Page 21 of The Widow’s Irish Secret (Magnolia Manor #4)

As she looked at Cillian, Tricia tried to tell herself that his reaction was just his archaeologist mind working overtime.

He was probably just very excited and needed time to take it in.

‘These are so touching, whoever drew them,’ she said, bringing Cillian back to the drawings.

‘If I knew more about the people who lived in this house in the past, I could find out who that little boy was. But apart from the Magnolia archives, I wouldn’t know where to look. ’

‘I’m not sure about that. My experience is with digging out graves and remains of houses from thousands of years ago.

I think your only hope is to look in the manor.

There doesn’t seem to be much left to discover in the actual house,’ Cillian said, seeming to have recovered from whatever it was that had made him look so shocked.

‘I suppose you’re right.’ Tricia put the folder back in the drawer.

‘I’m going to keep this here and not tell anyone.

It’s my little treasure and it belongs to the house.

’ She felt slightly guilty for lying to him.

She might still need to sell it, but she didn’t want to tell Cillian that yet.

He had seemed so upset by what he had seen in the drawing and she didn’t want to make things worse.

Perhaps she could find another solution to her problems.

‘Yes, you shouldn’t let anyone see it,’ he said.

Tricia nodded. ‘No, not yet anyway, so it will stay between us.’

Cillian moved closer and gazed into Tricia’s eyes. ‘I’ll keep your secret. I’m really touched that you shared it with me.’ He paused for a moment, his eyes tender. ‘Trish, I…’ Then he stopped and pulled away. ‘Meeting you again and now, being together here is doing something strange to me.’

Tricia felt her heart contract. That old nickname that only he had used brought her back to the time he had tried and failed to get closer to her.

She had been wrong to reject him but she hadn’t been ready.

And now she couldn’t cope with anything more than friendship after all she’d been through.

Romance had been far from her mind when she came here.

She took a step back. ‘Cillian, we had something. A close friendship that was very precious to me. But we can’t be more than friends.

We’re not teenagers and I am still trying to cope with everything.

It’s not the right time for me right now.

’ The words were out before she could stop them.

He nodded, looking sober. ‘I understand. But that last thing you said gives me a tiny ray of hope all the same. Would I be right?’

‘Maybe. That other time all those years ago, I was still grieving, still so raw. But now I feel free and ready to look forward. That’s all I can say for now.’

He nodded. ‘That sounds good to me. No pressure.’

‘Good,’ she whispered.

He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the cheek. The brief touch of his lips made her blush. He looked suddenly serious. ‘You have a lot on your plate right now. This house, your daughter’s wedding and that mad party next week that Sylvia has invited me to.’

Tricia stared at him. ‘She invited you?’

He laughed. ‘Yes, she did. She said as I was such an old friend of the family, I should be there to celebrate Fred’s daughter’s engagement.’

Tricia put her hands on Cillian’s chest. ‘She’s right. You should be part of family celebrations such as this one. You’ve been away for a long time, so we didn’t know where to find you when Lily and Rose were married. But now that you’re here, you should come.’

‘I’m not sure. It said a Great Gatsby theme in the email. Not my kind of thing at all.’

‘Nor mine, really.’ Tricia smiled and rolled her eyes.

‘Yeah, it’s going to be a mad party. We got Sylvia to organise it so she would forget about the actual wedding.

Vi wants it to be small and intimate and friends and family only.

Sylvia wanted to do a big celebrity wedding and there was a huge argument about it until I suggested the engagement party and she jumped at the chance to do a big bash and the Great Gatsby theme. She has invited half the town to it.’

‘Typical of Sylvia. She was always the party princess. I suppose I’ll have to go. Maybe I could dress up as Al Capone or something.’

‘Haha, yes. That would be terrific.’ Then Tricia shot a serious look at Cillian. ‘But I don’t want anyone to know we’ve been spending time together. I think Sylvia could be upset. You were Fred’s friend after all, and?—’

Cillian nodded and took Tricia’s hand. ‘It’s okay. I won’t say anything.’

‘I just know you’re very dear to me,’ Tricia said quietly.

‘That’s good. Maybe I won’t go to the party,’ he suggested. ‘I’m sure to give it all away when I see you all dolled up in a nineteen twenties outfit.’

‘Oh, no, you should go,’ Tricia argued. ‘You’ll just have to try not to notice me.

I would love for you to get close to my girls, especially Vi.

I want you to tell her about Fred and all the things you did together when you were students.

She’d love to know more about him. She doesn’t remember him as she was only two years old when he died.

That’s her greatest sadness. Not that she can’t remember the accident and that awful time afterwards, but that she has no memories at all of her father. It’s as if a part of her is missing.’

‘Poor girl.’ Cillian’s eyes were full of empathy. ‘Of course I’ll talk to her about Fred. And to Lily and Rose too.’ He shook his head. ‘Fred’s girls. I haven’t seen them since they were kids. I should have got in touch as soon as I arrived, but I’ve been so busy with this…’ He stopped.

‘With what?’ Tricia asked. ‘You haven’t told me what you’re doing here. Where is this dig you’re working at?’

Cillian looked suddenly worried. ‘I’m sorry, Trish. I can’t talk about it. I’ve been told that we have to keep it secret for now or we get a lot of people going to the site looking for treasure. You know how quickly rumours start around here.’

‘Yes but…’ Tricia started.

‘I know I should be able to tell you and I should trust you to keep a secret,’ Cillian said, looking awkward. ‘But then I’ll put a burden on you and you might accidentally say something without meaning to. So it’s better for me to keep it to myself for now. Please don’t be upset.’

Tricia realised he was right. She might blurt something out without thinking, so it was best for her not to know.

Plus, she had her own secrets to keep. ‘Oh, okay.’ She smiled reassuringly.

‘I understand what you’re saying, even if I’m dying with curiosity when you say there might be some buried treasure.

I read in some newspaper about a find in Donegal a while back.

A thousand-year-old grave that contained jewellery made of gold and silver worth a fortune.

Such beautiful pieces of Celtic design. That dig had to be manned by security guards until the objects could be removed from the site.

They’re now in the National Museum in Dublin.

I can imagine how awful it would be if pieces like that ended up in the wrong hands. ’

‘That’s it.’ Cillian looked relieved. ‘I’m glad you understand. When are you planning to move in here?’

‘In a few days. As soon as I get the furniture delivered.’

‘But you can’t live here until the house has been rewired,’ he argued. ‘It’s not safe now.’

‘Oh.’ Tricia stepped away from him. ‘I didn’t think of that. Could I live here without using electricity maybe?’

‘I doubt it,’ Cillian replied. ‘It’s not very comfortable to live without electricity. How are you going to cook a meal or have a shower, for example?’

Tricia sighed. ‘Oh, okay, I get your point. I’ll just have to be patient and tell Vi and Jack that they’ll have to put up with me for a bit longer.’

‘I’m sure they won’t mind.’ Cillian smiled at Tricia. ‘I have to go back to work. See you soon, I hope. Bye for now.’ He walked out of the attic, running nimbly down the stairs and out the door.

Tricia stood there for a while as the front door banged shut, thinking about what had just happened.

She touched her cheek, still feeling Cillian’s soft lips and the prickle of his beard.

It had seemed like the right time for them to meet again and now there was no feeling of rejection or hurt.

Just a sweet friendship that connected them to Fred.

She knew Cillian had itchy feet and a restless soul so he might want to move to somewhere else when the autumn set in.

But she didn’t care how long it would last or even if she wanted it to.

This was now and life was so short, why not grab this little bit of happiness and enjoy it however long it would last?

Her experiences had taught her that anything could happen, good or bad, in an instant and life would never be the same after that.

I have to live in the moment , she thought as she slowly went down the stairs, take happiness as it comes and grab it and hold it as long as I can.

Who knows what the future will bring? Cillian is such a nice man, but all I want from him is friendship, which he seems to accept.

It feels so good to talk to him about Fred.

But there were so many things niggling at her new-found happiness.

She tried to push the thoughts away but the questions kept coming back to the surface.

Should she have lied to Cillian? Should she have told him why she might need to sell the drawings if they turned out to be valuable?

That was something she still needed to find out.

Would he be angry if that was to happen?

And why had Cillian refused to tell her about the work project that had brought him here?

The explanation he had given her for the secrecy seemed a little lame to her.

And then… there was his reaction to the drawing and what she had seen in the bay.

Why had he looked so shaken by it? Their friendship couldn’t deepen until all those questions were resolved.