Page 16 of Christmas Magic at Inishbeg Cove

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked checking in the rear view mirror to make sure he was hearing her correctly. ‘Are you okay?’

‘We need to turn around!’

‘Did you forget something?’

‘Something like that.’

He waited until the traffic was clear, before doing a U-turn on the road and travelling back towards Limerick. Cars were lined up bumper to bumper as they sat in the heavy traffic. Her heart was thumping wildly and doubts poured into her mind. What the hell was she doing? She was taking a risk; possibly the biggest risk of her life. Faye never did things like this. She never let herself feel vulnerable. If she went back to the hospital, she would be exposing her heart to Conor and she was scared. Nothing good ever happened when she let people get close to her but Margo’s words had changed something in her. If there was a chance, even a small chance, that Conor’s feelings for her were as strong as Margo had suggested, then she knew she’d never be able to go back to Dublin and just forget about him. She would spend the rest of her life wondering ‘what if?’ So even though every cell in her body was screaming at her to go home, she told herself to go back to the hospital and just hear him out.

The taxi eventually turned into the hospital gates and Faye gripped the door handle, ready to hop out once the car came to a stop. He pulled up in the taxi set-down area just outside the entrance to the building. Faye paid the driver hurriedly, giving him a generous tip for wasting his time and then jumped out of the car. As she made her way across the tarmac towards the entrance, she saw him. Her heart flipped at the sight of him standing outside the hospital with his back leaning against the wall. It was almost like he was waiting for her. She took a second to look at him, he was slightly dishevelled looking, with his unshaven face. There was something about the set of his shoulders that gave him an air of defeat. A force that felt magnetic in its strength, pulled her towards him. Before she realised she was doing it, her legs began running towards him and she collided with the solidness of his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. She closed her eyes and felt a sense of safety that she hadn’t felt for years.

‘You came back,’ he whispered into her hair as he kissed her hair and held her in his strong arms.

‘Margo called me,’ she explained. ‘I’m sorry–’ she began, tears filling her eyes. ‘I just got scared.’

His arms moved up to both sides of her face as he pulled her in close and she could feel the bristle of his stubble against her cheek. Their lips met and this kiss was every bit as magical as the first time. All the noises and sounds faded around them until it was only the two of them left in the world.

‘I’m sorry too. I just wish you’d heard the full conversation,’ he groaned. ‘What I actually said was that I was worried that you might not be the settling down type and that you would trample all over my heart because I knew my feelings for you were too strong to withstand that. I couldn’t understand why you just left without saying goodbye. I was so hurt. I thought I meant nothing to you. That the connection between us had all been in my imagination.’

She shook her head. ‘I felt it too, that’s why I was so upset when I heard you say that to Margo. I thought maybe it was just a fling to you. If Margo hadn’t called me I would have gone back to Dublin, tried to get on with my life again and forget all about you.’

‘I’m glad you didn’t do that because I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. What we have is special. I know we don’t know one another very long but the chemistry between us is undeniable. Remember when I told you how I was engaged and wasn’t willing to leave Inishbeg Cove?’

Faye nodded.

‘Well, that’s how I know that what I feel for you is the real deal, I would give up everything for you. If you asked me turn my back on my life in Inishbeg Cove to be with you, I would.’

‘I’d never ask you to do that–’ she said quietly.

‘But how will it work unless I move to Dublin? I want all of you, Faye. I don’t want a part-time relationship. I want to go to sleep with you wrapped in my arms every night and wake up beside you in the morning. I want to tell you when you’ve got a piece of sleep stuck in your eye, or that I’m just nipping to shop because we’re out of milk. I want the good bits and I want all the normal, boring every day bits - I want it all.’

She couldn’t help but grin. ‘Well, thanks to Margo, I think I’ve already worked it all out.’

She filled him in on the conversation she had had with her boss about working from Inishbeg Cove and commuting to Dublin a couple of times a month.

‘But could you be happy in Inishbeg Cove, Faye? Village life is a lot different to city life.’

‘If I survived being stranded in a remote cottage in a snowstorm with no electricity, I think I’ll be okay.’ She laughed. ‘Since I met you I’ve realised that I’ve been filling a void in my life with work. It took meeting you to show me that. I thought I was happy but now that I’ve found you, I realise how much I’ve been missing. It’s like you’ve opened a door to a whole new world; my life before was black and white and you bring the colour and the music. Spending the day with your family yesterday, well it was… special… I felt–’ she paused for the right word, ‘–well a part of something… I know it sounds stupid when it was my first time meeting everyone, but I felt like I belonged there. I’d never had that experience, I don’t remember ever having all my family together around the table. It was usually just me and my nan and although she did her best, it was always a sombre day, like we were both thinking about the people who should be around the table with us. What happened between us last night was special, I’ve never felt a connection like that before. I don’t know if you realise but I’ve never opened up to anyone about my childhood - nobody knows what happened. My Gran was the only person who knew everything and she’s passed away – you’re the only person on the planet that I felt comfortable opening up to and I didn’t do it easily. And you didn’t judge me or pity me or offer platitudes, you just listened and it felt so good to have someone I can trust. When I was leaving the farmhouse last night and heading back to my cold and empty cottage, I wanted to stay there with your family. I didn’t want to leave. Then when you kissed me, it felt so right. I realised it wasn’t just your family I was falling for, but it was you too. I wanted it all.’

‘Well I’m glad you want my family too because they’re all part of the package. If you get one Flynn you get us all. That’s the way we work.’

Faye laughed. ‘Speaking of your family,’ she said linking his arm, ‘come on, let’s go find them. I want to see your Gran.’

They entered the hospital building and walked down the corridors both grinning. Faye’s head was still spinning. How was it just a few days since she had travelled from Dublin and in that time, managed to meet the man of her dreams and his entire family and what was even more surprising was that she didn’t want to bolt like she normally would if she felt she was getting too close to someone. It felt like a dream. They took the stairs and then Conor led them around a corner and they entered St Joseph’s ward. They continued to the end of the room where the curtain was still drawn around the bed. They ducked around the side of it and saw Margo was sitting at Kitty’s bedside. The elderly lady looked far more frail lying there in the big hospital bed compared with the glamorous lady in her elegant twinset that Faye had met the day previous. Her white hair which had been set in soft curls on Christmas day now hung wispily around her pale face.

‘Faye!’ Margo exclaimed, standing up and hugging her as she came in.

‘How’re you doing?’ Faye said making her way up to the head of the bed where Kitty lay.

‘Faye,’ the elderly lady whispered. ‘You came back, dear!’

Margo smiled at Faye. ‘I’ve been filling her in…’

‘Of course I did. How are you feeling?’

‘I’m a bit sore but when you get to my age that’s normal.’

‘Well I’m so happy you’re okay, you gave everyone quite the fright.’