Fintan’s hands fly to his face. ‘Well, on my oath, I see it now… Rose Clarke. As I live and breathe, Rose Clarke is your mother… Am I right?’ He fixes his gaze on me with a round-eyed look of astonishment.
I nod, unable to contain my own surprise. ‘Yes! Wow, yes. Do I really look that much like her?’ Three decades had passed sinceanyone’s last sighting of my mother back in Innisfree, but, as James had warned, the villagers seem to have a long memory – an almost supernatural ability to recall faces and names from the distant past. Could it be this easy for me to uncover pieces of my history? All I need is a few conversations with the right people, asking the right questions – voila!
Jacinta is practically bouncing on the spot now, clutching at her necklace in amazement as if trying to take it all in. ‘Well, well, well! Mick left the lot to Rose Clarke… and now her daughter is here to claim it!’ She puts a hand up to her forehead in an exaggerated gesture of shock.
Fintan shakes his head. ‘I can’t believe it.’ He looks me up and down with sparkling eyes. ‘I knew it – I knew there was something about you.’ He grins warmly at me before continuing. ‘No wonder you looked familiar! You have your mother’s features! The hair, the eyes…’
I smile gratefully at Fintan before replying, ‘It’s true – although she unfortunately passed away. So that’s why James came to see me and asked me to visit.’
‘Oh, a beautiful woman, taken too soon,’ says Jacinta, her face creasing in concern. She takes my hand in hers, the soft skin of her palm cool against my own. ‘I’m so sorry for your loss, Daisy. My sincere condolences.’
Jacinta and Fintan both lower their heads and utter a silent prayer this time around.
‘Thank you,’ I reply, my voice little more than a whisper.
For a moment, we sit in silence, all lost in our own thoughts.
Fintan nods thoughtfully and looks around the bus. ‘Well, it’s no surprise that there was a veil of silence over the whole matter,’ he says finally before clapping his hands decisively. ‘Goes to show, nobody really knows what goes on behind closed doors.’ He smiles at me warmly, but Jacinta coughs into her fist, giving him a warning look.
‘How did you know my mother?’ I ask, curious now.
‘She worked for me for a little while. Very hard worker was Rose; she was always willing to put in a shift wherever she was needed,’ Fintan says, a faraway look in his eyes.
‘She was a lovely girl,’ adds Jacinta. ‘A free spirit, very beautiful, I was always so jealous of her long wavy hair… she was like a film star.’
I’m not sure how to respond. It feels strange to be talking about my mother with someone who knew her. ‘Thank you,’ I say.
Jacinta nods. ‘Ah, but she had a light inside her – that’s what made her so special. It shone out of her eyes, especially when she laughed. I can still see her laughing, throwing her head back, that cascade of hair tumbling down her back… She had many admirers, her choice of men.’
Fintan pauses and shakes his head, wringing both hands. ‘So, The Lake House has passed on to you now?’
I nod.
‘How did they find you? Nobody knew anything about Rose since the moment she left – decades ago. It was like she vanished into thin air.’
‘I’m not sure,’ I tell him honestly. ‘All I know is that Mick left her his estate and everything else is still a mystery.’
‘Hmmm,’ Jacinta mutters, her eyebrows coming together in a contemplative fashion. ‘So James O’Connor, as executor of the will, tracked you down and brought you here. And what did your mother tell you about why she left Innisfree?’
‘Nothing,’ I reply, my voice wavering. ‘She never said a word.’
‘I see,’ Fintan responds slowly, his tone shifting.
‘Was she happy here?’ I ask, needing to know.
‘Yes, for a long time,’ Jacinta says. ‘But this place was too small for the likes of Rose Clarke, so when I heard that she’d upped and left in a midnight flit, I wasn’t surprised. She neededsomething more, something bigger than this town could offer her.’
‘Do you know why she left?’ I ask, my heart sinking at the thought of why my mum had chosen to leave everything here for a difficult life in a cramped London bedsit, trying to make ends meet from week to week, always worried about eviction and what lay around the next corner. Was it the promise of a better life, or was it something else that pushed her away? I’m already left with even more questions than before I arrived.
‘Nobody will ever get tothe real truth,’ Jacinta says, shrugging. ‘Just small talk, idle gossip. You know how it is in a small place.’
I don’t actually. But think I’m about to find out.
CHAPTER 16
THE LOCALS
Fintan looks at the sky from the window, storm clouds gathering. ‘I hope you girls brought clothes for all weather – can be changeable this time of year – one moment sunshine, the next thunder and lightning.’
