Page 71 of An Irish Hope

“Go away.”

“But Andy—”

“It’s Saturday morning, and all I want is to sleep.” And get back to those dreams where Aisling kissed him. He wasn’t sure if such dreams were good for his head space, but it sure beat his current reality.

“What’s going on?” she asked. “You got in pretty late last night.”

“Are you keeping tabs on me?” He yawned.

“Mom and Dad mentioned it. They care about you, Andy. You know we all do. And this,” Beth kicked at a pile of clothes, “is not the Andy we know and love.”

“It’s been a big week. I planned to get to it today.” Yes, he hated mess. Yes, part of his OCD with lists and planning was because he had become a little fanatical about keeping things in order to not slip back to those weeks post-Greta when he’d spiralled out of control.

“I hope so. Because you’re not allowed to go back to how you used to be.”

“I’m not,” he said stiffly. “Are you going to judge me forever for when I was depressed?”

She had the grace to look embarrassed. “Look, like I said, we care about you. And we don’t want to see you fall back into patterns that weren’t healthy for you.”

He scrubbed his fingers over his face. First Grady, now his sister.

“What’s been going on?” Beth asked in a softer voice.

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” he asked.

“Nope. Hubby has David and Eammon, and I’m about to make a cup of tea and put your washing on.”

“Why?” he asked suspiciously.

“Because I love you. Now pass me anything else you want cleaned and I’ll throw it in the machine.”

Ten minutes later he was dressed in track-pants and the cleanest t-shirt he could find, while the washing machine whirred away gently. He cupped his mug of hot tea and sipped. “Thanks for all this.”

“How about you tell me what’s been going on?”

So he did.

Beth’s eyes widened as he shared, her face wreathing in pleats as he explained about Aisling and his vow. Then explained about what had happened last night, courtesy of Grady.

“Look, I can understand you want to do things better this time around, and you don’t want to have another Greta in your life.”

“I sure don’t.”

“And I can see why you might think keeping away from women is what God wants. But what if it’s not?”

“What do you mean?”

“I wonder if you’re so stuck on trying to prove yourself to God that you’ve decided to ignore the obvious signs He keeps throwing your way.”

“Like?”

“Like the fact she’s here in Cork. Did you know that?”

He shrugged. “She might’ve decided to come once she found out where I live.”

“Come on, that’s rubbish. She would’ve had to have picked her course last year, wouldn’t she?”

Now he thought about it, “yes.”