THE GALLERY WAS PACKED AND, LOOKING AROUND, KIM COULD see Evie in the midst of it all, her shock of blonde hair, dangling silver pyramid earrings and her trademark black skirt and biker boots ensuring that she stood out from the crowd. Valerie and Hugh had done an amazing job and her work looked incredible. Kim noticed that three pieces already had red stickers placed on them. Also dotted around the two rooms were a number of striking bronzes on white plinths and on the windowsills: crows, swans, a single seagull and a bronze of a group in flight. They were so powerful and raw and imaginative. These Fergus McGuinness pieces were getting lots of attention – but they were very expensive.
Alex and Vicky and most of their crowd had turned up and she was anxiously waiting for Luke to arrive. He’d texted her to say he’d been slightly delayed on the farm but would be here soon.
‘Well, it’s lovely to see you,’ said Alex, hugging her. ‘There must be some very big draw in the country to keep you there so long! When are you moving back up to Dublin?’
‘Who says I’m moving back up?’ she teased him.
‘We miss you,’ pouted Vicky. ‘Really miss you!’
‘I miss you too!’
Rhona and some of her friends arrived and she found herself frantically trying to catch up with everyone as Liz and Joe appeared.
‘We managed to get a babysitter for the night, so we said we’d pop in here and then find somewhere for dinner,’ Liz smiled, before heading off to congratulate Evie.
‘It’s like getting out of prison for a few hours, escaping on our own somewhere,’ added Joe, grabbing a glass of red wine.
Kim had made Evie get some cards printed with her contact details and the website address, and she passed them around to people and left some near the long wine table and on the table with the gallery catalogues.
Suddenly she spotted her dad and went over to join him and Carole. She hadn’t had a chance to see him since she’d come up from Kilfinn. He was chatting to Evie’s parents.
‘Hello, darling. Has that young man of yours appeared yet?’ he asked, hugging her.
‘Dad, he’ll be here soon!’ she promised, glancing quickly around the room.
The speeches were about to start. Valerie had asked Neil Shaw, the renowned art critic from the Irish Times, to open the exhibition.
‘Let’s hope that stops him saying anything really bad about my work!’ Evie said, worriedly.
The critic had just started talking to the large crowd when Kim spotted Luke coming down the steps. He caught her glance and moved silently towards her.
‘Hi,’ she whispered as he took her hand.
Neil Shaw had done his homework; he knew almost every detail of both Evie’s and Fergus’s background and a huge amount about each of their work. Across the room she could see Evie visibly relax as he talked about her style and vision and the collectability of her work. He cited a few paintings that he believed were important, mentioning The Woods as his own favourite. He was equally generous about the young sculptor and urged those buying for serious collections to consider one of his bronzes.
Evie thanked him and said a few words about her own work and inspiration. She thanked her mum and dad and friends and family, and Kim for her unceasing support since the day they first sat beside each other in school.
‘And that includes helping me lift every painting you see on these walls!’
Fergus was skinny and wiry with long black hair, his brown eyes nervous as he stepped forward and said as few words as possible.
‘Words are not my thing,’ he admitted. ‘Metal and bronze are!’
Everyone cheered and clapped as wine was passed around again once the speeches were finished. Kim could see Evie and Fergus deep in conversation. She knew that look. Evie fancied him – definitely fancied him.
‘Luke, I was getting worried,’ she said as they were handed some wine.
‘I’m here now,’ he replied calmly.
‘Come on, I want to introduce you to everyone,’ she said, leading him around from group to group. Alex and Lisa both gave him the thumbs-up.
‘He’s really handsome – you never mentioned that!’ whispered Aisling accusingly. ‘And really tall!’
‘I know,’ Kim laughed, noticing suddenly how he was so much taller than everyone else in the room.
Luke and her dad got on really well and she could hear her dad asking him about the stud farm and how they were surviving the downturn.
Luke seemed totally at ease with everyone. He loved Evie’s work and chatted to her about it. Liz and Joe were very impressed when he asked them about Ava and Finn.
‘Most guys never remember anything like that!’ remarked Liz.
‘It’s because he’s a teacher, he’s kind of into kids and has to remember all their names.’
As the crowds began to disperse, Evie announced that they were all moving to Searson’s pub. Liz and Joe had sloped off, but most people, including her dad and Carole, were going on to the pub.
Luke pulled her into his arms as they walked along the street.
‘I parked the car up at the Fitzwilliam,’ he said. ‘The hotel is only a few minutes from the pub.’
Searson’s was busy, but Evie had reserved an area down the back for all of them and plenty of finger food was being served. Fergus and Evie were still engrossed, chatting together. Carole and Luke seemed to be getting on great and she was telling him about her daughter, Lara, who had trained in the same college as Luke but was now working as a teacher in London.
‘It’s an inner-city school with a lot of problems, but she loves it!’
Evie’s dad made a bit of a speech about how proud he was of Evie and her work, and that she was getting the recognition she so well deserved. Kim could tell Evie was happy, as her ears had gone a pinky colour – they always did when she got excited!
It was around two o’clock before the crowd broke up and they finally made it back to the hotel Luke had booked into.
On Saturday they had a late lunch in town with some of Luke’s friends, who worked in London but were home in Dublin for the weekend.
‘Bet you don’t miss it!’ said Annabel.
‘Not at all,’ answered Luke. ‘I’m doing what I want to do, and I’m living where I want to live, and now I’ve found Kim!’
Kim had booked a table in Harry’s for that evening, and most of her gang came along. Evie appeared with Fergus in tow, which was no surprise! Luke got on with everyone. He and Alex had a similar sense of humour and taste in music, and he enthralled Aisling and Pete with his stories of growing up on the farm and travelling in Asia and Australia. Fergus had travelled much of the same route and they soon discovered they had stayed in some of the same hostels and both got food poisoning in the same restaurant, which created a weird bond!
‘I was really nervous about meeting your friends, but they are great,’ Luke admitted as they walked back to the hotel arm in arm. ‘Just like you.’
On Sunday they took it easy, strolling through St Stephen’s Green, sitting on a park bench watching young families with babies and children in buggies, and older couples hand in hand.
‘Are you coming back to Kilfinn tonight?’
‘No, I’ll stay on for a few more days,’ she said slowly. She hadn’t got around to telling him about her job interview; she hadn’t wanted to say anything in case it didn’t work out.
‘Why?’ he persisted.
‘I have an interview for a job,’ she answered reluctantly.
‘A job back here in Dublin?’
‘I met the company a few days ago and they want me back for a second interview.’
She could see he was not only surprised but hurt by her not telling him.
‘Luke – I didn’t want to say anything because I’ve had lots of interviews before and they all went nowhere.’
‘But this time it’s different.’
‘Maybe. I might get the job …’
‘Then you will move back up here … take up your old life …’
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‘Not necessarily.’ She fumbled, searching for the right words.
‘When were you going to tell me? Didn’t you think it was something we should talk about?’
‘I know,’ she sighed. ‘I was scared of saying it to you, because it mightn’t have mattered to you if I did move back.’
‘Well it does!’ he said firmly.
She could see in his eyes that it did matter to him, she did really matter to him.
‘Why?’ she pushed.
‘Because …’ He hesitated. ‘Because I’ve fallen in love with you. You know that!’
Kim took his face in her hands.
‘Now I know,’ she teased him. ‘And you know I love you too!’
They sat for an hour talking, then went and got some food before he drove back to Kilfinn. She hated him leaving, being apart from him. They had discussed commuting, trying to manage living in two places like lots of couples juggling careers. Everything was so up in the air … But the important thing was that Luke Ryan loved her. Nothing else really mattered.
Chapter 64
KIM O’REILLY’S SECOND INTERVIEW WITH ALLEMANA FINANCE WAS on Tuesday. This time Erik and Mark were the ones she had to impress. She felt very nervous about it and had barely slept the previous night.
Mark was businesslike as he laid out the terms of the job, the hours and salary and what was expected of someone in the role. She tried to disguise her disappointment, as the salary was less than in her previous job.
‘I’m afraid the market has changed, Kim, and it has affected everyone in this industry too.’
‘We start early, as you will be dealing with our offices in Berlin and Frankfurt and Zurich most days,’ Erik explained.
It was a numbers job, what she was used to: making sure and checking that numbers and figures and payments were correct and that transactions happened on time, and that funds were monitored and managed correctly. She would start work at 8.30 in the morning and work through till six or seven most days.
‘Once a month or so you might have to go to Germany,’ said Erik with a smile. ‘And sometimes Zurich. Mark and I are over there tomorrow at a meeting.’
Kim asked a few small, pertinent questions, discovering that everyone worked from a hot-desk system, with no desk of their own.
‘That’s why we all have to come in early!’ Erik joked. ‘So we have somewhere to sit and work!’
The annual holidays were four days less than in the bank, and there was no car parking and a lot fewer perks.
‘Miss O’Reilly, we are happy today to offer you the role of Fund Manager, and obviously we would see you becoming very much part of the Allemana Dublin team,’ Erik said warmly. ‘Naturally, we will get our HR department to send you the official job offer and copies of the job contract and forms that we would need you to sign and return to us. You will also need to have a medical examination which we can organize for you.’
She sat stunned for a few moments.
‘How soon can you start, Kim?’ continued Mark. ‘We would need you on board as soon as possible.’
‘I need to think about it.’
‘Think about it?’ queried Mark, staring at her. ‘Think about what?’
‘It’s just that I wasn’t expecting this,’ she said slowly, trying to gather her thoughts. ‘Thank you so much for your job offer. I’ll read the contract, sign things …’
She smiled at the two of them as they finished the meeting, trying to mask the growing sense of turmoil she felt. Erik disappeared off to another meeting and Mark walked her to the elevator.
‘Is everything okay, Kim?’ he quizzed. ‘There isn’t a problem, is there?’
‘No!’ she lied. ‘No problem!’
Back in her car she felt shaky. She had got a job – a really good job. She should be over the moon. What the hell was wrong with her!
She drove to Evie’s.
Evie was in her pyjamas painting. Kim made herself a big mug of coffee.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Not really!’
‘You’re all dressed up.’
‘I had an interview and they’ve just offered me the job!’
‘That’s good news!’ Evie, excited, put down her paintbrush to hug her. ‘Where’s the job?’
‘A finance company in the docks. I’d be doing what I did before.’
‘But I thought you didn’t like it,’ Evie mused, sitting on the couch beside her.
‘I didn’t.’
‘What are you going to do?’ asked Evie, suddenly serious.
‘That’s it. I just don’t know. Financially, I really need the job. I need money but I’m not sure it’s what I want any more.’
‘Is this to do with Luke?’
‘Yes, in some ways, but even before I met him I’d changed. I want to do something different, rather than move money around and monitor funds for some unknown faceless conglomerates and clients in God knows where!’
‘Then don’t do it!’ urged Evie. ‘You’ll find something else!’
‘Like what?’
‘Well, you did an amazing job on my website.’
‘That’s because you’re my friend.’
‘Okay, it was a freebie, but you can charge other people.’
‘I do!’ Kim laughed.
‘I know that Valerie wants to totally update the crappy one the gallery has. I’ll get her to contact you.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Listen, I can’t tell you what to do,’ Evie admitted. ‘My career is hardly rock-solid and financially sound. But being an artist is all I’ve ever wanted and since I started giving more time to it, my work is getting better. I can see it myself. I enjoy my job teaching art, but when I worked full-time I was too exhausted to come home and paint, so now working part-time suits me much better. I’ve got some income that I can rely on and the rest is up to me. But my long-term goal is to work full-time as an artist with a proper studio where I can paint all day.’
‘That will happen,’ said Kim, ‘I know it will.’
‘Dad always worried about me giving up a secure, full-time, pensionable teaching job,’ Evie sighed. ‘He begged me to stay on, to see my painting as a hobby.’
‘And now he’s telling everyone about his daughter “the artist”,’ Kim teased.
‘I know it’s all crazy, but I’m happy.’
‘I’m happy too,’ she admitted. ‘I thought I’d miss the money and the clothes and the social life and having someone like Gareth in my life, but now I don’t give a rat’s ass about things like that. Everything is less complicated and simpler in Kilfinn with Luke.’
‘Maybe you have your answer,’ nodded Evie. ‘What will you do?’
‘Talk to Luke, talk to Liz … I don’t know!’ she worried. ‘You know me. I absolutely hate making decisions.’
‘But it’s your decision,’ Evie reminded her. ‘Your life.’
Liz met her for soup and a sandwich in the coffee shop across from the offices where she worked.
‘I can’t make your decision for you, Kim,’ she said seriously. ‘It’s like there are two paths and you have to choose which one to take.’
‘But I don’t know,’ she fretted.
‘I think you do know,’ her sister said softly as they paid the bill and Kim walked her back to her department. ‘What are you doing now? Are you staying tonight?’
‘No, thanks. I’ll head back down to Kilfinn. I need to talk to Luke.’
‘You’re getting wise!’ Liz said, hugging her. ‘Very wise.’
Chapter 65
DRIVING BACK DOWN THE COUNTRY TO KILFINN, KIM’S MIND WAS churning over and over as she thought about the new job offer. Working in a growing company with someone like Mark would be interesting. In one way, accepting Allemana’s job offer and moving back to town, having a good salary, taking up where she had left off with all her old friends was really appealing. But then she thought about her old job. She was a good worker and diligent, but had felt bored and trapped in a day-t
o-day routine and never felt she was accomplishing much. The last few months, however, had been totally different …
Okay, financially they had been a disaster, but in terms of enjoying what she was doing, they had absolutely been a total turnaround. She loved staying in Mossbawn and helping Molly. Designing websites and getting them up and running and managing them was a challenge, something she really enjoyed, and she would love to try to develop more and set up a proper business, as every client and every day was different. Then there was Luke.
When she thought of Luke, she couldn’t help but smile. He made her feel happy, made her feel special in a way that Gareth never had. She couldn’t imagine her life without him, but she knew that he would not move back to the city. He had turned away from his job in finance in London to come back to Kilfinn and to build the kind of life he wanted. And in her heart she knew that wasn’t going to change.
As she passed hedgerows and fields and farms, she felt herself automatically beginning to unwind, relax and slow down. Luke had texted her and called her a few times earlier, but his phone was on silent when she tried to return the call, which meant he was in class.
Arriving in the village, she parked her car across from the school. One class was singing, their voices floating from the open window, others were kicking a football in the school yard. Fifteen minutes later the bell rang and she watched as the kids began to stream out, some climbing on to the school buses, some being collected by their parents, and others laughing and chatting as they walked home. A few minutes later she saw him coming across the yard with another teacher, talking and saying hello to kids and mothers as he came through the school gate. She stood up and he saw her, his eyes immediately lighting up. She could feel her heart jump as he came nearer.
‘Hey, Kim, I wasn’t expecting you,’ he said, hugging her. ‘How did your interview go?’
‘Fine,’ she smiled. ‘Do you want to go for a walk?’
‘That sounds ominous!’ he teased.
Luke put his bag of books and copybooks in the car and the two of them decided to take a walk down by the river where it was peaceful and quiet.
‘Well, how did it go in Dublin? You’re moving back – is that it?’ he asked, grabbing her hand and looking into her face.
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