Tessa wrote a few more labels, and using the wide brown tape secured more cardboard boxes. There were old books, old records, old clothes, old scarves and handbags of her mother’s all ready to be brought to the charity shop. Someone else would have the benefit of reading Florence’s large collection of Agatha Christie and Barbara Cartland novels.
The scarves and bags were probably vintage at this stage and worth something, and she had cleaned and carefully folded the clothes that were worth selling: the Pringle cashmere twinsets, Cleo tweed skirts and jackets, and a collection of evening wear in pristine condition.
She was booked to go to London the following week, and she had to try and clear some of the stuff from the house, as there was far too much in every room, and the auctioneers had advised a serious de-clutter before putting the house on the market.
At least she had made a good start on it.
It was sad getting rid of things, but her mother had been a great age and was of the generation that believed things should be recycled and shared.
Tomorrow she would have a go at the kitchen presses and the dining room cabinet, as her mother had a huge collection of ornaments and bric-a-brac that could be got rid of, too.
She was scrawling ‘Gardening Books’ on a box when Rob Flanagan surprised her by ringing the doorbell.
‘What are you doing?’ he asked, surveying all her work, and the boxes scattered over the floor of the hall and the sitting room.
‘Packing up, Rob.’ She sighed. ‘I’m just trying to get rid of some of Mum’s stuff. Donal and Marianne picked out what they wanted, and, well, most of the rest is just going to have to go to charity. I’ll go over to St Vincent de Paul with it tomorrow, as I won’t have room for any of it myself.’
‘Oh,’ he said.
‘I told you I’m going back to London next week. I’ve booked my flight.’
He said nothing.
‘Listen, I’m going to take a break. I’ve done enough today. Do you want a coffee?’ she offered.
‘Why don’t I take you out instead?’ he offered.
‘I’m not exactly dressed up.’ She smiled.
‘Come on, Tessa, let’s go for a drive,’ he suggested.
She didn’t know if she was in the mood for one of their walks or talks. She felt a bit low and sad after clearing away her mother’s things – talk about being emotionally drained! – but Rob was insistent. He’d been so kind to her since Florence’s death, and so helpful, that she felt she couldn’t refuse him.
Grabbing her bag, keys and jacket, and putting on a pair of shoes instead of her flip-flops, she sat in beside him in his Volvo. It was warm but dull, and she hoped that it wouldn’t rain.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked.
‘What about the beach? Brittas?’
Tessa smiled. She hadn’t been there for years, the beach with the miles of golden sand, tall dunes and rolling waves. As a kid, it was one of her favourite places. Her mum and dad used to rent a mobile home there for a month every summer in the big caravan park overlooking the beach. Alice’s parents used to own the nearby hotel. She still remembered it: playing pitch and putt there; her parents going for dinner to the hotel, which was very fashionable then; Florence all dressed up in a summer print dress, linking her father by the arm.
The traffic was light, and an hour later Tessa and Rob were climbing the path up through the sand dunes to get to the beach.
Clouds scudded across the sky, and only a handful of people were on the strand: a few swimmers, dog walkers and mothers with small children and toddlers.
‘I love this place.’ She sighed. ‘I have such good memories of here.’
‘I know,’ he said, taking her hand as they began to walk. ‘You told me.’
She found herself confiding in him about the family situation, with the house left equally between Donal, Marianne and herself.
‘They say that I can stay on as long as I want in the house, that there is no big rush to sell it, but I feel that’s not fair. Anyway, Mum’s dead, and the reason I came back home is gone, too. I need to refocus and get back to work. Go back to London, find a new job, and get on with my life.’
‘Do you want to go back to London, Tessa?’ Rob asked quietly, staring at the foaming white waves tumbling in across the sand ridges. ‘Is that what you really want to do?’
‘I suppose so. What else is there?’ She suddenly felt so torn, so lonely.
‘Maybe there is no need to rush into making a decision. Not yet …’
‘Rob. It’s all organized. I’m going next week. I have four job interviews set up. There is nothing to keep me here!’
‘Are you sure about that?’ he said forcefully. ‘You have friends, people who care about you here.’
‘That’s great, but I have friends in London, too,’ she said gently.
‘Then I don’t want you to go,’ he said angrily. ‘I don’t want you to leave.’
She stopped, spinning around to look at him.
‘What are you saying, Rob? It’s too late.’
‘No, it’s not, Tessa. I don’t want you to go. I want you to stay here in Dublin. Give us a chance.’
‘Us?’
‘Yes, the two of us and what we feel for each other. We both feel it, you know we do. We work well together. I never thought after Kate that I would meet a woman again that I could have feelings for, but you’ve changed all that, Tessa.’
‘The two of us!’ she said, her eyes welling with tears.
‘Yes, the two of us. Why wouldn’t it work? Maybe I’m too old … I’m sixty-two, for God’s sake, and you are only in your thirties, I have no right to—’
‘I’m thirty-nine, Rob. I’ll be forty in December,’ she said, gripping his arm. ‘Age does not matter!’
‘Are you sure about that?’ he teased. ‘I’m old enough to be your father.’
‘You are nothing like my father.’ She laughed. ‘Anyway that’s not an issue,’ she said, touching his face and tracing his jawline with her fingers. ‘So don’t even think it!’
‘I don’t think it!’ he admitted honestly. ‘When I am with you I feel different. Young again, as if I’m starting over. I have another chance. I loved Kate with all my heart and will always miss her, but this is something new, something different. A chance to begin again.’
‘I’d like that,’ she said.
‘I want to be with you … not just for a few hours, or a day or two here or there, but to become a proper part of your life, Tessa.’
‘I want that, too,’ she said. ‘I thought that first night when we were at Gemma and Paul’s and we were dancing that I was imagining it, but when Mum died, the only person I wanted to call, to really be there, was you! I can’t explain it … I don’t know why, but I just knew that I needed you, and that I could rely on you to be there for me.’
‘Cancel your flights and those appointments, Tessa. Don’t go to London! We both know loss and loneliness,’ he said, his eyes staring into hers. ‘Maybe we both need a new beginning.’
‘But it’s all booked and organized,’ she said, trying not to cry as she saw the expression on his handsome face.
‘Unbook it! I don’t want you to go. I’m here for you, Tessa, here for whenever you need me,’ he promised, pulling her into his arms.
They sat on the sand until the sun had almost gone down, talking about the future, what would happen if she stayed, making plans together. Both decided to give their relationship the chance to grow and develop; they wanted to discover if they could love each other.