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The good news was that Finn O’Connell had been sent home today, so at least he had a clean bill of health, although she was going to miss popping up to him and she had really enjoyed going for coffee and chatting with him on her lunch breaks. She’d agreed to dinner with him, even though probably, she was in no fit state to be out socialising with devastatingly handsome men – after all, hadn’t she just made a complete fool of herself over Eddie? It was Pete who really convinced her she had to go out with him in the end – it hadn’t taken a lot of convincing to be fair.
*
She spotted the jeep in her parking space from the top of the road. Not that it mattered much now that Eddie wouldn’t be parking his van there. She should probably think about letting one of the neighbours use it occasionally. It was only as she drew nearer to it that she spotted Maya’s registration and her sister’s familiar silhouette in the driver’s seat.
‘Oh, it’s so lovely to see you,’ Liv said, opening the door to greet her sister.
‘Well, I wanted it to be a surprise. I have a few days off and I figured, if you couldn’t come down at least one of us could come up. Obviously, there was no dragging Dad away from the maternity ward!’ They both laughed at that, but Liv wouldn’t want him to leave the farm at this time for all the world. Lambing season was the busiest and best time of the year. ‘Mind you, I’ve been sitting here for half an hour wondering if it was a stupid idea. I forgot about your new lock on the front door.’ She got out of the jeep and threw her arms around Liv. Honestly, in that moment, it felt to Liv as if she was actually home, safe and sound; the world as she knew it had not been torpedoed from under her.
‘Oh well, I’m here now and I have a spare key, so you can surprise me any time.’ Liv grabbed her sister’s bag from the back seat and led the way to the front door. She couldn’t wait to get inside. Was it bad that she wanted all the gossip from Ballycove? Well, maybe not all the gossip, but certainly, she wanted to hear if the word was out yet about Eddie and Anya.
‘Old news,’ Maya said as they settled down to tea and toast on the sofa. ‘No, the big news doing the rounds in the village now is that Lucy Nolan just got engaged. You remember Lucy – she was a year or two ahead of you at school.’
‘The doctor, yes of course, she was seeing that guy… the one who wrote the book?’
Maya nodded between mouthfuls, so Liv couldn’t be sure, but no doubt her mother would fill her in when she eventually got home. ‘And of course, everyone is looking forward to the New Year’s Ball this year.’
‘Oh, no, I forgot all about that. I had tickets for both of us too,’ Liv said but it seemed like the New Year’s Ball was happening in another lifetime. Everything had changed so much since she’d bought those tickets. ‘It doesn’t matter now anyway – I volunteered to work. Francine owes me so many hours, I’ll hardly have to cover a shift until the end of January,’ she said.
‘You will come home, if you’re off for a few weeks? Dad would love to have you helping out on the farm – all that midwifery experience, he couldn’t have a better helper.’ She fell against Liv now, both of them laughing, but the truth was, by then, the season would be almost at an end and there wouldn’t be a lot to do apart from look after any weaker lambs that needed a little extra care.
‘We’ll see. I’m having this place painted, so…’
‘That’s exciting. Have you picked colours yet?’
‘No, I haven’t even thought about it, but I’ll probably go for something neutral, nothing that I can go off too quickly.’ That was the story of her life though, wasn’t it: playing safe?
‘I think you should go mad – hot pink and fuchsia, lime green and zesty yellow, give the place a complete facelift. It would do you good – feng shui the crap out of it!’ Maya said nabbing the last slice of toast.
‘You know what, maybe I will.’ Liv looked about her now. She was beginning to see the flat in a way that she hadn’t properly noticed it in years. Maya was right: she needed to break out a bit, forget about keeping everything the way it was and shake things up.
‘So, what about this guy who fell for you on your way to work?’ This was Maya’s idea of a joke.
‘You are terrible, you know that. His name is Finn and he was knocked down on a very busy road. He’s lucky to get away with just a concussion and a few cuts and bruises.’
‘It’s a bit extreme, if you ask me, throwing yourself into oncoming traffic just for a cup of coffee. Are you sure he isn’t some sort of stalker?’ She was making fun of Liv now, but it felt so good not to have to take life too seriously after the last few days.
‘Stop it.’ Liv was laughing so much, she had to put her cup down on the table. ‘And it was two cups of coffee, so there…’
‘Ooh, it’s serious so. When’s the big day?’ Maya started to hum the ‘Wedding March’.
‘No, seriously, he’s really nice, but…’
‘He’s asked you out to dinner, yes?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you’re single now, right?’ She didn’t wait for an answer. ‘And he sounds as if he’s at the very least already got a place to live, with an income, and if you’re to be believed, he’s not exactly Shrek to look at?’
‘Spot on – you’re right on all counts.’
‘Then it’s a good job I’m here to push you out the door on that date.’ Maya shoved her sister playfully but Liv had already made up her mind; she actually wanted to go out and enjoy herself for a night.
15
‘I’m perfectly entitled to mope if I want to,’ Liv said obstinately as Maya dragged the quilt off her.
‘Yes, but not for this long. And anyway, you’re due to go back to Dublin soon. How on earth do you think Mum and Dad are going to feel if they think you’re completely miserable? It won’t do either of them any good.’
