Chapter 4
Faith was exhausted but she knew she’d never sleep.
It was after midnight and they were still sitting with their grandmother, wanting to soak up every last minute they had left before they had to say goodbye to her for good.
She looked over at her older sister, who had dark circles shadowing her eyes.
The last few days spent caring for Elizabeth, sitting at her bedside round the clock, had been physically and mentally exhausting.
They had taken turns to sleep so that one of them was always with her, but now fatigue was catching up like a train slamming into them.
‘It feels surreal, doesn’t it?’ Faith said as she clasped her grandmother’s now cold hand in her own. ‘I keep wanting to tell Nanna about what’s happened, to get one of her squishy hugs, but then I remember that I can’t.’
Lucy placed an arm around her younger sister’s shoulder. ‘I know – I can’t imagine our life without Nanna in it. We’ll have to lean on each other more than ever now. It’s just you and me, sis, against the world.’
‘I still can’t believe Mum didn’t get here in time,’ Faith said, shaking her head.
‘The one time we needed her, and she couldn’t even be here for us!’ Lucy hissed. ‘And she never even got a chance to say goodbye to Nanna. After everything she did for us growing up, I don’t understand how Mum can be so selfish.’
‘I don’t know why you’re surprised,’ her sister grumbled, her voice heavy with resignation. ‘You know what she’s like. Her job always comes first. You should know that by now.’
‘I know… She’s been doing this our whole life, so it shouldn’t be a shock to me.
’ She shook her head. ‘But I thought … given the circumstances and how close we were to Nanna, that she would drop everything to come. Just when I think she can’t disappoint me any more with her behaviour, she manages to outdo herself yet again,’ she added bitterly.
Faith shrugged. ‘That’s our mother.’
Just then the bedroom door opened, startling them. They saw Madeleine standing there. Judging from the expression on her face, she had overheard them.
‘Oh … Mum!’ Faith cried, jumping up. ‘W-we didn’t know you were there.’
‘Clearly!’ she said, looking wounded. ‘I’m sorry if I’ve interrupted your latest Mum-bashing session.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Faith began. ‘We’re just—’
‘Why are you apologising?’ Lucy cut in. ‘It’s the truth. She needs to hear this.’ She turned back to their mother. ‘You’re never there when we need you, Mum. Never have been and never will be.’
‘That’s not true! I have a demanding job, but that doesn’t make me a monster.’
‘But you always put work first,’ Lucy insisted.
‘No, I don’t,’ Madeleine choked out in disbelief.
‘Yes, you do. You’ve done it our whole lives. You’ve never been there for us when we needed you.’
Just then Madeleine’s phone started to beep, startling them. She fished it out of her pocket to check it.
‘Can’t you just leave your damn phone alone for five minutes?’ Lucy snapped.
‘I’m sorry… It’s been dead all day,’ Madeleine explained, ‘and I’ve just found out that there’s an issue with the books ahead of the launch.’
‘You see – yet another example,’ Lucy cried, throwing her hands into the air in exasperation. ‘Nanna has just passed away, Mum! The launch doesn’t matter.’
Their mother replaced her phone in her pocket contritely.
‘Look, Mum,’ Faith said, her tone softer, ‘we’re all upset and tired. It’s been a tough few days.’
‘Of course it has…’ Madeleine nodded sympathetically.
‘Have you let the relatives know?’ She wanted to change the subject away from the topic of her work.
Elizabeth had had two sons: the girls’ father, John, who had passed away almost thirty years ago, and his brother, Richard, who now lived in Australia.
Richard was waiting for a kidney transplant and his doctors had advised him not to travel, so they had spent a lot of time FaceTiming their uncle from Elizabeth’s bedside over the last few weeks.
The girls knew it was difficult on him being so far away from home at a time like this.
Elizabeth’s sister, Kate, was in her nineties.
She lived in Cavan and had Alzheimer’s, but the girls had spoken to Kate’s children and had kept them updated on Elizabeth’s condition.
Faith nodded. ‘We called Uncle Richard and some of the other relatives.’
‘We’ll need to contact the undertakers in the morning,’ Lucy said grimly. ‘I’d imagine the wake will be Wednesday evening, with the funeral on Thursday.’
‘T-Thursday?’ their mother echoed in a funny voice. ‘Why so soon? Would Friday not be better?’
Lucy screwed up her face and looked at her mother in bewilderment. ‘Mum, you’ve been to enough funerals to know the wake is usually soon after someone dies and the funeral the following day.’ Irish funerals tended to happen quickly.
‘I know, but it’s just that that is the day of the launch,’ she admitted, holding her head in her hands. ‘If it could be delayed by a day, it would really help me out hugely.’
‘What?’ Lucy cried. ‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this!’
‘Surely you’re not still planning on going to the launch after everything that has happened?’ Faith was dumbfounded.
‘Of course, darling. I’m the marketing director. This is the biggest event we’ve ever done. I need to be there.’
‘No, you don’t, Mum.’ Faith shook her head vigorously. ‘You need to be here paying your respects to Nanna.’
‘Okay, okay.’ Madeleine put her palms up to face them and exhaled heavily. ‘I won’t go to the launch,’ she conceded, ‘but I do need to go to Dublin Port in the morning. There is a problem with the books – they’re stuck in customs.’
‘Are you serious?’ Lucy asked incredulously, just as Faith burst into tears. The situation seemed to be going from bad to worse with every word that left their mother’s mouth. Why was she getting this so wrong?
‘What?’ Madeleine cried, clearly confused. ‘I’d be back down again by evening-time, so I’ll be here for the wake on Wednesday. That’s the most important part anyway. You won’t even notice I’m gone.’
The girls looked at one another in disbelief and shook their heads.
‘Just when we think you can’t shock us any more, you do!’ Lucy shrieked.
‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this!’ Faith cried. ‘We need you, Mum. We need you here with us in Inishbeg Cove.’
‘All right.’ Madeleine sighed, clearly frustrated. ‘Let me try and sort it out with my team remotely.’