Keelin rubbed her wedding band with her thumb. Marrying Armand had been the second happiest day of her life. Giving birth to Marie-Claire had been the happiest. Whatever she did or said, her mother would never take those joys away from her.

The ping of a text brought Keelin out of her reverie, and she picked up the phone, blinking in the dark when the screen illuminated and she saw it was from Cormac to say he had seen the light come on in Imelda’s bedroom.

Keelin keyed in her thanks and turned off the phone. So Imelda was home safe after driving through that awful weather; that at least was a relief, she thought wearily as the wind howled in off the sea and the rain battered the bedroom window.

Beside her, Armand slept on, breathing deeply, rhythmically. She wished she could sleep with such serenity. But after the events of this evening she wondered would she ever be serene again.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Marie-Claire studied the post she’d typed in on her Facebook page:

A lovely reunion with the Sisters, and family and friends in the Four Winds, at the surprise party to celebrate my great-aunt’s eightieth birthday and retirement. When all is said and done, family is more important than anything.

Was the family bit over the top, especially when it was ‘family’ that had wrought havoc at the party? Should she post at all? It wasn’t really appropriate because the party had ended in disaster, but who, apart from those present, would know it?

She’d taken photos in the early stages of the party, when everyone was happy and having fun. She’d a few lovely selfies of herself and her mother, and a great one with Marie-Hélène laughing uproariously as they clinked glasses of Prosecco.

All taken before the party had turned to disaster and she discovered her parents had lied to her for her whole life. Didn’t they trust her? Marie-Claire felt her understanding of her parents shifting, like puzzle pieces she suddenly realized didn’t fit together as she’d thought. Was she posting to avoid thinking about what really happened?

This is all so shallow and immature, Marie-Claire upbraided herself. What age am I? Thirteen? Posting photos on social media to pretend to an ex-boyfriend that she was having fun in her life and getting on fine without him. How truly pathetic was that?

The real truth, Marie-Claire admitted to herself, was that she wanted to post about the party because today was the day she was supposed to be in New York, with Marc, holding talks to expand his company. She wanted her ex to see that she was enjoying life without him, although in reality quite the opposite was true.