22. Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Two
Emily leaned back to admire her handiwork. ‘I’ve had enough of Lego,’ she said. ‘Can I watch some TV?’
‘Are you sure you wouldn’t rather play outside?’ May asked.
Emily tossed her head. ‘I’ll play outside later.’
‘OK, just let me check with your dad.’ May jumped up and walked out to the veranda where Nick and Cillian were poring over a piece of paper covered in what looked like song lyrics.
‘Everything alright?’ asked Nick, looking up with a smile.
‘Yes. Emily has asked if she can watch TV. Is that alright?’
‘Of course. Thanks so much for watching her.’
‘It’s a pleasure,’ said May, going back inside to give Emily the good news.
Just as she had Emily settled, the doorbell rang, and May answered it to find Alice struggling under the weight of a large keyboard. ‘Can you give me a hand with this?’
May raised her eyebrows. ‘Sure. Did you carry it all the way up the hill?’
‘Yes.’ Alice rested one end on the step. ‘Luke’s working, so he couldn’t give me a lift.’
‘You should have called me. I could have left Emily with Nick for a bit.’
‘It’s fine,’ said Alice. ‘How are Nick and Cillian getting on? I’m a bit worried I’m gate-crashing their boys’ time.’
‘Well, it seems,’ said May, ‘and I think they’re looking forward to playing with you. If anything, they’re a bit nervous and have been practising ready for your arrival.’
Alice laughed. ‘The international pop star is nervous about playing with me? I doubt it.’
May shrugged. ‘He’s not playing his usual crap. The songs I’ve heard so far are actually quite good.’
Alice raised an eyebrow. ‘And you’ve shared that opinion with him, no doubt?’
May laughed. ‘You know me, sis.’ She bent to lift the end of the keyboard resting on the step and lifted it with a grunt. ‘Come on, they’re out the back on the veranda.’
They’d reached the doors to the patio when Nick and Cillian spotted them struggling and rushed in to help.
‘It’s fine.’ May shook head. ‘We’ve got it. Where do you want Alice to sit?’
‘Maybe on the sofa?’ said Nick. ‘The extension lead will reach there, and we’ll be in a circle, which should help.’
‘Right,’ said May once the keyboard was set up. ‘I’ll go back in and sit with Emily.’
‘You don’t have to.’ Nick tilted his head in the direction of the living room. ‘She’ll be fine. Why don’t you sit out here with us and be our audience? You can think of it as an exclusive preview.’
Cillian frowned. ‘I’m not sure we’re ready for an audience.’
May took the hint. ‘Yeah, I’ll just wait inside,’ she said, turning to leave.
‘Don’t be silly,’ said Alice. ‘Sit with us.’
May perched on the arm of the outside sofa, trying not to feel like a spare part. She would have preferred to be watching television with Emily.
‘Why don’t you show me what you’ve been working on?’ said Alice. ‘Then I can have a think about what I can add and where.’
Cillian picked up his guitar. His hands were shaking.
May frowned. Surely he wasn’t nervous? He’d performed in packed-out stadiums, so Nick’s garden shouldn’t prove a challenge.
Perhaps he was hungry? Their eyes briefly met, and Cillian rubbed his palms against his jeans.
Was he nervous about playing in front of her?
Perhaps she’d been too harsh in her earlier critique?
May moved out of Cillian’s line of sight and sat cross-legged on the decking, leaning against the glass balustrade.
He and Nick shared an almost imperceptible nod and then struck up their song.
There was no doubting Nick had an amazing voice, but May couldn’t take her eyes off Cillian.
She drank in every detail of his face, the lines that appeared on his forehead, the way one side of his mouth opened slightly wider than the other, how the muscles in his face moved with the emotion of the song.
A flutter deep inside her caught May off guard.
She forced her eyes away from Cillian and found that rather than watching the performers, Alice had her eyes focussed on May, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
Alice smirked, and May turned away. She climbed to her feet, leaning against the balustrade, deciding the sea view in front of her was the safest place to look.
Alice tentatively began adding piano to the song, and as May let the music wash over her, tears of self-pity welled.
She should be standing here with the world at her feet.
Instead, she was a failure, with no plan and absolutely no clue what her future would hold.
The friends she’d made on her course would be applying for research positions, or to pharmaceutical companies, or for teaching posts.
May couldn’t do any of that now. And anyway, calling her peers friends was generous.
Not one of them had stood by her when the shit hit the fan.
And whose fault was that? She only had herself to blame.
The music ended, and Nick, Alice, and Cillian launched into a series of compliments and excited chatter about the direction the song could go.
Jealousy stabbed at May’s chest. She had nothing to share with friends, no joint endeavour, no skills.
Alice was the only person who’d ever stuck by her side, and May had no doubt even that relationship would be tested once Alice learned the truth.
Panic crushed the breath in her lungs. She couldn’t lose Alice on top of everything.
A sob bubbled in her throat. She tamped it down, forced a smile on her face, mumbled something about checking on Emily, and managed to just make it inside before the first tear fell.