‘So – how does it feel to be going home – this time, with your family?’
‘Grand,’ he said, looking across at his father and Matt who were posing together for a photograph. ‘It’ll be good. You’ll come to visit – soon – won’t you?’
Luke had been touched by the way she had distanced herself from Jack for the past weeks – such a selfless gesture. He wanted nothing more than for her and Jack to become a permanent couple.
‘For sure I’ll visit,’ Emer said. ‘Once you’re all settled in.’
Luke suddenly felt a surge of anxiety. ‘We’re doin’ the right thing, aren’t we, Emer? I feel bad that we’ll be in Ireland and Mam’ll be here … but Maggie and Claire have promised to look after her – well, you know, the grave.’
Emer’s expression softened and he felt her deep affection for him. ‘Luke, your mam would want you to do whatever makes you happy,’ she said. ‘She’ll be with you anyway, wherever you go.’
Her words comforted him. Luke reached forward and gave her a hug. ‘Thank you, Emer – for everything.’
She’d been there for him in the hospital when he’d needed reassurance, and she’d helped Jack piece together the past. She’d done her very best to make them both whole again. That father and son were now getting along was largely due to her. She was wonderful, and Luke loved her.
Emer held his shoulders gently, tears in her eyes. ‘You did most of it yourself, Luke. And it took great courage. I’m so proud of you. You’ve come such a long way.’
Luke smiled and glanced over at Kate, who was bouncing Tony Hayes’ toddler granddaughter on her lap. ‘And the best is yet to come.’
He wished he could bottle this moment, keep it fresh forever. The warmth of the afternoon sun, the chatter of friends and family, the welcome future that beckoned. He silently absorbed it all then offered it up with love and gratitude to Annie Kiernan.
The afternoon slowly merged into evening at Jack’s house by the lake. Emer watched the man she loved as he chatted and laughed. He seemed in his element, freed at last from the heavy weight of the Stewart family’s obligations. They met up later by the drinks table on the patio, and Jack poured them both some wine.
‘What a great day!’ he said, his enthusiasm making him seem touchingly boyish.
‘For sure,’ Emer said. ‘And you are going to be so missed when you go.’
‘I’ll miss them, too. But I’m looking forward to Ireland … especially since you and I will finally be living in the same country.’
His words touched the chords of her passion, but she tried hard to stay focused. ‘True, but – don’t take this the wrong way, Jack – we need to wait. It’s still on ice – for now.’
‘Ice has a habit of melting,’ said Jack, moving closer so that she could feel the warmth of his body.
‘Just be patient.’ Her advice was directed as much to herself as to Jack. ‘You’ve got so much catching up to do with Luke. And you’re still grieving for Annie.’
He sighed. ‘I loved her, Emer, but she’s gone and I did most of my grieving twenty years ago. I know what you’re saying, but I’ll never fully get over what happened and the circumstances of her leaving, even if we wait another twenty years.’
‘It won’t be that long, I promise. And it’s more about Luke than it is about Annie. I just don’t want you to have any distractions. Let him see he’s a priority. Really get to know him … Jack, what’s going to happen to your father?’
‘I’m taking legal advice. If I had my way, he’d be treated just like any other rapist, but it was more than twenty years ago and the key witness is dead. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it could get messy when the Kiernans go to trial. They’re almost certain to talk. I’ll try to go after Richard, too – for theft and forgery. Claire wants me to do that.’ Jack sighed. ‘I’m just going to take each day as it comes.’
Emer nodded. ‘It’s all you can do, I suppose.’
‘I don’t want to think about it, to be honest. It’s bad enough that we’re going to have to testify at the Kiernan’s trial. It’s going to be hard for Luke, especially. It’s not something he wants to do at all.’
‘Travellers are generally very loyal,’ said Emer. ‘It’s a pity Luke’s uncles weren’t more typical.’
‘Perhaps because of that, other Travellers will understand him testifying against them,’ suggested Jack.
Emer nodded her agreement. ‘How’s Matt doing?’
‘He’s a good lad,’ Jack told her. ‘Grown up a lot in the past couple of months.’
Emer looked towards the lake where the young people were singing. Luke and Kate were holding hands while perched on Matt and Tim’s shoulders. They were all punching the air as they sang the chorus of ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’, and she watched as Luke launched into an impressive air guitar. It was a scene of friendship, happiness and love, and was a joy to witness. It was sobering to think they came so close to losing Luke.
‘It was hard for Matt to learn what my father did,’ continued Jack, ‘but he knows Luke has suffered more, and he stays strong because of that. Once he’d only have thought about himself, but now he takes on board that it’s been hard for me, too. I feel like we’re a team again, which is great.’
He turned to face her. ‘But about us, Emer – we’re okay, aren’t we?’
The anxiety in his voice was almost more than Emer could bear, and she had to reassure him. ‘I love you, Jack Stewart. And if you still want me in a few months, I’ll join you.’
‘Oh, I don’t think there’s any doubt I’ll still want you,’ murmured Jack, leaning forward and kissing her tenderly on the mouth. For a moment, she felt the world around her spin. This man was in her blood now, a part of her that she couldn’t – and didn’t want to – resist.
‘It’s been a roller coaster, hasn’t it?’ commented Jack. ‘But some good has come out of it. I may have lost my parents, but I’ve got another son, Matt’s got a brother, and I’ve got you – the chance to be a real family unit.’
Emer held up her glass. ‘To the future.’
‘To the future,’ echoed Jack, and their glasses came together like an omen of good fortune.
When Jack and Luke arrived at Baronswood churchyard that evening, the sun was still shining, but the yew trees cast patches of shadow on the grass and the graves.
Jack shivered despite his jacket. He remembered the day they’d lowered Annie’s coffin into the cold, dark ground – he’d had to keep his emotions tightly in check, but still the misery of knowing Annie was gone, and the pain of the lost years, had threatened to overwhelm him. Now he was visiting her again, the sadness still there, but the circumstances so very different.
‘Look, Jack,’ said Luke. ‘The stone’s up now.’ He moved forward quickly to Annie’s grave and Jack followed. Luke knelt down and read out the words carved into the black marble stone.
In memory of
ANNIE KIERNAN STEWART
Beloved wife of Jack,
Loving mother of Luke and Matthew.
Taken too soon and greatly missed.
Never to be forgotten.
Jack had expected Luke to protest at the use of the Stewart name, but he’d said it was fine, and that, after all, Annie had been Jack’s wife right to the end.
‘It looks good,’ said Luke, standing up.
‘It does,’ Jack agreed. Maybe one day when they too were dead and gone, when the Stewart name was not even a distant memory, somebody would read the words on the gravestone and wonder about this woman who had inspired such devotion.
Jack moved round the side, knelt down, and gently placed a bunch of lilies on the grave. They’d been Annie’s favourite flower and Jack had carefully selected the mix of white, peach, pink and yellow. He trailed his fingers along the cool marble stone, choking wit
h emotion, not trusting himself to speak. He turned to look at his son. The resemblance to Annie was so striking that it made his heart skip a beat. Tears welled in his eyes. ‘I don’t know how to … what to …’ he murmured.
‘It’s okay, Jack,’ said Luke. ‘You don’t have to say anything. Mam knows.’
Jack hoped that was true. That somewhere beyond the grave Annie finally understood the whole sad story, and was at peace. He slowly stood up, still feeling a little shaken.
‘Can I have a few minutes alone with her?’ Luke requested. ‘To say goodbye.’
If anything, Luke was in a much better state than Jack. He looked centred, balanced somehow, as if he’d accepted that this was how things were. That you had to live with sad partings and farewells. Jack moved away from the grave and wandered around the side of the church to give his son some privacy.
Luke knelt down in front of the grave, gathering up some of the soil. It wasn’t Irish earth, but it still came from a place that had known his mother. He looked around at the centuries-old church, the strong and steady trees, the sheltering wall. She would rest easy here. A blackbird trilled, as if reminding Luke he had things to say.
‘I know everything now, Mam,’ Luke began. ‘Why you left. What you tried to keep from me.’
A gentle breeze plucked at the edges of the lily petals and they shimmered.
‘Things are good now, Mam. There’s Jack – and Matt and Kate and Emer. They’ll help me. They’ll take care of me so you don’t have to worry.’
He could see Annie’s face so clearly in his mind’s eye, and she was smiling.
‘I’m going home soon – to Ireland. But I’ll be back to visit. And I’ll make you proud of me, I promise.’
He gently replaced the soil. ‘I’ll miss you always, Mam. I’d swap everything in a heartbeat to have you back.’ There were tears in his eyes but despite his grief, he would survive. It was all he could do for his mother now – be happy, make others happy, live a rich and full life.
Luke stayed a while longer among the lengthening shadows, and then stood up as he heard Jack’s footsteps on the gravel. A moment later, he felt his father’s hand on his shoulder. They didn’t speak. There was no need for words. Father and son were going home, united in the love they both felt for Annie Stewart.
As they left, the silence settled slowly back, broken only by a lone blackbird singing its heart out in the peace of Baronswood churchyard.
Introducing Choc Lit
We’re an independent publisher creating a delicious selection of fiction. Where heroes are like chocolate – irresistible! Quality stories with a romance at the heart.
Choc Lit novels are selected by genuine readers like yourself. We only publish stories our Choc Lit Tasting Panel want to see in print. Our reviews and awards speak for themselves.
Come and support our authors and join them in our Author’s Corner, read their interviews and see their latest events, reviews and gossip.
Visit: www.choc-lit.com for more details.
Available in paperback and as ebooks from most stores.
We’d also love to hear how you enjoyed Beneath an Irish Sky. Just visit www.choc-lit.com and give your feedback. Describe Jack or Luke in terms of chocolate and you could win a Choc Lit novel in our Flavour of the Month competition.
Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/ChocLituk and facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Choc-Lit/30680012481.
About the Author
Isabella Connor is the pen name for Liv Thomas and Val Olteanu.
www.facebook.com/isabella.connor.hartswood.hill
Website: www.blog.isabellaconnor.com
Liv Thomas was born and raised in the South of England. She always had the dream of becoming a writer, but never had the confidence to pursue it completely. After positive responses to Lord of the Rings fan-fiction, she decided it was time to make the dream a reality.
Wife and mum, Liv works for the NHS, and is employed at the hospital which first featured in Channel 4’s One Born Every Minute. Liv has travelled extensively, and as far afield as the United States and the Caribbean, without setting foot on an aeroplane as she has a fear of flying.
Reading tastes vary from contemporary women’s fiction to works by Dean Koontz and Terry Pratchett, with Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter thrown in for good measure. Anything with an Irish theme will find itself on the book-shelf. (Or on the Kindle).
www.twitter.com/Livbet
Valerie Olteanu grew up in Scotland, and her childhood ambitions were to travel and to be a writer. After studying English and Art History at the University of Glasgow, she moved to London where she worked in the Literature Department of the Arts Council England.
Some years later, she decided to teach English and see the world. She lived and worked in Croatia, the West Bank, and Mexico, before settling with her husband in Canada. She is currently an adult educator in Burnaby, British Columbia.
More from Choc Lit
If you enjoyed Isabella’s story, you’ll enjoy the rest of our selection. Here’s a sample:
A Stitch in Time
Amanda James
A stitch in time saves nine …or does it?
Sarah Yates is a thirty-something history teacher, divorced, disillusioned and desperate to have more excitement in her life. Making all her dreams come true seems about as likely as climbing Everest in stilettos.
Then one evening the doorbell rings and the handsome and mysterious John Needler brings more excitement than Sarah could ever have imagined. John wants Sarah to go back in time …
Sarah is whisked from the Sheffield Blitz to the suffragette movement in London to the Old American West, trying to make sure people find their happy endings. The only question is, will she ever be able to find hers?
Visit www.choc-lit.com for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
Find out more and purchase in the kindle store (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stitch-Time-Choc-Lit-ebook/dp/B00BNGXVTC)
The Silent Touch of Shadows
Christina Courtenay
Winner of the 2012 Best Historical Read from the Festival of Romance
What will it take to put the past to rest?
Professional genealogist Melissa Grantham receives an invitation to visit her family’s ancestral home, Ashleigh Manor. From the moment she arrives, life-like dreams and visions haunt her. The spiritual connection to a medieval young woman and her forbidden lover have her questioning her sanity, but Melissa is determined to solve the mystery.
Jake Precy, owner of a nearby cottage, has disturbing dreams too, but it’s not until he meets Melissa that they begin to make sense. He hires her to research his family’s history, unaware their lives are already entwined. Is the mutual attraction real or the result of ghostly interference?
A haunting love story set partly in the present and partly in fifteenth century Kent.
Visit www.choc-lit.com for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
Find out more and purchase in the kindle store (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silent-Touch-Shadows-Choc-ebook/dp/B008834GRY)
Dream a Little Dream
Sue Moorcroft
What would you give to make your dreams come true?
Liza Reece has a dream. Working as a reflexologist for a troubled holistic centre isn’t enough. When the opportunity arises to take over the Centre she jumps at it. Problem is, she needs funds, and fast, as she’s not the only one interested.
Dominic Christy has dreams of his own. Diagnosed as suffering from a rare sleep disorder, dumped by his live-in girlfriend and discharged from the job he adored as an Air Traffic Controller, he’s single-minded in his aims. He has money, and plans for the Centre that don’t include Liza and her team.
But dreams have a way of shifting and changing and Do
minic’s growing fascination with Liza threatens to reshape his. And then it’s time to wake up to the truth ...
Visit www.choc-lit.com for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
Find out more and purchase in the kindle store (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dream-Little-Choc-Lit-ebook/dp/B009K6KB2W)
Move Over Darling
Christine Stovell
When is it time to stop running?
Coralie Casey is haunted by her past. Deciding it’s time for a fresh start, she sets up ‘Sweet Cleans’, a range of natural beauty and cleaning products, and escapes to Penmorfa, a quiet coastal village in west Wales.
Gethin Lewis thinks he’s about to put his home village Penmorfa behind him for good. Now an internationally-acclaimed artist living in New York, he just has to return one last time to wind up his father’s estate.
But the village soon disrupts their carefully laid plans. As truths are uncovered which threaten to split the community apart, Gethin is forced to question his real reasons for abandoning Penmorfa, and Coralie is made to face the fact that some stains just won’t go away.
Visit www.choc-lit.com for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
Find out more and purchase in the kindle store (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Move-Over-Darling-Choc-ebook/dp/B0094J06YI)
Up Close
Henriette Gyland
Too close for comfort …
When Dr Lia Thompson’s grandmother dies unexpectedly, Lia is horrified to have to leave her life in America and return to a cold and creaky house in Norfolk. But as events unfold, she can’t help feeling that there is more to her grandmother’s death than meets the eye.
Aidan Morrell is surprised to see Lia, his teenage crush, back in town. But Aidan’s accident when serving in the navy has scarred him in more ways than one, and he has other secrets which must stay hidden at all costs, even from Lia.
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