‘So, any more news from Dad?’ Niall began. They were still waiting for the promised prospectus to arrive for this fancy school Niall would be attending when he got to Sydney. For some reason, his dad still hadn’t gotten round to sending it on.
‘Yes, I got him last night. He’s sent on some brochures…’ She sipped her tea. ‘It looks nice, lots of sunshine and it’s even got a pool and a fairly decent-looking library.’
‘Yeah?’ He sounded less enthusiastic than his mother.
‘He’s really looking forward to you going out there,’ she said warmly.
‘So am I.’ But Niall wasn’t sure that he was looking forward to it anymore. After all, it sounded as if it wouldn’t be very different to being in boarding school in Dublin; instead of freezing in the winter, now he’d be boiling in the summer.
‘We’ll have to get you a whole new Aussie wardrobe…’ She was flicking through her phone, looking at khakis and loafers.
‘Mum…’ he said tentatively, ‘Dad said you were thinking of enrolling me in the local school if Australia hadn’t been a runner.’
‘It seemed like the obvious choice. After all, it’s different being a GP to doing night shifts, and I know that even if you don’t complain, you’re not happy at St Brendan’s.’
‘You never said…’
‘Well, there was hardly any point, not once your father agreed and, anyway, I didn’t think you’d want to move back here. You’ve always seemed so set against it. Who knows, if it wasn’t for—’ she nodded towards his grandmother’s bedroom‘—maybe I wouldn’t even have considered it. But, with you in Australia, it seems silly to go back to a job I hate in a city where really I don’t feel I fit in anymore.’ Her face clouded over, just a little and he recognised immediately that the emotion was hurt. His attitude, everything about the way he’d been these last few months had been cruel and he knew now he had to do something to make it up to her.
‘I’m sorry, Mum, for the way I’ve behaved, you know. I must have been unbearable most of the time.’ He mumbled his apology. He was too embarrassed to look her in the eye, so instead he inspected his mug as if it held the divine answers to unlock the top levels of Mastermind. ‘I’m glad you’re getting the chance to start a new life somewhere you’ll be happy.’
‘Honestly, Niall.’ She reached out and squeezed his hand. ‘You have nothing to say sorry for. It’s been a tough few years for both of us, but we’ve come through it. We’re fine and now, look at you, my big man, off to Australia.’ She smiled bravely.
‘Still, I’m sorry, Mum, for… you know, everything – the way I’ve been to you and to Gran.’ He felt hot tears rise up in his eyes, but he was not sad. It felt as if they were caused by some other overflowing emotion, like the release of a dam he’d been holding onto since the divorce.
‘Oh, Niall.’ His mother’s eyes were filled with tears too. She pulled herself up from her chair and moved to his side of the table, wrapping her arms around him tightly. ‘I love you so much, you know. I only want you to be happy.’
‘I know. I’ve been such a brat though; I don’t know how you’ve put up with me.’ They both laughed at that. Niall rubbed his hand roughly across his face.
‘Don’t say that. You were entitled to feel a bit lost for a while. The divorce wasn’t easy on either of us. I’m so proud of you.’ She was hugging him so close, he thought he’d suffocate, but this once, he would not complain.
‘Ah, Mum, come off it, now; get a grip on yourself.’ He shoved her away and ran his fingers through his hair, spiking it up so it looked as cool as he could manage to make it.
That night, Niall Nolan lay in bed for a long time, his eyes counting out the stars through the open skylight above his head. He remembered what Dan said to him, about families and time passing. At the time, he didn’t believe it could pass half fast enough to the end of the summer but now, with his trip to Sydney impending, he felt a sense of what that meant. He would be leaving at the end of August. According to his father’s email, that meant there was less than two weeks here in Ballycove and he planned to make the most of every single minute of that time.
33
Elizabeth
It seemed to Elizabeth that the weekend sunshine had taken its parasol and decided to hightail it as far away from Ballycove as it possibly could on the Tuesday evening when Dan was due to pick her up for their drive to meet Mother Agatha.