Chapter 43
Faith entered the kitchen behind her mother and closed the door behind them, sealing them into the room. Madeleine exhaled loudly and flopped down onto a chair.
‘Are you going to tell me what’s going on, Mum?’ Faith began.
‘Could a woman at least have a cup of coffee first? I’ve been in the car for hours. I’m exhausted.’
Faith shook her head in frustration, but filled the kettle and set it on the Aga to boil.
‘You’ve some explaining to do,’ she admonished a few minutes later, as she set the mug of coffee down on the table in front of her mother.
‘I guess I do.’ Madeleine grinned sheepishly as she cradled the mug.
‘But I couldn’t sit across the table from Lucy on Christmas Day watching her look so miserable when this should be one of the happiest times of her life.
I knew that Kyle was probably feeling the exact same way on the other side of the country.
I just needed to get the two of them together.
I know there’s a chance that my plan could fail spectacularly, but I had to at least try.
I hope I’ve done the right thing and that Lucy isn’t cross with me for interfering, but I really believe that if they could just talk, they’ll be able to sort things out. ’
‘But they already tried that, remember?’ Faith rolled her eyes. ‘Kyle ended up declaring that their marriage was over and he headed back to Dublin.’
‘That was different,’ Madeleine rationalised. ‘Lucy didn’t know she was pregnant then. Her pregnancy changes everything.’
‘Did you tell him about the baby?’ Faith asked, wide-eyed. It wasn’t their mother’s place to tell Kyle about Lucy’s pregnancy, and she knew her sister would go ballistic if Madeleine had revealed the news to Kyle before she had told him.
‘Of course I didn’t!’ Madeleine was indignant. ‘What do you take me for? Although I had a hard job persuading him to come without letting it slip.’
‘But Lucy called him and he didn’t phone her back. Why didn’t he return her call if he wanted to sort out their issues?’
‘I know,’ Madeleine confessed. ‘He told me about that, but I advised him not to answer the phone to her. I was afraid it would ruin the surprise if he spoke to her on the phone and that Lucy would tell him not to bother coming – you know how stubborn she can be. I thought it would be better if they saw one another face to face.’
‘I don’t know, Mum…’ Faith was full of uncertainty about Madeleine’s scheming. ‘It’s a big risk; the whole thing might backfire and then Christmas will be ruined for everyone.’
‘It was ruined anyway,’ Madeleine said breezily. ‘Lucy was going to be miserable – at least this way there’s a chance we can still salvage it.’
‘And what about your new job? I thought you were supposed to be working today?’
Madeleine tossed her head back and laughed, a big hearty guffaw.
Faith bristled. ‘What’s so funny?’
‘There is no new job,’ Madeleine said. ‘I wasn’t sure if you believed it or not, but come on, darling – even I wouldn’t go into the office on Christmas Day.’ She tutted.
Faith frowned in confusion. What was her mother playing at? ‘So, you lied?’ She blinked rapidly trying to process it all. ‘You left here on the twenty-third, pretending to be starting a new job. You couldn’t get out of the house fast enough!’
‘I’m sorry I lied to you, darling, but it was for the greater good.
How else was I supposed to get up to Dublin to see Kyle without arousing suspicion?
I needed something believable, and I guess you both think I’m capable of walking out on our Christmas plans for a new job.
I admit, that stings…’ She looked upset.
‘Well, you do have form there…’ Faith said, refusing to apologise.
‘I promise that spending time with you and Lucy in Inishbeg Cove has changed my priorities. I have no new job, and I’m not in any hurry to get back to the workplace.’
‘I see…’ Faith said, trying to digest what her mother had told her. ‘So, you only left to help Kyle and Lucy save their marriage? The new job was a cover story?’
‘Exactly,’ Madeleine said smugly. ‘And I did a pretty good job of pulling it off, if I do say so myself.’
‘You did,’ Faith agreed. She nodded towards the wall where on the other side, Lucy and Kyle were having their heart to heart and, Faith hoped, resolving their issues. ‘Let’s hope it’s going well in there…’ she said anxiously.