Chapter 45
Lily was in the kitchen, but she could hear her mother’s laughter from the living room where she’d left her talking with Shay.
It was the loveliest sound and she hadn’t heard it in a very long time.
She even stopped washing the dishes to listen to it.
It seemed like a lifetime since she’d heard Barbara laugh like that.
The evening had a tense enough start when they arrived at Sea Shells cottage.
Her mother scrutinised Shay with such a wary eye that Lily was certain it was obvious, even to him.
He’d handled it well, his laid-back Irish charm beginning to break the ice almost immediately.
And, as the evening continued, he chiselled away more and more until Lily could find no trace of hesitation whatsoever in Barbara’s eyes.
She’d questioned him on everything from his age to where he was born, and whether he owned his own home. Lily was sure even the FBI wasn’t as thorough at interrogation. By the time dinner was over she doubted there was anything left about Shay that her mother hadn’t prised out of him.
And Lily herself had learned a thing or two throughout the process.
Shay had been born in Galway where his mother still lived, but had moved to Paris for a while after university.
Things hadn’t worked in his favour in the beginning.
Ireland at the time was feeling the repercussions of the worldwide economic recession, thus architect jobs were apparently few and far between.
He’d ended up as a pub barman for a couple of years, and then with the money he’d inherited after his dad’s death, decided to open up his own architectural practice.
He shared some of his ideas for the future of the business and from what she’d heard, Lily had a clearer sense of who he was and where he was going.
And she was definitely beginning to understand why he’d been so detailed in his plans for his and Sarah’s wedding.
He was a man who knew what he wanted, where he needed to be to get there, and ensured a clear path to succeed.
Now, when the kitchen door opened, Lily resumed cleaning the dishes as if nothing was going on and she wasn’t earwigging. Her mother came in with Shay on her heels.
‘It was so lovely to meet you, Shay,’ Barbara gushed, an old familiar twinkle in her eye.
‘The pleasure was all mine, Mrs—’
‘Please call me Barbara,’ she insisted, giving Lily the eye as she put her empty dessert plate in among the others in the sink.
‘Well, that’s me done,’ she said, yawning elaborately.
‘You going somewhere?’ Lily asked, curious.
‘I’ve had a lovely evening but it’s time women my age got to bed,’ her mother replied as she laid a hand on Lily’s shoulder and squeezed gently.
She flashed her daughter a curious look that Lily couldn’t quite interpret.
‘But don’t let my turning in bring your evening to an end,’ her mother continued in a weird manner that made her truly suspicious.
Especially since these days her mother rarely went to bed until the early hours. What was she up to?
‘It’s a lovely clear sky out,’ Barbara continued as she peered out the window overlooking the ocean. ‘You two should take a stroll on the beach to work off all that food. It’s the perfect night for it too,’ she added.
But this time Lily didn’t miss the meaningful look her mother flashed as her gaze flickered between herself and Shay.
She flashed her a vexed stare in return, which her mother promptly ignored.
‘Shay, would you mind ensuring that my daughter stops fussing over the dishes? She’s always doing things for others and hardly ever enjoying things for herself,’ her mother added, giving him a gentle pat on the arm.
‘Of course Mrs … I mean, Barbara,’ he corrected quickly.
Shay didn’t move and neither did Lily.
‘Well, go on,’ her mother urged.
‘Oh, you mean now? OK,’ he chuckled, a little nervously, Lily thought, as he reached for her sudsy hands. ‘Seems we’re going for a walk,’ he informed her, raising an amused eyebrow.
‘Have fun,’ Barbara sang as they stepped out the back door onto the rear deck.
Lily glanced back and found her mother still watching from the kitchen window as she and Shay crossed the threshold of the property and stepped onto the soft powdery sand.
The night was brightened by a luscious full moon that cast the white sand in an ethereal pale-blue glow.
And light enough to see the amusement on his face as they ambled side by side along the beach.
‘Was it me, or did your mother just set us up?’ he chuckled.
‘You picked up on that, did you?’ she intoned, while she removed her sandals from her feet. It was impossible not to walk barefoot on this silica-soft surface.
Shay seemed to agree with her as he too began to remove his footwear.
They ambled along the cool soft sand for a bit, watching intermittent white wave crests that appeared on a rippling sea of black.
The evening was refreshingly cool given the warm day they’d had.
Lily had even been a little hot and bothered earlier as they meandered through the caves.
The humidity in there had everyone in their little group sporadically wiping their brows.
Now the air around them seemed so cool it was almost seductive, dancing past them and openly playing with her hair.
‘Lily,’ Shay began as they strolled past a couple of empty beach chairs, abandoned and long forgotten by sunseekers of earlier.
‘Yes?’
‘Do you think …’ he faltered a little, ‘I mean, do you believe things happen for a reason?’ He seemed distracted and not nearly as jovial as he had been with her mother back there.
Lily wasn’t certain if this line of conversation was good or bad. ‘Perhaps.’
‘Do you think it’s possible that what at first seems like unexpected, or awful stuff happens to make way for something else? Something better even.’
Her heart began to race in her chest. Was he talking about her – them?
‘My dad used to say that all the time actually,’ she confided. ‘So yes, I do.’
Shay nodded, and she fully expected him to say something else then, but he didn’t. Instead, he shifted his grasp on her hand, this time intertwining their fingers. Her breath caught, but they’d taken only a few steps more when something buzzed from within his trousers pocket.
He took the phone out to check the screen and in the blue light of the device, she could see his face immediately change as he read the message. He then quickly shoved it back into his pocket.
‘Everything OK?’ she asked tentatively.
He nodded, but now his expression was closed. ‘Could we … not talk for a bit?’ he said, distractedly and that moment, whatever it was, had evidently broken. ‘I want to enjoy tonight.’
But he didn’t reach back to take her hand again.
‘Sure.’
Lily had no idea what had changed in those few seconds. It was as if, suddenly, something, or someone, had dropped a veil between them and he even felt distant now. When a moment before it felt as if they were moving as one toward a deeper connection.
What had just happened? Clearly it was the text message. Who was it from? And what did it say that could have altered Shay’s mood so completely?