Page 26 of The Girl with the Irish Secret

‘I suppose an actor’s life is different to what we imagine,’ Lily remarked.

‘And I suppose a mother’s is too.’

‘That’s for sure.’ Lily drained her mug and put it down. ‘Okay, now that we’ve cleared the air, so to speak, and I have said sorry for all the…’ She stopped. ‘I didn’t, did I?’ She paused and cleared her throat. ‘Vi, I’m really sorry I got so angry,’ she continued. ‘Now that you have explained, I understand what happened and that you didn’t mean what we thought you meant. Maybe it was partly your fault but let’s move on.’

Vi heaved a sigh of relief. ‘Oh, yes, please. Can we put it all behind us and not talk about it any more?’ She looked at Lily, not wanting to reveal what she really thought; that Lily had somehow taken a step down, leaving a brilliant career and a glamorous lifestyle to live here, in the country where nothing much happened in the wintertime. It was a beautiful place to visit and when the weather was nice, there was nowhere in the world lovelier to spend a holiday. But to live here permanently didn’t seem like a good choice.

‘Of course,’ Lily replied with a bright smile. ‘It was getting a little boring.’ They both laughed and Lily held out her arms. ‘Come here and give me a big hug.’

Close to tears, Vi fell into Lily’s arms and hugged her tight. ‘Oh, this feels so good,’ she mumbled. ‘Thank you for listening and forgiving me.’

‘I’m happy to have it all behind us,’ Lily declared, pulling away. ‘But now I want to hear all about the movie and Jack Montgomery.’

‘Oh, well,’ Vi started as she sat up, ‘it’s a bit—’ She was interrupted by a wailing from upstairs.

‘Liam,’ Lily said. ‘Hang on, I’ll get him. He’ll be all grizzly and grumpy for a while after that sleep.’

‘Mum, I’m hungry,’ Naomi called from in front of the TV. ‘Can I have a bikkie?’

‘Not this close to dinner,’ Lily replied. ‘But Auntie Vi will get you a carrot stick to chew on and then we’ll have fish fingers with chips.’ Lily looked at Vi. ‘Can you stay and help me for a bit longer?’

‘Of course,’ Vi said. ‘Fish fingers are my favourite.’

The evening turned out to be very pleasant, if a little stressful as Vi tried her best to help with the children while Lily cooked dinner and talked to Dominic, who had just arrived home. With him was Larry, a large white fluffy dog of uncertain pedigree who romped around with the children causing even more chaos than before.

When Vi was finally saying goodbye, both children were tucked up in bed fast asleep, the kitchen tidy and Lily and Dominic were settled in front of the TV to watch the late-evening news, Larry at their feet.

When Vi got up to leave, Lily hugged her goodbye. ‘Thank you so much for coming,’ she said. ‘I’m so glad we had that talk.’

‘Me too,’ Vi said. ‘I’m so happy to have my sister back.’

‘One of them, anyway,’ Lily said. ‘You still have to tackle Rose.’

‘I know, but I’ll leave her alone for now.’

‘Good idea. She’s a tougher nut than me to crack. You know how she can stay mad for a long time.’

‘Yeah, I remember how she let Henri stew for ages before she forgave him.’

‘And now they’re the best of friends and work so well together managing the senior apartment business,’ Lily said. ‘Anyway, you were great with the kids. You managed to calm them down and me too.’

‘I enjoyed it. They’re adorable. Let me know if you need help. I’m relatively free right now, so don’t be afraid to ask,’ Vi offered. ‘I mean it.’

‘I hope you won’t regret that,’ Lily said, smiling. ‘Because I do need help and a lot of it. I’ll call you tomorrow and we can work out some kind of plan.’

‘Grand,’ Vi said. ‘I’ll do my best to help you whenever I can.’

‘And then I’ll also want a full report on Jack Montgomery,’ Lily added as they walked to the door.

‘Not much to report,’ Vi said. ‘I had a drink with him before I left London, that’s all.’

‘That’s all?’ Lily rolled her eyes. ‘You had a drink with Jack Montgomery in London? There you go again, making me jealous,’ she teased.

Vi laughed.

Lily pushed Vi out the door. ‘Now go home and get some rest. And tell Granny we’re friends again. And Mum if you talk to her. I know she’s busy with all that probate stuff in Donegal, but if you’re in touch with her, let her know what happened.’

‘I will,’ Vi promised. Then Lily closed the door and Vi walked away, feeling happier than she had been for a very long time. She and Lily were close again and even though she still had to tackle Rose, it felt good to have had that talk and to have helped out when Lily needed her. She had meant what she said, the children were truly adorable, even if they were hard work at times. She was looking forward to coming back and playing with her little niece and nephew. It would be a break from preparing for her role and all the work associated with it.