Chapter 10
TEN
After a sleepless night, Marian got up early, trying to figure out what she was going to say to Sean when they met at lunchtime.
She would drive to Anascaul in Claire’s car that she had left at the manor for Marian to use, as she now shared Pierce’s Peugeot with him.
It would take a little over half an hour to get there, so Marian had plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast. But she was so nervous she couldn’t eat and darted around the flat, trying to decide what to wear, the butterflies in her stomach making her feel nearly sick with nerves.
Breakfast ended up being a slice of toast, a few strawberries and a cup of tea.
Not very substantial but she didn’t have much of an appetite.
Then she got dressed, putting on beige linen trousers and a white T-shirt, an outfit that was bland and ordinary but she felt she had to dress down in order to show she wasn’t there to impress anyone.
Then she got into the car and drove down the avenue, anticipating her meeting with trepidation.
As she made her way down the avenue, Marian wondered why she had so much to deal with right now.
The meeting with that author was stressful enough, but Theo’s silence was even worse.
The letter she had found in a drawer when she was looking for her passport had been from a woman called Helen and the tone in the letter spoke of an intimate relationship of many years.
It had been stuck into a birthday card dated two years ago and it seemed to have been read over and over again, judging by the folds and wrinkles of the paper.
The message was etched into Marian’s brain and she remembered every single word.
Dear old friend,
I do miss you and what used to be ‘us’ so very much even after all the years that have passed.
But you fell in love with that blonde beauty and forgot all about me and what we had.
We remained friends as I moved from Australia to Dublin with my husband just before you left for Queensland. What a strange coincidence!
Now I treasure our friendship and I was touched by your last message telling me you still want to keep writing to me.
I wish you the happiest of birthdays in our faraway land on the other side of the globe.
Your wife seems disenchanted with our country, which you told me was so hard for you to bear.
You should tell her to get a grip and get used to things.
She seems a little spoiled to me and that might be your fault for indulging her.
But who am I to judge? Have drink for me and remember the good times we had.
Love and hugs,
Helen
Marian winced as that familiar pain stabbed her in her heart yet again.
She gripped the steering wheel harder, stared out at the beautiful view of the ocean and tried to turn her mind away from her sadness.
She simply had to try to get over it or she’d be miserable for the rest of her life.
She would have to get in touch with Theo herself soon, but now she had to tackle another problem that threatened to jeopardise her stay in Kerry.
Marian took the road out of Dingle and then turned left towards Anascaul.
She had heard that the picturesque village, set in the heart of the Dingle Peninsula in the southern foothills of the Slieve Mish mountains, was a walker’s paradise.
With stunning views of mountains, rivers, lakes, glaciated valleys and the ocean, Anascaul had over a dozen trails to choose from, which Marian had thought would be wonderful to discover.
But right now she had other things on her mind.
The road took her up the mountainside with vertiginous views of Dingle Bay and the mountains beyond.
The blue sky, the green fields dotted with sheep and the wildflowers in the meadows did not register with Marian as she drove.
She was more concerned about the confrontation with the man she had met on the plane, a man that could threaten the reputation of her new-found family, especially the old woman she had come to be so fond of.
Her thoughts turned to Sylvia and whatever adventures she had had in her youth.
Was it all made up, or had he discovered something in Sylvia’s past that could be embarrassing if it was made public?
In that case, where had he found it? Was it so shocking that it would make a sensation when the novel came out?
All these questions whirled around in Marian’s mind as she parked the car by the little humpbacked bridge near the entrance to the South Pole Inn, the pub that the explorer Tom Crean had built with his own hands over a hundred years ago.
She looked at the building for a moment, amazed at the thought that Tom Crean had constructed it himself, brick by brick.
What a monumental task it must have been.
Then she remembered how Theo had practically built their first home just like that, gutting an old house and making the interior into a cosy little home for them, even though it had been very basic.
She thought about how he had worked so hard after a long day at the plumbing firm, coming home, having a quick bite to eat and then getting stuck into building the bathroom and kitchen, while she did the painting and decorating, after which they fell into bed, exhausted.
Theo had been so romantic then, so loving and caring, bringing her flowers every Friday and insisting on firing up the barbecue in the tiny back garden, when the weather was warm enough.
That house had been a true little love nest.
All those memories went through Marian’s mind as she looked up at the old pub.
The image of Theo’s tender smile and his eyes so full of love as he looked at her over the rim of his glass of wine seemed as if it had happened in another life and now all she had left was the sorrow of what they had lost. She suddenly felt a pang of longing for those days – and for Theo.
Then she pulled herself together and reminded herself why she was here and what she had to do. This was not the time for self-pity. She was here to meet Sean and she had to concentrate on her task.
She watched customers walk inside, as she tried to spot Sean.
But there was no sign of him and she assumed he might have arrived already, so she got out of the car and walked through the entrance into the dim interior of the old pub, her heart beating, glancing at the framed photos of the famous explorer and his family but too preoccupied to study them in detail.
She spotted him at the back of the main bar straight away.
He was sitting at a table by the window, looking at his phone, so he didn’t see her as she walked towards him.
She stopped and looked at him for a moment before she spoke.
His wavy dark hair was a little longer than when they had been together on the plane, but apart from that he looked the same.
Then she took another step forward which startled him and he shot up from his chair as she approached.
‘Hello, ahem… Marian,’ he said and held out his hand. ‘Nice to see you again.’
‘Yes, well,’ she started, suddenly stuck for words. ‘Nice to see you too.’
They shook hands awkwardly and then he gestured at the chair opposite. ‘Why don’t you sit down and we’ll order lunch?’
‘Okay.’ Marian sank down on the chair and picked up the menu. ‘I’ve heard the fish and chips are good here,’ she said without looking at the list of dishes.
‘That sounds fine,’ he said. ‘We’ll have that.’
‘Okay. Let’s order, so.’ She nodded and glanced around the room to see if any of the staff were around and then waved at a waitress approaching them.
‘Hello there,’ the waitress said with a smile. ‘What would you like?’
‘Fish and chips for us both,’ Sean said. ‘And a glass of Guinness zero for me. How about you, Marian?’
‘The same,’ Marian said.
‘Anything else?’ the waitress asked as she scribbled down the order on her pad.
‘No, that’s fine,’ Marian said.
‘Great.’ The waitress nodded and left.
‘So,’ Sean said as he met Marian’s gaze. ‘We meet again. How strange.’
‘Very,’ she said.
‘You look great. All tanned and rested.’
‘I feel good,’ she said. ‘But I would feel a lot better if it weren’t for what’s in that book description.’
His eyes darkened. ‘Let’s get to the main point of our meeting, then. I take it from your email that you want to try to make me change the plot of my new novel?’
‘Well, maybe not the whole plot,’ Marian started.
‘Just some of the details that make it so obviously about my family. Like the name of the house, for example. Rhododendron House? I mean that’s too like Magnolia Manor.
And it’s set in Kerry and there are three granddaughters and a grandmother who has this shady past that she tries to hide behind a respectable facade.
’ She stopped and glared at him while she waited for an answer.
He looked back at her before he spoke. ‘I’m flattered that you read every detail of the description.’
‘Of course I did, so please don’t try to joke about it – or me,’ she snapped. ‘I suspect that you somehow recorded everything I said during that plane journey, which was really sneaky, I have to say.’
‘Well, I couldn’t resist such a fascinating story,’ Sean remarked.
‘And as an author I always look out for a good plot. Yours inspired me to write it into the book I had nearly finished. I wanted it to be about a family that was respected and admired in the area where they lived. And then behind that facade lurked quite a lot of secrets that were never to be told.’