The topic changed to Killian’s bachelor weekend away. He and Claire were due to get married in October and a weekend in Dublin had been planned for him in September. It did include two rugby matches and a tour of the Guinness factory so I’d booked off the following Monday and Tuesday so I had chance to dry out. Nick had wanted to surprise him with something more outlandish, but K had hacked into his brother’s email and put a dampener on anything involving more than three nights away from Claire and Eliza.
“Your drinks,” Claire said. “And we’ve ordered food.”
“Did you find anything out?” I said, looking at Ava who was smiling victoriously.
“First person we spoke to,” she said.
“Although it wasn’t just luck. He was ninety-six and his accent was that thick we almost needed a translator,” Claire said, taking Eliza from Killian. “His surname was O’Brien and his aunt was Mary Ada. His father was her brother. Now it’s his grandson who runs the farm, although he was keen to tell Ava that Daniel had been to agricultural college and was in need of a wife.”
I raised my eyebrows at Ava. She smiled sweetly. “He was called away to play cards with his friends. It was sweet,” she said. “But we found the name of Mary Ada’s son. He had a daughter, Nancy, who is a doctor at Great Ormond Street Hospital. We’re going to get in touch with her when we get home.”
“You didn’t tell him about what you’d found?” I asked.
Ava shook her head. “No, but I think he knew. He asked where we were from and when we mentioned London he said that was where Kathleen had met James and then gave this little nod.”
“It would’ve been kept very quiet,” Claire said. “We know that. But her diary and the baby book should be with her family.”
I took a long swig of the Guinness Claire had put in front of me. “And you’ll get some closure about that room.”
“So will Nick,” Killian said. “He did think twice about buying the priory after what Ava said about it.”
“Maybe not anymore. It sounds like they had a happy ending.” I wiped the white foam from the Guinness that Ava had managed to splodge onto her nose. “Now what food did you order?”
Chapter Ten
Ava
July
There wassomething about Oxfordshire in the sunshine. The grass seemed to shimmer when it swayed in the light breeze and the sky seemed bluer here than in London. Jackson could’ve probably given me a scientific reason for it, or Callum might’ve said something about pollution and exhausts and I’d have found his answer exhausting so I didn’t point it out to my siblings.
We were all sun-kissed and warm, languid in the heat of the summer and for once we were having a summer, an actual season filled with hazy days and lazy nights and it felt like we were all kids again with no worries.
I remembered our mum telling Payton on the many occasions when she was worried about something before she went to sleep, that everything would seem much better in the morning, when daylight had thrown off the blanket of the night. On days like today, the sun erased any worries like a stain remover, leaving us free to laugh and chat and tease and run around the freshly cut fields like we did as kids.
Eliza and, by extension, Nick’s twins had magnetised us back together. Whereas before, my weekends were spent trawling around the shops and then bars and restaurants of the city, they were now becoming more about seeing my family and the extensions it had recently gathered.
Which was why we were here, sprawled out in the sunshine across my parents’ garden, the babies making the most of the swing on the tree and the paddling pool in the shade. Simone Wood, who was a really good friend of Vanessa and Jackson, had taken over the barbecue and appeared to have themed the day on smoky, saliva-inducing smells. Simone was a chef and owned a couple of restaurants, one of which had a Michelin star. My mum tried to deter her from cooking, but Simone was always adamant that she wanted to, as although they were her restaurants, she rarely cooked other than to design the menu.
“What’s the name of the girl Callum’s brought?” Eli murmured in my ear.
We were lounging on a blanket, both of us with books. He had a thriller, and I was half way through a true crime novel about a series of murders that led to the formation of the FBI.
“I think it’s Frankie,” I said, barely looking up. “Although it could be Philippa. I lose track of Callum’s conquests.”
“He doesn’t look happy,” Eli said, putting down his book. “Why’s he brought her?”
“Who knows.” I returned to my page, hoping Eli would take the hint and would continue to lie there nice and quietly, letting me look at the muscles in his back every so often, given that he wasn’t wearing a t-shirt.
“I’ll go and see if he wants a beer.” He started to move.
“No,” I said, reaching for him. “It’s Callum. He’s probably brought a girl he knows Seph likes or something. There’s no point in asking as we won’t see her again. We never meet Callum’s women more than once.”
“Does he bury their bodies afterwards or something?” Eli said, a smile playing at his lips. “Or do they mutate into a nun because he’s put them off men for life?”
“Both,” I said. “Legend says that Callum Callaghan collects the hearts of women who spend more than three hours with him. He stores them in jars and eats them during the full moon.”
Eli raised his brows at me and shifted back slightly. “There are occasions when you concern me,” he said.
