I was relieved – the prospect of another house guest hadn’t been particularly appealing, even for one night. I crumpled the note up and threw it in the bin, happy to be able to unpack and gather my thoughts, alone.

Now where was that cat?

No sooner had I asked the question than there was a scratching at the window over the sink and I looked up to see a black tom with a white patch on his head sitting on the outside sill. Guinness! Delighted, I opened the latch to let him in, but he hesitated, looking up at me, his eyes narrowed. Hesitation was unusual. Usually the cat was in like a shot when I opened the window, like a rat up a drainpipe before I changed my mind. Now he sat there, tail wrapped around himself, eyeing me suspiciously.

“Ah, Guinness. Don’t be like that. You were taken care of while I was away, weren’t you?”

The rain and wind were building again, cold air was coming in and I was anxious to close the window. So I reached out to lift him in, but he yelped at me as I did it, spat and hissed. And when I put him on the floor, he circled around me, tail swishing angrily. The cat wasn’t at all happy with me.

Despite his temper I fed him. I’d bought his favorite cat food, and reluctantly he ate it, looking up at me reproachfully as if every bite was choking him, but he was hungry so had no choice.

I knew the cat’s moods, so I left him to it, poured myself a glass of wine and went upstairs to unpack. He’d forgive me eventually. At the top of the stairs, I was glad to see that Marina had slept in the spare room – my own was untouched. Her door was closed, and I resisted the impulse to open it.

In my bedroom I unpacked, but I was distracted. I picked up my phone, put it down, then picked it up again any number of times. Until eventually I sat down on the bed and did what I had been putting off since I’d landed at Dublin Airport. I texted Molloy.

I’m back. Bit jetlagged. Ran into McFadden in the square. Good to see him back! Are you around tomorrow to catch up?

Faux casual. I put the phone down on my bedside locker, not really expecting a response, for a while anyway. But still I glanced at it. I jumped when it pinged immediately.

I am. Looking forward to seeing you. You were missed.

I smiled and lay back on the bed, phone in hand. In the past I’d have overanalysed that text. I’d have wondered why he had said you were missed rather than that he had missed me. Now that I knew Molloy better, that message seemed positively amorous.

Chapter Five