Chapter 17
17
‘Yes, it’s me,’ Rose said. Her blue eyes were cold as she looked back at Vi. ‘I wasn’t planning to meet you like this,’ she continued. ‘Or at all, really.’
‘Well, I…’ Vi started. ‘I mean, I was hoping we could get together and talk or something.’
‘I’m not ready,’ Rose said.
‘I see.’ Vi put her hands in her pockets and stepped back. ‘I thought I’d see you around town maybe.’
‘Well, we live on the outskirts of town,’ Rose said stiffly. ‘And I’ve been stuck at home with Sophie, who’s been quite sick.’
‘That must be hard,’ Vi said, trying to sound sympathetic. Then she looked at the little girl in the pram. ‘Hi, Sophie.’ She leaned forward and smiled at her niece. ‘How you have grown. I haven’t seen you since last year. Remember me? I’m your auntie Violet. What a pretty girl you are.’ Sophie, at around a year and a half, was indeed enchanting, with deep blue eyes and curly blonde hair and a small, upturned nose. She stared at her aunt for a moment, and then her face broke into a wide smile, showing tiny teeth. Then she pointed to Rose and said: ‘Mamma.’
‘I know your mamma.’ Vi pointed to herself. ‘I’m Violet.’
Sophie let out a delicious laugh like little bells. ‘Vilet,’ she repeated and then chuckled again.
‘Aren’t you a clever girl,’ Vi said. Then she straightened up and looked at Rose. ‘She’s lovely, Rose. And the spitting image of you.’
‘Thank you,’ Rose said stiffly and started to move past Vi. ‘I have to go now.’
‘No you don’t.’ Vi grabbed the handle of the buggy, staring at Rose. ‘Just one question. Are you going to keep this up forever? Or are you waiting for hell to freeze over? Or that I will do – whatever – so you’ll forgive me?’
‘That was three questions,’ Rose remarked.
‘I know. But can you answer any of them?’ Vi demanded. ‘I mean… hey, we’re sisters. We should stick together. Have you listened to any of my voicemails? My apologies? I meant it. I’m truly sorry, Rose.’ Vi drew breath and looked levelly at Rose while she waited for an answer. She knew Rose was always slow to forgive any kind of slight and that it would take her longer than usual to soften towards Vi. But she was tired of waiting and feeling guilty. She also noticed that Rose looked pale and tired and that she had lost weight. ‘It’s nearly Christmas,’ Vi said. ‘And Granny is having her traditional dinner as usual. We’ll all be there together. Wouldn’t it be nice for us to sort this out before then? If only for Granny’s sake.’
Rose looked away while Sophie bounced up and down in the buggy. Then she looked at Vi again and heaved a big sigh. ‘I didn’t realise,’ she said. ‘I thought you were just going to defend yourself all over again. Well, I accept your apology.’ Violet smiled, feeling relieved. ‘For Granny’s sake,’ Rose added. ‘That’s all. I need to think about all this before we can be back to what we were. But it’s okay. Relax. No more aggro from me. We could maybe talk some more before Christmas. Try to understand each other and then… maybe.’
Vi felt that there was a ray of hope. There was a long way to go yet, but at least Rose had softened somewhat. ‘Life is too short to fight,’ she said. ‘Especially with your sister. I’m here for quite a while, so we can spend some time together and I’d love to help with babysitting or anything else you need.’
‘You’ll be too busy with the movie and your new boyfriend,’ Rose said with an edge still in her voice.
‘New boyfriend?’ Vi asked. ‘Oh, please, don’t tell me you read the tabloids now.’
Rose shrugged. ‘No, but the butcher does, and the woman in the dry cleaners and the check-out girl in the supermarket.’
‘I see.’ Vi suddenly remembered that she was living in a small country town where people liked to gossip. ‘Whatever they said, it wasn’t a date. I was showing Jack around and we were talking about the movie and how we’d portray the various characters and so on. There’s no romance between us.’
‘Yet,’ Rose said.
‘Never,’ Vi protested. Suddenly, Violet realised why Rose was so angry. She and Rose used to share everything together: there wasn’t a single man Violet had ever dated that Rose hadn’t had an opinion on because she had been so protective. Rose had been the older sister who knew Vi’s best interests, she had said then. ‘No matter what the tabloids say, it’s not true. They try to make up stories all the time. So you can tell the butcher and the dry cleaners and the girl in the supermarket and whoever else wants to know that there is nothing going on between me and Jack. Could you check with me in future before you believe anything you read? And tell others to do the same.’
Rose nodded and her eyes softened. ‘Okay. Fair enough. I see what you mean. But…’ she started. Then her face suddenly brightened and she shot Vi a mischievous smile. ‘I would like to make one exception. Remember Sinead Morrisson?’
‘From boarding school?’ Vi asked, as the memory of the girl who had been so mean to her popped up in her mind. ‘The girl who was always teasing me about my hair?’
‘Yeah. Her,’ Rose replied. ‘She lives in Dingle town now and she hasn’t improved with age. Always saying nasty things behind people’s backs. I think she’s green with envy that you’ve done so well. And now, to top all that, dating the brightest shining star in the world of cinema that we all fancy. Do you mind if I don’t tell her there is no romance?’
Vi had to laugh, feeling the ice was broken between them at last. ‘That’s okay. Tell her anything you like. I don’t mind if that stuck-up biddy is jealous of me.’ She paused and looked pleadingly at Rose. ‘So then we’re okay? You and me?’
Rose looked suddenly contrite. ‘Yes, we are. I’m sorry I’ve been so slow to forgive you. The more I’ve heard about this movie the angrier I’ve become. I want us to be back to where we were before. Arguing about silly stuff, but being sisters.’
‘Oh, great. That’s a huge relief,’ Vi said, touching Rose’s cheek. ‘I understand that it was hard for you to forgive me. That journalist just wanted to make it into a juicy story.’
Rose sighed. ‘Yeah, I get that. But it’s been a hard year for me. Sophie’s been sick so many times that I had to take time off work and leave everything to Henri which he hasn’t liked one bit. And Noel and I didn’t get much sleep while the baby was sick. I had to do most of the minding because Noel just can’t take much time off. Then there was you with your glammy life and then getting that part. Hearing the news of you dating Jack Montgomery was kind of annoying, too, I have to say. But now that you’ve told me the true story, I feel stupid to have believed it.’
‘You’re not stupid, Rose. You’re the smartest person I know. I’m really sorry I haven’t been here to help out when you’ve had all these problems. But hey, let’s forget it and move on, okay?’
‘Deal,’ Rose said and leaned forward to hug Vi. They squeezed each other tight for a long moment, their eyes brimming with tears. Then they sprang apart and laughed, wiping their eyes.
Vi looked at Sophie to see her reaction, but the little girl had fallen asleep in her buggy, hugging her teddy. ‘She nodded off,’ Vi remarked.
‘Thank goodness,’ Rose said with a sigh of relief. ‘I was up at Magnolia to see Granny, but Sophie was so cranky I decided to take her for a walk to see if she’d fall asleep. So that worked. And now you and I are friends again, so win-win, I’d say.’
‘It’s a lucky day,’ Vi agreed. ‘Sophie looks okay, though. Is she getting better?’
‘Oh yes, finally better,’ Rose said. ‘Not sleeping that well at the moment because she’s teething again. But we’re over the worst and we have a great doctor who has put her on a special diet to deal with her food allergies. I think I can go back to work as soon as she settles into the crèche.’
‘That’s good news. Babies must be hard work,’ Vi remarked.
‘Even when they’re well,’ Rose agreed. ‘But let’s keep walking. Where were you going?’
‘I’m just out for a walk,’ Vi replied. ‘I thought I’d go into town and have a coffee. But we could go up to Magnolia to see Granny, if you like. I’m sure she’d love to hear that we’ve made up.’
‘She would,’ Rose said and started to push the buggy up the path. ‘She was just telling me off about being in a snit for so long. So let’s go and tell her the good news.’
They turned and walked back up the gravel path towards the manor, chatting and laughing and enjoying being sisters again. Vi told Rose about Jack’s visit and how he had been so taken with Kerry. Rose shared the ups and downs of being a mother for the first time, which seemed exhausting to Vi. When they rounded the corner to the courtyard, Sylvia opened her door and looked at them in surprise.
‘Rose and Violet,’ she said. ‘Together. Have you made up at last?’
‘Yes, we have,’ Rose said. ‘And we’ve decided it was both our faults.’
‘Good,’ Sylvia said and opened the door wider. ‘Now get inside out of the cold and we’ll have coffee and a chat. You could both stay for lunch if you like. Arnaud is at a meeting in the main office with Henri and some of the members of the board. They’re discussing the maintenance of the building and what needs to be done.’
‘Maybe I should be there, too,’ Rose suggested as she got the buggy with the sleeping little girl inside with Vi’s help. ‘I need to get back to work. I haven’t been at a board meeting for ages.’
‘If you like,’ Sylvia said. ‘We’ll mind Sophie. Could be a good opportunity to find out what’s been decided since you’ve been away.’
‘Brilliant,’ Rose said, smiling at Sylvia. ‘It’ll be great for Vi and Sophie to get to know each other too.’ She went into the kitchen and parked the buggy in the alcove behind the dining table. ‘There. She might wake up but I’m nearby so you could give me a shout if she’s upset.’
‘No, we won’t,’ Sylvia said to Vi when Rose had closed the door behind her. ‘We’ll let her have a break and get connected to work again. She needs that more than anything. Sophie will be fine with us even if she kicks up a fuss. Now, let’s have coffee.’
‘Good idea,’ Vi said and went to the Nespresso machine on the kitchen counter. ‘Do you want me to make the coffee?’
‘Yes, please.’ Sylvia sat down on a chair at the table. ‘There are some of Nora’s oatmeal cookies in the cupboard.’
‘Yummy.’ Vi proceeded to make two cups of coffee and put several of the cookies on a plate and brought it all over to the table. Then she sat down and smiled at Sylvia. ‘Hey, I can’t believe Rose and I are back together. What do you think of that, then?’
Sylvia stirred sugar into her coffee. ‘I think it’s a huge relief. I couldn’t imagine what Christmas would be like with you two glaring at each other over the plum pudding. Now you’ll just be teasing each other the way you used to. That’s very good news indeed.’ She took an oatmeal cookie from the plate. ‘So what is this I hear? You’re going out with your co-star? That young man I saw you with the other day?’
‘No, I’m not,’ Vi protested. ‘That’s just a rumour. We’re friends and colleagues, that’s all.’
‘I’m glad to hear it,’ Sylvia said. ‘I didn’t really believe it anyway.’
‘Of course you didn’t.’ Vi took a bite of her cookie. ‘You’re too smart to believe stuff like that.’
‘And you’re too smart to be taken in by a pretty face,’ Sylvia retorted.
‘Yes, I suppose,’ Vi said, trying not to show how she really felt about Jack. She couldn’t help being attracted to him, especially now that he had revealed things about himself that nobody else knew. It had made him more real, somehow.
‘But forget about him,’ Sylvia said. ‘What have you been up to lately? Other than taking ballet lesson from Claire Ryan, that is.’
Vi laughed. ‘I had forgotten what a goldfish bowl Dingle is. Everyone knows what you’re doing minutes after you’ve done it. Well, they don’t know what I do at home, do they? I’ve done some research into Kathleen O’Sullivan’s background. And as luck would have it, I found an old lady called Fidelma Sheridan who knew Kathleen in the early days in Dublin. Around the time she was discovered.’
Sylvia looked startled. ‘Well, that was a real stroke of luck, wasn’t it? What did she tell you?’
‘Not much.’ Vi finished her cookie and took a sip of coffee. ‘But then I was sent a whole stack of letters from Kathleen to Fidelma that I’m reading through right now. So far, I haven’t found anything new.’
‘I hope you don’t,’ Sylvia said. ‘It might compromise your role.’
‘In what way?’ Vi asked.
‘What if you don’t want to play her any more?’ Sylvia said.
‘Oh, I’d never change my mind,’ Vi exclaimed. ‘I want to know Kathleen deep down, not the clichéd Irish sweetheart she was supposed to be.’ She studied Sylvia for a moment. ‘You know something about Kathleen, don’t you?’
Sylvia evaded Vi’s gaze. ‘No, not really. I know about rumours that were flying around at the time, but not if they were true.’
‘What rumours? Granny, please tell me what you heard,’ Vi pleaded. ‘Jack has said some odd things too.’
‘No, love,’ Sylvia said. ‘I don’t want to say anything. Facts are one thing, but idle gossip is something I hate with a passion. You’re going to play Kathleen in a movie about her life. It has to be a true story, not anything based on what could simply be vicious lies told by people who resented her fame and fortune. Do your research, read the letters and find out what the truth is. The real truth, I mean.’
Vi thought for a moment. Then she realised that her grandmother was right. There must have been something in Kathleen’s past that had been hidden all this time. Something Kathleen herself didn’t want anyone to know. But if Vi found out what it was, it had to be based on real facts, not made-up stories or rumours. ‘Okay, Granny. I see what you mean. I’ll go through the letters and if I find anything, I’ll use that and tell the researchers and if not, I’ll just follow the official story and leave it at that.’
‘You could perhaps go and see Fidelma,’ Sylvia suggested. ‘You never know. She might be able to solve the mystery.’
Vi nodded. ‘Yes, I think you might be right. Thanks, Granny. You’ve been a great help.’
‘Well, I didn’t tell you anything,’ Sylvia said.
‘Exactly. That’s the best thing you could have done. I don’t need gossip. I need the truth,’ Vi said. ‘I know that better than anyone now.’