AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Oh, God, you’re right, of course, you’re right.’ Liv groaned. It was enough to know their dad had to go and have an angiogram in the New Year; the last thing he needed was any added stress thanks to Eddie bloody Quirke, and Liv knew, she’d never forgive herself if she felt that she was the cause of it.
‘So, for today, just a long walk on the beach, then, it’s the village New Year’s Ball,’ Maya said, pulling out jeans and boots and dropping them on the bed for Liv.
‘Oh, no, there’s no way I can go to that, not with Eddie there, probably hanging out with Anya Hegarty.’ Even the thought of it made her heart sink. There was no way she could face the village; not yet, it was much too soon.
‘He won’t be there,’ Maya said flopping down on the bed while Liv pulled on her jeans and sweatshirt.
‘You sound very sure of yourself.’ Liv looked at her sister’s reflection in the dressing table behind her.
‘I’m certain of it; the tickets are all sold out. When I picked up your pair, I was lucky to get them.’
‘My tickets?’ Liv had completely forgotten and then she smiled; it was a blessing in a way that only an Irish blessing could arrive. ‘Sorry, no can do. I’m going back to Dublin. Francine could do with the extra pair of hands and really, I want to get back to sort things out.’
‘You can’t miss out, Liv, you just can’t.’
‘’Fraid so. Anyway, I wouldn’t have gone, Maya, I’m just not ready to face the whole village yet. You know how people talk. I don’t think I could take the pity, apart from anything else.’
‘Okay, okay, I can’t make you and you’re probably right – it’s enough to get over it on your own time. You have nothing to prove here,’ Maya said with a shrug. She’d never felt the need to explain herself to anyone. ‘But, you know, there’s someone you need to put things right with too.’ She got up and pulled the quilt and pillows off the bed, refitted the under sheet and stretched it out as if it was ironed on, before plumping the pillows and throwing the quilt back on the bed again. ‘There,’ she said with satisfaction.
‘Thanks, sis.’ Liv threw her arms around her sister. She couldn’t begin to say how lovely it was to have someone do something small just for her, because they loved her. She really had been deprived of even the tiniest acts of thoughtfulness living with Eddie these last few years.
‘Don’t thank me yet…’
‘Okay, what is it you want me to do?’
‘You’re going to have to ring Pete and say something about overreacting when he was only looking out for you.’
‘Oh, Pete will be all right. He knows what I’m like.’
‘Will he? He hasn’t texted you since yesterday. Come on, Liv, you know that’s not like him.’
‘Yes, well, he’ll come round.’ Although, in hindsight, Liv knew it was a terrible slap in the face that she had chosen to believe the better of someone like Eddie who’d treated her badly at every turn over Pete – who had never been anything but a solid friend to her. And if she was honest, she missed hearing from him. ‘Oh God, what have I done?’
‘Nothing that can’t be undone, I’m sure.’ Maya handed her the phone. ‘Go on, eat that frog.’
‘Ugh, what a horrible thought,’ Liv said, swiping her phone to her call list. He was the last person to ring her, but she knew she needed a moment before she hit dial. ‘What will I say?’
‘Oh please, Liv, seriously, when have you ever had to think about what to say to Pete? Just ring him and say you’re sorry. Say you overreacted and don’t be afraid to say, on this occasion, he was right and…’ she lowered her voice to a loud joking whisper ‘… you were wrong.’
‘Okay, well, the least you could do is make me a cup of tea and give a girl a bit of privacy.’ Liv sat down at the dressing table, stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked a complete wreck. The hairdressing appointment that she’d squeezed in a few days before Christmas might as well have never happened; her skin looked as dry as toast; and her eyes – oh, dear, she looked forty, if she looked a day, too much crying and not enough beauty sleep. Eddie Quirke was not worth that, she decided, and as of today, she wasn’t wasting another hour of sleep over him.
‘Hi.’ Pete sounded as if he was distracted when he answered after the third ring.
‘Hey, just ringing because…’
‘I know, it’s all right. The word seems to be out around the village now; apparently, they spent last night too drunk to realise they were wrapped around each other in Flannelly’s.’
‘I’m so sorry, Pete, I just…’
‘It’s okay, you didn’t want it to be true and to be fair, it did come out of the blue. I probably could have broken it a bit more gently.’
‘I’m not sure there is a gentle way to break news like that.’
‘Well, it is what it is now, I suppose.’ He was matter-of-fact, no joking about this time, and Liv felt as if perhaps, even though he was being very nice, he wasn’t his usual self, far more distant and well behaved.
‘So, what are you up to for the rest of the holidays?’ she asked.
‘Oh, not a lot. Visiting Gran again before I go back, but apart from that, just counting down the days to get back to some kind of normality.’
