Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
When Ciara came face to face with the woman Ronan had wanted her to meet, on the terrace overlooking the beautiful gardens of Powerscourt, she stopped and stared. This was no girlfriend, but Ronan’s mother.
‘Ciara,’ Ronan said. ‘This is my mother, Elaine.’
‘Oh,’ Ciara said and then stopped awkwardly.
‘Hello, Mrs Burke.’ She couldn’t stop staring at Ronan’s mother, who did not look anything like the mean-spirited older woman Ciara had imagined.
She was youthful and attractive and looked to be in her late fifties.
Dressed in black trousers, a white cardigan over a light blue silk blouse, Elaine Burke managed to look elegant despite the wheelchair she sat in.
Her blonde shoulder-length hair shone in the bright sunlight, and she smiled broadly as she held out her hand for Ciara to shake.
‘Hello, Ciara,’ she said. ‘So nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you and your inheritance. Such an exciting story.’
‘It was a bit of a shock,’ Ciara said as she shook Elaine’s hand.
‘I can imagine,’ Elaine said. ‘It must have felt as if someone was trying to change your life.’
‘Yes,’ Ciara said, surprised by Elaine’s insight. ‘That’s exactly how it felt.’ Then she introduced Maureen to Elaine and stood back as the two women shook hands and started to chat.
Ciara glanced at Ronan standing beside his mother and smiled at him. ‘Hi, Ronan,’ she said as he walked to her side.
‘Hi,’ he said, looking nervous. ‘Nice to see you again. Another lovely day, isn’t it?’
‘Brilliant,’ Ciara said, straining to listen to the lively conversation between her mother and Elaine. They seemed to have bonded instantly.
Ronan pulled her aside. ‘Let them talk. I have something for you. A letter that was found in our safe that should have been given to you straight away. But the old solicitor who dealt with Martha’s affairs died just after her and some of his paperwork was just stuffed in there by a clerk in the office.
He probably thought they were just old notes that weren’t important.
But then he handed the bundle to me on Friday and asked me to go through it before it was thrown away.
They were mostly old notes about cases that we have dealt with, but there was also a letter addressed to you. From Martha, I think.’
‘You think?’ Ciara asked.
‘I haven’t opened it,’ Ronan said, digging into the inside pocket of his blazer. ‘Here it is,’ he said, handing Ciara an envelope with her name written on it in old-fashioned writing that she recognised.
‘Oh,’ Ciara said, staring at the envelope. ‘Thank you.’
‘Open it when you have a quiet moment,’ Ronan suggested. ‘Not now when we’re… when you’re getting to know Elaine and everything.’
‘Good idea,’ Ciara said and stuffed the envelope into her bag. ‘It might be hard to deal with whatever is in it at the moment.’
‘That’s what I thought. Let’s get a table and then we can go inside and order lunch for our mums,’ Ronan said. He turned to his mother. ‘Elaine, we’ll get lunch if you and Maureen want to keep chatting.’
‘That’s a great idea,’ Maureen said and walked to a nearby table. ‘How is this, Elaine? Not in direct sunlight and we have a great view of the garden and the mountains from here.’
Elaine deftly wheeled herself to join Maureen at the table.
‘Good spot,’ she said. ‘Ronan, get me one of their quiches with a pot of chutney. Then a flat white and a small cake, whatever they have today.’ She looked at Maureen, smiling.
‘I know the Avoca food by heart. We come here quite often. I can recommend the quiche and any of the sinful cakes.’
‘Well, how can I resist?’ Maureen chortled. ‘I’ll have the same, please, Ciara.’
‘Okay.’ Ciara made a thumbs-up sign and followed Ronan into the restaurant, where they went to the back of the queue at the counter that had an array of mouthwatering dishes on display, including some delicious-looking cakes.
‘So,’ Ronan said, picking up a tray as they shuffled forward. ‘How are things with you and the bookshop?’
‘Well,’ Ciara started, ‘it’s getting quite exciting.
I’ve decided to open the shop again, strange as that might seem.
Or foolish, some people will say, I’m sure.
And I’ve actually quit my job. Don’t tell my mother quite yet, though.
’ She turned around to make sure that Maureen couldn’t overhear her.
‘Good for you.’ Ronan handed Ciara a tray.
‘I’d do the same if I were you.’ Then he turned to the woman behind the counter and ordered four quiches and the same number of almond slices and coffee.
‘Was that okay?’ he asked Ciara. ‘I assumed you’d want the same but we can change if you’d rather have something else. ’
‘No that’s grand,’ Ciara assured him, taking out her credit card.
‘Put that away,’ Ronan ordered in a jokey tone. ‘Lunch is on us. Elaine insisted that she wanted to treat you.’
‘That’s very kind of her,’ Ciara said, feeling it would be churlish to argue.
When their orders were ready, they carried the trays out to the terrace and joined their mothers, who were still deep in conversation. Maureen looked up as they approached. ‘Thank you for getting our lunch. It all looks delicious.’
‘We should thank Elaine,’ Ciara said as she put the tray on the table. ‘She’s treating us to lunch.’
‘That’s lovely,’ Maureen said. ‘Very generous, Elaine.’
‘My pleasure,’ Elaine said graciously, looking pleased. ‘I felt we should celebrate Ciara’s good fortune. And that you’re opening the bookshop. I’d love to see it one day.’
‘You’d be very welcome once we have it up and running,’ Maureen said. ‘We might not have it for long – someone is bound to buy it once we’ve spruced it up. Isn’t that right, Ciara?’
‘Yes,’ Ciara replied, feeling terrible about lying. But she wouldn’t be able to do any of this on her own, and she was scared of her mother’s reaction to her quitting her job. ‘We have a lot of work to do before it becomes reality,’ she added.
‘Let me know if there’s anything I can do,’ Elaine offered. ‘Not physically, but maybe on the computer. I’m getting fairly good at managing the social media stuff.’
‘Well, we’re going to have to manage without the Internet,’ Maureen said. ‘There’s no broadband in Cherrywood. And the phone signal is hopeless up there.’
‘But what about a satellite connection?’ Elaine asked. ‘I have a friend who lives in the back of beyond in County Meath and she has managed to get connection with a company that installs satellite dishes. I could look up the ones on Wicklow for you.’
Maureen brightened. ‘Oh, that’s a brilliant idea,’ she exclaimed. ‘Why didn’t we think of that?’
‘It mightn’t have occurred to you,’ Ronan said as he pulled out a chair for Ciara and then sat down as soon as Ciara had settled opposite Elaine. ‘But that’s a great idea, Mum. We should investigate that. And if we find a firm that’ll do it, would you mind if we send them up to you, Ciara?’
‘Of course not,’ Ciara said, delighted that he had asked her and not her mother. ‘Please get them to call in and we’ll look after the rest.’
‘Now I come to think of it,’ Maureen said, ‘I’ve seen a dish like that on one or two of the houses in the village. That must be what they’re for.’
‘Maybe we could knock on their doors and ask who they’re with?’ Ciara suggested.
‘We could, but I think we should make our own arrangements,’ Maureen said. ‘We haven’t met many of the neighbours yet. Except a nice couple who called in with their granddaughter.’
‘And the lady at the vicarage,’ Ciara filled in. ‘She invited us to tea in a few weeks. We’re hoping to do a bit of networking then.’
‘Didn’t Oisín suggest that we spread the word during the tea party?’ Maureen asked. ‘When you had that dinner date yesterday?’
‘Who’s Oisín?’ Ronan asked, frowning. ‘You didn’t mention him, Ciara.’
‘Oh, just a friend,’ Ciara said casually. ‘We had dinner in Wicklow last night.’
‘He’s been most helpful,’ Maureen cut in. ‘I think it’s a good idea, but I don’t want us to be too obvious.’
‘You could steer the conversation in the right direction,’ Elaine suggested. ‘Just mention your shop in passing or something.’
‘Well, yes,’ Maureen said. ‘We’ll just see who we meet and what we’ll talk about and feel the mood.’
Elaine nodded and started to eat her quiche. ‘That’s a good idea. But now we should enjoy the food and the sunshine.’
They all started to eat at once, and the conversation turned to Powerscourt, its history and the beautiful gardens that were so famous.
Ciara kept looking at Elaine, still feeling a sense of wonder at this attractive, intelligent woman who had been so friendly and helpful ever since they met for the first time. She hadn’t expected this at all.
When they had finished their coffee and cakes, Elaine announced that she wanted to take a tour of the gardens just to see the roses that were in bloom.
Maureen offered to accompany her and said that they’d go ahead, and that Ronan and Ciara might join them later when they were at the fountain where they could admire the beautiful herbaceous borders.
Elaine started to protest that Ronan should come with them, but Maureen stood up and started to push the wheelchair towards the door.
‘We have to go inside to get to the entrance to the park. I know that there’s a ramp into the garden behind the reception,’ she said as she walked away with Elaine.
‘We’ll see you in a little while,’ she said to Ciara and Ronan over her shoulder.
Ronan looked at Ciara and started to laugh. ‘I have a feeling my mother has met her match,’ he said. ‘I admire Maureen’s courage.’
‘You don’t argue with my mother when she’s in that determined mood,’ Ciara said, smiling.
‘I can imagine.’ Ronan paused for a moment. ‘So you were on a date last night?’
‘Yes, I was,’ Ciara said, wondering if there was a hint of jealousy in his eyes.
‘With someone called Oisín?’ Ronan asked. ‘I don’t think you’ve mentioned him. Who is he?’