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“Ugh.” Cordelia adjusted herself on the bed. “It turns out Niall the breaker of cameras is Fiona’s son.”
“No!”
Cordelia relayed all that had happened.
“Wow,” Liz said when she was finished. “What a night. Mystery Grandma sounds amazing, though.”
“She’s going to take me to a castle tomorrow,” Cordelia said. “With this horse and cart she uses for tours. I guess she’s done hiding from me.”
“That’s so great! I think you’ll feel better. You need another badass bitch in your life since I’m not there. And at least you know people now – Alison and Colin sound really nice. And maybe Niall isn’t as terrible as we first imagined. You don’t have to be so alone there.”
Cordelia’s chest pinched and she gave a small nod. “Maybe you’re right.”
“I’m always right.”
Cordelia laughed and rubbed her eyes. “I should get some sleep. Love you.”
“Love you too. Let me know how it goes tomorrow.”
“I will.”
She ended the call and the tears welled up again. But as she lay back on her pillow and let them trickle down into her hair, her thoughts turned to that photograph on the wall, the one of Niall smiling so happily, looking like a different person. And she saw now why it had tugged at her so strongly – because that was her, too.
She had her own before and after, just like he did. Her smile hadn’t been the same since her father died.
It was strange to think they might have something in common.
Niall walked home with Colin in silence.
He felt Colin’s glances but ignored them until they were across the threshold, Pocket sniffing around at the skirting boards as Colin propped his guitar up in the corner.
“What?” he said finally. “Spit it out, Coll.”
“You okay, mate?” Colin said. It was direct and bleak, not his usual lighthearted inquiry.
“No,” he said. “I’m not.” He rubbed his hand across his forehead. “I’ll try, okay? I’ll try not to be such an utter prick all the time.”
“I bet the pub fails,” Colin said thoughtfully. “They can’t do it without you. Not that menu. Not that spot. It was your baby, Nie. It was – ”
“I know what it was,” Niall snapped. Then he sighed. “It was seeing them together. And his fucking arm around her . . .”
He tried to swallow back the bile that rose at the thought of them living the life that was meant to be his. He stroked the top of Pocket’s head and looked anywhere but at Colin.
“Cordelia set your dad straight, though, didn’t she,” Colin said.
That brought an unexpected chuckle out of him. “She did.”
“Never seen him so quiet as he was after dinner.”
“No.” He scratched his ear. “I was a prick to her all night too.”
“Yup.”
“Didn’t know that about her dad.”
“Neither did I. Alison did, apparently.”
Niall looked up. “Did she? Well, I guess that makes sense.” Alison’s parents had died in a car accident when she was six. “She saw the picture of me. From the engagement party.”
