Page 20 of The Book of Irish Secrets (Magnolia Manor #5)

THIRTEEN

Moving into her new home took a lot of physical effort as the last two flights of stairs were long and winding.

Claire lugged the last suitcase up with Rose following behind with a stack of sheets and towels.

Then they were finally finished and sat on the little sofa catching their breaths and smiling at each other.

‘Phew,’ Claire said, wiping her brow with one of the towels. ‘That was hard work on a warm day.’

‘I know. And I was regretting that we didn’t make the lift go further than the first floor when we built it. Sorry for not doing more,’ Rose said. ‘I should have helped with that heavy suitcase.’

‘You had your hands full with sheets and towels,’ Claire said.

She looked at the three suitcases and the boxes with her laptop, lamps and knickknacks she had brought from the house in Dublin strewn over the floor.

‘I shouldn’t have brought so much but I need my things around me.

The house in Dublin is being let on Airbnb, so I didn’t want to leave anything personal behind. ’

‘Of course not,’ Rose agreed. ‘And you want your own things here to make it more like your home.’ Then her eyes sparkled as she looked at Claire.

‘You know what? We should have a housewarming party for you. Wouldn’t that be fun?

Just a few guests as the place is so small.

Wine and nibbles here in the flat and then we can go to the pub that you liked for dinner afterwards. What do you think?’

‘That would be fun,’ Claire said, excited at the thought, but feeling awkward at the hospitality she was receiving.

‘I like the idea. But maybe not until next month. We have Sylvia’s party and then there are two weddings, one after the other.

Don’t forget the Magnolia party at the beginning of March as well.

I’m still trying to learn the ropes and getting used to the way things work here. ’

‘Of course,’ Rose said. ‘You’re right. And that wedding next weekend is going to be big with a lot of stuff to organise.

The Magnolia party will be well attended, but we just do tea and buns now, so that’s not a huge event.

So let’s do your housewarming when you’ve settled in and have had a good few weeks to get used to everything. ’

‘Maybe we could have it in connection with St Patrick’s,’ Claire suggested. ‘But with the parade and everyone partying like mad it might not suit everyone.’

‘Oh, but we could have the party on Paddy’s Day before the parade,’ Rose said. ‘Wouldn’t that be the best celebration? Your flat at lunchtime, the parade and then dinner somewhere nice in the evening. I’ll set it up, if you like.’

‘Why not?’ Claire said, touched by Rose’s enthusiasm. She pushed away the thought that she didn’t deserve the offer from Rose. ‘Sounds like a plan.’

‘Brilliant,’ Rose exclaimed. ‘Who should we invite?’

‘Well, all the Fleurys and then Karina, her husband and Pierce.’

Rose nodded. ‘Okay… Just grown-ups, though. The kids will drive us mad running around. Lily and Vi and I will organise a babysitter for the few hours and then we’ll take the children to the parade afterwards.

So we will be… Twelve, I think,’ she said after a moment’s reflection.

‘We’ll do finger food and call it lunch. ’

Claire looked around the flat. ‘It’ll be a bit of a squeeze but as it’s a drinks party we won’t need chairs except for Sylvia.’

‘Yes, she might want to sit down and hold court,’ Rose agreed.

‘Everyone can walk here so they can have a drink and then we’ll walk with the kids into town to watch the parade.

We can all rejoin in the evening for dinner at the pub.

I’ll give them a call and see if we can book a large table.

That’s usually fine with them. Actually, I think Dominic’s band is playing that night.

He’s Lily’s husband, by the way. He and his band are great. All trad. You’ll love them.’

‘Sounds like a fun day,’ Claire said, smiling at Rose.

Rose got up. ‘Yes, I think it’ll be fab.

But I have to go now and leave you to unpack.

’ She handed Claire a bunch of keys. ‘Here you are. The two small keys are to the flat and the big one is to the laundry next to the catering kitchen. There is a calendar on the wall beside the door. You have to book a slot when you need to do a wash. There are two tumble driers and an ironing board and so on down there, too, so you can do everything you need. I gave you the code to the front door, so you won’t need a key to that one.

’ She drew breath and smiled. ‘That’s it.

Give me a shout if you need help with anything. And welcome home,’ she ended.

‘Thank you for everything,’ Claire said, feeling suddenly overwhelmed. ‘It won’t take me long to get settled in.’

‘See you later, then,’ Rose said and left, closing the door softly behind her.

Claire sat there for a while enjoying the feeling of having her own space at last. She turned and looked out the window at the view of the garden, the deep blue ocean beyond and the Blasket Islands far away in the distance.

Seagulls glided in the blue sky above the water that glimmered in the sunshine.

Claire walked over to the window and opened it to let in the cool fresh air from the sea.

Then she got stuck into unpacking. Better to get everything sorted and put away as soon as possible.

She also needed to hide Auntie Rachel’s book somewhere safe, along with the letter and her own files about the Fleury family that she had kept for such a long time.

She found them in one of the boxes and flicked through the pages which contained newspaper clippings with photos and articles about the family, some of them very sad.

But there was happy news too: all the weddings and then reports of the Magnolia party that was held each year when the magnolia tree was in full bloom.

It had once been a yearly ball but as time went on and funds dwindled, the big glamorous parties had been simplified and, as Rose had explained, it was now a tea party but enjoyable nonetheless, Claire assumed.

Once everything was tidied away, it was time to cook dinner in the little kitchen which seemed to have everything she needed even if on a small scale.

Claire had swung by the supermarket on her way to the manor and picked up enough groceries for a few days.

Tonight she would cook a steak and bake a potato in the oven, along with vegetables and a tomato salad.

The little kitchen was soon infused with the delicious smell of steak with garlic butter and Claire laid the small table in front of the window and opened a bottle of wine to celebrate moving in.

As she sat down and watched the sun slowly sink behind the islands and the skies darkened, she lifted her glass in a silent toast to her good fortune and all the kind people she had met since she arrived.

She was itching to go into that little room with the archives.

Rose had said most of it was a mess, except for the part she had gone through.

So Claire assumed that it was the stuff Rose hadn’t looked at that would be interesting.

If Rose had found any trace of Cornelius’s twin brother, they would all know about it by now.

It was getting late and everyone in the house had settled in for the night.

What better time to go into that little room that held so many secrets?

Claire tidied away the dishes and went to the door that led to the landing.

She opened it and listened for a moment, her heart beating.

Not a sound except for the faint whisper of the wind outside and the sound of someone’s TV.

She tiptoed across the landing and kept listening intently for any sounds from the floor below.

But all was quiet and she slowly opened the door to the dark little room, her heart beating.

This is it , she thought. I must find what I’m looking for, anything at all that can lead me to the true story of what turned Louis and Cornelius from brothers to enemies.

About Caroline. I will leave no stone unturned, no letter unread, no photograph unseen. This is my only chance…

Claire stepped into the room that lay in near darkness, lit only by the light from the landing.

There was a strong smell of dust and mould which made Claire sneeze several times.

She ran her hand over the wall and found a switch which she flicked.

The room was suddenly flooded with light from a bare bulb in the ceiling.

Claire looked around once her eyes had accustomed to the glare and found that the walls of the room were lined with shelves crammed with papers, albums and what looked like ledgers.

There were also open boxes full of an assortment of papers and photos, all marked with stickers that had numbers which Claire realised were the years of the last centuries.

Rose had said that most of the papers had been sorted into decades but nothing looked very organised.

Claire realised that she had set herself a mammoth task which now looked impossible.

She had no idea where to start and sense of hopelessness enveloped her as she looked at piles after piles of documents and ledgers. But she had to at least try.