A Change of Heart (The Heartfelt Series) Read online

  “Is that Pat’s taxi?” Larry asked, pointing at a vehicle on the deck. Frowning, Marianne nodded, shoving her hands in the pockets of her cords. She was longing to see Ryan, and felt, as she always did before they were reunited, the soft burning at the base of her chest, yet something was not right. Was it because Larry was with her? Or the dankness of the day dampening her anticipation, her bubble of joy suppressed as she scanned faces of passengers emerging from the salon. No Ryan.

  Then she saw him, standing apart, hands on the rails, face set stern. He lifted his hand in stiff salute. She pushed forward, moving faster, Larry jogging to keep up. A woman appeared behind him, glossy hair whipping back, long camel coat flapping in the breeze.

  “Oh my God, is that who I think it is?” Larry whispered hoarsely beside her. Marianne felt a rush of blood to her head.

  “What the hell is she doing here?” Larry said, catching Marianne by the arm.

  Marianne’s insides flipped over, she took a breath. “Now that is a surprise.” She swallowed hard. “It had to be dealt with sooner or later. I guess this is sooner.”

  “Jeez-us!” Larry exclaimed, looking up at the boat, then back at Marianne. “Okay, let me help with this Marianne, I know what we’re dealing with here,” he said, waving briefly at the wooden figures staring at them from the deck.

  “But we need to deal with this, Larry, me and Ryan,” her voice tight. Larry placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her to face him.

  “Please let me help, Marianne,” he said. “I know the rules of her game. There ain’t none, that’s all I’m saying.”

  She glanced up at the boat, hardly bearing to look.

  “Okay Larry.” She pulled her shoulders back, striding towards the water’s edge, smiling broadly now.

  “Hey, hi there, what a surprise, great to see you!” she called above the wind.

  Ryan beamed back. Bloody hell, he thought, Marianne should be the actor. Marianne grinned back at him. I’m going to kill you for not warning me about this, her eyes blazed radar-like at her beloved.

  “What the hell could I do? I left you a voicemail as soon as she was out of earshot, and yes, she just showed up, just like that.” Ryan pulled the door of the 4x4 closed, after ensuring Larry and Angelique were safely on their way in Pat’s cab.

  “You’d no idea?” Marianne was furious.

  “Are you joking, I thought she was still on tour with the boyfriend. We all thought she was. What we didn’t know was his tour took him to London, that’s how she got here so quickly, how she knew about the TV show, me quitting.” Ryan was livid too. “Please don’t be angry, Marie, that’s playing right into her hands. This is as much a shock to me as it is to you. I thought Angelique would be out of circulation for a long time, long enough to make things legal anyway. I can’t believe she just showed up like this.”

  Marianne put the key in the ignition. “I can, when you think about it, it’s only what any mother would do as soon as she heard her husband had absconded with her child.”

  “Aw, come on she’s not ‘any mother’, she’s hardly seen Joey since he was born. He’s had a string of nannies and me whenever I could be there. She’s been either partying here, there and everywhere or collapsed in a heap.” He placed his hand on her arm as she reached for the steering wheel, “That’s why I brought him here, that’s why I want him with us, you and me, he deserves better.” His voice turned to a whisper, “He’s only a little boy.”

  He sounded bereft, desolate. She opened her arms and he threw himself into her embrace, gripping her tightly to him, burying his face in her hair, breathing her in. After a moment he lifted her chin, pressing her mouth firmly with his, and then, because he was hungry for her, a deep warm kiss, sliding his tongue between her lips, lighting the fire inside her, the way he always did. She bit his lip playfully as she pulled away.

  “Okay?” she asked, smiling grimly.

  “Yep, okay now I’m on solid ground.” He looked into her eyes and then straight ahead. “Onwards then, let’s get to Maguire’s before all hell breaks loose.”

  “Larry will have things under control. He was very keen to travel with Angelique in the taxi, I got the impression he wanted to get the lie of the land, hear her version of events anyway.” Marianne started the engine.

  “Larry’s a good negotiator, I’ll give you that, and he’s used to dealing with difficult women, Lena’s pretty scary, but I’ve just spent an hour and a half with Angelique and she’s weirder than weird at the moment. She may be out of rehab but she’s not okay, not by a long chalk,” Ryan said.

  Chapter Ten

  Call In The Cavalry

  The conversation in the back of Pat MacReady’s taxi would have been very interesting if Pat could have made head or tail of it. Larry and Angelique were forced to communicate in hushed tones because the elderly cab did not boast the luxury of a glass partition. Under normal circumstances Pat would have no qualms earwigging, but between avoiding potholes in the road, and ensuring the luggage did not land on his head, it was impossible to concentrate on the whispered conversation behind him.

  He did overhear Larry ask Angelique to, “Make your visit as brief and as pleasant as possible, for all concerned.” He also heard Angelique tell Larry, “I will do as I damn well please.” Then it went muted. He heard the actress exclaim that Larry was “Totally wrong”, about something and with her new medication she was “completely stable.” Larry said he knew why she was there and if she did not do as he asked, he would let the authorities know where she was. Then he heard, without a shadow of a doubt, the Angelique-one exclaim, “You bastard, that’s blackmail!” And Larry said, she needed to understand her behaviour could have very serious consequences. She could visit her son, but she had to be nice to everybody and then leave, she was not to make any demands or cause any trouble. “That’s the deal, mess up and I’ll let the cops know you’re here and don’t think I won’t let your beloved uncle know what’s been happening either.” Then she snapped back at him to mind his own business.

  Looking in the rear-view, mirror Pat saw the actress put a hand to the necklace at her throat and then the Larry-fella took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him saying, “There’s too much at stake here for you to mess things up, do as I say or it’ll be the end of you!” with his face all twisted and nasty.

  Then Larry tapped Pat on the shoulder, frightening the shite out of him and told him to “get a move on, there’s a good man,” so he did, driving like a bat out of hell, leaving Ryan and Marianne in the ancient 4x4 far behind.

  And that is precisely how Pat told it to Padar, standing half-in and half-out of Maguire’s kitchen, as Angelique swept past them. Padar was fascinated, barely listening to Pat’s story. He had never seen such a beautiful creature close up. He watched until she disappeared.

  “So the Larry-fella was a bit scary then?” Padar asked, zoning back into Pat’s conversation.

  “They both were,” said Pat. “There’s bad blood there, I tell ya.”

  And before Padar could find out anymore, Angelique asked for the bathroom, which threw them into a panic, until Sean Grogan, sitting up at the bar, directed her to the ladies, all smarmy-like.

  “And no-one knew she was coming?” Padar asked Pat in a stage whisper. Pat shook his head.

  “I picked her up from the taxi rank, she didn’t have a clue where she was going, asked a few of the taxi-men did they know where Ryan O’Gorman was living, and as luck would have it I knew Ryan was heading back from New York, checked he was with Joyce, so took her straight there,” Pat confirmed. “Of course, I’d no idea who she was, just a fare as far I was concerned.” Padar looked unconvinced.

  “Well Joyce must have told Miss MacReady,” Sean called over, “because she came in here like a screaming banshee, trawled them all up, the kids, the dog, the lot and took them over to Weathervane. Like a fecking whirlwind that woman is, when the mood takes her.”

  It was Padar’s turn to nod at Pat.


  “Sean’s right, proper riled, Miss MacReady was, saying, “No swishy-swashy actress was swooping in here like a pterodactyl interfering with her family, so-called mother or not.” Jaysus, you wouldn’t mess with any of them in that humour, talk about protecting their young.” Padar’s voice was barely a whisper as Angelique reappeared.

  “I’m sure that’s a great comfort to the whole lot of them,” said Sean, joining in the conversation, invited or not. “Miss MacReady would know all about rearing childer. A spinster all her life and then a daughter turns up out of nowhere, reared by another couple. Yes, she knows all about it alright.”

  “Ah, shut up, Sean,” Padar said, turning to smile at Angelique, who looked even more stunning now, freshly powdered with glossy red lips. She stopped before him, hair spilling over her shoulders, eyes dark under her lashes.

  “What is this place?” she asked, speaking slowly, hoping he could understand.

  “Maguire’s, ma’am,” Padar answered brightly. She continued to stare at him, arms folded, jaw set. “It’s the pub, ma’am.” Padar explained.

  “You mean this is a bar? I’m to stay in a bar?” her voice grew shrill.

  “Well, it’s an Inn really. It’s the only hotel on the island,” Padar offered, dusting a nearby shelf with his elbow. “We do a very nice full Irish breakfast and all the rooms have en suite,” he frowned momentarily. “Well, nearly all the rooms.”

  “In sweet? Is there no bellboy, no maid? My bags have been dumped in the hallway, is this how you treat your guests? Do you even have hot water?” she glared at him.

  Larry, who had helped ‘dump’ said bags, had been to wash his hands. “Okay?” he could see this was far from the case.

  “Larry, thank goodness. I can’t stay here, it’s the pits, book me in with you, wherever you’re staying, it will have to do,” she waved a hand at him.

  Larry raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m sorry Angelique, no room at the Inn. Well actually there is room at the Inn, here, but no room at my cottage, there,” he pointed through the window.

  “You’re in a cottage? What is this, Finnegans Wake? Christ, this is my worst nightmare.” Angelique put her hands to her temples and shook her shiny hair.

  “It’ll be fine, you see,” Larry assured her. “You’ll be made most welcome, and what’s a little discomfiture, when you’ve come all this way to see your son and check he’s happy and settled in his new home.”

  “Oh yes,” she dropped her hands by her sides, “where is he? Where is my poor baby boy?”

  “Up above in Weathervane,” Padar told her. She stared at him blankly.

  “The cottage a couple of minutes from mine,” Larry said.

  “He’s in a cottage? But why?” Angelique was aghast.

  “That’s where he lives,” Larry explained. “With Ryan, Marianne, Monty and sometimes Bridget, they all live there.”

  She was incredulous. “And where, do tell, are the help living?”

  Larry started to collect her bags, “There ain’t no help Angelique, this ain’t Manhattan.”

  “This is worse than I imagined,” she said haughtily.

  “Remember what I said,” Larry told her quietly, “no drama, no trouble.”

  She ignored him and addressed Padar.

  “I’ll need at least three rooms, adjoining, two bathrooms also adjoining, and a maid. Can you hire me a maid?” she asked.

  “Ma’am, that’s no problem, I’ll get you a maid. Mary from the supermarket is a grand girl, and she only works there part-time,” Pat cut in.

  “I’ll need her full-time,” Angelique told him. “And you, driver, I’ll need you here for the duration of my visit, Larry will see to things,” she flashed Larry a smile. “Well, I need to be as comfortable as possible, I’ve been ill, remember.” She took a deep breath. “Now, bartender, have you mineral water?”

  “I do, ma’am,” Padar replied.

  “Good, bring a bottle, ice and lime juice to my suite immediately,” she swept towards the stairs.

  “Suite?” Padar squeaked, following Larry and Pat with the rest of the bags.

  Padar had just delivered Angelique’s tray when Marianne and Ryan arrived.

  “Well, look at that, a grand crowd off the ferry today. Good for business if nothing else. Welcome home, Ryan,” Padar said, pointedly to his friend.

  “You’ve met Angelique then?” Ryan replied flatly. Padar rolled his eyes upwards.

  “The children?” Marianne asked, keeping the anxiety out of her voice.

  “Up above in Weathervane. Miss MacReady and Sinead in charge, all shipshape, as usual,” Padar told them, smiling briefly at Marianne. There was a commotion, a clatter of footsteps as Pat and Larry reappeared followed by Angelique. She looked stunning in a cashmere sweater the colour of her eyes, a rope of pearls with diamond clasp at her throat and hair pushed behind her ears, revealing matching earrings. She was carrying a small leather case. She held it out to Padar.

  “I’m afraid I can’t find the safety deposit box,” she said sweetly. “Would you mind taking care of this please?” and dropped it on the bar, turning to beam at those gathered, extending a hand to Marianne.

  “At last, to meet properly again after all this time,” she smiled. “And now we have so much in common.”

  “Indeed.” It was the first time Marianne had addressed her directly. Angelique gave Marianne’s hand the merest squeeze.

  “Are you ready? Shall we go?” Marianne asked her. Angelique looked quizzical.

  “Go where? I’m here now, aren’t I?” Angelique enquired.

  “To Weathervane, our home.” Marianne let the statement hang in the air. “I’m sure you could use a nice cup of tea or coffee?”

  “I did not come here to drink tea, Miss Coltrane!” Angelique replied. Touché, thought Marianne. “I came to see my son and I intend to take him home, where he belongs.”

  “Whoa there,” Larry interjected, “steady Angelique, one step at a time.”

  Sean Grogan slid from his stool and was standing beside her, eyes on stalks. Ryan moved swiftly, blocking Sean’s view.

  “Let’s not discuss this here, Angelique. I know you’re anxious to see Joey.” He swiftly opened the door.

  Angelique shrugged his hand from her arm. “Very well, lead the way,” she conceded.

  Opening the door to Weathervane, Marianne was greeted with the aroma of freshly-baked bread, mingled with beeswax. She could hear laughter and the tinkling, lullaby chimes of Bridget’s mobile. She looked back at Ryan. He raised his eyebrows.

  The kitchen door opened and Mary Poppins appeared, complete with snowy frilled apron and a mop cap plonked on pinned-up hair. Monty trotted into the hall, tail wagging in welcome.

  “Oh, there you are and this must be Angelique? Very pleased to meet you, thrilled you came all this way to see us. It’s so important for Joey to know how loved and cherished he is, by all of us, all his family.” Miss MacReady gave them her broadest smile.

  “This is my mother,” Marianne introduced Miss MacReady to Angelique. Miss MacReady double-kissed the actress and led them into the kitchen, where the scene of perfect, domestic harmony had to be witnessed to be believed. Joey, shiny cheeked in a spotless romper suit was sitting in the playpen, gurgling as he stacked alphabet bricks. Sinead was beside him in the rocking chair, Bridget on her knee. The table was laid with coffee and biscuits, the log burner glowed in the corner, and through the window a line of washing flapped cheerily in the sea breeze.

  Sinead was wearing her midwife’s uniform, blonde hair clipped smoothly back, sensible shoes. She exuded calm, capable, confidence.

  Angelique flew across the room to where Joey was playing. She bent and lifted him into her arms.

  “Darling, darling,” she said, covering his face with kisses, “Mama has missed you so much.”

  Joey’s eyes widened with a flicker of recognition, then a curious look, first at Angelique, then Ryan, as he flung his arms towards Marianne. Angelique turn
ed away, but Joey twisted back reaching out to Marianne, dark eyes glittering, mouth pulled down. Ryan stepped into the space between them.

  “Okay, gently does it,” he said softly to Angelique, “we’re just getting this little guy settled. No big shocks, nothing too much too soon, eh?”

  “He’s my son, Ryan,” Angelique snapped, and then, with all eyes on her, started to weep. “I’m desolate without him, it’s been so hard for me, alone and worried out of my mind, hard just trying to carry on,” her voice trailed off.

  “Sit down.” Marianne took Joey from her, her cosy kitchen suddenly crowded. Angelique shot her a look through tears. “You’re tired, long journey. Let’s do as Ryan says, take things gently.” Marianne gave her a smile.

  Joey started to gurgle down at Bridget, who had wriggled away from Sinead in search of biscuits. Miss MacReady poured coffee. Angelique sat, daintily dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

  “I can’t believe how much he’s grown,” she said, giving Joey a watery smile, taking his hand, as he snuggled into Marianne’s lap.

  “He’s still underweight but he’s doing well,” Sinead said, giving the children half a biscuit each.

  “Sinead’s a close friend, but also a professional child carer,” Miss MacReady explained.

  “Has he been so ill, he needs professional help?” Angelique turned to Ryan.

  “Not professional help, we’re family,” Miss MacReady said. Angelique continued to glare at Ryan.

  “He needs building up, that’s all, good food, fresh air,” Ryan said.

  “Love and a stress-free environment,” Miss MacReady finished his sentence, “Like us all,” she laughed, busying herself at the sink. Marianne hid her smile in Joey’s hair. Her mother had a habit of saying exactly what she was thinking. Angelique opened her bag, taking three blue pills with her coffee.