The Boatman's Wife(70)

Lily’s whole body had gone cold. ‘Let me just get this straight. It was your sister Eve who crashed the car, not Connor?’

Daniel nodded. ‘But Connor told the Gardai it was him when they came, so Eve wouldn’t get in trouble. I mean, no one was hurt – that was what they thought. They took them to hospital to check them over, and then, and then…’

It was as if Daniel couldn’t bring himself to say the words. He took a big breath, and now Lily could see tears loading in his eyes.

‘Eve went into some kind of seizure because of a head injury, and my God, she died. They tried to deliver the baby, but it was too early. Like I said, she was only five months gone. I heard Connor went wild in the hospital, they had to sedate him. And then he was arrested. By the time my parents had turned up, Connor had been carted off to the Gardai station. Lucky for him, because my father would have killed him with his bare hands. I only heard about it the next day. Can you imagine how I felt?’ Daniel looked at Lily with pleading eyes. But she didn’t care about Daniel. All she wanted to hear about was Connor.

‘But why didn’t you speak up?’ Lily asked. ‘Tell everyone it was Eve who was driving, and Connor was innocent?’

‘Because Connor kept insisting, he had been driving,’ Daniel said. ‘I don’t know why he kept saying it. Why would anyone believe me, when Connor himself was saying he was to blame? He was under eighteen so he didn’t get sent down, but he lost his licence, and he couldn’t stay in Mullaghmore. My brother Sean wanted to kill him.’

‘All these years,’ Lily whispered. ‘How could you let everyone think that of Connor?’

‘Because he wasn’t here.’ Daniel gave a small shrug. ‘He took the blame, all because Eve was screaming after the accident about getting into trouble with our father. It really fucked me up. My brother wanted me to help him beat up Connor, but Connor had been my friend. I refused, so Sean beat me up, and then went and beat up Connor on his own.’ Daniel gave a sad little hiccup.

It was all so tragic. Lily’s heart ached for Connor. How she wished he’d confided in her about his past. ‘What about his poor grandmother?’

‘Sure, Rosemary Kelly never believed Connor was guilty,’ Daniel said, almost defensive. ‘I remember seeing her standing outside my parents’ house, hollering that her grandson was innocent. They had to call the Gardai on her.’

Lily sat back on her chair. She was still so hurt that Connor had never told her about his past, but to know he hadn’t been responsible for the death of Eve and their unborn child made her feel as if a weight had lifted from her shoulders.

‘I don’t know why he didn’t tell the guards Eve had been driving,’ Daniel said again. ‘Or that I was in the car too. But he never did.’

Lily nodded. That was her Connor. Protecting others. Looking after others, even if their decisions were poor. Like how Ryan had said Connor had backed up her dad’s decision to head into the storm, despite the fact it ended up costing him his life. She guessed Connor had blamed himself for Eve’s death. She was sure he would have believed he was guilty because he felt he should have stopped her from driving. But he hadn’t been the one behind the wheel. That was the important thing to Lily. He had been lucky he’d been under eighteen and not sent to prison, but it had still ruined his life in Ireland. When she’d met him in Rockland it would have been four years later. No wonder he had so happily laid down foundations with her. He’d been without a home for so long by then.

The light had dimmed already in the hotel bar, and Daniel almost seemed to be sinking into the shadows. His pint was finished up, but Lily wasn’t going to buy him another.

‘Do you think your brother Sean is still having his lunch?’ she asked him.

‘Probably back home on the farm by now,’ Daniel said. ‘Sean left the army after Eve was killed. Came home to work with my dad. Keep an eye on me.’ Daniel grimaced.

‘Come on,’ Lily said, standing up. ‘I’m going to drop you back home, and you’re going to tell your brother the truth.’

Daniel went pale.

‘But what does it matter if you’re going back to America?’ he said weakly.

Lily looked at Daniel in disgust. ‘This place is part of my husband’s legacy, and his grandmother lives here. How do you think it’s been for her, all these years?’ Despite never having met her, Lily felt very protective of Rosemary Kelly. She was the only link Lily had left with Connor. As they stood up to go, something occurred to Lily. ‘How did Sean know about me and Connor?’

‘I don’t know exactly, but I think Connor’s grandmother told a friend of our Mam,’ Daniel told her. ‘News spreads fast in a place like Mullaghmore. Sean wanted to make sure Connor never came back. My brother can be very intimidating.’

‘I’m not frightened of your brother, Daniel,’ Lily said.

And indeed, Lily didn’t give Sean a second thought as she drove Daniel back home. What she was thinking about were all those secrets Connor had kept from her for the whole of their marriage. Lily could let the hurt of that go, though, because she’d loved him. And if you really loved someone, shouldn’t you be able to forgive them anything?





Chapter Twenty