Page 80 of Heartbreak for the Irish Midwife

They kissed, then kissed again. ‘I’m the luckiest man in the world!’ he declared then, grinning.

‘Dunno about that!’ she retorted, breaking into a smile. ‘I’m gonna bring you serious trouble!’

‘But sure that’s what I like. Maisie-trouble – the best kind.’ They kissed again, and he repeated, ‘I’m so flippin’ lucky.’

‘I’m the lucky one,’ she countered. ‘Seeing you and Gerald both there tonight . . . I cannot understand how I was taken in by him. You’re everything he wasn’t. You’re kind, and brave, and good. You’re a good person, Alex Lowe.’

‘Well, he’s a fool! He had the chance to win you, and he messed it up. Absolute eejit! Still, his mistake meant there was a chance for me, and I plan to take it!’

She thrilled at his words, but couldn’t help but feel worried. ‘I dread to think what Mammy is gonna say if I tell her about us!’

‘Aye, my ones too. But you know what? It will be worth it. We’ll stand together.’

Maisie wasn’t so sure. Mammy was pure terrifying when she was on a rant, and this news was going to lead to the worst row ever, she knew.

‘Let’s talk about it properly tomorrow,’ she suggested. ‘Let’s just enjoy tonight.’

‘I’m up for that!’

They kissed again, then he lifted his head. ‘My Maisie,’ he declared. ‘Mine.’

She stood on tiptoes to kiss him. ‘My Alex,’ she murmured at his lips, and suddenly his arms were around her, and they were kissing hungrily.

‘I love you!’ he said again, when they came up for air. ‘Feels so good to say it out loud. I’ve been biting my tongue since the day we met.’

She sent him a sceptical look. ‘I doubt that very much.’

‘To be fair it took me a wee while to realise I loved you,’ he mused, ‘but from the very start I knew I fancied you, and then I admired you, and then soon after that I realised I liked you.’

She sniffed. ‘You liked me? Well, that sounds a bit pathetic.’ She didn’t really mean it; she knew fine well what he was getting at. But, oh! How amazing it was to hear him saying these things to her.

‘Pathetic? Not at all. I reckon liking each other as well as everything else, is what’s gonna get us through this.’

She sighed blissfully. ‘You’re so smart. One of the many reasons why I love you, Alex Lowe.’

He had to kiss her again then, but eventually they made it to her front door. ‘See you at the tennis courts at two,’ he whispered.

‘See you then.’

26

When Maisie awoke, she was conscious of a feeling of profound contentment within. It wasn’t joy – that was too intense a word to describe it. Too fleeting. This was quiet, and deep, and real. For an instant, she noticed the feeling itself, then her mind caught up and she remembered Alex’s words to her last night. He loves me!

Now joy did flare through her, fuelled by excitement. Alex, the best, kindest, cleverest man she had ever known, loved her. And he thought he was the lucky one! Maisie knew better. She was the luckiest woman in Ireland.

As she rose and dressed, for the tiniest second her mind flicked to Gerald – just to check there truly was nothing left there. And there wasn’t. No love, no heartbreak, no anger towards him. A trace of regret, perhaps, about her own foolishness, and that was all.

She was next on duty on Sunday night – tomorrow night – and so she and Alex would meet this afternoon in their usual spot by the tennis courts. Today, though, their conversation would be different.

Reality – the reality that they were different religions – threatened to shadow her happiness for a moment, but thankfully Mammy distracted her with talk of laundry and ration books and Hitler’s armies marching inexorably towards Paris.

That was a different form of reality, but equally as worrying. Everyone had assumed the Nazis would never come anywhere near Ireland – the south had declared themselves neutral, and the north was well out of range for aircraft from Germany. But if the Nazis succeeded in taking France, then Belfast could be in serious trouble.

‘God help them poor people in Holland and France,’ Mammy said, blessing herself as they were sorting out the clothes for the wash. ‘God knows what they’re going through.’

‘I know, Mammy, it’s desprit. I’ll light a wee candle for them when I go up the road later.’

Mammy’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘Who’s this you’re meetin’ the day?’