The Women Who Ran Away - Sheila O'Flanagan Page 0,145

me in my car,’ Grace explained. ‘He was going to the UK for a couple of weeks and it suited him to get the ferry from Santander. So we drove through Spain together and I got to see Santander for the first time. Then I did France on my own.’

‘You never said! You’re a dark horse and an amazing woman, Grace Garvey,’ said Deira. ‘You take my breath away.’

‘Well, it’s early days, and a long-distance relationship, so we’ll have to see how it works out.’ Grace brushed her hair from her eyes and her huge Adele Dahlia ring flashed in the light. ‘I’m not looking for someone to replace Ken, but even though we’re in different countries at the moment, the companionship is nice. Duncan is a lovely man.’

‘Good for you,’ said Deira. ‘What about Pat, though?’

Pat had been very helpful in sorting through Ken’s collection, and over the last couple of months Deira had grown to like him.

‘He’s a decent guy, but he and Ken are very alike in many ways and I don’t want to end up with Ken Mark 2,’ said Grace. ‘Duncan is different. I’m ready for different.’

Deira gave her a hug, then smiled as Duncan broke away from Fionn, who he’d been talking to, and made his way over.

‘Congratulations,’ he said. ‘It’s great.’

‘Thank you.’

They spoke for a while about the exhibition and about the restaurant, and then Deira was claimed by Ardal, who told her that the PR people were keen to do a short video about the exhibition and that they’d managed to set it up for the following day.

‘It’s a pity we didn’t think of it sooner,’ he said. ‘We could have filmed you at Grace’s house, looking through the books. But let’s see what they come up with.’

‘Let’s,’ she said, and then went to spend some time with Gill and Bex.

It was after midnight by the time she got home.

She kicked off her shoes and flopped on the sofa, and was asleep before she had time to light the restful candle Tillie had given her to celebrate.

She woke up just before dawn, her neck aching from the odd angle at which she’d slept. But after she’d showered and changed into fresh clothes, she felt surprisingly refreshed. Arc Tech encouraged casual dressing, but Deira liked wearing the sharp suits she’d invested in during her time at Solas. Given that she’d be meeting the producer of the video that morning, and in case they wanted to do some recording there and then, she chose a red shift dress with matching jacket that brought out the warmth of her skin and the depth of her green eyes. She flicked her fingers through her hair and then added her newest red lipstick to her lips. She put her high-heeled Kurt Geiger shoes in her bag and slipped a pair of Skechers on her feet for the walk to the office.

As she locked the front door behind her, she felt a wave of gratitude towards her new employers for the significant increase in salary that they’d offered her to take on the role. When Bethany Burke had called her back with the total package, she’d almost fallen off the chair, and had had to hold herself back from jumping at it straight away. But she’d been cool and collected and raised one or two (in her mind) trivial issues with the headhunter, who’d then come back with a revised and even better offer.

Because of that, Deira had been comfortably able to borrow enough to buy Gavin out of his share of the mews house. She smiled as she remembered his reaction to her handing in her notice at Solas – he’d called her and asked her to come to his office, where he’d asked what her plans were.

‘It’s not really your business any more, is it?’ she asked.

‘I’m concerned,’ he said. ‘I’m worried that you’re not going to be in a position to deal with your responsibilities if you leave the company.’

‘You don’t have to worry about me in the slightest.’ Her voice was serene. ‘All you need to know is that I have a new job, I’m perfectly happy and there’s no issue financially that you have to worry about. So let’s get the valuation on the mews and see where we go from there.’

‘OK.’ He was clearly taken aback by her new-found positivity. ‘And you’re really all right?’

‘Yes, and I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘Sorry that I gave you a hard time even though you deserved