Finding Ellie (Complete)

Chapter 10

It was late when Brenna made her way home, or early depending on how you looked at it. She was rarely tired after work and if she didn’t stay after the pub closed to have a few drinks with the staff, she went where the céilís were. The nights Aidan would join them she stayed. Those were the best nights, especially when he walked her home afterward. She could always count on him being a gentleman. It helped that they lived so close to each other. She had lucked out when she first moved back to Doolin and the house across from Aidan’s had been available to rent. She had snatched up the little cottage before someone else did.

There were some nights when Aidan couldn’t clear the bar of customers and employees fast enough. Those nights typically coincided with calls from his mother. But this last time it was different. Not that she blamed him after that little outburst with the American. It couldn’t have gone better in her opinion. Of course she had tried to stay back to comfort him and make him forget all about the mousy tourist but it had been to no avail.

It was possible she had a few too many drinks every so often, and maybe she had found herself on Aidan’s doorstep more than she should. These late night visits usually ended the same, with Aidan walking her back across the street but, on a few occasions, he had invited her in for coffee. So when she was drunkenly hobbling along home and saw the lights were on in his cottage, she was suddenly knocking on his front door. Straightening her too short skirt, she practiced what she would say when he answered. Frowning, she knocked again. She knew she could come on strong but he always answered the door.

Could it be he had decided to stop indulging her? No, she doubted it; no one could resist her beauty. Hesitantly, she backed away and went home.

From a young age she knew her looks could be used to get her whatever she wanted. Brenna had proven time again that no man could resist her. Just last week, Donal Kelly had picked her up and brought her to the fanciest restaurant in Galway while his pregnant wife sat at home awaiting the birth of their first-born. And, a few days ago, Johnny O’Neil had gotten in a terrible tiff with his fiancée after she caught him on one of their long phone conversations. But none of these men mattered. Aidan was the only one she wanted.

After a hot shower, Brenna strode by the big picture window in her living room several times to see if there was any movement at the cottage. She had spent a lot of time at this window, watching and fantasizing about the life they would have together. She knew his habits so she knew it was very unusual for him to leave the lights on when he wasn’t home.

At exactly 5:49 a.m., she was sitting on the ottoman she had moved over, the warm glow of the alcohol wearing off. She was so tired she was starting to imagine seeing him walking past his cottage and down the road with Ellie beside him. She rose up slowly, green eyes flashing, hands balled into fists. No, she pinched herself to ensure she was not imagining this. Letting her eyes focus, and the sleepy drunken fog lift, she realized that she was not imagining the fact that they were holding hands. Furious, she was at the door with her hand on the knob before she could think about what she was doing. She stopped, took a deep breath and stepped back. If she was going to get Aidan she needed to be smart about it. Obviously her previous attempts weren’t working.

If Aidan wanted some helpless, quiet mouse, that’s what he was going to get.

                                                                                            ***

Later on that morning, Aileen Murray and Patricia Brady sat in the kitchen of Callaghan B & B, their weekly Friday get together under way. The current topic of conversation was none other than one Coleen Dunne.

“Colm says he’s heard that Coleen has been seen in the area.” Patricia tapped her fingers on the table waiting for this week’s selection of tea.

“As in Coleen Dunne,” Aileen clucked with disapproval. She truly despised that woman. “No doubt looking for a handout”

“Well, she’ll be in for a rude awakening.” slapping her hands on the table now, Patricia fumed. “She’s taken enough from him already but Aidan has the upper hand. She has no clue Connor, God rest his soul, changed everything to Aidan’s name a few weeks before he passed away. Maggie, who lives right next to the town barrister, overheard him talking to Connor about it shortly before the accident”

“Constance, are these new?” Aileen held up a lemon tea cookie.

“As a matter of fact they are,” Constance Callaghan placed a hot teapot, one of her fancier ones, on a knitted tea cozy in the middle of the table. “It’s a new recipe and they’ve been a huge hit, especially with Ellie.”

“Speaking of Ellie, is it true Aidan apologized?” Patricia poured hibiscus tea in three delicate cups adorned with pretty pink flowers.

“I heard he begged for her forgiveness on his knees,” Aileen added, as she pushed a strand of black hair from her face. She sipped the red liquid and helped herself to another cookie.

                                                                                                ***

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Constance gave a dismissive wave of her hand. Constance loved her friends dearly but she so wished Aileen didn’t dye her hair. No one in Doolin

believed that the seventy-two year old woman had jet black hair without any trace of grey. “I was awake when he walked her home this morning.”

Aileen and Patricia looked up with surprise and interest at this last comment.

Aileen waited for her to continue. “Well, go on then, we’re not getting any younger.”

“I was already awake making bread and what do I see when I happened to look out the window?” Constance recalled fondly. “They were coming from up the street, hand in hand.”

“Oh, how romantic,” Patricia patted her heart. Her long, grey hair gathered in her signature bun at the nape of her neck.

“It doesn’t end there,” Constance assured her old friends there was more, “He walked her up the porch and kissed her senseless, if you ask me, so I turned on the light.”

“What in the world would you do that for?” Aileen’s brows snapped together. The plan was to get them together wasn’t it? Or maybe it had been changed and no one had bothered to advise her. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“We all know how the boy is, Aileen,” a satisfied groan escaped from Patricia when she bit into a cookie. “These really are lovely, Constance, will you give me the recipe?”

“Patti is right, if things develop too quickly between those two he’ll pull on the reins faster than we can blink.”

“I suppose you’re both right,” Aileen surmised.

The three old friends moved from one topic to the next until they had covered everyone in the county. Satisfied that she was all up to date on the local happenings, Aileen stood and brought her empty cup to the sink. But she couldn’t help going back to what seemed to be the most exciting piece of news and went back to her

seat. “Are we sure Aidan and Ellie are right for each other?”

“There’s no doubt in my mind.” Constance moved to the oven to check on her roast pork, another favorite of Ellie’s. “She will show him that not all women are like his mother and he will show her the love of a real man.”

Patricia nodded her head as she crammed one last cookie in her mouth.

“The only problem,” she said, with her mouth full. “Is when the times comes for her to go back to Boston”

“I’m not worried,” Constance picked up a flyer for the Matchmaking Festival currently running in Lisdoonvarna.

Ignoring Constance’s grand plan, Aileen sat forward in her chair. “No, that’s not the only problem as there’s also the matter of one Brenna O’Keefe.”

Both Constance and Patricia bobbed their heads in agreement.

“That is true,” Satisfied with the progress of the roast pork, Constance sat at the table again. “The woman keeps making a spectacle of herself on the daily.”

“It’s no wonder with the upbringing she’s had.” Patricia shook her head. “Her parents were so strict the poor girl could barely use the toilet in her own home without asking permission.”

Aileen grimaced. “Children rebel but she didn’t have to go get herself pregnant at sixteen. Then again, there was no need for her parents to send her off to live with her aunt.”

“They were afraid of what it would do to their image if anyone found out. The perfect Catholic family,” Patricia spat.

“Whatever happened to that baby I wonder,” Constance pondered.

“Put up for adoption,” Patricia confirmed, sipping the last of her tea. “She never forgave her parents for it and so stayed with her aunt until she turned eighteen, then left.”

“I remember the day her parents moved away, they were so embarrassed when they found out the entire county knew what they had done and why.”

“Oh, it serves them right Aileen.” Patricia left her chair now to place her empty cup in the sink. “They handled everything poorly and lost their daughter - their only child - in the process.”

“I completely agree.” moving to the closet, Aileen took out hers and Patricia’s coats. “She’s a beautiful girl, there’s just no need for her antics.”

“No, there isn’t and unfortunately for Aidan he is the one she’s set her sights on.” Constance walked the women to the door. “Let’s just hope he has a good head on his shoulders and recognizes both Ellie and Brenna for what they are.”

“One can only hope.” Aileen patted Constance’s arm. “In the meantime, we’ll keep making sure they cross each other’s path, and with any luck they’ll believe fate is bringing them together.”

“Next Friday then.” Constance smiled as she waved to her friends, her smile fading when she turned around and saw Ellie standing at the foot of the stairs.

“You’re making sure we cross each other’s paths?” Ellie pressed her fingers to her lips, not trusting what else could come out of her mouth.

“Ellie dear”

Ellie silenced Mrs. Callaghan with a shake of her head. “I don’t want to hear what you have to say right now.” She turned around and went back up the stairs.

Mrs. Callaghan heard the door slam, winced. “Well now that’s another problem isn’t it?”