Chapter 37
Later that day, Faith looked over at her sister’s forlorn face.
Lucy hadn’t let her phone out of her sight all day, but Kyle hadn’t phoned back.
Faith knew it wasn’t a good sign; if Kyle wanted to talk to her, he would have called her by now.
No matter how busy his day was, he would have found the time.
Faith couldn’t bear to look at her sister’s miserable face for a moment longer.
She needed to get Lucy out of the house and distract her for a while.
‘Come on,’ Faith coaxed. ‘Watching your phone isn’t going to make him call.
We need to go down to the village to collect our meat and get all the other bits for Christmas dinner.
’ She produced a handwritten shopping list and brandished it in front of her sister.
‘Tomorrow will be crazy with all the last-minute Christmas Eve shoppers, so let’s get it out of the way today. ’
‘Okay,’ Lucy agreed sombrely. ‘I have nothing better to do.’
A little while later, Faith and Lucy got into Faith’s car and set off for the village.
They parked on the main street and headed into O’Herlihy’s. It was busy inside the store: it seemed a lot of the villagers had had the same idea to come today instead of tomorrow, wishing to avoid the rush on Christmas Eve.
Lucy took a trolley and steered it down the narrow aisle while Faith walked ahead of her, picking up items, throwing them into the trolley, then crossing them off her list. Although O’Herlihy’s was a small store, it was always well stocked.
The shelves were crammed from floor to ceiling with odds and ends, from everyday essentials such as milk and bread to useful household items like clothes pegs and birthday candles.
If you needed something, chances were, you would find it in O’Herlihy’s – and if they didn’t have it, they’d order it for you.
The sisters headed up to the butcher’s counter, and Faith handed in the docket to collect the turkey and ham they had ordered.
The butcher handed her the joints.
‘We’re going to be eating this for weeks,’ she said, turning back to Lucy.
‘Well, I am eating for two,’ her sister said, rubbing her still flat abdomen.
Faith laughed. ‘You’d need to be eating for ten for the three of us to get through all this.’
They continued around the store, ticking everything off their shopping list as they went.
They added some treats, such as a tin of Roses, After Eights and a bottle of Baileys in honour of their grandmother who, although rarely drank alcohol, had a tradition of curling up by the fire on Christmas night with a well-earned glass of the creamy liqueur after spending the day in the kitchen.
Lucy had walked on to get the ingredients for the trifle and Faith was just steering the trolley around the corner into the next aisle when she collided with someone coming in the opposite direction.
She was mortified when she realised it was Jack.
He bent double, clutching his stomach where the trolley had hit him.
‘I’m so sorry!’ She released her grip on the trolley and rushed over to him. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine.’ He laughed, straightening up again.
‘Thank God you’re okay. You gave me an awful fright.’ Playfully, she slapped him on the arm.
‘You got a fright?’ he mocked. ‘What about me? I saw my life flash before my eyes. You were driving that thing like a woman possessed!’
She laughed. ‘The Christmas panic is real. If Lucy doesn’t get her turkey with all the sides, my life won’t be worth living.’
‘Looks like you’re expecting a crowd.’ He nodded towards the trolley, which was almost full.
‘Well, it’s just going to be me, Mum and Lucy. We’ll be eating turkey sandwiches for weeks afterwards, but I love making Christmas special. What are you doing?’
‘Myself, Heidi and Rosie are going to Mum and Dad’s for dinner. It’s going to be tough this year…’ He trailed off. ‘It’s … it’s our first Christmas without James.’
Faith cupped a hand over her mouth. ‘Your brother passed away?’
She recalled his older brother. Although he was several years older than them, she had remembered him from when they were younger. He and Jack had been very close, and they had played on the same hurling team so she had watched him play in matches. He had been a skillful player.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know he had passed away. How did he die?’
‘He was involved in a farm accident. A bull charged at him and pinned him against the shed wall.’
‘Oh, that’s awful, Jack. When did it happen?’
‘Eight months ago. It still hasn’t sunk in yet, to be honest. We’re all going around in a daze.’ He shook his head. ‘I normally love Christmas but I’m dreading it this year. It’s going to be tough on everyone.’
‘Of course, I can imagine.’ Although they were desperately missing their beloved grandmother, Elizabeth had been almost ninety and her death felt like the natural order.
For the most part, she had lived a long and happy life, but James had been a man in his prime snatched away in a tragic accident, with no time to say goodbye.
It must have been an awful shock for his family.
‘I’d better head on.’ He held up a bag of marshmallows. ‘I promised Rosie I’d bring her back marshmallows to make hot chocolate. She’s going to watch Home Alone for the first time.’
‘That sounds fun.’
He went to leave before turning back around. ‘Actually, are you going to the céilí tonight?’
The Christmas céilí was a big night in Inishbeg Cove and always had a good turnout.
Most of the villagers had finished work for the Christmas break so people were in good spirits.
The sisters went every year; it was almost as much of a Christmas tradition as putting up the tree. She nodded. ‘We wouldn’t miss it.’
‘Great. Well, hopefully I’ll see you there tonight.’
As Jack departed for the checkout, Faith continued to push her trolley down the aisle. Lucy returned, laden down with groceries, which she let free-fall into the trolley. ‘Was that Jack I saw?’
Faith nodded, lost in thoughts about the fragility of life.
Her heart ached for Jack, then she felt a rush of crushing guilt; she had been so self-absorbed that day on the clifftop, thinking only of her own grief, when perhaps he hadn’t been hitting on her at all.
Perhaps he had just wanted to talk to someone who would understand how he was feeling, but she had cut him off before he’d had a chance to start. Her cheeks burned with shame.
‘What’s wrong?’ Lucy asked. Her face darkened. ‘Was he trying it on with you again?’
She shook her head. ‘No.’ She paused to gather her thoughts. ‘He just told me something and it shocked me, to be honest.’
‘Go on…’
‘Remember his brother James? He was a few years older than us, but we’d see him around the village from time to time.’
‘Yeah, of course I do. He was a good-looking chap. I think he was the captain of the hurling team too.’
Faith nodded. ‘Well, he died in a farm accident eight months ago. Jack is devastated.’
‘Oh no, that’s so sad. I’m surprised none of the villagers ever mentioned it to us.’
‘They probably didn’t know anything about the history between Jack and I, so they might not thought it was relevant to us.
I feel terrible about it all. That day on the cliffs, I thought Jack was coming on to me, but what if he was just looking for someone to talk to?
He knew I’d understand what he’s going through, with the loss of Nanna and then the discovery of how Dad died.
’ She couldn’t help cringing at how she had stood up and left abruptly without a proper explanation like she was the only one experiencing grief.
‘You weren’t to know,’ Lucy reassured her.
‘I know but I think I misjudged him. He’s going to the céilí tonight, so hopefully I can talk to him properly there and maybe explain why I was like that.’
Lucy raised her eyebrow. ‘I wouldn’t be feeling too guilty if I was you; he is married with a child. Shouldn’t his wife be his shoulder to cry on?’