That girl is still here, and I think she will always regret that day, but I have to pack her away now. I have to start my life. Whatever you think of me, today or years from now, just know that I shall endeavour to be happy. I hope you will too, till we meet again.
Y
xx
Reading the letter, Martha shakily sitting next to him, George’s eyes welled up. ‘You came. I left you. I always thought you just made your choice that day. You chose Charlie. Why didn’t you tell me? We wrote till you wed.’
Martha took the letter from him, rereading it herself, her glasses wet with her tears. ‘I was too late. When you wrote next, you were scared and sad. I hadn’t called off my wedding, and I just went along with it. I loved Charlie, don’t get that wrong.’ She bit her lip, but he just smiled at her.
‘I know you did. I don’t begrudge you that. From your paintings, I knew he was making you happy.’
‘I do hope Cillian and April get it sorted out,’ she said, sighing as he pulled her in close and they sank back into the couch together. ‘I think the time is just right.’
George chuckled. ‘I think they’ll be fine. Besides, I have a lot of reading to do.’ He kissed her then, and she sank into his embrace. ‘So do you. I have a Navy chest full of treasures from lands afar. I wrote you all the time, Martha. You’ll see, it’s at my house. Come tomorrow.’
Martha cried then, and George shushed her. ‘None of that, we have our lives together. Don’t you see?’ He pulled his wallet out, and a photo of her winning an art competition was sticking out from a wad of notes. ‘We’ve been together, all this time. No tears now, we have a lot to be doing together, my love.’ Martha cuddled him close, glancing across at Cillian’s chalet through the window. His porch light was on, and April’s was in darkness. She smiled to herself and settled in for an evening with her beloved.
Chapter 20
Lizard Point looked gloriously beautiful from April’s bedroom window. The September sun was shining, the weather was still warm, and she had awoken to the sound of the sea and birdsong. Today was the day. She’d put down roots here, the second season was coming to a close, and she felt like they’d laid all of their ghosts to rest.
‘Morning,’ a sleepy voice rumbled next to her. Cillian dropped a kiss onto her collarbone, grazing her with his stubble and making her insides melt.
‘Good morning.’ She smiled, dropping a kiss onto his forehead as he laid tucked into her side.
‘Morning!’ a far too cheerful voice sounded outside. ‘It’s breakfast time!’
Cillian looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table and groaned.
‘It’s only six, button. You not tired?’
The doorknob turned, and the pair scrambled to cover over their naked bits with the quilt.
‘Nope, and April said we could have pancakes. With strawberries and whipped cream. She promised.’ Her eyes were as wide as saucers now as she gave her dad her very best butter-wouldn’t-melt angelic look. ‘Right, April?’
‘Right!’ April pinched Cillian under the duvet, making him squeak as she reached for her fluffy dressing gown and got up. ‘Let’s get some coffee on, and the pancakes. Pancakes, baby?’
Cillian beamed at her, and Orla gasped.
‘You getting soppy on me?’ His eyes were full of adoration, and once again she resisted the urge to jump back into bed and hold the pair of them close. She felt like her happiness well was a lot fuller these days, and it cheered her up no end. Especially today. ‘Orla, you think April is getting soppy?’
Orla giggled, covering her tittering mouth with her cute little hands. They had the same sparkly nail polish on them as April had on hers, left over from their little trip into town the weekend before. Sometimes, Tina would come and meet them for coffee, or a quick lunch at the soft play centre, Leaping Lizards. Cillian couldn’t fully be a part of it, still not able to totally forgive and forget the Tina of the past, but April knew what it was like to miss a mother and she knew it would get easier over time. In the meantime, she was happy to meet with her, give their relationship a chance. Maybe they wouldn’t ever have the traditional mother and daughter relationship, but it was better than nothing at all. Orla deserved all of the people who loved her getting along and helping to make her life happy.
‘She called you baby,’ Orla sang, erupting into a fit of high-pitched giggles again.
April rolled her eyes, laughing as she headed to the kitchen.
‘Yeah yeah, whatever, dude. You’ll never domesticate me. I’m too much of an independent woman now.’ She snapped her fingers in the air in front of him as she left, tossing her hair and trying her best to look fierce and sassy. Not an easy feat to pull off in a fluffy dressing gown that made her look like a polar bear, but she did it anyway. It had been a while since she’d cared about her body and its wobbly bits, or what people made of it. Judging by Cillian’s appreciative eyes, she was doing just fine, and she felt great.
‘We’ll see about that,’ he called gruffly from the bedroom. ‘Still time to make Mrs O’Leary out of you. Eh, Orla?’
Orla nodded studiously, all thoughts of pancakes gone as she reached out and locked fingers with April.
‘That would be so cool,’ she said earnestly. ‘Now, pancakes? Dad has something to go with it, don’t you, Dad?’
April looked back at Cillian, and he was smiling at her from the bedroom doorway. Down on one bended knee. He looked at her shocked face, and his jaw tensed.
‘Don’t panic,’ he said softly, turning to Orla as though they were both hunters, and April was the startled
