Page 34 of Harbor Lights

As they reached the front door, she stopped. “Jay.” He turned. “You can talk to me anytime, okay? I do understand. I grew up around here different, too, remember?”

The boy nodded and his mother smiled in thanks as they left.

Returning to her surgery, Con ran her hands through her hair. The good mood she’d felt all day, knowing Shiv was just a couple of rooms away, had dissipated in the face of her inability to help a young person in need.

She went in search of Shiv and found her, overall sleeves rolled up, oiling the wooden worktop she’d clearly spent hours rubbing down to remove a decade of burn marks and stains.

“It’s like a new kitchen.” She ran her hands over the newly smooth wood.

“It’s some fantastic oak. All I’m doing is restoring its original beauty. I wish the cabin had a kitchen like this, instead of the 1960s house of horrors I’m trying to fix.”

“I hope your granddad is paying you well.”

Shiv shrugged as she worked. “He foots the bill for all the materials I order. My labor is in return for staying in the cabin.”

Con’s frustration spilled over into the way Shiv was being treated by family who should be supporting her. “That doesn’t seem fair, Siobhán. You’ve done a lot more than you initially agreed with him and he couldn’t rent it out in that condition. Could you renegotiate?”

Shiv turned from her work and leaned back on the surface, her gaze settling on Con’s face.

“What’s wrong? I don’t think it’s my free labor that’s bothering you.”

“What do you mean?” Con blinked and exhaled. “I don’t know how you know these things, but you’re right. There’s a couple of things, but the first one you can definitely do something about.”

“At your service, ma’am.” Shiv wiped her hands on a rag and grinned, and Con couldn’t help but smile back.

“Follow me.” She led the way into her surgery and indicated the enormous desk she’d inherited from her father. “This has been in the same position for sixty years. I’ve never thought to move it, but today, the time has come.”

Shiv laughed. “You’d better have a modest plan because if we’ve got to move it more than a few feet I think we’re gonna need more lesbians.”

She pulled her chair to the side. “I just want it up against the wall. I’ll sit this side.” She pointed to the end next to the window. “And patients’ chairs can be here. That way I can use the desk, but it’s not between me and my patients.”

Shiv nodded. “Plus, you can push all your papers to that side of the table, and they won’t fall on the floor.” She pulled out a measuring tape and made vague measurements of the stacks of paper. “I reckon you can get another eight to twelve inches of height before things become unstable.”

Con slapped her arm and spoke with mock indignation. “How dare you.” They giggled together, but underneath it, Con felt ashamed she was being teased for her messiness. She’d never been like this when she was younger. When she’d worked for her dad, she’d been the one to keep the surgery uncluttered and tidy.

“Let’s get it in place, and maybe I’ll have a clear out to celebrate the new location.”

Working together, they inched the heavy piece of furniture toward the wall, Shiv constantly checking they weren’t scratching the wooden floor. “I don’t want to make another job for myself. This is a beautiful floor. All the wood in this house is top quality.”

“It was built when my ancestors were very affluent landowners. All the land for miles round would have been part of their estate, even Inishderry. The landlord’s house would have been built to impress.”

Shiv found a clear section of the table and lifted herself to sit on the edge. “So, the Walshes and the O’Haras, and all the island families, would have been tenants?”

Con wished she’d never started down this route. “Yes. That was how it worked. The native Irish people weren’t allowed to own land. My ancestor was given it by the English king for his part in some war or another.”

“So how come the land isn’t yours anymore? My family appears to own a lot of the island now.”

“That’s a more recent development. Mostly down to your granddad and Anto buying up houses to rent out. Unlike them, my ancestors weren’t natural landlords. They didn’t agree with British rule, and as soon as it was legal to do so, they slowly sold off the land to the tenant farmers. We spent most of our money during the famine because my several times great-grandfather refused to let his tenants starve.”

Shiv jumped down from the desk. “That’s a good side of history to be on.” She lifted a chair and moved it toward the table, so there were three chairs close to Con’s own.

“Is this how you want it?”

The history lesson clearly over, Con nodded. “Perfect. thanks for your help.”

“What was the other thing?”

“What?” She wasn’t sure what Shiv was asking.

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