Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
Dan’s office is small but tidy. Functional.
The walls are painted a neutral colour. Shelves mounted hold books and various bulging folders.
His desk is positioned near the window and displays photos of Esther and Michael, along with old framed shots of Castlemoon.
A small potted plant in desperate need of attention cowers on the floor.
Red sits curled up on an old blanket and he doesn’t bark as we enter, just looks up at us then puts his head back down on his paws.
‘It blows my mind that he likes you. He doesn’t like anyone except me.
Good boy,’ Dan says to him as he pulls his wax jacket from a chair.
‘Here, sit down.’ He hangs it on a peg behind the door over a leather jacket.
I can barely keep my eyes off him in this suit as he pulls a bottle of whiskey from his drawer.
‘New York whiskey, thought you might fancy a small night cap? A bit of home away from home?’ He removes the suit jacket now. ‘Never feel comfortable in this tin of fruit.’
I eyeball him.
‘Suit,’ he explains and flicks open the top three buttons of his white shirt as he gets the glasses down from a shelf. Immediately, I recognise it as the same one that Esther had. It’s hard to believe he is their son. What parents to have had. What an upbringing. What couple goals to have.
‘Just a tiny drop, I don’t know what Mary gave me but I’m still buzzing.’ I laugh.
‘Poitín. You heard she got the hospital appointment?’
‘I did,’ I say as I shiver. His office is cold.
‘Are you freezing? Sorry!’ Dan comes over and drapes my wool coat around my shoulders.
‘Thank you. This dress isn’t exactly made for winter. So, Lord – can I call you Lord? It goes well with Your Highness,’ I ask, poking him playfully with my foot and he laughs as he sits.
‘Who’s the funny one now? But please don’t.
I’m lord in name only, Maggie. Proud son of Lord Michael Delaney and Lady Esther Ni Geallaigh.
Inheritor of the crumbling Castlemoon. In debt.
In danger of losing it all. But in the immortal words of Gloria Gaynor, I will survive!
’ He raises a glass in a mock toast, sits heavily into his office chair.
‘I asked Gráinne why no one in the village told me you were the lord of the castle.’
‘Don’t you hear how pretentious it sounds? We are a very down-to-earth community.’ The light catches the crystal glass as he turns it in his hand, reflecting like sparkles are floating around us.
‘No, it wasn’t that. Heartwell is very protective of you, especially after Denise . . .’
‘Ack, they minded me after my broken heart.’ He half laughs.
‘But you said she didn’t hurt you. At least, I think that’s what you said?’ I ask him. I don’t want him to have loved her; she didn’t deserve him.
‘Hurt? No. Humiliated? Yes.’ He leans across the desk, squeezes my arm gently, as though this is the first time he’s admitted it out loud. He exhales deeply.
‘What drew you to her?’ I simply must know.
‘She’s a first cousin of the Murphys’. I was introduced to her in the organic market one sunny Saturday morning.
I remember that day so well, the Wimbledon women’s final was on the telly and I came in for strawberries for my mother.
Denise was very glamorous but totally dismissive of me in my wellies and flat cap, so I thought no more about her. ’ He shrugs.
Immediately, I think of how I reacted when Dan told me he was the owner of the Rolls-Royce, I questioned him, and my cheeks burn. I did judge him, even if I didn’t think I did.
‘Go on.’ I take the tiniest sip from the strong golden liquid.
‘Okay, I never talk about it but, long story short, Kate obviously told her I was a lord and had just inherited the castle and she was up here like a fly on . . . well, ya know yourself.’
‘She thought you were a millionaire?’ I raise a brow.
‘You got it in one. A few days later she arrived up at the castle. She asked me to help her organise a fundraiser for the Heartwell animal shelter. It’s where I rescued Red from as a scared starving puppy, so I couldn’t say no.
She played me. Then she wormed her way in, pretending to be a kind person but she really wasn’t.
It was all premeditated.’ Dan removes his hand now and opens the desk drawer and rummages for a few seconds.
Then, he pulls out pieces of paper stapled together, crumpled and old looking, with coffee-stained rings.
‘This was the last credit card bill she ran up on me.’ He flicks to the last page and hands it to me.
‘Fifteen thousand euro!’ I gasp as my eyes scan the list of transactions, all designer stores.
‘Yeah, she used to take my credit card all the time and wouldn’t believe me when I said I was in debt from her spending.
She started to turn ugly in my eyes. I asked her to move out as soon as she could find a new place and she refused.
Terry, let’s just say encouraged her by giving her a few home truths I wasn’t strong enough to admit.
Still, she wouldn’t leave. Then she tried to bad mouth me all over the village, saying I was stingy.
No one believed her or gave her the time of day after that.
Finally, one day she packed up and left with a note saying she still loved me and that she was sorry. ’
‘And have you seen her since?’ I ask softly.
‘No.’
‘Dan, that’s just awful. Where is all the stuff she bought?’
‘Took it all with her.’ He guffaws.
‘She wasn’t that sorry then!’ I roll my eyes.
‘But I’ve always had the love of my community. Castlemoon is as much a part of the people of Heartwell as it is of me and my family. None of them believed her and that meant the world to me.’
‘You’re amazing, Dan. I have a proposition for you.’ I sit forward, curl my escaping locks behind my ears.
‘Oh yeah?’ He stretches out his long legs, crosses one foot over the other, gives me those big eyes. Damn, I bet every woman he speaks to thinks he’s the sexiest man alive.
‘Do you remember what I was saying about the cellar the other day? About how it’s a gold mine?
Well, I want us to show Kate and Jimmy down there now.
I know it’s late, but I think they can have their wedding there next week.
I’ve already spoken to Kate and I know Jimmy will do it.
If we’re successful in the way I think we will be, we could host an abundance of more affordable weddings there! ’ I tell him excitedly.
Dan nearly spits his whiskey. ‘Y-you’ve got to be kidding me?’ His eyes narrow so far they almost close. Then he takes stock of my words. ‘Do you really think so? If only . . . I mean, you are the expert.’ He looks at me with what I think is admiration.
I grow taller in confidence. ‘Hear me out. It costs a fortune to run that ballroom, you need to keep the heating running for two or even three days in winter before an event, right? It’s very big. In fact, it’s too big, Dan. A lot of people don’t want a wedding that size anymore.’
‘Yer right, it is too big,’ he agrees. ‘It was grand for Aisling and Aaron as they both have huge families.’
‘It needs a lot of work, Dan, and you can’t afford to close it off for long if you don’t have another stream of income. It’s stunning but it’s too vacuous, too cold, too leaky, but I also have an idea for it.’
‘The bloody roof, some gangsters came and fixed it or so they said. Like an idiot, I paid them in full – thirty thousand euro and the roof still leaks. The plaster is coming loose in the Sweet Orange Room with a leak in the flashing on the chimney. The reason I got so mad with you when you hit the Rolls-Royce was that, just an hour before, I’d put an ad in the Heartwell Gazette to sell it so I could pay the part-timers’ wages that week. ’
My mind is working overtime again. I stand up now, Red barks, I slip my arms into my coat, bend to pet him softly, and he settles.
‘It’s a new day. A new year is on the horizon; it’s time for a fresh start. The legend of the castle is your USP, the everlasting love story is why the money will roll in. You need to trade more on that, it’s a commercial gold mine,’ I say, feeling very confident I know what I’m talking about.
‘And you think the cellar can also be used?’ Dan appears to be thinking hard too.
‘Yes. I can see that as clear as a bell but also the Heart Ballroom . . .’
‘See, that’s the creative in you. I’ve only got a practical head on me. Together we’d made a great team, like Esther and Michael.’ He bolts straight upright in his chair. Red barks again and his words cartwheel around my head but I have to concentrate on what I want to do.
‘Follow me, Dan Delaney. Chop chop, we have no time to waste.’ I take his arm, pull him up.
‘Sure,’ he says in a monosyllabic fashion that I know means he wants to keep thinking.
‘Bring your drink,’ I instruct, bounding towards the door. ‘Let me walk you through my ideas.’ As I open the door, I find Kate and Jimmy waiting outside.
‘‘There you are!’ Kate rushes to me, ‘We’ve been looking all over for ye, I’ve told Jimmy your idea. He’s all for it!’ Kate claps her hands madly.
‘I’m all for it. I, however, I have been down there . . .’ Jimmy places his hand on Kate’s shoulder to settle her. ‘There’s a lot of work to be done.’ He eyeballs me cautiously, puts a protective arm around his fiancée’s shoulders.
‘Aye,’ I say, shocked at how I’ve just unconsciously adopted Dan’s lingo, ‘it’s going to take a village, but we can do it.’
‘I’m doing it, Dan!’ Kate grabs his hand, lifts it in the air. ‘I’m getting married here in Castlemoon! Maggie is going to make my dreams come true. Isn’t she something else? Isn’t she just amazing!’ She holds his arm out and twirls under it, the skirt on her pink halterneck billowing out.
Dan throws a worried look at me but I feel confident and in control as I take his other hand. I try to lead him but Kate won’t let him go.
‘You’ll pull the poor man in half!’ Jimmy chortles.