He’d hoped she’d missed him as much as he’d missed her while he’d been away.
“Here to collect a special parcel,” June looked up from her files, filing was the one part of the job that she hated, but someone had to do it and Clodagh wasn’t a fan either!
“Matt,” Clodagh looking on smiling, “Go on you two lovebirds, I’ll finish up here.” There would be no argument from June! She was out of there with a smile on her face.
Clodagh was such an easy person to work for, never married, a waste, June thought, she had a nice motherly way about her, would have made a lovely mom, kind and caring.
Never lost for words they chatted and cuddled all the way home, and once there, they chatted and cuddled some more!
“Missed you,” Matt’s touch on her skin made her tingle, just lying in each other’s arms it felt…so right.
“Wait,” Matt took across the room at an awful rate, “I have a present for you.”
June smiled, sometimes he could be like a big child.
“It’s not much,” he handed her an object wrapped in an oily cloth.
“What is it?” June unwrapped what looked like a piece of steel.
“Turn it over,” Matt reached for the steel plate and turned it over to the other side that revealed the name ‘The Mary Ellen’.
“But,” June looked at Matt.
“The new owners have renamed her as part of their fleet so they asked if I wanted it as a keepsake,” Matt’s eyes so full of sincerity.
“I want you to have it Ju, it’s what brought us together.”
Chapter Ten
The weeks passed, and winter stole in so quickly behind the autumn, that it almost went unnoticed.
Weather bound, with their fishing boats all tied up the locals were grounded. Walter was waving a letter in his hand as he came running up the garden path,
“June! June! It’s Lily! She’s…she’s,” June meeting him half way.
“Walter slow down, catch your breath.”
“Come quickly! I think something is up with Lily, she’s just…” June followed Walter as he took off down the road.
They only lived a few minutes away, she’d spent many an afternoon helping Lily after school.
They’d had hens and June would collect the eggs for her, often bringing home a basket full for tea.
They were lovely people, got married late in life, Nan used to say and never had children.
Lily had passed away peacefully in her chair, June called the emergency services, then Matt.
She did all she could to help poor Walter. He looked so frail and lost and old! Matt was a great help and once word went round the village there was a path worn to the door, home-made cakes, scones apple tarts, brown bread.
People were so thoughtful and genuinely caring.
Walters’s heart was breaking, but there would be no outward show, he would carry his wounds and soldier on.
Still holding the letter he looked up at June, “Picked it up off the floor, was bringing it in for Lily to read, never can find the glasses when you need them.”
Poor Walter.
As the rain lashed against the window, there was a long silence.
Holding her hand, still warm he gasped.
“Shh,” June hoped her presence had been of some comfort to him. The ceremony was plain and simple. Exhausted after a couple of very long days, Walter left the graveyard and the love of his life in the cold earth. June sat with him once everyone had gone, he’d chatted about old times, he laughed and he cried! The kitchen walls laced with old photographs, so many memories.
On the sideboard were Walters’s old trophies of his hurling days, polished proudly every Saturday religiously by Lily.
She’d watched her often as a child.
“He’s a good lad, Matt, has a heart of gold,” Walter’s hand was cold as June took it to reassure him,
“I’ll always be here for you, you know that don’t you?”
She knew Matt was slowly but surely winning her heart too and it scared her!
“We’ll not get another year out of this lot,” June held the chair as Clodagh struggled with the tinsel, it did make the small post office look pretty.
Didn’t really feel like Christmas, June thought, wind and rain but no sign of snow! Christmas without Nan was a very lonely time and she wasn’t looking forward to it.
She remembered the first Christmas without Pop, it had been a lonely one, but Nan being Nan had made the most of it.
Turkey, ham, and all the trimmings! Even lit the pudding, as was tradition! June wondered how she’d had the heart to do it.
“Won’t feel it now,” Clodagh was getting into the spirit of things. June envied her sometimes, always seemed content, taking each day as it came.
“Life could give you happiness…but could also take it away without any warning… It’s up to you to make the most of the time in between,” she used to say.
Chapter Eleven
She would make an effort and enjoy the season.
Maybe ask Walter around for the Christmas dinner. Ya, that would be nice.
As Clodagh reached to put up the last bit of tinsel, June could feel the chair go with her, and bringing tinsel and all with her she fell to the floor!
“Damn,” they both laughed, there was nothing else they could do! It was after all the season to be jolly!
“Something smells nice,” Matt came into the kitchen looking sleepy. June had been up since early morning to get started on dinner, she tried to remember all that Nan had taught her but still fretted!
“What if it’s not properly cooked? What if everyone’s sick with food poisoning after eating?”
All flushed and bothered, she greeted Matt with a smile.
“Merry Christmas,” Matt giggled as he wiped a bit of stuffing from her nose.
“Merry Christmas.”
Walter snored the afternoon away, stuffed with turkey and ham and all the trimmings, a couple of bottles of Guinness and he was away.
June sat at Matt’s feet looking into the blazing fire.
“This is nice,” as she looked up at Matt, he pointed to the window. The light now fading, it had begun to snow. With contentment in his voice, Matt leaned forward and kissed the top of her head.
“Merry Christmas.”
Walter was missing Lily, it was still very early days and still very raw, very raw indeed. His eyes filled with tears at the mention of her name. June kept an eye on him, brought some dinner over from time to time (in passing).
Walter wouldn’t hear of anyone going out of their way for him, and on the rare occasion when she did bake she always remembered him.
“I’ll not forget yer kindness,” Walter was always so appreciative of the smallest thought. “Was thinking I might get some of Lily’s things together for the charity shop, no sense leaving them there to rot. Someone might make use of them.”
“That would be a lovely thing to do,” June felt for him, it had to be a hard thing to do.
“Want me to come and give you a hand?” There were bags of clothes, Lily loved to dress, some still with their tags on. All bagged and ready for collection in the hall they sat down to have a cup of tea.
Looking ’round the kitchen, Walter looked thoughtful, “There’s some things I could never part with,” he was finding this harder than he thought. As he poured the tea, he handed June a little red velvet bag, drawn together with a gold string. “It was Lily’s, she’d want you to have it.”
As June opened the little bag, she felt so touched she couldn’t hold back the tears, it had taken all her might to be strong for Walter, all day watching him go through Lily’s stuff with a broken heart. It was all too much she couldn’t hold back the tears any longer, some help she turned out to be, blubbering all over the place.
“Oh! Walter…it’s lovely…I couldn’t.”
“Sure ’tisn’t much, I want you to have it, so would Lily,” as he pinned the brooch to June’s cardigan.
; “All these years, she kept it all these years, it was the first present I ever bought her. Saved for weeks, always said it was the best present she ever got. Must be near on forty years ago now,”
“I shall treasure it, Walter, thank you,” she hugged the old man and left him with his memories. Life could be so sad!
Chapter Twelve
Walking home, June thought about Matt, he seemed happy, but what had become of his plans?
Of course, she wanted him to stay but she hoped he wasn’t holding off to suit her, she would talk to him tonight.
As she turned the key in the door, she could smell food, he hadn’t mentioned bringing home a take-away for tea!
With candles on the table Matt greeted her, tea towel on his arm, he guided her to her chair, “Like to taste the wine, madam?”
“What’s the occasion?” June was baffled it wasn’t her birthday, that was next month.
“Today, my dear June, is the anniversary of the day our eyes met across a counter of eggs. Happy pancake Tuesday,” they both laughed.
She hadn’t really thought.
Matt could be so romantic, not a bad cook either, could give her a run for her money anytime.
He poured them a second glass of wine, “A toast!” he raised his glass, “To the future and new beginnings,” as their glasses clashed June felt her heart sink.
Matt took her hand in his and kissed it, with hope in his heart, “Come with me to see the world.”
Matt had often heard it said, the eyes never lie, they are the windows to the soul. There was no need for words he knew what the answer was. June couldn’t talk, how could she tell him that each day she had hoped that things would go on as they were, and that someday, Matt would forget about America and seeing the world and maybe see his world in her.
They cleared the table and washed up in silence, this was Junes favourite time of the day, they would argue about who would wash and who would dry and talk about the events of the day, not very exciting to some but she loved to hear about Matt’s day and he hers. It was like filling in the gaps of the time that they had been apart.
June hadn’t had her mind on her work for days but today it seemed neither did Clodagh.
“You okay?” she thought how they had become more like old friends in the past year than employer and employee. Clodagh looked back at June.
“Ya, I’m fine,” she couldn’t lie to save her life.
June didn’t push her, she would talk when she was ready. Clodagh, as if knowing what she was thinking smiled at her friend, “Want to go for a drink later?” June knew her friend needed to talk but at the counter of a busy post office on a Friday (pension day) was hardly ideal.
“Ya, okay.”
As she hurriedly had her shower and got ready to meet Clodagh, Matt came in. Still a bit distant since their conversation a couple of days before.
“Going out,” almost avoiding eye contact but not quite, Matt looked at her admiringly.
“Meeting Clodagh for a drink,” normally she would have asked Matt to join them and Clodagh wouldn’t have minded but tonight she wanted to give Clodagh a chance to talk if she wanted to and if Matt was there she wouldn’t do that.
Even so, she still might not but at least she would give her the opportunity.
“June, I’m sorry. I’ve been a prat,” June didn’t need much encouragement to fall into Matt’s arms.
“Let’s forget about it,” and when Matt took her in his arms she melted all over again.
As she watched her friend approach, she thought to herself, Clodagh never seemed the least bit interested in attracting the opposite sex but always took great interest in her appearance. Although where she got the time, June often wondered, with running the post office which she’d taken over from an aunt of hers years since.
Some say she could have been anything she’d wanted, brains to burn but she choose not to go any further with her education. Coming from a family of academics, seems her folks were somewhat disappointed that she didn’t pursue a ‘proper career’.
Chapter Thirteen
Her dad was a dentist and her mother a teacher, Nan used to say they’d had great hopes for their only daughter, but Clodagh had other ideas. She’d spent all of her summer holidays as a child helping in the post office and every Saturday during the school year.
Doreen, Clodagh’s aunt had returned from America, having worked all the hours God sent over there, had gone off in her teens to find work and make her fortune.
Some say she had helped to put Clodagh’s dad through college.
She’d invested in the post office, never married.
After her sudden death at the age of sixty-two, it seems relations came from everywhere for the reading of her will. It was to their great disappointment that she had left a great deal of her estate to her favourite charity and the post office to Clodagh.
Being in her final year in school before going on to college, as Clodagh’s parents hoped she would do, Clodagh had a very big decision to make.
The post office would be closed until further notice, of course it would be different running the place herself but Clodagh’s mind was made up, as soon as she was of age she would take up the running of the post office as was her inheritance and her aunt Doreen’s wish. She would be set up for life.
Clodagh enrolled for a course for two years doing accountancy, which would bring her up to her eighteenth birthday and the beginning of the rest of her life, though going against her parent’s wishes, she felt it was the right choice for her.
It would be hard work and long hours but she was determined to make a go of it and in time her parents would accept her decision, after all it was her life!
She had indeed given it everything, to the extent that she had no life outside of the business, but she was happy.
Her parents now retired had accepted their disappointment but often reminded her that she could have done better in life.
In their day, it was a struggle to get a proper education, in their opinion Clodagh was being handed the opportunity on a plate.
It didn’t make sense to them that she wouldn’t take advantage of it.
The post office could be sold and she could have had a nice nest egg.
Aunt Doreen was so different from her dad, Clodagh would tell her they were like chalk and cheese. Educated by life experiences, Doreen always said, “Life is the best educator. Life teaches you more than any text book ever could. Takes more than academics to run the world, just be happy dear, whatever you decide to do, that’s what’s important. There’s room for everyone.”
Clodagh would listen to Doreen go on and on, sometimes not making any sense to her back then but as she grew older and even now, she’d often think back and a lot of it made sense. “If life teaches you one thing, Clodagh dear, it’s not to waste a moment of your time and especially not to waste it living out someone else’s dreams,” she used to say, “You make your own happiness.”
She smiled as she saw her enter struggling with her umbrella and the narrow café door.
“You waiting long?” catching her breath, she apologised for being late.
After their third cup of coffee and as much small talk as June could take, she was no longer going to avoid the issue. Clodagh had something on her mind and June felt she was bursting to talk about it.
“You okay?” June would make the first move.
“Ya, no. Oh! I don’t know June, I guess I’ve come to a crossroads in my life.”
Chapter Fourteen
June listened as her friend went on.
“I know I am better off than most and I haven’t one regret in life but,” there were tears in her eyes as Clodagh continued, “It’s just well.”
“Another cuppa,” June called the waiter.
“June, telling you this is probably the only part I am struggling with, my mind is quite clear about everything else but my decision also affects you unfortunately. I have decided to sell up. Not immediately of course, it’ll be si
x months or more. Enough time for you to get yourself another job.”
“Hey, don’t be worrying about me. I’m a survivor remember I’ll be grand,” they both laughed.
June hadn’t noticed Clodagh being unsettled or anything of the sort, quite the contrary in fact she’d often envied her, her status in life.
Not a care in the world, no money worries although Nan always said money wasn’t everything and if she knew June had envied her friend or any other person for that matter she would turn in her grave, envy was a sin and we should be happy with our lot, that’s what Nan used to say.
“You’re not ill?” June was worried for a moment.
“No, nothing like that. It’s difficult to explain,” Clodagh went on, “As you know, I work round the clock and I’m not complaining, don’t get me wrong. It’s just, well who am I doing it for? No children to leave all my millions to,” they had a giggle, “I want to do something with my time. Make a difference, ya know?”
“So what will you do?” June couldn’t make out where this was all going.
“I’m going to volunteer for charity work in Africa. June my assets would be invaluable out there, maybe build an orphanage or a school, at the very least I can be on hand to help out. If it doesn’t work out, I can always come back. At least, I’d have done something.”
June didn’t know what to say,
“Sort of an aid worker is it.”
“Yes. June I have given it a lot of thought.”
June wanted to support her friend, though it meant her looking for a new job but that wasn’t relevant.
“I wish you all the luck in the world,” she hugged Clodagh, “I will miss you though,” Clodagh smiled, a smile that had relief written all over it.
“I’m so glad I have told you now. Thought you’d tell me I was cracked. Thanks June for not judging me, I know many will but this is something I want to do while I am still able. If I should only help one person out there, it will have been worth it, I will have made a difference.”
Matt was surprised to hear about Clodagh’s plans
One Chance Page 3