Breakfast at Darcy's (36 page)

And it’s then that it hits me, an idea that could change Tara’s future for ever.

I put my hand on the daisy chain that Megan has placed around my neck. ‘Perhaps you might be right about all this stuff, Megan.
This is certainly an idea I would never have thought of before on my own.’ I leave the safe cocoon of the building and step
outside to view my idea from a different angle. Could it really work?

It’s then that I notice it for the first time. Immediately I rush forward towards the doorway and try and scrape back some
of the greenery that has been entwining itself around the ancient brickwork for so many years, in an attempt to disguise the
form that lies hidden beneath. And as the branches loosen their hold on the stone, I find it: my final stamp of approval –
from my aunt Molly.

‘Roxi,’ I hiss over the top of the bar that night, ‘I need your help.’

‘What’s up, honey?’ she asks, sauntering over in her blue neon satin shoes. Roxi still insists on wearing her heels even now,
after all this time on the island. I don’t know how she manages it. But Roxi is adamant she just can’t get comfortable in
flats, and since she doesn’t venture much further around the island than her cottage, O’Connell Street and the pub, she seems
to get away with it. The only time she relents is on her regular visits up to see Eamon, when she borrows a pair of Niall’s
trainers to ‘travel’ in.

‘I need you to distract Caitlin for a few minutes tonight,’ I whisper, glancing over at her sitting with Dermot across the
other side of the pub.

‘Why?’ Roxi asks suspiciously, narrowing her eyes.

‘Because I need to get Dermot on his own.’

Roxi’s eyes shoot open as wide as saucers. ‘Oh, do you,
now?’ she says, putting her hands on her hips. ‘And does Conor know about this?’

‘Not like that! I need to talk to him about something, and Caitlin won’t leave his side just lately,’ I look down at the bar
for a moment, ‘especially when I’m around,’ I mumble.

‘What was that?’ Roxi says, leaning in towards me across the bar.

‘I said, especially when I’m around. I don’t know what’s up with her recently, she’s gone all funny on me.’

Roxi stands upright again for a moment to look over at Caitlin, then leans back down again on the bar, her lips formed into
a bright pink ‘O’ shape. ‘I see,’ she says knowingly.

‘What do you mean, you see? You see what?’

‘I thought I saw this coming,’ she tilts her head to one side and then to the other. ‘But I didn’t want to admit it. I think
Caitlin’s a teeny bit jealous.’

‘Of?’

‘You, you daft Mars Bar. Of your relationship with Dermot.’

‘But Dermot and I don’t have a relationship, not
that
sort of relationship, anyway.’

‘I know that, and you know that, Darce. But she doesn’t.’

I glance over at their table again and, as if by magic, Caitlin notices me at that very moment and immediately reaches for
Dermot’s hand.

I thrust my head into my own hands and rest my elbows on the bar. ‘Argh! All I want to do is talk to him without Caitlin being
there.’

‘Why?’

‘I just do, Rox.’ I look up at her. ‘I can’t tell you at the moment. Please just trust me on this.’

‘Babe, I’d trust you with my life.’ She takes hold of my hand. ‘How long do you need?’

I smile up at her. ‘As long as possible.’

Roxi winks. ‘Right, you leave it to me. Come back in an hour and he’s all yours.’

When I return to The Temple Bar after an hour, like Roxi has instructed, I find the pub absolutely jam-packed with customers.
Not only is Roxi rushing to and fro behind the bar with pints of beer and glasses of spirits in her hand, but so is Caitlin.

‘What did you do?’ I ask her quickly, as she stands still for a few seconds pulling a pint of beer.

‘Put the word about the island that drinks are all half price for the next few hours, then made sure Ryan had the night off
with Siobhan. Paddy’s already babysitting Megan tonight – so I’m
oh so desperate
for staff. That’s where Caitlin comes in. She told me the other night she’d done some bar work in a hotel once.’

I shake my head at her ingenuity and guile, and give thanks for about the hundredth time since I’ve known her that she’s my
friend.

‘Go!’ she says, nodding her head in Dermot’s direction, ‘while you’ve got the chance.’

Thank you
, I mouth to her as I fight my way over to Dermot, who is still sitting at a table in the corner of the bar. He’s quietly
drinking a pint of Guinness amid the chaos that surrounds him.

‘Can I join you?’ I ask, standing next to him.

‘It’s a free island.’ Dermot pulls out the chair next to him where Caitlin was sitting earlier.

Caitlin immediately appears in front of us at the table.
‘Darcy, I didn’t see you come back into the pub, I’m just helping Roxi out for a bit.’ She looks between Dermot and me. ‘Can
I get you something to drink?’

‘You’re busy, Caitlin, there’s no need to wait on us at the table, but thanks.’

‘No, it’s no trouble, really.’ Caitlin insists. ‘Anything for my man!’ She puts her hand protectively on Dermot’s shoulder.

‘I’ll have whatever he’s having then, please,’ I gesture to Dermot’s almost half-empty pint glass. ‘Can I get you a drink,
Dermot? Same again, is it?’

‘If I wasn’t a gentleman I’d ask for a double whiskey,’ Dermot says, looking at me with a straight face, then he smiles. ‘Yeah,
another pint of Guinness would be great please, Caitlin.’

Caitlin picks up his glass. ‘Back in a minute, then,’ she says, scuttling off to the bar.

‘So, what do you want?’ Dermot asks, turning to me.

‘How do you know I want something?’ I reply with an innocent face.

‘You regularly come up to men in pubs and buy them drinks, do you?’ Dermot raises an eyebrow.

‘All right, all right, yes, I do want something from you.’ As I launch into my carefully prepared speech, I keep an eye on
the bar as Caitlin begins to fill two glasses with Guinness. ‘How are you finding living here, Dermot?’

‘Fine, Darcy, why?’ There’s a hint of amusement in Dermot’s eyes as he enjoys watching me squirm.

‘You’re not finding it boring in any way?’

‘No,’ Dermot folds his arms and sits back in his chair.

‘I just wondered, that’s all. Now that the cottage renovations are complete, and all you’re really doing is a bit of maintenance
work, I thought you might find it a bit beneath your capabilities.’

Dermot looks at me suspiciously now. ‘And?’

‘And, I wondered if you might be in need of something a bit more challenging to get your teeth into – or even your power tools.’

There’s not even a hint of a smile from Dermot: he simply waits. Then he lifts his half-empty glass. ‘Do you want some of
this, Darcy? You sound like you could do with some balls before you ask me whatever it is you’re going to Timbuktu and back
to pluck up the courage to ask.’

I pull a face at Dermot and take the glass from him. Then I take a few long gulps before passing it back.

‘I want to build a holistic healing centre,’ I say, coming right out with it.

Dermot stares at me for a few seconds before taking several long gulps from the glass himself. ‘Where?’ he asks, not mincing
his words, as always.

‘Here, on Tara, up the hill, on the site of the old ruins.’

‘Why?’

‘Because it makes perfect sense, that’s why. We need to attract visitors to Tara all year round, not just through the spring
and summer, and with this we could cater for people throughout the year, whatever the weather. I’m thinking along the lines
of a holistic health resort, Dermot, with all the activities we’ve already been providing and more. Things like yoga and alternative
therapies – I think there’d be a real market for it. These days, people are crying out to get away from it all and find relaxation
in the peace and quiet, and we could provide them with that without having to fly thousands of miles.’

Dermot considers this for moment. ‘Be a bit of an eyesore, wouldn’t it; a great big building sitting up on top of that hill?’

‘Not if we designed it right. I’m not talking about some huge five-storey monstrosity of a building, but something that would
blend in with the history and landscape of Tara. Working with what was once there many years ago.’ As I’m talking, I notice
Dermot’s eyes glaze over as he thinks this all through himself. ‘Think of it, Dermot,’ I say, sweeping my hand across in front
of our faces, ‘you’d be starting from scratch, designing a building of your very own.’

‘It wouldn’t come cheap,’ he says, looking at me. ‘If you wanted to do it right, that is.’

This is the only slight drawback to my plan – finances. After my conversation with Niall today, I know funding this project
is going to be difficult. But that little setback isn’t going to stop me. I’ll think of something …

‘I know,’ I say excitedly, pleased to have sparked his interest. ‘I’d want it to be in keeping with whatever building was
there before; even rebuild it if we could, to look like the original. We’d need to do some research to find out.’

‘I don’t even know if you can get bricks like that any more,’ Dermot says, his own mind beginning to tick over the many problems
he might encounter if he took on this project.

‘I’m sure you could find something similar.’ I smile enthusiastically at him. ‘So, do you think you could do it?’

‘Darcy, that question was never in doubt,’ Dermot says firmly. ‘The question that does remain, though, is what is everyone
else going to think about it?’

‘I think it’s best we don’t mention it to anyone else yet,’ I lean in towards him in a conspiratorial fashion. ‘Not until
we’ve
got everything sorted in our own minds what we want to do. Then I’ll bring in everyone else who needs to be involved individually,
one at a time. Eventually I’ll make a general announcement to everyone when we know exactly what our plans are.’

‘What about Conor?’ Dermot asks, turning away from me and picking up his glass again. ‘Will you tell him?’

I think about this. Do I want to tell Conor my plans? He was the one who originally suggested I find a ‘thing’ for Tara, so
that we can continue attracting visitors to the island, so I suppose I ought to. But lately I’ve felt less and less like sharing
things with Conor, plus I really want to keep Dermot on side. ‘Not to begin with, no.’

Dermot nods. ‘Good.’ He puts down his glass again.

‘So we’ve got a deal then?’ I ask, smiling at him.

‘Yes, Darcy,’ Dermot turns to me reaches out his hand under the table and we have a tiny, inconspicuous shake on it. ‘We’ve
definitely got a deal.’

‘Two pints of Guinness,’ Caitlin says suddenly, plonking two glasses down in front of us on the table.

‘Thanks, Caitlin.’ Quickly I release Dermot’s hand and reach for my glass.

‘So what have you two been talking about?’ she asks, hovering. ‘I would have brought your drinks over sooner, but I’ve been
caught up at the bar.’

‘Oh, not much,’ I say, lifting my glass for a much-needed drink.

‘The weather mostly,’ Dermot suggests, draining the last of his first glass and picking up his new one.

‘I see,’ Caitlin says, biting on her bottom lip.

‘Really, Caitlin, we’ve been chatting about boring building stuff,’ I say, telling the truth.

Caitlin nods, but she doesn’t look very convinced.

‘Caitlin!’ Roxi calls from the bar, ‘I
really
need your help over here.’

‘Just coming,’ Caitlin calls back. ‘I’ve got to go. I’ll be just over there if you need me, though.’

What she actually means is
I’ll be just over there watching.

‘Sure, Caitlin, we’ll shout if we want anything, thanks.’

‘Shall we get out of here?’ Dermot asks as soon as Caitlin’s gone. ‘It’s going to be difficult to keep this quiet in here
with so many people about, and if we went over to yours we could check out some information on the internet.’

I look at my watch. ‘Thing is, I said I’d meet Conor in here at nine. He’s taken himself off fishing tonight while he’s got
some time off from the visitors.’

‘Oh right, well, not to worry then.’ Dermot picks up his glass and takes a long drink. ‘We can do this some other time.’

Damn it, I don’t want Dermot to lose interest. Not while he’s so enthusiastic about the project.
‘No, its OK, Conor seems to forget all about time when he’s fishing; he might not come off that beach until midnight. Let’s
go now.’

As I get ready to leave the pub, I lean across the bar while Dermot is still at the table trying to waste as little of his
Guinness as he can. ‘Rox,’ I call, but Roxi’s busy serving, so Caitlin comes over.

‘Yes?’ she asks. ‘Can I help?’

‘Could you tell Conor that I’ve gone back to my cottage, if he comes in here to meet me later?’

‘Sure,’ Caitlin says, smiling brightly. ‘That’s grand, Darcy, I’ll tell him. Are you going now, then?’

‘Yes, I am,’ I look back for Dermot. ‘Are you ready, Dermot?’

‘Yep,’ Dermot walks over, drains the last of his pint glass and bangs it down on the bar. ‘Cheers for that, Caitlin, you pull
a fantastic pint. I’ll see you later.’

I can almost feel the daggers hitting my neck and back as I leave the pub with Dermot while Woody and Louis run about our
feet, happy to be outside in the fresh air once again.

On our way we drop in to check on Megan, who’s over playing at Paddy and Niall’s cottage tonight – and I mean playing. When
we arrive, Paddy has got two tents erected in their front room that he’s made by draping bed sheets across the lounge furniture.
He and Megan are playing cowboys and Indians in full headdresses that they’ve made earlier today, while Niall sits quietly
trying to read a book in the kitchen. And I marvel yet again at how Megan can at one minute be so grown-up, and the next so
childlike. Leaving Niall and Paddy’s, we continue on across O’Connell Street towards my cottage.

We’ve spent a good couple of hours perched in front of my computer, scribbling down ideas and pricing up materials. So far
we’ve discovered that not only is this project going to cost an awful lot of money, but the building we’re going to renovate
appears to have been used in the past as a place of worship – the islanders’ own little church. While we stop to have a break
for a few minutes, Dermot picks up the bottle of Irish whiskey we’d decided to break into about an hour ago. It’s another
gift sent over from a contented visitor after his holiday. They seem
to like sending me whiskey − I have quite a stash now. He proceeds to top up our glasses once more.