Chapter 25
Aidan
A skein of yarn rolls to a stop at my feet when I let myself into my parents’ house.
I pick it up and gently toss it at my mam, seated on the couch and working on another piece.
The braided rope commemorating my parents’ handfasting ceremony thirty-odd years earlier hangs from the mantel, just like always.
This house is far nicer than the one we left behind in Cork, but my parents brought along the best parts—well, except Da’s ugly chair, where Mam stacks the yarn balls in a teetering pyramid.
A Saint Brigid’s cross fashioned of rushes still hangs over the main doorway year-round and awkward school photos litter these walls, too.
By comparison, my flat in Peckham feels like the sterile showroom of a car dealership.
“How was the wedding?” Mam asks.
“She means, ‘How is Cielo,’?” Fionn informs me as he comes into the living room holding a carton of milk. How he can chug dairy straight after a football match while he’s still in his sweaty GAA gear is beyond me.
“I do mean, ‘How is Cielo,’?” Mam agrees without looking up from her needles. “And stop drinking from the carton, you heathen.”
“So?” Fionn prompts. As if he’s gonna get any salacious details about this weekend. I only kiss and tell in the form of lyrics.
“Oh, you know. Handfasting. Disco. Whisky. All the classic wedding activities. Food was class.”
Something in my glib tone makes Mam look up from her needles. “Fionn, you’re rank. Put that milk away and hose yourself off.”
The look on his face tells me he’ll badger me about this again later, when Mam’s not making a—is that a baby sweater?—and saunters off to the bathroom.
“What happened?” Mam asks, point-blank.
“I realized I need to move back to Galway.”
Needles still in hand, she hops off the couch and bolts toward me. “Watch it with those yokes. You’ll put my eye out.” I laugh as she engulfs me with a hug. The more I think about it, the more excitement begins to infuse my soul.
“This has been a long time coming. Let me have my moment. Your da will be so happy.”
The thought of brightening his day with the news makes me smile wider. “Cielo and I got to talking, and she wants me here.”
“How lovely to have you two back together!”
The proverbial record scratches at that. What exactly had we decided by the end of it? Lo had said she wanted me here, but we didn’t talk further about me relocating full-time or the implication of officially dating again.
“We’re as good as back together,” I say, my stomach pinching at the memory of Lo pulling me into a hug instead of kissing me. I understand she was emotional after the fight with her da, but it would’ve been nice if Lo had been confident enough to kiss me in front of her mother.
“I’ll never understand you young people, but I’m happy if you are. I’d love to have Lo over for supper soon.”
I take a seat on the couch next to her. “I am. Mam, I feel like things might be finally falling into place. I thought London was where I needed to be, and it’s great, but these last few weeks have made me realize that it’s not where I want to be.”
The pressure of a second album still weighs heavily on me.
My contract comes with legal consequences and a steep financial penalty if I fail to deliver something the label deems marketable by the end of October.
I can’t simply shop around for a new deal when there’s a twelve-month non-compete clause and they own the master recordings of every song I’ve released.
Things are looking up, though, between the festival and the rekindling of romance between me and Lo.
Lyrics and melodies have been scrolling through my mind all weekend.
Her company alone gets my creativity buzzing, and that’s what I need going into Harvest in the Park: inspired new material.
With any luck, these songs will help me win back my artistic freedom.
“Well, your da and sister will be happy to hear when they get home from shopping.”
Fionn stands in the hallway, wet hair dripping on to the carpet with a towel slung around his waist. “Hear what? What did I miss?”
“Your brother says he wants to move back here.”
Fionn is nothing if not his mother’s son. With a shout, he lunges for me with his arms outstretched. And the towel drops.