‘So what’ll you do when the house is finished?’ I asked one night after dinner. ‘What’s your next project?’
‘Another baby,’ Brigit said.
‘And I suppose we’d better get married,’ Colm said.
‘Is that … a proposal?’ Brigit asked.
‘Well … why not.’ Colm shrugged. ‘Be easier for the kids when they go to school.’
‘Now that’s a story for the grandkids.’ Luke was highly entertained.
‘What about you two?’ Brigit nodded at Luke and me. ‘Any plans to …？’
‘We’re fine.’ I was brief.
A couple of times, Luke had asked me to marry him and I’d talked him out of it. My excuse was feminism, but really it was good, old-fashioned superstition. My life was as good as it could possibly get – what Luke and I had was too precious to risk by looking for more.
On our last day of that perfect week, Colm, Brigit and the kids had to go to the bright lights of Galway city on some official business. Luke and I decided to walk the boundaries of the property.
At the far edge of Brigit and Colm’s eight acres was an expanse of limestone, shaped like a shallow bowl, perhaps ten metres by twenty. With the strangled trees and the total absence of signs of human life, it was almost too much for me. ‘It’s like being on another planet.’
A sound interrupted us. A splash. Startled, we looked down. Water was gushing up from the cracks between the rocks, as if from a burst pipe.
‘What the –’ Frightened, I moved away, as water spouted from a wider expanse of the land, then from all around us. We seemed to be in the centre of whatever this was. ‘Luke! What’s going on? We’d better …’ What? Ring the authorities? But this wasn’t anything as civilized as a burst pipe. Was it natural or … supernatural? I couldn’t be sure.
‘It’s okay.’ Luke seemed excited as he moved us to higher ground. ‘I think I know what this is.’
Bamboozled, frightened, I watched as a pool began to form.
‘It’s a disappearing lake.’ Luke sounded full of wonder. ‘Colm told me about it. Beneath us is a source of water.’
‘Right underneath us?’ Quickly, I stepped back.
‘The rock is porous. Sometimes enough water bubbles up to fill the hollow. It creates a temporary lake.’
‘What if it doesn’t stop? And we all drown?’
He just smiled.
‘We should get Colm,’ I said.
‘He’s in Galway. Babe, there’s nothing to be afraid of. This is … miraculous.’
Astonishingly quickly, the hollow became a pool. Before long, it was deep enough, if you’d wanted, to swim a few strokes in. Reflecting the sky, the water was an intense turquoise, with a strange opaque quality.
‘Why does it look milky?’
‘Sediment,’ Luke said. ‘Minerals. Calcium.’
It was too logical an explanation – all of it – for this very strange event.
‘It’s years since this last happened,’ Luke said.
‘Why is it happening now?’
Again, he just smiled – beguiled by it all. Slowly my fear turned into awe.
‘It’s weird,’ I admitted. ‘But … it’s good weird?’
He laughed in delight. ‘It’s amazing. You were right earlier. We could be on another planet. I could be the last man on earth.’
‘In that case, lucky me.’
And I thought, If you asked me now, I’d say yes.
I turned, about to tell him – but he saw whatever was written on my face and laughed softly. ‘Really?’
‘Ask me. Say the words.’
‘Rachel Walsh, will you marry me?’
‘Yes, Luke Costello, I will marry you.’
16
‘Hi,’ I said to the perfectly groomed young woman, ‘I’m here to pick up Nick Quinlivan.’
‘Of course! I just need to see your ID. Perfect! I believe his plane landed a few moments ago. Valeria will take you through.’
Valeria was even more alluring than her colleague: radiant skin, shiny hair swept up into a heavy bun and such a dazzling smile – almost too much beauty for this early on a Sunday morning. Although I was guessing that in the rich-person, private-plane universe, it was always 2.45 a.m. in a nightclub.
‘This is your space.’ It was a small, tasteful sitting room, the kind they have in boutique hotels. ‘What may I get you? Champagne? Mimosa?’
‘Erm … no thanks, I’m fine.’