Page 87 of The Girl with the Irish Secret

Leo was wandering around the room when she came back with the coffee and biscuits, and turned from the bookcase as she put the tray on the little coffee table. ‘Some great books here,’ he said. ‘I haven’t seen such an eclectic library in a while. Poetry, detective stories, nature books, romance and history. Have you read them all?’

‘No,’ Vi said as she settled on the sofa and pulled her legs up under her. ‘Those are books my sisters left when they moved out. Lily likes detective stories and romance, Rose read a lot of poetry at some stage and Noel, her husband, is the nature and history buff.’

‘And what are you interested in?’ Leo asked as he joined her on the sofa.

‘I read everything,’ Vi said. ‘But I do love a good romantic comedy, I have to confess. And a cosy detective story is great too.’

He nodded. ‘I like that kind of book from time to time too.’

‘I also like a good horror story,’ Vi said. ‘Stephen King and so on. But never before going to sleep.’

‘I know what you mean,’ Leo replied. He leaned forward and studied Vi for a moment. ‘How about doing a horror film? Would you like that?’

Vi giggled. ‘Oh yes, I would. That would be such great craic. How about you? Do you like doing makeup for that kind of movie?’

‘Love it,’ Leo said. ‘Then I can really lay it on. I could make you up like a zombie. Black-rimmed eyes, dark lips and withyour pale skin you’d be perfect. I’d paint a drop of blood beside your mouth too.’

‘That would make me look like a vampire,’ Vi said, laughing again. ‘But hey, why not? That’d be a hoot.’

‘Pity Kathleen didn’t do any of those movies,’ Leo remarked and picked up his mug of coffee. ‘She was mostly in romantic stories.’

Vi nibbled on a ginger snap. ‘Hmm, yes, but she was also in some historical dramas likeJane EyreandA Tale of Two Citiesby Dickens. I thought she was terrific in those. I hope I get to wear some of those costumes in the biopic.’

‘You might,’ Leo said. ‘That was around the time she met Don.’

Vi nodded. She drank her coffee and looked at Leo. ‘If you could go back in time to any period, what would it be?’

‘Oh,’ Leo said, looking thoughtful. ‘Paris in the nineteen twenties, perhaps. Have you seen the Woody Allen movieMidnight in Paris? The guy in that story went back in time and met all those authors and painters. Wouldn’t that be something?’

‘Nah,’ Vi said. ‘I don’t think so. I’d go to London in the sixties. That was a fun period. The music, the clothes – what an amazing time it must have been. Some of those film stars and the musicians, wow.’

‘Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney,’ Leo said. ‘Of course, they’re still alive.’

‘In those days they would have been real rebels, I bet,’ Vi remarked.

‘Maybe we’re better off now, though,’ Leo suggested. ‘The past looks great in movies but I’m sure real life was full of negatives, just like it is for us.’

‘Yeah, I suppose.’ Vi took another ginger snap. ‘But it would be cool to go back and meet Kathleen, I have to say. I’d be ableto ask her a few questions and then get back in the time machine and know exactly how to play her.’

‘Now all you have are the old movies.’ Leo put his mug on the table.

‘I have to watch more of them to get a real feel for her. But there is one thing I will find very difficult,’ Vi said, changing the subject.

‘What’s that?’ Leo leaned back on the sofa, looking at Vi with interest.

‘The smoking. In all those movies, everyone smokes, including Kathleen. It’s as if lighting a woman’s cigarette was a flirty moment.’

Leo grinned. ‘Oh yeah, I bet it was. You get in very close, light the cig and then gaze into her eyes with a smouldering look that says more than a million words. Then she gives a sultry look back and blows out the smoke through those red lips. Very suggestive.’

‘Yeah, but do I have to start smoking now?’ Vi asked miserably.

‘No, they always use prop cigarettes when filming now. It should be in your contract that you agreed to smoking on set, even if it’s only herbal cigarettes or vapes,’ Leo explained.

‘Oh, I see.’ Vi brightened. She normally paid so much attention to what she signed, but she’d been so excited when she’d eventually got the papers, desperate to get to Ireland. ‘I think I saw that when we went through the contract. To be honest, I was so delighted to do this part that I’d have signed anything. But now I feel better about that, so thanks.’

‘You’re welcome. I’m sure you can’t wait to get started.’

‘Of course.’ Vi nodded. ‘But I have to do a lot of work beforehand.’