Page 67 of One Day and Forever
‘I know. Casey Lowden said you helped. I’m glad you did that. It was the right thing to do.’
‘I should have done it from the outset.’
‘Yes.’
‘But that’s the thing, Kara. You always know what the right thing to do is. It just takes some of us a heartbeat longer to get there.’
There was a click and Kara pulled the phone away from between their ears and checked the screen. ‘Shit, my phone died. Aaargh! He sounded really upset, Ollie.’ She was now standing still, as if frozen to the spot, just a few yards away from the gate. ‘What should I do?’
Ollie shrugged, genuinely at a loss as to what to advise her, in case it was the wrong thing, which, let’s face it, was likely to be the case.
‘I don’t know, Kara. But what did Josh say?You always know what the right thing to do is.Just decide what that is and do it.’
34
ALICE
‘Okay, sweetheart, well, I’m glad you still hadn’t left the house. I know, but it can’t be helped. I’ll call you in the morning and let you know what time I’ll be arriving. Love to Sophie and to you.’
‘Your son?’ Cillian asked, his words almost drowned out by the loud horn that went off to signify that the luggage carousel was about to start moving.
‘Yes. Rory. He’s the same age as Zac. They actually remind me a bit of each other.’
She didn’t say that this morning she’d been convinced that there were physical similarities too. Especially as now she was face to face with Cillian Corlan, she was looking at a real-life reminder that Larry McLenn didn’t have a monopoly on pale blue eyes.
Their conversation was interrupted again by the noise of the conveyor belt starting up and beginning its slow trundle around the baggage reclaim hall.
The process at the customer services desk had been remarkably swift. The weary, exhausted ground staff had simply informed them that due to the weather and the resulting backlog, combined with the non-negotiable curfew for planestaking off and landing at night, their flights had been cancelled until morning. Now that the snow had stopped falling and the fog had lifted, they were managing to get a select few out before the curfew – the flights that had been delayed longest – but there simply wasn’t time to get them all away. As a result, rooms were being made available to them at a nearby hotel. Anyone with luggage was advised to wait behind, but those who only had hand luggage were free to go.
She’d briefly considered going back to Val’s house for the night, but she didn’t want to trouble Val yet again, by getting her out of her bed. And then there would be the taxis there and back too. No, this made much more sense. Besides, this was likely to be the only time that she was in the company of her old friend’s husband, and she was enjoying hearing about Morag’s life and reminiscing about their past.
Decision made, she’d gone along with the instructions from the airline staff.
‘Son, is that the hotel you stayed in before?’ she’d heard Cillian ask Zac. He’d mentioned that he’d had to stay overnight at the airport hotel on a previous occasion – or was it two occasions? – but Alice hadn’t got the details yet. She presumed it would be down to the weather, because he’d mentioned that both times it was in January.
Zac had nodded. ‘It is.’
The lad looked shattered now and no wonder. It had been quite a day for him. In the last hour or so he’d got quieter and quieter, and she was worried that the emotional impact of the day was still hitting him. No matter what, she knew he’d be fine though. He’d got the answer to his question about his father, and it was the best result that he could have hoped for. It was so obvious that the two men had a brilliant relationship and that Cillian adored his son. Every bit of her wished that Rory had a father like that too.
‘Why don’t you run over then and get the rooms sorted? I’ll wait with Alice and get the luggage,’ Cillian had suggested.
‘Dad, I’m not having you lugging cases all the way over there. I’ll wait here for them, and you two go on over.’
‘Nonsense. I’m perfectly capable of handling a few cases.’ Alice didn’t doubt that for a second. If she remembered correctly, Cillian was only a couple of years older than her, so he wasn’t even in his sixties yet. And he’d already told her that working with his construction company, on top of three gym sessions a week, kept him fit. ‘I’d much rather do that than stand in queues at reception and fill out all that paperwork. Alice and I can chat away while we’re waiting. Is that okay with you, Alice? I’ll put all the cases on a trolley, so you’ll not be having to cart them yourself.’
‘That sounds like the ideal plan, as long as you don’t mind, Zac?’
‘If you’re sure…’ Zac had checked, to which Alice had nodded gratefully.
She knew that she would have handled this on her own, with no issues at all – she’d coped with so much more than a minor travel blip in recent years – but she had to admit, it was good to be dealing with this alongside friends.
‘I think that’s my cases there,’ she said, pointing to the two purple suitcases that had been going away gifts from Val and all the women in their gang, the friends that she hadn’t even met a year ago, but who would now be part of her life forever.
Cillian loaded them both on to the trolley, along with his own and Zac’s, and they made their way out of the terminal building and across the signposted path that led directly to the hotel. Someone had cleared the path so that trolleys didn’t have to be pushed through the snow, but still the cold had hit them as soon as the doors had opened. Although, it felt strangely refreshing to have the bite of frost in the air.
When they reached reception, Zac was already standing there with their keys.
‘Here you go. Dad, you’re in 201, I’m next door in 203, and Alice, you’re in 205.’
