Page 55 of Coming Home to Inishbeg Cove

Chapter 35

Penny

The clouds rolled under the eel-coloured sky and the sea was as still as a sheet of glass. No birds were cartwheeling; the gulls were silent; up on the headland, the cows all lay down. This was the calm before the storm.

The blood pulsed in my ears as I hurried out of the house. I took great gulps of air, letting it fill my lungs until my heartbeat began to slow down again. You’re doing the right thing, Penny, I reminded myself.

Several of the business owners were drawing their shutters and boarding up their shop fronts. Mrs O’Herlihy struggled to take down the nets bulging with beach balls and bucket and spade sets that hung outside of her shop.

‘Good morning, Mrs O’Herlihy,’ I said as I passed her.

‘Morning, Penny,’ she called after me.

‘It looks like it will be a wild one,’ I remarked, looking towards the sky, which was the colour of steel. Heavy clouds hung, ominous and threatening, above the village.

‘Please God the forecasters have got it wrong and it won’t cause too much damage,’ she said nervously.

I carried on down the main street and saw Sarah’s husband Greg standing on the back of a truck, passing sandbags down to some of the village men, who had formed a chain and were passing them along from one person to the next then carrying them along the street to help protect businesses from flooding. Growing up in the village, I had witnessed my fair share of storms over the years. I felt a sense of unease as I watched the villagers go about their preparations. I could tell they really were expecting a big one.

When I reached the café, I saw that Ruairí had piled sandbags up on either side of his door. I pushed it open, feeling a flood of sadness that this would be the last time I would be here for a while. I knew I would come back to visit him whenever I came home to see my parents, but it was the end of this chapter – a chapter that, in a strange way, I had enjoyed so much.

‘Hi there,’ I said. A gust of wind propelled me through the door, a flurry of leaves following in my wake.

‘Ah, hi, Penny,’ Ruairí said.

I struggled against the force of the wind to shut the door behind me. ‘What’s going on here?’ I asked. He was lifting all the chairs onto the tables. The floor-level shelves behind the counter where we usually stored bags of coffee beans and boxes of napkins were empty.

‘I’m just making sure I have the place ready in case the village floods.’

‘You must be so worried,’ I said. I knew this was a stressful time for the villagers, but especially for the business owners, who I guessed were in for a sleepless night.

He shrugged. ‘We can prepare as best we can, but we can’t hold back nature.’

‘Fingers crossed it won’t hit too hard.’ I took a deep breath. ‘I just came to say goodbye. Today is the day.’

He put down the chair he had just picked up, straightened up and looked at me, his head tilted to one side. ‘So, you didn’t change your mind?’

I shook my head. ‘I have to try to work things out with Joe.’

He nodded. ‘I have to say I admire you, Penny.’

‘Thanks,’ I mumbled, embarrassed. If only he knew the way I was really feeling inside. Torn, shredded and uncertain about the future. He wouldn’t think so well of me then. ‘Look, Ruairí,’ I began. ‘I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me... You’ll never understand how much this place meant to me.’ In the few months I had been in the village, I had made new friends and got a job. People liked me here; they wanted to be around me. I realised that, although I had been pushed out of my comfort zone, I had really needed it. In my short time in the village, the old me had slowly started to emerge, and I knew I wasn’t going home the same person I was when I had arrived.

‘Well, it wasn’t all one-sided, you know, Penny. You dug me out of a hole too.’

‘Y’know, when Mam came home that day and told me I was starting work here, I was furious. I thought I was the one doing you the favour when I turned up that first day, but when I look back, I think it was the other way around. Working here was more than just a job to me – it helped me through a really dark time in my life and...’ I paused before adding, ‘and you’ve become such a dear friend to me.’

‘Oh, come here, you.’ Ruairí held his arms open. I ran into them and squeezed him hard. I felt tears burning behind my eyes.

‘I’m really going to miss you,’ I sobbed, mortified that I was not in control of my emotions. Every time I thought of all I was leaving behind me, I felt loss so strongly within me. I was bereft. I hadn’t even felt like this when I had left the village to go to college.

When I pulled back, tears were shining in his eyes too. ‘Look what you’ve done,’ he scolded me through laughter as he wiped his eyes. ‘You’ve been a breath of fresh air in this place. I enjoyed having you as my sidekick every day. We were a kick-ass duo.’

‘We were,’ I agreed, thinking about all the fun we had together over the summer.

‘Don’t be a stranger; keep in touch. I’m always at the end of the phone if you want to chat ... and you know there’ll always be a job here for you if you need it.’

‘Thanks, Ruairí,’ I said wiping my dripping nose with the back of my hand. ‘I appreciate it.’