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Afterwards, he smiled at her shyly. ‘I should ask you on a proper date before you get snapped up on me!’ He leaned in and when he kissed her it felt as if some deep part of her was being loosened. His kiss was long and lingering, opening her up so she wanted so much more. Butterflies in her stomach –God, it was forever since she’d felt anything like this.
‘I think you should.’ She didn’t want him to stop kissing her, but it was late. Iris would be putting dinner on the table. Iris! Wait until she told Iris and Nola that she’d kissed Robert!
It was time for them all to move on. For the first time in years, Georgie felt as if she deserved her shot at happiness as much as any of them and, maybe now, that happiness might mean more than just owning the distillery; maybe it could mean so much more than she’d bargained for when she came back to Ballycove.
*
As far as Nola could tell, the following days and weeks just sort of rolled into each other. It was probably contentment, although she’d never have had the confidence to call it that before. Life was good, she had work she enjoyed, she had a home that felt like home. She had friends, real friends, in the village and time to meet them unlike when she’d lived in London. And she had her sisters – a family – something she was valuing more with every passing day.
‘Can you believe that we’ve spent over six months here?’ she said to her sisters as they sat down for dinner after meeting Stephen Leather in the drawing room that afternoon. Having officially made it to six months meant that he could now execute the next stage of their father’s will as soon as Iris’s divorce was through.
‘It’s flown and yet, sometimes it feels like we’ve been here forever,’ Georgie said, topping up their wine glasses while Iris ladled out the casserole.
‘God, this smells so good,’ Iris said, tucking in once everyone was ready.
‘Have either of you thought about what happens next?’ Georgie asked, taking a sip of her wine and watching her sisters. ‘I mean, once the dust settles and the sale of your shares in the distillery have gone through…’
‘I don’t know,’ Nola said. ‘To be honest, I haven’t had time to think much further than the opening night of the summer play.’ She laughed at this, but it was the truth. She was investing her heart and soul in the production because apart from the fact that Georgie called it her shop window for parents enrolling their kids in her drama school for the rest of the year, she absolutely loved every minute of it. ‘I suppose I’ll just carry on…’ And she caught herself up and smiled at Georgie, who would no more allow her to drift aimlessly as she once had than she would herself.
‘We’ll see,’ Georgie said. Earlier in the week, Nola had spotted her working on a website design for the drama school – honestly, she was so lucky to have such a clever sister.
‘I suppose you could always pop back and see your friends in London and act during midterms…’ Iris said softly.
‘Hah!’ Nola heard the sound just after she made it. She took a deep breath. It was time to be honest with her sisters, finally. ‘The truth is, Iris, I haven’t worked properly since that awful tea advert. Once all the commotion kicked off around that and the court case, the call-backs stopped coming, hell, even the auditions dried up. Just before I came over here, my agent closed up shop and my flat is probably little more than a heap of rubble now.’ She began to laugh at it all, because, absurdly, from where she was currently sitting it all sounded so tragic that, with the way things had worked out, it was rather funny.
‘I don’t understand.’ Georgie leaned forward and reached for her sister’s hand.
‘The best way I can describe it to you both is that over the last few years, my life had just started to slide off the side of a cliff.’ That was pretty much it. ‘After they killed off my character in the soap, my so-called friends disappeared, my boyfriend dumped me and it didn’t take very long until I couldn’t make the payments on my nice flat and I had to move into a bedsit. I was lucky to get the job with Shalib, but that was all I had in London. Just before I left, my landlord handed me an eviction order; they were tearing down my building for high-end apartments and then, to cap it all off, my agent announced she was running off to Spain.’
Iris looked as if she might cry. ‘I’m so sorry, I thought—’
‘It doesn’t matter. When I actually hear myself describing it all, it’s almost the stuff of a bad movie. I can’t really believe that I even wanted to go back there now, I mean, seriously, I am so happy here, I love my job and having you two back – no soap opera could compare to living with you pair.’ She started to laugh when Georgie elbowed her affectionately.
‘Well, I’m glad you’re here too and this chapter of your life is shaping up to be a lot more successful and happy so far.’ Georgie raised her glass.
‘What about you, Iris?’ Nola asked, happy to step out of the spotlight for a moment.
‘Me?’ Iris squeaked, and they both looked at her, because it was obvious that she had something to tell them, even if she hadn’t been planning to share it just yet. She cleared her throat and sipped her water before placing it down on the table carefully. ‘I’d like this house,’ Iris said softly. ‘I don’t know if I can afford to buy it, unless of course Georgie is planning on paying us an awful lot of money for our shares in the distillery, but I’d like to run it as a top-class guest house. Maybe in summertime hold small, intimate wedding parties in a marquee on the lawn?’ She studied her fingernails, hardly able to make eye contact in case they’d laugh at her. ‘Madness, right?’
‘Not at all.’ Georgie said exactly what Nola was thinking. ‘I think it’s a great idea and you’d hold onto the gate lodge as well?’
‘Oh, no, that would be too much,’ Iris said. ‘I’d be happy to let that go to either of you and of course, there’ll always be space here if you want to stay. This will always be home.’
‘You’ll definitely have enough to get the work started on this place, if that’s the dream,’ Georgie said, reaching for her phone and flicking through her emails. ‘I’ve had the distillery valued, properly, at the sort of prices that it would make if it was bought up by one of the big distilleries.’
‘Oh, I didn’t realise.’ Iris looked at Georgie now, too. ‘Well, go on, don’t keep us in suspense.’
‘Fine, but it’s not good news for me I’m afraid.’ She smiled before throwing her head back to laugh. Georgie had learned the cost of being miserable, and no amount of money could refund her on lost happiness. ‘If I am to buy you both out, it’s equal to the apartment in London and all my savings.’ She smiled ruefully now.
‘Ooh, so that’s…’ Iris exhaled slowly.
‘It’s a lot of money, that’s what it is.’
‘It’s a million each,’ Georgie said coolly. ‘I just need to get my finances organised.
‘God, and there she is wading about the place in a forty-year-old jacket belonging to Dad.’ Iris was making gentle fun of Georgie now.
‘Yes, and even if I end up with too many millions in the bank to count, I don’t think I could be any happier than traipsing across those fields to work every morning.’
‘I can understand that,’ Nola said and then she looked across at Iris. ‘There’s definitely something you’re not telling us.’ She topped up her sister’s glass of wine.
‘About that…’ A small smile crept across Iris’s lips. ‘I wasn’t going to say anything just yet, but one of the agencies has been in contact.’
Georgie screamed excitedly. ‘Why didn’t you tell us immediately? Go on…’
‘Well, it’s early days and nothing is guaranteed but they’ve found a child who seems to be just perfect…’
