Page 56 of Coming Home to Inishbeg Cove

‘Oh, by the way, did you see Tadgh?’

At the mention of his name, my heart filled with soreness. ‘No, why?’ I shook my head, trying my best to sound nonchalant.

‘Well, he was just in here looking for you—’

‘He was?’ My heart stumbled, and I hated myself for it. In just a few hours I would be going home to work on my marriage. I shouldn’t be having these feelings for another man.

‘Yeah, I told him you had already finished up because you were heading back to Dublin. He seemed a bit…’

‘What?’ I asked, holding my breath while Ruairí deliberated on the right word.

‘A bit ... disappointed, maybe.’ He raised his eyebrows at me. ‘I thought you would have told him you were leaving, to be honest.’

I had thought about calling to say goodbye to Tadgh, but in the end had decided against it. What use would it be? Everything had already been said between us. I was going back to Dublin with my husband and there was no use prolonging it with drawn-out goodbyes. No, I was better off just leaving then we could both get on with our lives and forget about one another.

‘Erm, I didn’t get a chance. I’ve been so busy packing up and everything...’

He nodded.

‘I’d better get on,’ I said. ‘Joe wants to hit the road before this storm arrives.’

‘Goodbye, Penny,’ he said pulling me into another hug. ‘I really do hope it all works out for you.’

‘Me too,’ I said biting down nervously on my lower lip.