Page 25 of The Widow’s Irish Secret (Magnolia Manor #4)

‘You can be devious at the party.’ Vi put a plate with a sandwich in front of Tricia. ‘Here, Mum, try this sandwich. One of Lily’s specials. Mozzarella, tomato and her own homemade pesto.’

Tricia took a bite of the sandwich and chewed slowly while she savoured the flavours of the pesto that married so beautifully with the creamy mozzarella and the tang of the tomatoes. ‘Mmm, this is delicious,’ she mumbled through her mouthful.

‘I know.’ Vi bit into her own sandwich. ‘Lily makes the best sandwiches in town. She gets fresh bread from the bakery every morning.’

‘You’re making me hungry,’ Theresa complained. ‘I came here for a cup of coffee and decided not to have any of the yummy cakes on display. I’m trying to cut down a little on what I eat. But now that I see those sandwiches and smell that delicious pesto…’

‘Lily sells little jars of her pesto in the café,’ Vi told her. ‘So you can buy some and then make your own sandwich at home. Or just put it on toast without the cheese. Just as nice with fewer calories.’

Theresa brightened. ‘Great idea. Thank you, Vi.’ She finished her coffee and got up. ‘I’m going to do just that. See you at the party tomorrow, lads. If you need any help with your hair, give me a shout. I could come to your house earlier and give you a hand.’

‘Oh, brilliant,’ Vi said. ‘I thought I’d put mine up or do a French plait or something but I’m not great at that sort of thing.’

‘I’ll come to the gatehouse half an hour before the party starts,’ Theresa promised. ‘See you then, Vi.’

‘Bye for now,’ Vi said before Theresa disappeared into the café.

‘I should go too.’ Mary got up. ‘See you at the party. I’m really looking forward to it.’

‘It’ll be fun,’ Vi said. ‘Bye, Mary. See you tomorrow.’

Tricia’s heart sank – they had run off so quickly, she hadn’t had time to ask her own questions about Kieran O’Grady and the drawings.

And then her phone pinged. She pulled it out of her bag.

‘Oh,’ she said when she had read the message.

‘Good news, Vi. The electrician will have finished the rewiring the day after tomorrow, so I can move in at the weekend.’

‘That’s great, Mum,’ Vi said when she had finished chewing. ‘But you’re welcome to stay with us as long as you need to.’

Tricia reached out and ran her hand down Vi’s silky mane of red hair.

‘Oh, sweetheart, that’s so kind. But I know that Jack is looking forward to being alone with you in your very first home.

And, you know…’ Tricia smiled as she thought of Cillian and how they could now be together without anyone knowing whenever they wanted.

‘I need my own space too. I won’t be far away either, so we can see each other often, with or without men. ’

‘Men?’ Vi’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Are you… have you met someone? You look all glowy and happy all of a sudden.’

‘Oh, er…’ Tricia found herself stuck for words but then she couldn’t hold it in.

‘Maybe it’s just friendship but there is someone who makes me feel good,’ she said.

‘That’s all I can say right now. I’ve been through so much heartache and sadness, so I’m feeling a little nervous, you see.

’ She picked up her sandwich and finished it, avoiding Vi’s probing gaze.

‘Well, if someone is making you feel good, I’d like to thank him,’ Vi said. ‘But if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t ask more questions.’

‘Thank you, sweetheart.’ Tricia smiled at her daughter.

‘Right now you are more important than whatever is going on with me. I want you and Jack to have a wonderful summer and the wedding of your dreams. I’ll be moving into the cottage the day after tomorrow but I’ll be available whenever you need me and we’ll plan the wedding together. ’

‘That’s fabulous, Mum,’ Vi exclaimed. ‘I’m so glad to have your support. We both need it. Jack’s mum is not like you. They don’t have a good relationship, really, and that’s sad for him. So you’re very important to both of us.’

‘What about your granny?’ Tricia asked.

Vi sighed. ‘Oh, she wants us to do it her way. She’s a little bit of a control freak, as you know. But the party tomorrow should distract her from trying to run our wedding. That was a great move by you, I have to say.’

‘Maybe.’ Tricia wiped her mouth with a napkin and picked up her coffee cup. ‘I only hope it worked. I wouldn’t be too sure, though. Sylvia is not easy to fool.’

‘No, but right now it has worked,’ Vi remarked. ‘You should see the terrace and the dining room. It’s like something from a movie, all decorated with flowers and garlands.’

‘Sylvia has worked so hard,’ Tricia remarked. ‘I asked her several times if she needed any help but she kept saying all was “in hand”.’

‘Typical,’ Vi said. ‘Granny didn’t want you to get any credit.

But she is enjoying doing it all herself with a little help from Nora and Martin.

She found an old gramophone in the attic and lots of old records with jazz music.

We’ll have to crank up that thing but it’ll be fun dancing to that music.

Nearly everyone has accepted the invitations and there is a great buzz in town about this event. I think it’ll be fabulous.’

‘And then Sylvia will announce your engagement, of course,’ Tricia filled in. ‘That’ll be the high point of the party.’

‘I know.’ Vi sipped her coffee. ‘The spotlight will be on us then. But that’s okay. The wedding will be the main event and we’ll be able to do it our own way, thanks to you.’

‘Have you sent out the save the date cards?’ Tricia asked.

‘We did it by email yesterday,’ Vi replied. ‘Didn’t you get one?’

‘I might have missed it in the middle of all the building stuff. Ted sends me emails about it all the time. He doesn’t want to clog up my texts, he said.’

‘Oh. Very considerate.’ Vi smiled at her mother. ‘Is he the one who’s making you look so happy?’

‘Never you mind,’ Tricia said, trying not to laugh. She picked up her phone. ‘I’ll check my emails now and see if your card arrived.’ She quickly scanned her inbox and then saw the item. ‘There it is. The twenty-second of August. Lovely virtual card, sweetheart. Well done.’

‘It wasn’t me, it was Jack,’ Vi said. ‘He did the design on some artwork app he found.’ She finished her coffee and gathered up their plates and cups and put them on the tray. ‘I’d better go. Jack will be home soon.’

‘I’ll take the tray in and put it away,’ Tricia promised. ‘In any case, I need to go through my emails and reply to Ted and thank him. I’m sure he was the one who got the electrician to finish so soon. And I want to see if Lily will sit down here with me when the rush is over. She needs a break.’

‘Good idea, Mum.’ Vi got up. ‘See you later, then. Early dinner and bed so we’ll be at our best for the party tomorrow.’

Tricia nodded and smiled. ‘Yes, very sensible. I need beauty sleep a lot more than you.’

‘Say hi to Ted.’ Vi winked and then she was gone before Tricia could reply to the insinuation.

But then she thought, Why protest? If Vi thinks I’m interested in Ted, she won’t suspect that my relationship with Cillian is anything more than old friends meeting up again…

Maybe it wasn’t fair to Ted, but she was sure he wouldn’t care.

He seemed such a self-contained, confident man with a good sense of humour.

He’d probably have a good laugh at the idea of being the fake love interest.

Tricia smiled to herself as she checked her emails again.

There was one from Ted with a few details of minor additional costs.

He also said, The electrician found an old metal tube behind a wall panel.

Rusty and dented but intact. There might be something in it so I put it on the kitchen table for you to look at.

Tricia decided to take a look at it that evening.

It could contain something that might tell her more about the O’Grady family.

Then she forgot everything as she saw an email from Cillian. What he said made her throat contract.