Page 74 of The Girl with the Irish Secret

‘Not much, but what I’ve heard is not all so lovely,’ Sylvia said cryptically. ‘But I have to go. Nora is expecting me for dinner. Let me know when you’ll be arriving and we’ll have the gatehouse all warm and cosy for you.’

‘Thank you, Granny,’ Vi said. ‘But what was that about Kathleen O’—?’

‘Bye for now,’ Sylvia said, and hung up.

Vi sat there with the phone in her hand, wondering what Sylvia had meant. Did her grandmother know something about Kathleen O’Sullivan? Something that went against the sweet, wholesome image she had presented to the world? Vi realised that her grandmother was of the same generation and that they had both grown up in Kerry around the same time. Maybe Vi’s research would start much closer to home that she had imagined.

4

A week later, Vi found herself having a drink in an Irish pub with Jack Montgomery. Feeling as if she was dreaming, or in some kind of parallel universe, she wandered into the dim, crowded pub dressed in a navy suit with a short skirt, high heels and her hair in a messy bun with tendrils around her face. It looked natural, but the style and the ‘natural’ makeup had taken her over an hour to achieve. She scanned the room, but didn’t see Jack, so she sat down at a small round table in an alcove to wait for him. A waiter appeared asking what she wanted, but she told him she was waiting for someone, so he nodded and disappeared. Then after a few tense moments, when she thought he wouldn’t show up, there was a sudden murmur through the pub and there he was, pushing through the crowd, looking unperturbed by the eyes on him.

He looked around for a moment and when he spotted Vi, walked swiftly to her table and sat down. ‘Hey,’ he said, smiling. ‘You chose the best spot in the place. Clever of you. Nice to see you again… eh… Vera?’

‘Violet,’ she corrected.

‘Oh, of course. I knew that. Hi there, Violet.’

‘Hi, Jack,’ she said. ‘How are you?’

‘Great.’ He looked at her for a moment. ‘You look cute. What did you do to your hair?’

Vi touched the back of her head. ‘Oh, I just put it up out of the way.’

He nodded. ‘Nice. What do you want to drink?’

‘I’d love a pint of Guinness,’ she said without thinking.

‘A whole pint?’ He raised one eyebrow, his mouth quivering. ‘You’re that thirsty?’

Vi shrugged. ‘Sure. Why not? This is an Irish pub, after all. Nothing like draught Guinness on a Friday night.’ She suddenly felt reckless and wanted to show him she didn’t care what he thought. Did he think she was going to sit here and be prim and proper and mind her ps and qs just to impress him?Be yourself, she said to herself.Don’t try to be something you’re not.

‘It’s Thursday,’ he said.

‘I know, but I’ve just finished filming. It feels like Friday night to me.’

‘Oh, I see.’ He waved at a waiter. ‘A pint of Guinness for the lady and a Jameson’s for me. Best whiskey in the world,’ he said to Vi when the waiter had left. ‘You Irish do make the best drinks.’

‘We do,’ Vi agreed. ‘Except for wine. The French do that better than us.’

‘Yes, of course. If you’re into wine.’ He smiled. ‘So you just finished filming?’

Vi nodded. ‘Yes, my character, Jane, has just been killed in an accident under suspicious circumstances. Such a relief. Didn’t really enjoy the part I was playing. The dialogue was terrible and the whole plot was deadly.’ She giggled. ‘Well, it would be, being a murder mystery.’

He smiled. ‘I’m sure you let them know how deadly it was.’

Vi nodded. ‘Yeah, I’m afraid I did, so they killed me off. It wasn’t really in the script but they changed it when I started to complain. So glad to have finished that one. And now I can prepare for my role as Kathleen.’

‘You’ll be perfect,’ he said, looking at her with amused eyes. ‘It’ll be interesting to see what you do with the role.’

‘I’m going to try to get to know her properly. You’ll be terrific playing her husband,’ Vi said.

‘I’ll do my best.’

‘I can’t believe I’m going to work with you,’ she continued, feeling her cheeks turn pink. ‘I’ve seen a lot of your movies and always thought you were one of the best actors ever.’

‘Thank you,’ he said with an odd little smile. ‘That’s very flattering. I think we’ll have a great time working together.’

‘I’m looking forward to it,’ Vi said. ‘As far as I know, Kathleen was engaged twice but Don, the man she finally married, was the love of her life, even though they had quite a stormy relationship.’