At First Sight

sound ringing out to a town that barely noticed it as it echoed through the sky. Below the lip of the wall, the sticker that had saved a life trembled in the breeze. It had held on through wind and rain, snow and sun, but its time watching over the town from up high was coming to an end. A second gust came and the glue finally gave way, as if peeled away by ghostly fingers, the sticker falling from the brick to which it had clung for so long and fluttering into the evening sky.

Acknowledgements

I have heard people talk about the difficult second book and how they had become unfathomably lost with it, all the while thinking that that would never happen to me, not with all of the ideas I had inside my head. I could not have been more wrong. Getting a second book together has been one of the most frustrating and challenging things I have ever done and I am so happy that I can now breathe a sigh of relief that it is out there in the world, telling the story I always wanted to tell.

At First Sight is the reincarnation of a story I wrote around six years ago and it has always meant so much to me.

Charlie, Carrick and Ned have always had a special place in my heart and the new introduction of Nell has turned At First Sight from a beloved idea into what I hope you agree is a beautiful story of the journey to overcome what is holding you back and allowing yourself a second chance.

This story came from inside my brain, but it takes an army to get a book out into the world and I’d like to begin by thanking my agent Elena Langtry, Lisa Moylett and everyone at CMM Agency for their undying and unwavering support. You are always there to help me overcome my doubts and give me the confidence boost I need.

Thank you to Tilda McDonald and Phoebe Morgan for believing in my ideas, no matter how scrambled they start out, and for giving me free rein to run with an idea until it finds its footing. Thank you to Sabah Khan, Ellie Pilcher, Beth Wickington and everyone else at Avon who have been behind me for the past couple of years. Your support and the extremely hard work you all put in during lockdown to help me, and all the other lockdown debut authors, was incredible and I am proud to be part of such a great, award-winning team #imprintoftheyear2020, but we don’t like to brag … much.

Thank you to Matt Goode for reassuring me that what I’d written wasn’t complete garbage and for never moaning about the endless re-readings. Not to mention you putting up with me talking in an Irish accent for the majority of the time I was writing this.

Thank you to Mom for telling anyone who will listen about my books and standing beside them in Waterstones, talking very loudly about how amazing they are to passing customers.

Dad, you don’t say a lot, but when you do it is always profound. Thanks for your support and for always knowing what to say, no matter how taciturn your motivational speeches may be.

I would like to give special thanks to Sheila Gibbons for being my virtual guide around Westport and for giving me tons of insider knowledge and facts about the town that I simply couldn’t have found anywhere else. Your help was invaluable. I hope I did this beautiful town justice.

I am also thankful to Police Constable D’Arcy Hazlewood for all the help you’ve given me, both with this book and in life in general. Thanks Boo.

And my gratitude goes out to Chris Day, who has been so supportive and who owns more copies of my books than anyone else in the world.

Also, to John Howard and Tom Owens. Cheers for letting me write my books during the lulls of my shifts behind the bar at work. I expect my blue plaque to be erected on the Cricket Club walls in due course.

I would also like to let every single one of my readers know how much I appreciate and value your kind words and testimonials. Your word of mouth has helped get my books out there into the world during a very difficult time to be a debut writer and I will always be incredibly grateful for that.

And a final thank you goes out to the workers, doctors, therapists and volunteers, working to help others with their mental health. The work that charities like Samaritans do is incredible and there are so many people out there in the world who are alive and happy because of the work you all do. I am also very grateful for all of the information provided to me by Samaritans to help me do this sensitive topic justice.

In the UK, the highest rate of suicide is in the group of men aged 45–49, but rates among women under 25 has risen by 93.8% in the time between 2012 and 2019.

Depression is something that is often extremely hard to see, so be sympathetic to those around you. Ask a friend how they are and actually pay attention to the answer. Seek out that friend who is slowly withdrawing from the group and make them feel welcome again and above all, be kind, because you never know who is hurting beneath the surface and you might just be the friendly face they need.

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At First Sight

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Chapter One

The bevy of children and teens, freshly released from the shackles of school, moved against me and as usual I was swimming against the current. Not too long ago, I had been just like them;