‘I was going to tell you something important, but it feels too much to talk about right now. I will tell you everything when I can.’
‘It seems very serious,’ he said, looking at her with concern.
‘Yes it is,’ Tricia admitted. ‘But please believe me when I say that it has nothing to do with you and that I just can’t talk about it right now.’
Cillian let out a resigned sigh. ‘Okay. I understand where you’re coming from. And I also see that there is, as you said, a lack of trust between us. You didn’t trust me with your secret and I didn’t trust you with mine. But in my case it was more to protect you. I didn’t want to burden you with a secret that might result in a lot of problems and accusations.’
‘I see.’ Tricia suddenly felt a wave of fatigue wash over her. ‘I know what you’re saying about trust. But right now, I’m so tired I think I’m going to go to collapse right here on my owndoorstep. I need to sleep and so do you. Park the van here and stay the night. You’re just as tired as I am.’
Cillian shot Tricia a pale smile. ‘Thanks, but I’ll trundle over to Orla’s. She’ll be over the moon to see the van outside her house again.’
Tricia returned his smile and briefly touched his cheek. ‘Okay. Sleep well. We both have stuff to deal with. But I did have a lovely time before that phone call about Sylvia. I’m sorry we couldn’t work it out. Goodnight, Cillian.’ Then she opened the door and went inside, closing it gently behind her while her heart broke into a thousand pieces.
She had failed to tell Cillian the truth, but she didn’t want to keep anything else from Sylvia. She’d been too scared to confront her about Vi’s wedding dress, and it had resulted in a horrible altercation that had landed Sylvia in hospital. Tricia knew she should tell Sylvia about her legal problem and all the horrible rumours that had been spread. But was this the right time to reveal all? And when she did, would Sylvia be so shocked she would ask Tricia to leave Magnolia and her lovely cottage?
30
Sylvia was sitting up in bed reading the Sunday papers when Tricia arrived at the hospital the following morning. Her grey hair was immaculate and she was dressed in a frilly white nightgown under a pink cashmere cardigan. She had, somehow, managed to get a private room and it had taken Tricia half an hour and a lot of searching before she found the right door.
Sylvia looked up and smiled as Tricia approached her bed. ‘Tricia! How kind of you to come and see me. I thought you had gone for a bit of a drive with Cillian.’
Tricia pulled up a chair and sat down. ‘I had but then I got a call to say that you had been taken ill. So we turned around and came straight back. Thank goodness it wasn’t anything serious. You look as fit as a fiddle, I’m happy to say.’
‘And so I am,’ Sylvia said, putting down the newspaper. ‘A lot of fuss about nothing. I shouldn’t be here taking up a bed that’s needed for someone who is really ill. But they insisted I stay in so they can stick needles in me and tell me I’m old and frail.’
‘And you got your own room,’ Tricia remarked. ‘How on earth did you manage that?’
‘It must have been some kind of storage room at some stage,’ Sylvia replied. ‘It’s the smallest room I’ve ever slept in. But they wheeled me in here last night saying I was talking too much and asking too many questions.’ She shrugged. ‘That’s their story. I was just chatting to the other patients in my ward, asking them about their families and where they were from. I didn’t want to share a room with total strangers. If I knew a bit about their background, I’d feel I knew them better.’
‘And did you also give them advice on health matters?’ Tricia asked, trying her best not to giggle.
‘Weeell,’ Sylvia said, looking only slightly guilty. ‘I might have said that if they had had a healthier lifestyle they might not be in hospital. Especially the woman in the bed next to me who was larger than she should be, if you see what I mean.’
