Page 3 of The Widow’s Irish Secret (Magnolia Manor #4)

It didn’t take long to finalise the deal.

The next morning, Tricia rang the estate agent handling the sale of the cottage and put in an offer a little above the asking price, just to make sure it would be accepted.

Tricia wasn’t worried about the money, not right now anyway.

It would clear out all her savings, but she needed to take the plunge.

She told the nice woman at the agency that her name was Patricia Ryan, hoping it was a common enough name.

‘That’s not my full name, but it’s what I will be known as for the moment,’ she said.

‘I want to keep a low profile until the sale goes through. I hope you understand.’ Not only that , she thought.

I don’t want anyone from Sean’s family to find me…

‘Of course,’ the woman said. ‘We don’t actually reveal the name of the buyer anyway. A lot of famous people have been buying property around here. They often want to be incognito until everything is finalised.’

‘That’s great. Not that I’m famous in any way,’ Tricia said with a laugh. ‘Oh, and I want to get access as soon as possible,’ she added. ‘My daughter is getting married and the wedding is in the area, so it’d be great if I can be there in good time.’

‘That shouldn’t be a problem,’ the woman said, ‘as you’re a cash buyer. But don’t you want to view the property first? And perhaps have a survey organised? It’s an old house and there could be problems…’

‘I know it very well,’ Tricia replied. ‘I’ve seen it many times and I know what it will take to do it up.’

‘A lot of hard work and more than a little bit of money,’ the woman said with a chuckle. ‘But worth it in the end. It’s in a lovely location. So if you’re sure, we’ll contact the seller and then, if they agree, we’ll start the conveyancing with the solicitors.’

‘Excellent,’ Tricia said, her spirits rising. ‘I’ll talk to my solicitor and organise the downpayment as soon as I hear back from you.’ She hung up, crossing her fingers and saying a silent prayer that her offer would be accepted and she could start planning her move.

While she waited, she called the hairdresser’s and asked for an appointment for a cut and colour as soon as possible.

As luck would have it, they had a cancellation and Tricia could come in that very afternoon.

Happy to have something to distract her, Tricia went along to the little salon around the corner that didn’t charge too much and came out two hours later, her hair cut in a short, layered bob and the roots touched up to give her back the gleaming blonde head of hair she had always been so proud of.

It made her look a lot brighter and years younger.

Whatever happens next , she thought, as she looked in the mirror noticing how her blue eyes sparkled, I feel better and more confident than I have for a very long time.

And then it all happened very fast. Everything fell into place as soon as Sylvia had accepted the offer a few days later.

Tricia announced the purchase that very evening at dinner with Jack and Vi at a little restaurant near the flat.

Tricia often had dinner there as it was cosy and intimate and never too crowded.

‘Sylvia has accepted my offer and I’ve paid the downpayment and signed the contract.

So it’s all going ahead,’ she said. ‘Isn’t it exciting? ’

Looking worried, Vi stared at her mother. ‘Mum, are you sure? It’s a huge undertaking and then you’ll have to face a lot of painful memories. The wedding will be stressful for you anyway and then this, on top of it.’

‘I like a challenge,’ Tricia said with a grin. ‘And you know how I love to paint and decorate. I can do a lot myself and I’m sure Dominic can find me workmen who don’t charge too much to do what I can’t.’ She turned to Jack. ‘You’re very quiet. Do you think I’m mad as well?’

Jack looked up from the menu. ‘Not at all, Tricia. I know that cottage from my walks around the grounds of Magnolia Manor. It’s very nice and still in fairly good nick.

Needs an upgrade and all that but it could be made into something fabulous.

I’d say go for it, Tricia. Love your hair, by the way. ’

‘Thanks, Jack. I’m glad someone is on my side.

’ Tricia smiled at him, thinking how lucky Vi was to have found such a nice man.

In many ways he was just like Fred. They shared an interest in the arts, and his strong jaw and beautiful eyes were very similar, too, even though Fred had had green eyes like Vi.

Tricia often wondered if that was what had made Vi fall in love with Jack.

A kind of innate knowledge of her father despite not really remembering him.

It was eerie and wonderful at the same time.

‘I’m on your side too,’ Vi protested. ‘I just don’t want you to take on too much.’

‘It’ll be good for me,’ Tricia said. ‘I feel a whole new chapter of my life is just beginning.’ Then she turned to the waiter who had just arrived to take their order. ‘I’ll have the lamb cutlets, please.’

Vi and Jack said they’d have the same. ‘And a bottle of that nice Merlot,’ Tricia ordered. ‘But first, could you bring us a bottle of your best champagne? We have a lot to celebrate tonight.’

‘Of course, Mrs Fleury,’ the waiter said and left to place the order.

‘Mrs Fleury?’ Vi asked. ‘Are you changing your name back?’

‘That’s right,’ Tricia replied. ‘I feel my life in Donegal is over since Sean passed away. I want to leave it all behind. I was so proud to be Tricia Fleury when I married your father all those years ago. I was only in my early twenties then. And now I want to be a Fleury girl again.’

‘That will make Granny very happy,’ Vi said as the champagne arrived in a bucket full of ice at their table.

‘I’m not doing it for Granny, but for me,’ Tricia argued, glad that they weren’t questioning her. She didn’t want to reveal the real reason her new name was so important.

‘Good for you,’ Jack said. ‘I adore Sylvia but she can be a little overbearing if you let her.’

‘And we’re not going to,’ Tricia said with feeling.

Then, when the champagne had been opened, she raised her glass.

‘Here’s to you two, Jack and Vi. May you have a wonderful life together, wherever you are in the world.

I couldn’t be happier for you and I will make sure the wedding is just the way you want. ’

Jack clinked glasses with Tricia. ‘And here’s to my very smart and brave future mother-in-law.’

Vi held her glass up. ‘To my darling mummy,’ she said, her eyes gleaming with tears of happiness. ‘Welcome back to Kerry and – us.’

Those words echoed through Tricia’s mind all through the journey from Dublin to Dingle a few weeks later.

It was a long drive that took over four hours but Tricia enjoyed it enormously.

The traffic was light as she had decided to drive down on a Sunday, even though she wouldn’t get possession of the cottage until the following Wednesday.

She would stay with Vi at the gatehouse as Jack was off to Cornwall.

This way she would have time to take a look at the cottage – at least from the outside – and then see Sylvia and break the news that she was the new owner.

It would be too late for Sylvia to back out of the deal, but then why would she?

The cottage had been for sale for the past year, after all, and Sylvia should be happy that it was being sold for a very good price.

The manor had been converted into apartments for seniors, so she knew Sylvia must have been selling the property to fund further expansion.

She’d be happy it was finally sold. Except she might not be happy about who had bought it.

When Fred and Tricia had got engaged and he took her to Magnolia Manor to introduce her to his parents, Sylvia had looked as if she didn’t quite approve of her son’s choice of future wife.

Tricia, whose parents had modest means, was not quite the wife Sylvia would have liked to see Fred marry.

Or so Tricia had always thought. She had had to work part time to pay for her tuition as her parents couldn’t afford college fees.

The fact that Tricia had a degree in accountancy with top marks didn’t seem to impress Sylvia.

But then not many girls would have been good enough for Sylvia, Nora, the housekeeper at Magnolia Manor, had once declared.

Nora had been a huge help to Tricia in the early days and they still kept in touch.

She wondered what they would think of the legal tangle she had left behind in Donegal.

Tricia turned her mind away from the problem and tried to enjoy the beautiful vistas she was driving through.

She was relieved that she hadn’t had any further calls from Sean’s family.

The rolling green hills, the farms with their old houses and barns, the little villages with cottages and taller houses, facades adorned with carved stone in intricate patterns.

She stopped for lunch in Adare, a lovely village with chocolate-box cottages, their thatched roofs lending a charming old-world image to the main street.

Then Tricia continued her journey through Newcastle West, tempted to stop and visit the old castle but drove on, feeling she needed to get to Dingle as soon as she could.

She had decided while she was having lunch that she had to tell Sylvia as soon as she arrived that she was the buyer of the cottage.

It would be better to take the bull by the horns straight away.

Not that Sylvia was anything like a bull, but she might not like having been kept in the dark.

They had to get on if Vi’s wedding was to be as lovely as she hoped.

It wouldn’t be fair, Tricia thought, to have two women at daggers drawn while they were planning the most important day in her youngest daughter’s life.

That thought both calmed and terrified her. But better to get it over with.

‘Let the battle commence,’ Tricia said to herself, smiling as she felt that even if there would be arguments, and problems, life was suddenly worth living again.