Chapter 14
On Saturday, my parents arrived early, not too long after lunch. Distressed at how washed-out and tired my mother had appeared when I last saw her, I had called and invited them over for dinner. After depositing Mother with me, Daddy and Paul disappeared almost immediately, heading for Galway Bay, the pub around the corner, to bend an elbow over a beer or three and trade corny jokes with Fintan, the owner’s irrepressible brother. Mother and I adjourned to the kitchen where she sat bolt upright in a chair, her hair, closer to the color of apricots in the artificial light, curling damply and in sharp contrast against her pale cheeks,
“Thanks for having us over, Hannah. If you hadn’t asked, I would have hinted. I just couldn’t face cooking today, and I know your father is getting
