Izzy exchanged a smile with Hannah. Alan and Meredith seemed so well suited; it was difficult to believe they hadn’t always been a couple.

Out of the gloom, like a pistol shot, Adrienne’s voice rang out, ‘Conor Byrne! What in the name of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph is going on?’

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Adrienne strode towards them, her Driza-Bone coat flapping like bat’s wings, flanked on one side by Bridget in a bright-red sou’wester hat, pink polka-dot wellies and a floor-length see-through mac over her party dress with Franklin and Niamh in matching cagoules on the other, followed by Fergus who held an outsize umbrella which wasn’t doing anything to protect him from the rain at all.

‘Uncle Con. Why d’ye leave the party?’ asked Niamh.

‘It’s a long story but it’s done. Come on, let’s get out of this rain and I’ll tell you what’s been going on.’

‘Did you find the prowler?’ asked Bridget, skipping along as she tried to keep pace with Conor’s long strides. Everyone followed up the path to the cottage without invitation. It seemed they all wanted to join in and take credit for their part in the drama – all except for the two pigmen who waved goodbye.

‘Some of us have an early start,’ called Seamus.

One by one they entered through the porch, draping wet coats on the hooks and the doors, and discarding shoes and boots so that there was a haphazard pile that would take some sorting to match up the pairs. Hannah grinned at the sight. This place felt like home, and everyone in it like family. The thought of it lit a warm glow in her heart. This was what she’d been looking for and she hadn’t even realised it. A community of her own. With sudden confidence, she knew that she could build one here, in Ireland with her old friends, her new friends, and Conor. It might not last for ever but it was worth taking the risk to find out.

Conor caught her eye, nodded towards the kitchen and the two of them fought their way there through the crowded hall.

‘I think it’s hot whiskeys all round,’ he said, going straight to one of the cupboards and pulling out a whiskey bottle.

‘An excellent idea, Conor,’ said Bridget who’d bustled in behind them and began reaching around him to take mugs from the other cupboard.