Chapter Thirteen

Maura was surprised and kind of pleased to find her mother and Susan at the pub when she arrived. Rose was busy entertaining them, since there were no more customers to be seen. Maybe come the weekend things would pick up?

“Hey, Helen, Susan,” Maura greeted them. “You’re here early.”

“We are,” Helen said. “But I don’t have any meetings or appointments for a couple of hours, and I promised Susan I’d bring her back today, so here we are. And I wanted to get some measurements for appliances for your kitchen.”

“Rose said you mentioned that. But keep in mind that our kitchen is really small—can’t be anywhere near the size of the hotel kitchen. So I won’t get my hopes up, but I appreciate the thought. You two had breakfast?”

“Of course. One of the perks of working at the hotel—there’s always plenty of food available,” Helen said. “Come on—show me what you’ve got to work with. Susan, you can hold the other end of the measuring tape.”

Susan led the way, and Maura considered asking Rose to join them, until she realized that with four people in the small room, no one would be able to see anything, much less measure.

“Rose, do you mind keeping an eye on things out here?” she said instead. “You can take a look at whatever Helen suggests later.”

“That’s fine, Maura,” Rose said. “I spend enough time in there as it is these days. We can compare our ideas once everyone has seen the space.”

“Thank you!” Maura followed Susan and Helen into the back.

When Maura entered the kitchen, Helen was standing in the middle of the not-large room, turning around and studying it. “You’re right—it’s small. How many covers are you thinking of for each meal?”

“Covers?” Maura looked blankly at her.

“Meals, per hour, or for the evening. What hours do you plan to serve? Will the menu change, depending on the time, or the day of the week—as in, more or longer meals on weekends? Or will it be a more or less fixed menu?”

“You’ve lost me already. Maybe I should just let Rose listen to you—she’s doing most of the planning.”

“No,” Helen said firmly. “This is your place, and you need to understand how it works. You don’t have to cook—Rose is doing a fine job of that, from what I’ve seen, and you have other help. But you need to know things like quantities and the cost of ingredients. Don’t worry—you don’t have to know all this today—but right now you do need to know how much space you have to work with, both for storage and for staff. You’ve got plenty of time.”

“If you say so,” Maura muttered.

Helen went back to studying the layout of the room. A few cabinets remained, although Maura couldn’t guess how old they were. Billy might know. The windows were set high in the outer wall, which made the space dark, but if they had been lower there would have been less room for a refrigerator or a stove and oven and ventilation, Maura had to admit. Which probably meant they’d need a brighter light fixture. “What do you think we’re going to need?”

“I’d go with a six-burner stove, or maybe four burners with a central grill. A good-size combination refrigerator and freezer. A bigger sink, definitely. Were you thinking of a dishwasher?”

“Human or mechanical?” Maura asked with a smile. “Actually, I haven’t thought much about it at all. When Gran and I lived in Boston, I think the kitchen was usually smaller than this, and the appliances didn’t work well most of the time. Plus, Gran wanted to have a table in the kitchen. You probably remember she kept bringing home some recent arrivals from Ireland, and she wanted to be able to talk to them while she cooked. I’m sorry—is that an unhappy memory?”

“In a way. Not your fault, of course—you were only a baby. And I think your grandmother wanted something to keep her busy when she wasn’t working, so she didn’t have to dwell on the death of her son. Tom. Do you know, I seldom refer to him by name? Since I’ve been here, I’ve been wondering what his life—our life—would have been like if he hadn’t died so early. I had no plan, no idea what I wanted to do, and I had you to take care of. It was a difficult time for all of us, I think.”

“So you walked away?” Susan spoke for the first time.

Helen turned toward her. “Yes, love, I did. I wasn’t that much older than you are now, and younger than Maura. I’m not proud of it, but I didn’t know what to do. Do you remember me at all, Maura?”

Maura shook her head slowly. “Not really. I think I remember a woman who hugged me, but I wouldn’t have known you in a crowd. Gran did her best to make up for it after you left. And she never said anything bad about you, to her credit.”

“I’m glad to know that. We got along fairly well. We might have done better if we both hadn’t been so busy all the time. I have to say, I think she was a stronger woman than I was, and also a kinder one.”

“Hey, you two,” Susan interrupted. “Can’t you wait on your old-time stories until after we measure this room? Having a table to sit at or work on in the room makes sense, even though it would be crowded. But if the cooking gets crazy, it’d be another work surface if you need it. How about storage for pots and pans and plates and glasses?”

Maura resisted the temptation to throw up her hands. “I have no idea how many I’d need or how often we’d have to wash them. Helen, maybe you can help with that. Or talk to Rose—did she tell you she’s taking cooking classes in Skibbereen?”

“Not only did she tell us, she told us we had to eat lunch there when we had time. Right in the center of town, isn’t it?”

“It is, on a main intersection. And while you’re there, check out Fields, which is the big supermarket. I don’t know who supplies your hotel, but if you’re cooking at home or at a small place like this, they’ve got great food.”

Helen smiled. “Susan, you’d better start making a list.”

“Got it. Rose said she’d take me there to pick up supplies.”

“The cakes and breads are terrific,” Maura said. “So, is there anything else I need to think about? And if you don’t have any leftover machines that don’t fit, I won’t mind. There’s an appliance place in Drinagh, not far from here, which has about everything we could need. Plus cow-milking equipment.”

“I’m sure you need that,” Helen said wryly, and then she and Susan burst out laughing.

It surprised Maura that they seemed to be happy to be with her, with each other, in Leap. She never would have expected it only a few months earlier, but it felt good. What would Gran have said if she could see this? West Cork had been her home, where she’d married, where her son had been born. And then her life had changed, and not for the better. Yet Maura had come full circle: here she was, where it had all begun.

“Helen, I asked you before—how long do you think you’ll be around?”

“What? Oh, in Ireland. It’s kind of open-ended, and it depends on what kind of progress I can make at the hotel. It’s still possible that it will be too difficult or too expensive to try, but it is a beautiful place, with a long history and a good reputation, so I’m not ready to give up on it. And maybe when I’ve done as much as I could, and this kid here needs to go back to school”—Helen smiled at Susan, who returned her smile—“we could take a week off and see a bit more of the country? The three of us?”

“I’d like that,” Maura said, to her own surprise. She had no idea what state her business would be in by then, or how much time she could take off, but she’d rather say yes than no now.

“Good,” Helen said. “Now, Susan, we need some measurements for appliances, and then I have to get back for another meeting. But you can stay here if you want. When you get back to the hotel, we can get an inventory of what’s lurking in the hotel basement, and I’ll bring you back in the morning to see what will fit. Okay?”

“Deal,” Susan said cheerfully. “And Rose said she’d show me how to make a few dishes, which might help my cooking. And it would show us the best ways to arrange supplies and stuff. Thanks, Mom.”

A few minutes later Maura watched them go. What had just happened? Was her brain turning to mush?

“Yeh look happy, Maura,” Rose said from behind the bar. “Yeh think the kitchen will work out?”

“I’d like to say yes, but you’re the one who will be using it. I give you permission to veto anything you think won’t work. When’s your next cooking class?”

“In the mornin’, but it won’t be a long one. I think Susan’s getting the hang of things.”

“Looks like she’s enjoying herself, which I didn’t expect. I thought she’d stay mad at her mother longer than this.”

“Ah, Maura, surely yeh’ve noticed that Ireland has a way of making things better.”

“Most of the time,” Maura told her. She decided not to add between bodies and crimes. They all should enjoy the moment.

Late in the afternoon customers started drifting in—a mix of familiar local faces and a few clusters of tourists.

Seamus and some of his buddies wandered in later in the afternoon. “Hey, Seamus,” Maura called out. “I haven’t seen much of you lately. You keeping busy?”

“That I am. It’s the cows wantin’ my attention. But I’m parched, so some of us sneaked over here, but we can’t stay long.”

“Pints all around?” Maura asked.

“Please,” Seamus said.

Maura started pulling a row of pints. “While I’ve got your attention, can I ask you a question?”

“Yeh’re more than welcome to,” he said.

“What can you tell me about fairy forts?”

Seamus stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. “That’s the last thing I expected to hear from yeh. Why on earth are yeh askin’?”

“Because I just found out there’s one on a piece of land that I didn’t know I had, and now I’m curious. Believe me, there aren’t any in Boston.”

“There’s plenty around here, if yeh know where to look. Particularly along the coast. I’m sure yeh’ll be finding more near yer place.”

“Some people have been telling me they’re bad luck. Is that true?”

“Let’s say yeh don’t want to mess with ’em, even if yer tryin’ to graze yer cattle near ’em.”

“Seamus, I don’t have any cattle, and I’m not planning on getting any. I’ve got another question for you: do you believe in fairies?”

Seamus grinned. “Yeh mean the ones that live in the fairy forts? Nah, I’m just kidding. I’ve never met one, though I’ve talked to people who claim they have. But it’s safer to leave the forts alone, just in case.”

“Okay. Are there good fairies, or are they all out to get you?”

“Maura, whatever got yeh started on this?”

“Finding out I have one, I guess, and the land that comes with it. What if I’d decided to plant in that field and dug the whole thing up?”

“Yeh might’ve been found crushed under a tractor. Best leave them alone.”

“Right.” Maura topped off the pints and slid a tray of glasses across the bar to Seamus. “So I’ll leave mine alone. You wouldn’t happen to have a few on your land, would you?”

“And why’re yeh askin’ that?”

“I’d just like to compare them. Unless you’re hiding a still or a drug lab inside one.”

“Would I do that?” Seamus asked. He winked at her and carried the full tray to his buddies at a table.

Mick appeared from the back room. “What was that about?”

“I was just asking Seamus about fairy forts. I might as well know what I’m dealing with.”

“I think the best plan is to leave them alone.”

“I suppose. What’s on our calendar? Rose has a class in Skib tomorrow morning, and Helen said she’d be back with some more information about what equipment she could give us, or maybe she’ll send Susan. And weren’t we talking about taking another look at my fairy fort, to see if anyone has been poking around in it lately?”

“If the sun is right, it’s a good plan. No further word from Sean or the students?”

“No, and I’m not going to hunt down Ciara and friends. I really don’t have much to add to solving Ciara’s problems. Let’s just hope somebody’s found Darragh and the Cork students can finish what they started.”

Maura went home alone that night, which was a bit of a relief. She admitted she had strong feelings for Mick, although she was reluctant to label them. But at the same time, she spent most of her time at the pub, surrounded by people, and she craved just a little time alone. She had come to realize that she liked living in the country, without noise or artificial lights or passing cars. What she hadn’t known was how much the noise and lights and passing cars—and drunken pedestrians—in Boston had kept her on edge. Rural Ireland was a pleasant change, and she had found that she enjoyed it more and more as time passed.