‘Am I in the right house?’ Lottie asked as she hung her jacket on the clutter-free stair post.
The aroma of chilli and cheese drifted in waves from the kitchen. Didn’t smell like microwave food. Opening the sitting room door, she was surprised to find it neat, tidy and empty. She walked to the kitchen. The table was set with matching cutlery. There was even a tablecloth that only saw the light on Christmas Day.
‘What’s going on here?’ she said.
Standing in a line at the cupboards to her right were Sean and Chloe, with Katie holding Louis in her arms.
‘Surprise!’ they cried.
‘But why? … What? … I’m stunned.’
‘You could try a thank you,’ Katie said.
‘Thank you. I mean, this is a major shock to the system. I’ll have to sit down.’
‘Yes, you sit down and I’ll take out the lasagne,’ Chloe said. ‘Do you think it’s cooked, Katie?’
‘Definitely. Here, Mam, you hold Louis and I’ll dish up. There’s chilli in it. Sean insisted, hope you don’t mind. We found a jar in the cupboard.’
Lottie took Louis in her arms as they began fussing over the food. Her mind went into overdrive mode. They wanted something. Nothing for nothing in her life. What, though? Why had they gone to this much trouble? She glanced around to see if her mother was commanding the operation. She was nowhere in sight. That figured. Rose was in a lethargic mood recently, feeling unwell all the time, and Lottie was trying her best to call to her with food in the evenings.
Definitely a conspiracy. But she had no idea why, so she decided to play along.
* * *
‘This is delicious,’ she said when they’d finished eating. ‘And it’s great to sit around the table as a family. We should do it more often.’ It was then she caught a look passing between Chloe and Katie.
‘I’ll take Louis and put on Baby TV.’ Sean released the brake on the buggy and pushed it out to the hall, pulling the door behind him.
‘Right, tell me what this is about,’ Lottie said.
The doorbell rang.
‘I’ll get it,’ Sean shouted from the hallway.
‘Oh, shit,’ Lottie said, jumping up.
Boyd stood in the doorway, a bunch of six red roses in his hand.
‘I see you had dinner without me,’ he said.
‘Oh God, Boyd. We didn’t agree anything, did we? I should have made myself clear. I’m sorry. I didn’t …’ Shit, she was babbling.
‘Let me hang up your jacket,’ Sean said.
‘No, I’m disturbing a family gathering. I’ll leave.’
‘It’s okay,’ Chloe said.
‘Bring Boyd into the sitting room for a minute,’ Lottie told her. ‘I want to have a chat with Katie.’
When they were alone, she looked at her daughter standing with a pile of plates in her hands. ‘Sit down and tell me,’ she said.
‘Mam.’ Katie put the dishes on the counter, ‘I know you don’t agree with me going to New York to visit Louis’ grandad, but I want to go. I put it off when you were attacked, and then there was Christmas and … Wait a minute. Don’t jump out of your skin yet.’
Lottie sat down again and studied her daughter’s beautiful, sad face. Katie had endured so much in her twenty years that maybe it was time to allow her to live for herself. To have a life. Wasn’t that what Boyd had said?
‘Okay, Katie. I won’t argue with you. How much money do you think you’ll need?’
‘That’s the thing. I don’t need anything. We cooked the dinner to celebrate … to tell you …’
‘Tell me what?’
‘Tom Rickard booked the tickets and put money in my bank account. Me and Louis, we’re leaving for New York on Friday. I was afraid to tell you before now. Please don’t stop me.’
A conflict of emotion surged through Lottie. The hairs on her arms tingled, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, a knot tightened in her chest and tears bulged at the rims of her eyes.
‘Say something.’ Katie pleaded, widening her eyes. They were crystal clear now that her days of smoking weed with Jason Rickard were behind her. The only thing lurking there was evidence of sleepless nights.
‘Which Friday?’ Lottie whispered, afraid of the answer.
‘This Friday.’
‘What? But today is Wednesday … You can’t, it’s too soon. I need to organise things …’
‘You don’t have to organise anything. It’s all sorted. I couldn’t tell you before now, because you’d have time to think up ways of stopping me. I really want this, Mam. Please say it’s okay.’
No matter what she said it’d sound wrong, so Lottie kept her mouth shut and nodded. She was suddenly enveloped in a hug. Katie didn’t do hugs too often. But now she did.
‘You are the best mother ever. This is an amazing opportunity for me. And I know Tom will love Louis just as much as you do.’
‘How long will you be away?’ Lottie croaked.
‘Just for a few weeks.’
‘How many is a few?’
‘Three.’
‘Three?’
‘I really want to do this, Mam. For Louis’ sake.’
‘How much money did Tom send you?’ Shit, why had she asked that?
Katie shifted from foot to foot. ‘Five thousand euros. Can you believe it?’
‘What?’ Lottie stared at her daughter. ‘Plus the tickets?’
Katie nodded. ‘Isn’t it great? I’m going into town tomorrow to buy new clothes for myself. I have to look right when I meet him again. It’s so exciting. And I have to pack. You’ll take me to the airport Friday morning, won’t you? Love you, Mam.’ She rushed from the kitchen, leaving dishes and cutlery scattered over the worktops.
Lottie had been on the verge of telling her not to forget how badly Tom had treated his son. But there was no point in dampening the happy smile on Katie’s face. She stood up wearily and started to load the dishwasher.
‘Let me give you a hand.’ Boyd joined her and together they cleared the remnants of the meal.
‘Thanks,’ Lottie said when they were finished. ‘You must be starving. Did you cancel the restaurant? Why don’t you go on your own? I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. Maybe you should—’
Her arms were gripped by his long, smooth fingers and he looked into her eyes. ‘I’m fine. We’ll go out tomorrow night instead. Deal?’
‘I’m not sure it’s a good idea.’
‘Deal?’
‘No deal,’ she said. ‘At least not until this murder is solved.’
‘I can’t win, can I?’ Boyd released her arms and leaned against the table. ‘Do you want to tell me what that was about with Katie?’
‘Not really. It’s enough to know she’s happy. For now.’
‘Are you happy?’
‘As much as I can be. Sit down and I’ll make coffee. Where’d you put the flowers? Thanks, by the way.’
‘I left them in the sitting room.’
‘Did you collect Grace from the station?’ Lottie asked.
‘Yes. She’s ensconced on my sofa with a Chinese takeaway and Netflix.’
‘Sounds like a little bit of heaven.’
‘This here, right at this moment, is a little bit of heaven.’
As he smiled at her, Lottie thought of Katie’s imminent departure. Then she remembered her mother.
‘Shit, Boyd. I’m sorry.’
‘What now?’
‘I’ve to go over to Rose with her dinner. I totally forgot.’
He stood. ‘You’ve a tough time trying to keep everything together.’
‘I just need to stay focused. I’ll try my best to organise things so that we can go out for a meal some night, but …’
‘But you can’t guarantee it?’
‘I can’t, so it’s a maybe for now.’
‘I’ll take a maybe.’ He smiled. ‘Though like I told you before, I won’t hang around forever. You know that?’ He brushed his lips to her cheek.
The door burst open. Chloe came in and opened the fridge. Then banged it shut and left.
‘What was that about?’ Boyd asked.
‘Teenagers,’ Lottie said.
Twenty-Three
‘Hi, darling, you’re late again. Miss the train?’
Ignoring his wife, Cillian O’Donnell hung his black leather jacket on the back of a chair and bent down to whisk his five-year-old daughter, Saoirse, up into his arms.