She doesn’t elaborate. She isn’t looking for praise, but I understand why she makes bread even when the family doesn’t need it.
Orla watches me while she knits, glancing down occasionally to make sure that she hasn’t slipped a million stitches while we’re chatting.
“What happened to the last housekeeper?”
The question kept me awake half the night. Images of the previous housekeeper in Declan Byrne’s bed, naked, writhing around in ecstasy while he…
I opened a book and tried to read for an hour until my eyes closed and woke up this morning with my face squashed up against a soggy page.
“Mary?” Orla looks at me as if she knows exactly where that question came from and is keeping an eye on me. Declan is her son-in-law. He still lives with her. No wonder there has never been another Mrs. Byrne in his life. “Her mother is sick and needs full-time care. Mary couldn’t do both.”
Phew!
My twisted fucking mind is rejoicing because someone is sick. It’s an all-time low and not one that I’m proud of.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
I’m trying to redeem myself, but my heart is still pumping like this is the best outcome I could’ve hoped for. No stunningblonde likely to come knocking on the door and steal her job back.
What is wrong with me?
This is nothing compared to my next question though. I swallow another mouthful of coffee, psyching myself up. “What happened to Declan’s wife? If you don’t mind me asking.” I’m aware that this is Orla’s daughter we’re talking about.
She blinks, her eyes growing large behind her tortoise shell spectacles. “She was diagnosed with breast cancer when Eoghan was barely out of nappies. She had treatment. Went into remission… Then it came back again. With a vengeance.”
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, Orla.” I don’t know what else to say. I shouldn’t have asked. It’s such an intrusive question, and I had no right to ask it.
“Niamh was the strongest person I know. She never complained. She always had a smile for those boys, even though she was in so much pain that she would cry in my arms when they were in bed.”
I hide behind my coffee and blink back tears. I never knew the woman, but Declan has never remarried, and I saw the sadness in his eyes when I was looking at the photograph of him and Niamh. And no children deserve to lose their mom.
“Do you still have your mom, Amelia?” she asks.
I nod. “I do. I’m very lucky. My mom is my best friend; I guess because it was always just the two of us.”
“How does she feel about you coming to Ireland to find your roots?”
“She understands how important it is to me.” I hesitate to say more.
My mom told me that my father withheld his relationship status from her when she met him. She didn’t find out until after they hooked up, when she overheard a conversation about his impending engagement to a wealthy socialite. She didn’t try to stop me from coming to Ireland. But she did warn me to keep my distance.
“He isn’t the kind of man I want you involved with, Mia.” Mia is her pet-name for me.
When I asked what that was supposed to mean she said that he had connections in all the wrong places. It was Carol who suggested that he was probably involved in the mafia. “They marry for money and power, not for love.”
Sounds like a pretty sad way of life to me. Which is why I have no intention of telling Michael Morran who I am if I ever find him.
“Be careful.” Orla sets her knitting aside and hauls herself onto her feet. “Ireland has a way of getting under your skin. You’ll wake up one day and realize that you never want to leave.” It’s a warning, but it feels as though it was delivered with the best intentions.
I keep busy despite Orla’s attempts to do much of the housekeeping herself.
“Take the car, Amelia. Go out and explore today. The work will still be here tomorrow.”
As tempting as it is, I know the work won’t still be here tomorrow if Orla has anything to do with it. Plus, I don’t want to skive on my first full day, and Declan won’t be happy if I crash his car because I’ve never driven on the wrong side of the road before.
It feels good to be doing something. I need to get out of my own head, where I seem to have been stuck since I first set eyes on my new boss.
On the bright side, I haven’t thought about Ryan since I arrived.
