Page 30 of Prudence
Later that day when Deirdre got home from school, she didn’t seem as upbeat as she’d been that morning.
“How did it go?” I asked as we sat down at the table to eat the fish tacos I’d made for dinner.
“It was … not what I expected,” she answered carefully after taking a hungry bite.
I frowned. “How so?”
She blew out a breath and set her taco down. “Well, the girls in my classes just seem very clicky. I went out of my way to talk with some of them, but they were kind of reserved. It’s like they all have their friends already and aren’t interested in making any new ones,” she said glumly, and my heart pinched.
“I’m sorry. I know it can be hard starting over.”
“I’m not complaining. I’m glad we moved here. I could see how London was draining you, and you’ve seemed so much more relaxed these last few weeks, Mum.”
“You shouldn’t be worrying about me,” I said. “You’re the priority. If you’re not happy, I’ll do whatever I can to fix it.”
Deirdre sighed. “I know you will, but it’s not your job to fix every little hurdle I come across. I’m supposed to figure things out on my own sometimes. Besides, it’s only been a day. I’m sure my classmates will warm up to me eventually.”
“Of course, they will. It’s impossible not to like you, and if anyone doesn’t, then that’s their flaw, not yours.”
She chuckled. “All right, no need to go overboard. These tacos are really good by the way.”
“Thank you. I found the recipe online.”
“Well, make them a dinner staple because they’re a winner.”
I smiled and returned my attention to eating. Sometimes it perplexed me how mature Deirdre was, but I suspected it was a trait she’d partly inherited from me. When I was her age, I never wanted to make a fuss either, always focusing on my parents and siblings’ happiness over my own. The difference was I went out of my way to make sure Deirdre didn’t have to take over household duties like I had. It wasn’t my parents’ fault that theystruggled financially when I was a teenager, but I still tried my hardest never to fall into the same traps they had. It was why I’d always been obsessed with saving and responsible financial planning.
“I was thinking of driving over to Portmarnock later to go for a swim. What do you think?”
Deirdre shook her head. “I’m too tired, but you should go. You haven’t swum since we got here, and I bet you’re missing it.”
She wasn’t wrong. Derek Balfe had instilled a love of swimming in me. It was one of the things we’d done together every week back when we were friends. Over the years, I’d kept it up, and though I was by no means going to be breaking any records, it was my preferred form of exercise. The only pool in town was the one at the Balfe Hotel, the one I’d used as a teenager with Derek, but I had no intention of revisiting that place. Besides, I’d resolved in myself that I would go out of my way to avoid him, and there was little likelihood of him using the swimming pool in the next town over.
Well, if I could eat my words, I would have.
Later that evening, as I finished up several laps and was climbing from the pool, I felt the hair prickling at the back of my neck again. I snapped off my swim goggles and headed in the direction of the changing rooms, keeping my head down so as not to lock gazes with anyone. I was being paranoid. Surely, Derek and I hadn’t ended up in the same place twice in one day?
Just as I was thinking it, I walked right into a wall. No, not a wall. A chest. A very muscular, very broad male chest. I knew the withering dark gaze I was going to encounter before I even looked up. Swallowing down a gulp and highly aware of every inch of my bare skin covered in droplets of water, I lifted my eyes.
As expected, he didnotlook pleased to see me.
11.
Derek
Even with all her gorgeous hair tucked under her swim hat, Milly O’Shea was impossibly beautiful. I felt an echo of the feelings she used to stir in me as a lovesick teenager, and it pissed me off. I hadn’t seen her in almost two decades. How was it fair that she could still transfix me even after all this time? What God with a dark sense of humour had decided to curse me now?
My eyes traced the water droplets collecting at her collarbones, the rise and fall of her chest, distracting me from the words coming out of her plump, heart-shaped lips.
“What?” I asked, my voice full of gravel as I wrangled with my reaction to seeing her for the second time today. She wore a blue one piece that clung to her petite, curvy frame, her beaded nipples impossible to miss. She’d only gotten sexier with age, her body an impossible distraction.
Milly pressed her lips together, her eyelids fluttering like they used to when she was nervous. “I said, I promise I’m not stalking you.”
I arched an eyebrow at her statement, refusing to let my mouth round into a smile. She was fucking adorable, and I hated how much power she still had over me. My life was a shitshow right now, and I didn’t need the addition of the first woman I’d ever loved moving back into town. When my sister had told me Milly had come home, I’d made the decision there and then to avoid her. I had too much on my plate without being reminded of the most painful rejection of my life.
“Hard to believe,” I said at last, and her pretty lashes fluttered at my response.
“Oh, come on. You honestly don’t think that—”
