Chapter 34
34
ALICE
‘Okay, sweetheart, well, I’m glad you still hadn’t left the house. I know, but it can’t be helped. I’ll call you in the morning and let you know what time I’ll be arriving. Love to Sophie and to you.’
‘Your son?’ Cillian asked, his words almost drowned out by the loud horn that went off to signify that the luggage carousel was about to start moving.
‘Yes. Rory. He’s the same age as Zac. They actually remind me a bit of each other.’
She didn’t say that this morning she’d been convinced that there were physical similarities too. Especially as now she was face to face with Cillian Corlan, she was looking at a real-life reminder that Larry McLenn didn’t have a monopoly on pale blue eyes.
Their conversation was interrupted again by the noise of the conveyor belt starting up and beginning its slow trundle around the baggage reclaim hall.
The process at the customer services desk had been remarkably swift. The weary, exhausted ground staff had simply informed them that due to the weather and the resulting backlog, combined with the non-negotiable curfew for planes taking off and landing at night, their flights had been cancelled until morning. Now that the snow had stopped falling and the fog had lifted, they were managing to get a select few out before the curfew – the flights that had been delayed longest – but there simply wasn’t time to get them all away. As a result, rooms were being made available to them at a nearby hotel. Anyone with luggage was advised to wait behind, but those who only had hand luggage were free to go.
She’d briefly considered going back to Val’s house for the night, but she didn’t want to trouble Val yet again, by getting her out of her bed. And then there would be the taxis there and back too. No, this made much more sense. Besides, this was likely to be the only time that she was in the company of her old friend’s husband, and she was enjoying hearing about Morag’s life and reminiscing about their past.
Decision made, she’d gone along with the instructions from the airline staff.
‘Son, is that the hotel you stayed in before?’ she’d heard Cillian ask Zac. He’d mentioned that he’d had to stay overnight at the airport hotel on a previous occasion – or was it two occasions? – but Alice hadn’t got the details yet. She presumed it would be down to the weather, because he’d mentioned that both times it was in January.
Zac had nodded. ‘It is.’
The lad looked shattered now and no wonder. It had been quite a day for him. In the last hour or so he’d got quieter and quieter, and she was worried that the emotional impact of the day was still hitting him. No matter what, she knew he’d be fine though. He’d got the answer to his question about his father, and it was the best result that he could have hoped for. It was so obvious that the two men had a brilliant relationship and that Cillian adored his son. Every bit of her wished that Rory had a father like that too.
‘Why don’t you run over then and get the rooms sorted? I’ll wait with Alice and get the luggage,’ Cillian had suggested.
‘Dad, I’m not having you lugging cases all the way over there. I’ll wait here for them, and you two go on over.’
‘Nonsense. I’m perfectly capable of handling a few cases.’ Alice didn’t doubt that for a second. If she remembered correctly, Cillian was only a couple of years older than her, so he wasn’t even in his sixties yet. And he’d already told her that working with his construction company, on top of three gym sessions a week, kept him fit. ‘I’d much rather do that than stand in queues at reception and fill out all that paperwork. Alice and I can chat away while we’re waiting. Is that okay with you, Alice? I’ll put all the cases on a trolley, so you’ll not be having to cart them yourself.’
‘That sounds like the ideal plan, as long as you don’t mind, Zac?’
‘If you’re sure…’ Zac had checked, to which Alice had nodded gratefully.
She knew that she would have handled this on her own, with no issues at all – she’d coped with so much more than a minor travel blip in recent years – but she had to admit, it was good to be dealing with this alongside friends.
‘I think that’s my cases there,’ she said, pointing to the two purple suitcases that had been going away gifts from Val and all the women in their gang, the friends that she hadn’t even met a year ago, but who would now be part of her life forever.
Cillian loaded them both on to the trolley, along with his own and Zac’s, and they made their way out of the terminal building and across the signposted path that led directly to the hotel. Someone had cleared the path so that trolleys didn’t have to be pushed through the snow, but still the cold had hit them as soon as the doors had opened. Although, it felt strangely refreshing to have the bite of frost in the air.
When they reached reception, Zac was already standing there with their keys.
‘Here you go. Dad, you’re in 201, I’m next door in 203, and Alice, you’re in 205.’
A young man came over from the concierge desk with a brass luggage trolley. ‘Would you like me to take your luggage up to your rooms?’
‘Yes please,’ Cillian nodded, helping to transfer the cases onto the hotel trolley, before giving him the relevant room numbers.
‘No problem at all,’ the bellboy told them. ‘The bar is still open, if you’d like a drink.’
Cillian didn’t need much persuasion. ‘I think I could definitely do with a pint after all that. Alice? Zac? I’m not trying to lead you astray, but would you like to join me?’
Zac shook his head. ‘Sorry, Dad, but I’m knackered. I’m just going to go on upstairs.’ He reached over and gave his dad a hug, and then made Alice smile, by hugging her too. ‘I’ll see you in the morning. And, Alice, thank you so much for everything today. I would have been lost without you, and I’m so grateful. I’m glad we got everything sorted out.’
An unspoken agreement passed between them when he didn’t use specifics.
Neither of them would ever discuss Larry McLenn again. It was over. Done. As far as they were both concerned, it had never happened. Which was how she viewed her time with Larry too. Done.
‘I am too, and I’m so glad that our paths crossed. You know that divine intervention we were talking about? I can’t help thinking that your mum planned that for a reason. Goodnight, Zac.’
He went off in the direction of the lifts, leaving her with Cillian in the lobby.
‘Drink then?’ Cillian said. The fact that she was still there probably gave her decision away. She might not have made it to her new life with Rory and Sophie tonight, but that didn’t mean she should delay her new attitude, new optimism and new determination to enjoy every second of the rest of her life.
‘You know what, Cillian, I think I’d like that.’
They made their way into the bar and found a corner table, over by the fire on the far wall. A waiter took their order of a pint and a gin and tonic straight away.
‘You’re smiling,’ Cillian said.
Alice nodded. ‘I guess I am. I was thinking about Morag. I hope she heard everything we talked about tonight. I hope she knows how much we’d love her to be here. In a way, I feel like she is. Is that weird?’
Cillian shook his head. ‘I was thinking the same thing when we were at the bar in the airport. You know, I’m not embarrassed to say it’s been a tough year. Morag and I were married for near on thirty years, and we were happy. We had a good life. I just never thought that I would lose her while we still had lots of it to live and it floored me. But so many times I’ve felt her around me…’ He paused, then smiled. ‘She wasn’t one for moping or feeling sorry for herself, so when I hear her in my head, she’s usually telling me to get my act together and get out and enjoy myself. Maybe it’s time I started listening to her.’
The waiter arrived with their drinks, and as soon as he’d left them, Alice held hers up. ‘To Morag,’ she said softly.
Cillian raised his glass to meet hers. ‘To Morag. And to the rest of our lives.’
They’d just taken their first sips and put their glasses down on the table when they were distracted by the sight of a young woman rushing into the bar.
Alice was surprised when Cillian raised his hand and waved, a gesture that brought the red-haired girl tearing over their way.
‘Hi. We met earlier,’ she said to Cillian, her cheeks flushed and her words breathless.
His tone was welcoming and kind as he acknowledged that he remembered her. ‘Jacinta’s lass.’
‘Yes. Only at the time, I didn’t realise that you were Zac’s dad. Crazy coincidence, but he’s an…’ she paused, as if she didn’t know quite what to say next, then settled on, ‘He’s an old friend of mine and I just need to ask him something. Would you happen to know where he is right now?’
Cillian gave her a beaming smile. ‘I certainly do. Room 203.’