The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club(63)

‘It’s nothing…’ Lucy sighed. ‘Maybe it’s not, but you know I’ve dithered about what to do next?’

‘Lucy, it’s what you needed. Time to think…’ she said gently.

‘Yes, I know, but that’s the thing: it’s been so busy here, I haven’t had time to think.’

‘I’m sorry, it’s…’

‘No, you don’t understand. It’s a good thing. I’ve been so busy, I’ve stopped thinking and actually, I just gave myself my answer. I’m happier here than I ever was in Dublin. I don’t want to go back to work in the hospital again. I want to work as a GP and I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather work than here, in Ballycove,’ Lucy said and she couldn’t help smiling. ‘There’s only one small fly in the ointment now that I’ve decided.’

‘Elizabeth has sold on the practice?’

‘No, not as far as I know.’ Lucy laughed. ‘The only thing wrong now is that we can’t celebrate with champagne, not until you have those awful antibiotics behind you.’

‘Well, I shall have something to look forward to then, won’t I?’ Jo laughed and she held out her arms and folded them around Lucy in the warmest hug she could manage from beneath the heavy quilt. Then she held her daughter back, for just a moment. ‘You’re sure, darling, that this is the right thing for you? Moving here to Ballycove and taking over the practice?’

‘I don’t think I’ve ever been more certain of anything in my life, Mum,’ Lucy felt a glow of optimism for the first time since Jo’s cancer had been diagnosed. ‘Now, all I have to do is agree a deal with Elizabeth.’





25


Niall


It seemed to Niall that the summer had raced into itself. It was hard to believe that July was almost at an end and soon he would be packing his bags to start a new life in Sydney with his dad. He was very much looking forward to that, no matter how much his grandmother tried to convince him that far-off fields are not always greener.

‘You think nowhere is as green as Ballycove,’ he’d joked with her earlier as they’d played a final game of rummy before fatigue overtook her.

‘I’m right. I’ll bet when you arrive in Sydney, the only green fields you’re likely to see will be in some posh country club where they have sprinklers going all night long.’

‘Okay, well, in that way, I suppose you have a point,’ he conceded. ‘But there’s lots of other stuff there that I’m really looking forward to.’ And there was, like seeing his dad and the amazing apartment he had bought that looked out over Sydney Harbour.

‘I know, I can imagine city life is a lot more appealing than being stuck in a backwater place like Ballycove, but…’

‘I know. I can always come home again.’ He smiled at her then, but in the air between them hung that one thing they never talked about. Coming home here, when his grandmother had died, Niall just wasn’t sure it would be like home anymore. Sure his mother would be here, but she’d be immersed in the practice once the papers were signed and she owned the place properly – even more than she was already.

‘This will always be your home – you know that, Niall,’ she said softly now. It was funny, but it was when her voice seemed to fade to little more than a murmur that Niall knew her words were the most important. ‘You won’t forget that, will you? Or that your mother is going to miss you more than anything in the world. You won’t forget her, in the excitement of it all…’ She closed her eyes and he knew that, sometimes, it was the worry of what would become of him and his mother that emptied her out the most.

‘Don’t be daft, Gran. I’ll never forget Mum, and I’ll never forget you either.’ He leant in and kissed her gently on her forehead. When he moved away, her eyes had closed and he knew she was sleeping. Her breath now was ragged and thready as if it was racing out of her to keep ahead of itself so it couldn’t be called to a halt until she was ready to fully let go.

Niall sat there, for a long while, just watching her breathe, knowing that, there would come a day when he couldn’t do that anymore. He hadn’t said it to either his mother or his father, but he wanted to be here when she went. He wanted to be right here, sitting on the edge of her bed, telling her that he loved her until that very last moment, because he knew he hadn’t said it often enough over the years. If anything, when they’d come here at the start of the summer, he had railed against the notion of having to spend time with her. Now, he knew, he didn’t want to hear the news when he was thousands of miles away. It turned out, he loved her a lot more than he’d ever realised and maybe, sometimes, he thought he was lucky, because if they hadn’t been here now, he’d have missed out on the stories and the sheer fun of knowing his grandmother properly at all.

Niall slipped out of the cottage just as the village seemed to be closing down for the evening and people were driving back from their jobs in Ballybrack, making their way home for dinner and calling an end to their day.

There was a rhythm to the village and over the weeks he’d been here, it seemed as if he’d managed to get a sense of it. For the next hour or so, the pier and the beach would be empty and then, once people had watched the six o’clock news, on a nice evening like this, there would be dog walkers heading out for their evening stroll.