Page 18 of The Girl with the Irish Secret

He grinned. ‘Yes, indeed. It comes with whipped cream. You want that after the chowder?’

‘Yes, please,’ Vi replied. ‘A large dollop of whipped cream, please.’

‘No problem,’ he said and walked off.

Vi met her grandmother’s puzzled look. ‘I told you I have to put on weight for my role. They said I’m too skinny and Kathleen was quite curvaceous. Like a lot of women in those days.’

Sylvia laughed. ‘Oh, yes, I remember. Well, isn’t that a nice challenge for you? I’m looking forward to seeing you fill out a bit.’

‘I’m going to do my best,’ Vi said and picked up her spoon. ‘But it’ll be a bit of a struggle. I eat like a horse as it is and never put on weight.’

‘Just like your father,’ Sylvia said. ‘He was skin and bone like you despite his huge appetite.’

‘I didn’t know that,’ Vi said and put down her spoon. ‘I barely know how to picture him.’

‘Well,’ Sylvia said between mouthfuls, ‘he was tall and skinny and had reddish hair and green eyes. Just like you really.’

‘Oh, I know all that,’ Vi said impatiently. ‘But what was he like? I don’t know much about his personality.’

‘He was a very cheerful lad,’ Sylvia said. ‘Always looking on the bright side. Loved fooling around, telling jokes and playing tricks on people. In a nice way, of course. He made people laugh but he didn’t suffer fools gladly either. He was a great judge of character and had everyone taped immediately.’ She paused as her eyes gleamed with unshed tears. ‘I miss him so,’ she whispered.

Vi put her hand on her grandmother’s arm. ‘Of course you do. I’m sorry. Shouldn’t have asked.’ Vi had always been reticent to ask too much about her father, but she’d thought it was finally the right time. Perhaps she was wrong.

‘You have the right to know as much about him as you can,’ Sylvia said. Vi looked across the table at her with a smile, feeling relieved. ‘And I will tell you more soon. We can look at the photos in my albums together.’

‘I’d love that,’ Vi said as her chocolate cake arrived.

‘And now you must eat up,’ Sylvia urged. ‘To be a little sturdier, just like Kathleen O’Sullivan.’

‘I know.’ Vi picked up her spoon. ‘What was that you said about her that night I arrived? I have feeling you know stuff you won’t tell me. Something bad.’

Sylvia shrugged. ‘It’s just gossip and talk that I picked up when I was young. I don’t like to repeat it. You know yourself how things get twisted and changed as people talk about celebrities. No idea how true it was. No smoke without a fire, though, I suppose,’ she ended cryptically.

‘I’d still love to know,’ Vi said, taking a bite of cake and waiting to see if Sylvia would respond. As she didn’t, Vi went on. ‘But if it’s not true, I suppose it wouldn’t be fair. In any case, I’ve found someone who knew Kathleen in the early days.’

‘That someone must be very old by now,’ Sylvia remarked drily.

‘A little over ninety but as sharp as a tack, I’ve heard. She’s an old lady who went to the same dance school as Kathleen. I’m going to call her in about an hour. She has a nap after lunch and then she is as bright as a button, apparently.’

‘I can believe it,’ Sylvia said, smiling. ‘I quite like a nap myself from time to time. It’s very refreshing. So who is this person?’

‘Her name is Fidelma Sheridan,’ Vi said. ‘She lives in Dublin. That’s all I know.’

‘Interesting,’ Sylvia said. ‘Let me know what she says.’

‘I will,’ Vi promised and went back to her cake. ‘This is very good. You want to taste it?’

‘No thanks,’ Sylvia replied, pushing her bowl away. ‘I, unlike you, have to watch my waistline. So I’ll just have a coffee and then we should go. All that talk of naps has made me sleepy, so I think I’ll have a little lie down when I get home.’

‘Okay, Granny,’ Vi said, scraping her plate. ‘Gosh, this putting on weight is quite nice, actually. I hope it works.’

‘It should, the way you laid into that cake.’ Sylvia waved at the waiter. ‘Hello, could you bring us two coffees and the bill please?’ she called.

When they had paid the bill and drunk their coffee, they left the restaurant and walked along the quay for a while ‘to blow the cobwebs away’, as Sylvia put it. Then they got back in the car and drove the short distance to Magnolia Manor, Sylvia stopping to let Vi out at the gatehouse.

‘Thanks for lunch, Granny,’ Vi said as she got out. ‘Give me a shout when you want company and we’ll look through the family albums together.’

‘That’ll be lovely,’ Sylvia said.