Page 21 of Family Secrets in Inishbeg Cove

‘She was,’ Faith agreed. She still found it difficult to talk about Elizabeth in the past tense.

They shifted awkwardly, the conversation dying. Then the woman moved closer and nudged him playfully. ‘Aren’t you going to introduce us, Jack?’

‘I – er … This is Heidi, and this little monkey hanging off me is Rosie.’

‘Nice to meet you,’ Rosie lisped, lunging over Jack’s shoulder to shake their hands, leaving him struggling to stay upright.

He turned to Heidi. ‘And this is Faith and her sister Lucy. We … er … we all hung out for a while as teenagers.’

Faith felt her heart thud towards the ground. She knew it was ridiculous; it had been such a long time ago, but she couldn’t help feeling hurt by how casually he had dismissed her. Of course he had moved on. Hell, so had she. But for some inexplicable reason it still stung. Seeing him here with his beautiful partner and little daughter rubbed salt into her wound and made her realise how much was missing from her own life. Jack had been her first love, and she had fallen hard. It had taken her a long time to get over their break-up. A part of her sometimes wondered if she even had got over it. Although she’d had other relationships since Jack, she had never had any as free and easy or as open and honest, where she had loved so purely and given her heart so wholly. Jack Anderson had captured her heart. When they had broken up, she had been devasted and had never really dared to open herself to love again.

‘Oh, really?’ Heidi winked at the sisters conspiratorially and linked Jack’s arm. ‘I’m sure you’ve lots of stories you could tell me about Jay.’

Jay. The way she shortened his name made Faith’s heart twist.

‘Girls, where are your manners? I don’t think we’ve met,’ Madeleine interjected. ‘I’m their mum, Madeleine.’

‘After all this time, it’s nice to finally meet you, Mrs Brennan.’

‘Please call me Madeleine. Mrs Brennan always makes me feel so old. Now then,’ she said impatiently, getting back to the business at hand, ‘who is taking this tree?’

‘You take it,’ Heidi insisted. ‘We’ll find another.’

‘Great!’ Madeleine pounced before the girls could say anything else. ‘Now that’s all sorted, let’s be on our way.’

‘Well, it was good to see you,’ Jack said wistfully.

‘We’re staying here for Christmas, so I’m sure we’ll see you around the village,’ Faith said.

He walked off with Heidi to continue their search for a tree.

‘Could that have been any more awkward?’ Faith hissed to Lucy as soon as Jack and his family had gone.

‘Are you okay?’ Lucy asked.

Faith nodded. ‘Yeah… I’m happy for him.’

‘Really?’ Lucy asked sceptically. ‘You don’t exactly look a picture of happiness right now.’

‘It was a long time ago…’ Faith said defensively.

Madeleine hobbled up to them. ‘Will you two stop chit-chatting and go get this tree bagged up?’

16

After they left the Christmas tree farm, Lucy drove back down the headland towards the village. Dusk was already falling and the sea appeared inky in the half-light. Conor Flynn, one of the Flynn sons, had helped them to tie the tree onto the roof of her car, as it wouldn’t fit into her tiny boot. As they came into the village, Christmas lights were strung gaily between lamp posts and even the old shipwreck had been decorated. A huge fir tree had been erected and a timber crib had been installed in the churchyard.

‘The village looks so pretty at Christmas time,’ Faith said as Lucy parked outside The Anchor and silenced the engine. Madeleine had wanted to go straight home. The girls knew she was itching to get back to her laptop, but they had insisted they go for a glass of mulled wine, in honour of Elizabeth as was their Christmas tradition.

They got out of the car and went inside to the dim interior of the pub. There were a few other customers, and the soft murmur of chatter filled the air. Lanterns aglow with tealights stood on each table, giving the place a warm, cosy feel. The peaty smell of the turf fire scented the air. They went up to the counter and greeted Jim, the owner. His sheepdog Patch was asleep in his usual spot in front of the hearth. He would usually amble over to greet customers, but he was getting elderly now and clearly didn’t hear them come in. They chatted politely with Jim for a few minutes before ordering a mulled wine for Madeleine and Faith. Lucy stuck to a soft drink because she was driving.

They sat in a snug and raised their glasses.

‘To Elizabeth,’ they chorused. Faith took a sip of the heavenly mulled wine, savouring the Christmassy taste of star anise and cinnamon.

‘You’re very quiet – are you okay?’ Lucy asked after a beat.

‘Yeah, I just didn’t expect to see Jack again after all this time,’ Faith replied sombrely.