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Back Before You Were Gone
Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Eight
  11. Nine
  12. Ten
  13. Eleven
  14. Twelve
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-one
  24. Twenty-two
  25. Twenty-three
  26. Twenty-four
  27. Twenty-five
  28. Twenty-six
  29. Twenty-seven
  30. Twenty-eight
  31. Twenty-nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-one
  34. Thirty-two
  35. Thirty-three
  36. Thirty-four
  37. Thirty-five
  38. Thirty-six
  39. Thirty-seven
  40. Thirty-eight
  41. Thirty-nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-one
  44. Forty-two
  45. Forty-three
  46. Forty-four
  47. Forty-five
  48. Forty-six
  49. Forty-seven
  50. Forty-eight
  51. Forty-nine
  52. Fifty
  53. Fifty-one
  54. Acknowledgements
  55. An Eastbourne Murder Mystery
  56. Canelo Crime
  57. About the Author
  58. Also by Sheila Bugler

‘It’s fine.’ Emer shook her head, dismissing the memory and the thoughts that hovered around it. Her mother had many faults, but to think she had something to do with what had happened to Lucy Ryan was nothing short of crazy.

‘I was gutted when we moved away from Ballincarraig,’ Maeve said. ‘I didn’t know how my parents could do it. I kept thinking, what if Lucy came back and we weren’t there? How would she ever find us? But after a while, I realised a fresh start was what we all needed. I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to revisit the past.’

‘So how did you end up going into business with Robert?’

‘We had a chamber of commerce event at the hotel,’ Maeve said. ‘Robert was the keynote speaker. After the event, he came and found me. We got talking and, somehow, I ended up telling him about my idea to open a new hotel. He was keen to get involved, so we met a few times and before I knew it, we had a plan. Having Robert on board has been great. He’s hugely influential, as you know, and it’s no secret that you get ahead in this country because of who you know, not what you know.’

There was a lump in Emer’s throat that she couldn’t get rid of, no matter how often she swallowed, and a sour feeling in the pit of her stomach.

‘I had no idea you and he were so close,’ she said. ‘He never said a thing.’

‘He’s too kind for that,’ Maeve said. ‘You know what he’s like.’

Emer nodded, but really she was wondering if she did know what Robert was like. Because if he’d been having business meetings with Maeve Ryan and was planning to open a hotel with her, surely he’d have mentioned this to Emer at some point?

‘He’s really inspirational,’ Maeve said. ‘I didn’t realise he did so much work with the Travelling community. It’s rare to meet someone in politics who actually cares about the underprivileged. I mean, I know loads of politicians pretend to care, but with Robert I get the feeling he really believes in the work he does. Did you know that, last year alone, he’s secured apprenticeships for sixteen people from Travelling backgrounds? He’s even persuaded me to get involved with the programme. We’re going to run an apprenticeship scheme when the new hotel opens, recruiting entirely from the Travelling community. I’m a bit nervous about it, but Robert’s promised he’ll make sure it’s a success. Anyway, enough about all that. I’m sure you know way more about that side of his work than I do.’