Almost two weeks back at Reilly’s, with no Olive Hemingway and a genuine welcome in the store, Maeve was making strenuous efforts to distract herself with work, as the clocked ticked on towards Brendan’s execution. They had requested to see him, but the condemned man was allowed no visitors. It burned in her that the last memory she would have of her brother was in the dock of that foul courtroom. It was painful too for Kate and Finola; but while Kate had seen him in prison, Finola’s last recollections of Brendan would be happier, she hoped. They had managed to shield her from his worst drunken escapades. In fact, Maeve was not at all sure that even yet Finola understood what lay ahead for their brother.
It was with such thoughts running in her mind that Maeve stepped out of Reilly’s ware
