Page 38 of The Secret Bookshop in Ireland

‘You’re right,’ Ciara agreed. ‘That’s a great combo. And it won’t look as if I’m trying to impress anyone. Now let’s feedBrian and then cook the chicken. Then we can go for a little walk before we settle in for the evening. What do you think about that, Brian Boru?’

Brian wagged his tail so hard he knocked down half their shopping from the table.

Maureen laughed as they picked up frozen peas, bread, potatoes, tomatoes and a packet of oatmeal from the floor. ‘Lucky I washed the floor before we went out this morning.’

‘Did you?’ Ciara asked. ‘That was nice of you. Thank you.’

‘No problem,’ Maureen said. ‘It’s my home too. For the moment, anyway,’ she ended, looking a little hesitant.

‘For as long as you want, Ma,’ Ciara said, feeling a dart of love for her brave mother. She knew Maureen wanted to be part of this adventure and although Ciara didn’t want to be ordered around, she knew the change of scene was good for her mother’s mental health.

‘That’s very kind of you, darling,’ Maureen said warmly.

‘Actually, Ma,’ Ciara started, ‘I’ve been thinking about the situation with the shop and everything.’

‘You’ve come to a decision?’ Maureen stopped in her tracks and looked expectantly at Ciara.

‘Yes,’ Ciara replied and sat down at the kitchen table. ‘Sit down, Ma, and I’ll tell you.’

Maureen pulled out a chair and sat down. ‘Go on,’ she said.

‘Well, after reading Madge’s letter and discovering that she was my grandmother, I felt suddenly that this is where I should be. Where Martha meant for me to be, I mean.’ Ciara paused for a moment. ‘I’m going to quit my job and give my landlord notice and move here to find out more – I just can’t leave yet. I know you’ll think I’m completely mad and try to stop me, but I really feel?—’

‘Of course I’m going to stop you,’ Maureen interrupted. ‘It’s a completely mad idea. You can’t give up your job just like that.’

‘Oh.’ Ciara stared at her mother, taken aback by what she had just said. ‘What do you mean? I thought you were beginning to love this place.’

Maureen nodded. ‘Yes, that’s true. It’s a lovely place. Peaceful and far away from everything. A real haven. But Ciara, think about what I said before. I meant it. You can’t give up what you have for an impossible dream. Never mind what that Martha Fitzgerald wanted.’

‘What about what I want?’ Ciara asked, shocked by her mother’s negative reaction. ‘Wouldn’t it be fabulous for us to do up the bookshop and run it together? I can’t think of anything better than moving here with you and doing all that.’ Ciara took her mother’s hands. ‘Oh Ma, it would be fantastic. Wouldn’t it?’

‘No, Ciara,’ Maureen protested, pulling her hands from Ciara’s grip. ‘It would be a huge risk for you.’

‘But…’ Ciara started, bewildered. ‘I thought you said you wanted to change your life and do something exciting.’

‘Yes, but I meant just to come here with you for a bit, not throw away everything we have for an old bookshop that might never take off,’ Maureen replied.

‘But you wouldn’t have to sell your house, just rent it out short term,’ Ciara argued. ‘That way, you’ll have a safety net should what you call a crazy adventure crash and burn.’

Maureen shook her head. ‘Ciara, this is not about me, but aboutyou. It would be insanity for you to do this and I’m not going watch you ruin your life. That’s final.’

‘I see,’ was all Ciara managed before the tears stung her eyes. ‘That’s very disappointing. I thought… well, never mind.’ She got up and ripped off a piece of kitchen paper from the roll on the counter and blew her nose. ‘I’m sure Dad would agree with you, as he was so worried about Martha and what she might do.’

‘He would,’ Maureen said and got up. ‘Let’s not fall out about this. We should enjoy the final week of the holiday and doing upthe shop. You’ll see that I’m right when you’ve had time to think about it.’

‘Maybe,’ Ciara mumbled, knowing she had lost the argument.

But the longer we stay, the more Ma will fall in love with this lovely little village, she thought.I’d better pretend to agree with her and try my best to show her how great it would be to stay here permanently.‘You’re right, Ma,’ she said in a happier tone of voice. ‘We should make the best of the time we have left here. Go for walks and see what kind of plants we could put into the garden.’That should make her more enthusiastic, Ciara thought.Ma can never resist a chance to do some gardening.

‘Good idea. But now I’ll put the shopping away,’ Maureen said. ‘We can draw up plans for what we need to do with our last week later.’ She picked up a tin of tomatoes and opened the door to the cupboard over the sink. ‘I’ll put the dry goods in here. It’s the only cupboard I cleaned out, so we’ll have to get stuck into the rest of the kitchen tomorrow. The cupboards need to be cleaned and the draining board scrubbed. Whoever cleaned the place for Ronan must have forgotten the kitchen.’

‘Or they didn’t have your high standards,’ Ciara joked. ‘Everything else is great, though, don’t you think?’

Maureen nodded. ‘Yes, not bad at all. But if we’re going to make this flat enticing for a buyer, we have to do up this kitchen.’ She tugged at the handle of a drawer. ‘I wanted to put the cutlery in one of these drawers. But this one seems stuck.’

‘Here, let me try.’ Ciara walked over and gave the handle a pull. It came only halfway and then refused to budge. ‘There’s something stuck inside,’ she said and felt inside with her fingers, which met a bundle of papers that she pulled out. ‘There. It’s fine now.’ Ciara pulled out the drawer. ‘These pieces of paper were stuck inside and blocked it.’

Maureen took the little bundle and looked at it. ‘It’s a bunch of old letters. But the ink has been damaged by damp so I can’t see who they belong to.’