Page 37 of The Widow’s Irish Secret (Magnolia Manor #4)

Cillian was outside in his campervan on Friday night just as darkness fell.

Tricia was waiting in the front garden with her small bag and Paddy in a carrier for cats that she had bought that morning along with a bag of cat food.

She was still stressed after her phone call with Noel, but she knew he was her only hope.

What a relief it would be if it was finally over and she had Terence and his threats off her back.

But she couldn’t keep it from Cillian any longer, whatever happened.

Cillian climbed down from the van. ‘All set?’ he asked, peering into the cat carrier. ‘Nice little cat. What’s his name?’

‘Paddy,’ Tricia replied. ‘Short for Paddington. The girls picked the name.’

‘It suits him.’ Cillian took Tricia’s bag and the cat food. ‘So off we go. If you’re wondering why I’m so late, you’ll soon find out the reason,’ he said cryptically. They set off as soon as Tricia was in the passenger seat with Paddy on her lap.

‘We seem to be going to Ventry,’ Tricia said as they turned left and drove away from Dingle.

‘We are,’ Cillian said. ‘But to the end of the bay just to look at the view.’

‘What view?’ Tricia asked, confused. ‘There is no moon so we won’t see much.’

‘But the sky is clear and we have the stars,’ Cillian replied. ‘That’s all I’m going to say until we’re there. I would blindfold you but I don’t think you’d agree to that. Just wait and then you’ll see my surprise.’

Tricia studied his face in the dim light.

He looked as if he was about to reveal something amazing and she decided to keep quiet until they had arrived to wherever they were going.

And then, as they drove down the slope to the parking place that overlooked the little bay, she saw the surprise and it took her breath away.

‘Oh,’ was all she managed as she looked out the window at the still water that seemed to be illuminated from underneath with a bluish light that glimmered through the darkness.

‘Plankton,’ she said as they climbed out of the van and joined other people standing there silently gazing at this miraculous sight.

She had never seen the plankton illumination – also called bioluminescence – but she had heard it was a beautiful sight.

But it was more than beautiful, more than amazing, and she tried to find the words to describe it.

Cillian took Tricia’s hand. ‘It’s like some kind of psychedelic experience. I’ve seen it before but it never gets tired.’

‘Heavenly,’ Tricia said as if to herself, forgetting all the tensions and misunderstandings between them as she looked at the ragged band of blue light and the reflection of the stars in the darker water beyond.

‘Thank you for showing it to me,’ she said and leaned against Cillian.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful. ’

He put his arm around her and drew her closer still. ‘I thought it would be a nice start to our weekend.’

‘The best start ever.’ Tricia breathed in the soft salt-laden air and felt as if she was floating in the dark-blue night with the breeze caressing her cheeks. ‘I could stay here all night.’

‘We could if you want,’ Cillian said. ‘But I had other plans.’

She turned and tried to look at him in the dark. ‘What plans were they?’

‘That we’d drive to Dunquin and stay in a nice B&B. And then we’ll continue on and climb Mount Brandon in the morning. It’s a hike we never did even in the old days, I don’t know why.’

‘We thought it was too easy,’ Tricia said. ‘But now we’re older and it might be a little too much for us.’

‘It won’t. That side of the mountain is not a hard climb. We can do it in a morning. What do you say?’

Tricia nodded. ‘We should have a go. It will be our hike then and nothing to do with Fred.’

‘That’s what I was thinking but I didn’t say it out loud,’ Cillian said softly into the darkness. ‘I thought you might be sad if we mentioned Fred.’

Tricia broke away from him. ‘But we should talk about him,’ she said. ‘Because he’s always with us. No longer standing between us but around us, smiling at us, happy that we’re together at last. He’s like a guardian angel to me, if that doesn’t sound crazy.’

‘Maybe he brought us together?’ Cillian said with a smile in his voice. ‘I see what you mean and it’s a lovely thought. And maybe, just for this weekend, we could forget our arguments and secrets?’

Tricia nodded. ‘Yes. Let’s have a holiday from all that.’

‘Good.’ He shivered suddenly. ‘It’s getting a little chilly and I’m tired. Let’s go on to the B&B in Dunquin and get a night’s sleep. Separate rooms, of course, just so you know how gentlemanly I am these days.’

Tricia laughed. ‘Well, you know what? I’m not as ladylike as I used to be.

So if you had booked a room with a double bed I wouldn’t have been upset.

But…’ She stifled a yawn. ‘Tonight, I think I’d be too wrecked to do anything but sleep.

So take me to the B&B so I can fall into bed.

Do they allow cats? Paddy likes his carrier so he’ll be happy to stay there for the night. ’

‘I’m sure that’s not a problem,’ Cillian said. ‘Bridget, the woman who runs the B&B, is an old friend. Very relaxed about stuff like that.’

‘Brilliant.’ Tricia walked to the van and climbed in. Once settled in the passenger seat with Cillian beside her, she took a last look at the shimmery blue water. ‘I had never seen this before. So it’s the very first of the memories we have made together.’

‘Many more to come.’ Cillian started the van and they slowly made their way up the slope to the main road which would take them to Dunquin.

As they made their way to their destination, Tricia stared into the darkness.

The image of the blue light under the water was still so vivid and she couldn’t believe how lucky she had been to see it.

How well he knows me , she thought. Not just the old me but the new me as well.

Maybe we weren’t ready to be together all those years ago.

We needed to grow and mature and deal with our pain.

Will we discover that who we are now is what we have been waiting for?

But when I tell him about the trouble I’m in will he think badly of me?

She said a silent prayer that he would understand.