‘Thanks, Granny, I . . . It was a shock; I thought we were going to make it as a couple. I saw me having a future with him, children . . . a home, working the business together.’ Marie-Claire broke into fresh sobs and Imelda’s mouth tightened into a grim line and she wished she could have five minutes with the cheater who had made her grandchild weep such bitter tears.

‘What’s for you won’t pass you by,’ she murmured, stroking Marie-Claire’s thick auburn hair as Keelin handed her daughter a tissue.

‘I’m sorry I was so unforgivably rude, earlier, Granny I shouldn’t have said those things,’ Marie-Claire said, shamefaced, breaking away from her grandmother’s embrace to look up at her.

‘Maybe I needed it saying, child. I’ve become a bitter old woman and I was a bitter young woman too, because I thought everyone else had a better life than me. And how wrong I was,’ Imelda said sheepishly.’ I wasted my life feeling sorry for myself. Don’t go down that path because of that Canadian fella. Don’t hold on to the bitterness, and end up like me, a foolish old woman with a lot of regrets,’ Her two plump cheeks were pink with emotion. She’d never expressed herself like this before, and it was . . . what was that word Keelin often used about women? Empowering, yes, that was it, she felt empowered by speaking her heartfelt feelings in a very honest way. Not trying to make others feel bad, or not making herself out to be greater than anyone else. Just saying what felt real and true to her. What an emancipation! What a revelation this morning was proving to be. If only it had happened years ago, Imelda thought regretfully.

‘Perhaps his cheating broke a bigger cross for you,’ Brigid said reflectively, unaware that her sister was having a life-changing epiphany. ‘If it had happened when you were married and had children, and he cheated then, it would be much more difficult to deal with. Now you can make a complete break with no ties.’ Brigid’s blue eyes, undimmed by the passing of the years, focused laser-like on her great-niece. And as always, Marie-Claire admired their beauty and especially the tiny flecks of gold in the iris that sometimes caught the sun’s light.

‘I know you’re right, and I know, as Maman always says, “things happen for a reason”,’ she sighed. ‘But it’s bloody hard starting over again in my thirties, I’m at a crossroads and I don’t know what road to take and it all happened so unexpectedly, I’m still trying to adjust.’ She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, trying hard to compose herself. She was shocked at how upset she’d become. She’d thought she was over the worst of it.