Epilogue
A YEAR LATER
‘And then they were married and lived happily ever after,’ Ciara said and closed the book.
She looked at the children sitting in the reading corner, who had listened intently while she read the story of Cinderella.
This was the Saturday story time for children that she had started as soon as the bookshop was opened.
Nancy Lincoln, the little girl she had met when they had just arrived, had been there every week with her friends from Enniskerry, all four-year-olds who loved to listen to stories from the old storybooks Ciara had found in a cupboard.
They were lovely books with beautiful illustrations, one of which she now showed to the children sitting on small chairs she had ordered from IKEA.
‘Here is the happy couple coming out of the church,’ she said, holding the book up for the children to see. ‘Isn’t Cinderella pretty in her dress and veil?’
‘But what if Cinderella didn’t really want to marry the prince?’ Nancy asked. ‘She might have wanted to work in an office instead.’
‘She could do both,’ the girl sitting beside Nancy argued. ‘My mammy works and she’s married.’
‘Princesses don’t work,’ Nancy said. ‘So she couldn’t, even if she wanted to.’
‘That’s very unfair,’ a third little girl said. ‘I wouldn’t like that at all.’
‘I’d like the clothes, but I wouldn’t want to sit in a palace doing nothing,’ Nancy stated. ‘But it was a good story, Ciara. Cinderella won over those nasty stepsisters. Why is your tummy getting bigger and bigger?’ she asked in nearly the same breath.
‘Because I’m having a baby,’ Ciara replied, putting a hand on her stomach. ‘It will be born next month.’
‘Is it a girl or a boy?’ Nancy’s friend asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Ciara replied. ‘I wanted it to be a surprise.’
‘Why?’ the girl asked. ‘My mammy knew I was getting a brother way before he was born.’
‘Sometimes you don’t want to know,’ Ciara said and closed the book. ‘Your mammies will be coming in to collect you in a minute, but you can go out and play in the garden while you wait.’
‘Is Brian coming too?’ Nancy asked, pointing at the dog, who was lying by Ciara’s feet.
Ciara slowly got up from her chair. ‘He will if I come with you.’ She clapped her hands. ‘Come on, kids, let’s go outside.’
The children and Brian followed her out into the sunlit garden that had been transformed during the past year.
When the garden firm had finished, Maureen had taken over, turning the space into an enchanting garden with plants that thrived in the acid soil and now, in the July sunshine, camellias and rhododendrons in full bloom competed with the cherry blossom further away.
Ciara sat down on the bench under the big oak and watched as the children played on the swings and in the little Wendy house they had put up for the new little boy or girl that would soon arrive.
Ciara sat there and thought back on the past year.
What a rollercoaster experience it had been to first discover that she had inherited the bookshop, to find out about her father’s origins, meeting Ronan and falling in love, then working so hard on the bookshop until the grand opening exactly a year ago.
And then their wedding that had been the big event of her life.
Maureen and Elaine had both wept in each other’s arms as Ciara walked down the aisle of the old Catholic church, alone because she felt nobody could take her father’s place.
Not even Paul Murray, who had offered as he was now ‘Maureen’s special friend’.
He had been such a great help to create a buzz around the Brian Boru Bookshop.
Paul had appeared on both national radio and TV, talking about his memoirs.
Many of the guests who had attended the launch were now regular customers.
Paul was now planning another launch for his cosy murder mystery that would be published in the autumn.
The reading corner was very popular with book clubs all the way from Wicklow town and parts of Dublin, who loved the cosy space with the little stove spreading warmth, and the lamps and Oisín’s paintings hanging between the bookshelves, the colours glowing like jewels.
It was a quirky, welcoming place where friends met for coffee, helping themselves at the coffee machine they had installed, and then discussing the books they had read.
‘Martha would be so proud of you,’ Maureen said when the first group had departed.
‘I can feel her cheering us on from somewhere above,’ Ciara said.
She smiled as she sat there, thinking that the success of the shop had been so much more than they had hoped, and she felt proud of having created a place for people to meet and make new friends.
Their new home would soon be ready and she looked forward to moving into the old vicarage, where Ronan had already set up the office for his firm that he had just started up, working with several solicitors who needed help with probate and finding heirs to estates that were difficult to find.
Olivia Wilson had put up the vicarage for sale in the early spring, and Ronan had immediately put in an offer, telling Ciara that it would be perfect for them now that they were having a family.
Then the renovations had started. Elaine had been very generous, helping out with money that they would have had to borrow.
There would be a bedroom for her and one for Aino in the spacious house, as she was now Elaine’s full-time carer and close friend.
All is well, Ciara thought, sitting there and listening to the children’s shouts and laughter. Even if I will never find out who my real grandfather was. But that’s in the past. My future looks bright and promising, full of people I love.
Cherrywood was still a remote village with a lot of old wrecks lining the main street.
The bookshop was like a shining beacon in the middle of a dark stretch of water.
But maybe, with the bookshop luring people to come and see the setting for themselves, they would also see what a peaceful place they could live in if they put in a little work and used their imagination.
‘Daydreaming again?’ Ronan’s voice cut into Ciara’s musings. He sat down beside her. ‘The kids have been collected by their parents.’
‘Oh?’ Ciara looked across the garden and saw that it was empty. ‘I must have drifted off.’ She put her hand on his. ‘I was just thinking about the past year and all the things that happened. What a year it’s been.’
‘Incredible,’ he said. ‘I had no idea that my whole life would change the day you walked into my office.’
‘And mine,’ Ciara said. ‘I wonder if Martha realised what she would start when she wrote me into her will.’
‘She just wanted you to open the bookshop. I don’t think she planned the rest.’
‘No, I’m sure she didn’t. But I was sitting here hoping more people would come here and do up some of the houses.’
‘Funny you should say that,’ Ronan remarked.
‘Because I just saw something that made me think that the house down the street is going to be done up. I don’t know how or by whom, but there was some kind of engineer there this morning.
I saw the van with a logo outside the house and then this guy went inside with a notepad.
So maybe something is going to happen there. It was a kind of shop too, once.’
‘I know the one you mean,’ Ciara said, excited at the thought. ‘I think it was some kind of haberdashery or fabric shop. It would be great if it was done up. It’s a sweet little house, very similar to this one.’
‘Someone is on for a lot of work,’ Ronan said. ‘But why not? You did it.’
‘We did it,’ Ciara corrected and kissed his cheek. ‘And now we have so much to look forward to.’
‘We do,’ Ronan agreed. ‘All thanks to Martha Fitzgerald and her last wishes.’
Ciara nodded. ‘Thank you, Martha,’ she said, looking up at the sky. ‘You made it all happen.’