'Hello, Dee.' Vi came towards her, a nervous smile on her lips. 'I was hoping for a quick word, but I can see you're going out.'
'I have a minute. Come inside.'
Vi followed her into the hall and stood looking at her, obviously uncomfortable.
'I'd offer you a cuppa only I'm expected up at the farm,' Dee said.
'That's okay, I can't stay.'
Dee waited but Vi was busy studying her feet and not showing any sign of talking.
'It was Ronan, wasn't it?' Dee said eventually. 'He was the father of your baby.'
Vi nodded, still not looking up.
'Does he know?'
Vi lifted her head and her eyes met Dee's. 'No.'
'Oh, Vi, how can you live like this? How can you see him every day and not say anything?'
Vi shrugged. 'What's the point in saying anything now? It's too late and it would only hurt him and maybe Julia too.'
'You still love him, don't you?' Dee said softly. 'Don't you find it hard being so close to him but not, if you know what I mean?'
Vi's beautiful eyes glittered with tears. 'It's nicer than not seeing him at all.'
'He's very fond of you too, I could see that yesterday.'
'Maybe, but he's married to Julia and he's a wonderful, honest, loyal man; I wouldn't have it any other way.'
Dee stepped forward and put her arms around her. 'You are a very special lady.'
Vi smiled. 'Thank you, my darling, you're very kind. Now, can I ask you to keep this little secret of mine, secret?'
'Vi, of course! I would never tell a soul, you know that.'
'Yes, I suppose I do; it's just that with you being with Conor—'
'You have my word,' Dee said solemnly.
'Thank you, my darling.' Vi gave her another quick hug and turned to go.
'And I'm always here if you ever want to talk about – anything.'
'Likewise,' Vi said and was gone.
Dee pulled into the farmyard to find a very excited Sam waiting for her. He chattered non-stop about his evening with Conor and she sat and drank the tea Conor had made her, listened to her son, and watched the man move gracefully around the kitchen as he cleared up after their breakfast.
It was a lovely, fun-filled morning and as well as going to the poultry farm, they visited a donkey sanctuary. On the way home, Conor took them to eat in a cheery pub in the middle of nowhere that served the most delicious home-cooked food.
'How did you find this place?' Dee marvelled as they sat back and surveyed their empty plates.
'I used to stop off here on my way to and from Clare,' Conor told her. 'Great, isn't it?'
'Wonderful.' Dee studied the menu with interest. 'I could adapt some of these dishes and use them in the crèche and the café.'
'Work, work, work,' he teased, 'you high-powered entrepreneurs are all the same.'
Sam fell asleep almost as soon as they were back in the car and they were finally able to talk.
'Are you still feeling okay about what you agreed last night?' he asked, careful to keep his voice low, just in case. 'No second thoughts?'
Dee shook her head. 'No, I feel absolutely fine. In a way it's as though a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I love the idea that we' – she nodded into the back at her son – 'won't have any more secrets between us. I' m still a little nervous of that first "chat", I have to admit.'
'It will be fine, you'll be fine.' He put a hand on her thigh and smiled at her. 'You look tired; why don't you take a leaf out of your son's book and have a nap?'
Dee yawned and shifted in her seat slightly. 'You wouldn't mind?'
'Of course not, you must be exhausted. Recline your seat a little. Dee? Dee?' But she was already gone.
'Okay, you two, we're home.' Conor had already unloaded the trailer and the chickens were now checking out their new home.
Sam rubbed his eyes sleepily and groaned. Conor came around, opened his door and his safety belt. 'Don't you want to check on your new babies?'
Immediately, Sam's eyes were wide open and he was scrambling down and running towards the hen house.
'Dee,' Conor said gently, 'we're home.'
Dee stretched and opened her eyes. 'Speak for yourself,' she complained, 'I still have a ten-minute drive.'
'Not yet you don't,' he said, helping her out of the jeep. 'I want to show you the barn.'
Dee smiled. 'Great.' She was a lot more interested in a cup of tea than in seeing the barn, but the least she could do was show some enthusiasm and give Conor the same support that he'd shown her.
When they walked through the door, she didn't initially notice any difference other than that it was tidier than usual. Then she realized it looked smaller. 'This is going to be a general storage area and, of course,' he waved a hand towards the glass case on the floor in the corner, 'the wormery.'
'You don't have to go to all that trouble for Sam,' she protested.
'Are you kidding? A wormery is a great way of converting waste into compost.'
She smiled. 'If you say so.'
'Come on.' He took her hand and led her back outside and around to the side of the barn and stopped at another door.
'I never noticed this before,' she said.
'That's because it wasn't here before.' He opened it with a flourish and flicked on a light switch. 'What do you think?'
Dee walked into the brightly lit room and stared around her. The walls were lined with white units at both floor and eye level with long, narrow stainless-steel handles and a sophisticated black-granite worktop. But it was the large island in the centre of the room, also with a granite worktop, a double sink and a place for a hob, that really took Dee's breath away. 'Wow! What on earth are you going to do in here?'
He watched her steadily. 'Nothing.'
She laughed. 'I don't understand.'
'Well, it's like this. Lisa has lots of plans for Happy Days and she really could do with more space and I thought that if you and Sam moved out she'd have more room.'
Dee opened her mouth to speak but he held up his hand and hurried on.
'You're going to need more space for the new business, too; there's no way you can do it all from your own kitchen even if you do outsource some of the cooking. There's plenty of room here for you to both cook and store goods. I didn't install any appliances because, well, I don't know anything about them and I knew you'd have very firm ideas about what you wanted and needed.'
'I don't know what to say,' she said faintly, dragging her eyes from the kitchen back to his face.
He looked at her. 'You asked me a question yesterday—'
She pressed her hands to her hot cheeks. 'Oh, please, forget that!'
He ignored her. 'And the answer was yes. I have been in love. Just once.'
She nodded silently, not taking her eyes off him.
'And I still am.' He smiled. 'I love you, Dee. You and you alone. There's never been anyone else like you. Not in Clare and not in Dublin. You're the only one for me.'
'Oh, Conor.' Dee almost fell into his arms, her eyes bright with tears. 'What a lovely thing to say.'
He smiled. 'Well, it's about time, I suppose.'
'I was beginning to wonder,' she admitted. 'I knew you liked me but you never seemed to want it to grow into anything more. That's why I got it into my head that there must have been someone special in Clare.'
Conor shook his head. 'There was no one special. I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to say all of this, Dee, but you see, I didn't feel I had any right to ask you for any kind of commitment. I've spent every minute of my time since I started this farm scrimping and saving. I had nothing to offer you and you had Sam to think of. Be honest, you never would have brought him to live here in the state this place was in. You hated him even visiting!'
'That's not true.'
He raised an eyebrow and she smiled. 'Okay, maybe it's a little bit true.'
'I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy, Dee, and there was no way I was going to propose unless I could afford to offer you and Sam a decent life.'
'Propose?' she murmured.
'And then Neil turned up in his big car and his business in Spain and I thought that was that.'
'Oh, Conor.'
But he'd started, and he was determined to finish. 'So I went to my accountant and asked him if he had any ideas of how I could raise money.'
'Oh, Conor,' she said again.
'And he came up with the idea of selling that piece of land.' He smiled broadly. 'He earned every penny of his exorbitant fees that day. So, now, before your son comes in and ruins the moment,' he shot a glance at the door, 'Dee Hewson, will you marry me? And move in here, you and Sam? And run Dee's Delicacies from here? Oh, and I have the appliances brochure up at the house. It's for proper catering stuff and you can pick whatever you like, there's still plenty of money and—'
Dee reached up and put her hand over his mouth. 'Will you please shut up and let me answer?'
He nodded.
She smiled. 'I'd love to.'
'What?' he said, his voice muffled under her fingers.
'I'd love to come and live here, I'd love to rim my business from this amazing room.' She looked around, smiling, and then her eyes returned to his. 'But most of all, I'd love to marry you, Conor Fitzgerald.'
'Really?' he asked, pulling her closer.
She nodded, moving her hand up to cup his cheek. 'Really. I thought you'd never ask. In fact, most of Banford had given up on you.'
'Like I said, it was just because—'
'Yes, yes, yes, you said.' She sighed. 'In fact, I've never known you to talk quite so much. How about a kiss to seal the deal before Junior gets back?'
He grinned. 'I think I can manage that.'
'Can I have a treat, Mum?' Sam said as they drew abreast of the corner shop.
'You have a biscuit in your lunch box,' Dee reminded him.
'Oh, go on, Dee, it is his first day,' Conor wheedled. 'Just a small packet of those sugar-free fruit sweets.'
Dee grinned. 'All right, then, but be quick. We don't want to be late or you'll be in trouble with your teacher.'
Conor and Sam went into the shop and Dee rested against the wall and held her face up to the September sun. She couldn't believe that it was finally here; Sam's first day at school. He had grown over the summer and as Dee helped him dress this morning, she had marvelled at how much older he looked in the grey school uniform.
'It's a beautiful morning, isn't it?'
Dee opened her eyes and saw Vi Valentine standing in front of her.
'Vi!' She hugged her quickly. 'I haven't seen you in ages. What are you working on?'
'Oh, this and that, nothing important. What are you doing up in this neck of the woods?'
Dee smiled. 'We're taking Sam to school, it's his first day.'
'Oh, my, that is exciting! I'll have to do another portrait for you, this time with him in his school uniform.'
Dee smiled. 'Don't, you'll reduce me to tears and I'm trying very hard to be strong.'
Vi patted her shoulder. 'You're bound to be emotional, darling, but just remember that this is the beginning of another chapter in his young life.'
Dee nodded. 'Yes, I know. Don't worry, I'll be fine after today. It's just another first, do you know what I mean?'
'Vi, how are you?'
The two women turned as Conor and Sam emerged from the shop, Sam clutching a packet of sweets.
Vi smiled. 'Fine, Conor, thank you. Hello, Sam, I believe it's a big day for you today.'
'My first day at school,' Sam told her. 'I'm going to be in Miss Murray's class.'
'I'm sure you'll have a marvellous time.'
'You must come out and visit us at the farm,' Conor told her. 'You could do some bovine portraits.'
Vi laughed. 'That's an idea; I've never painted cows before, at least, not four-legged ones! How are the wedding plans coming along?'
Dee made a face. 'Slowly. There's just so much else on at the moment.'
Conor winked. 'She's testing the waters first, Vi, to see if she can live with me.'
'I'm not,' Dee protested. 'I just have a launch to organize first, then I can concentrate on our wedding.'
'And how do you like living on a farm, Sam?' Vi asked.
'It's ace.'
'That means he likes it,' Conor translated.
'We'd better get going,' Dee said, 'we don't want to be late on your first day, do we, Sam?'
'No way!'
She put an arm around her son. 'See you later, Vi.'
'She looks well,' Conor remarked as they carried on down the road, Sam skipping ahead.
Dee smiled. 'Yes.'
'I'm amazed she hasn't found a partner, she's still very attractive.'
Dee shrugged. 'She's probably too set in her ways to settle down with anyone at this stage.'
'I suppose.' Conor frowned. 'That reminds me, where is that portrait that she gave you, Dee?'
'It's around somewhere,' she said vaguely, 'I'm not sure where.'
'I'll find it and we'll hang it in the hall. It will remind me what you look like when you're at work.'
Sam looked up at him. 'That's silly, you only have to switch on the telly to see Mummy.'
Conor laughed. 'That's true, Sam, I never thought of that. You hate it, don't you?' he murmured to Dee.
'What?'
'The portrait.' He nudged her. 'Come on, you can't fool me.'
'Okay, okay, I don't like it,' she admitted.
'But why? I think you look gorgeous, all delicate and fragile and vulnerable.'
Dee made a face 'Exactly! I look like a victim.'
'Rubbish, you do not. You know what? You look like you do when you're watching Sam, all tender and loving.'
She turned her face up to his. 'Really?'
'Really. Vi is a very clever artist, she captured something that very few people notice. Now, can we hang it in the hall?'
She laughed. 'I'll think about it.'
'Mummy, look! It's Tom!' Sam bounced up and down and waved frantically at his friend across the road. 'Can we cross over?'
'Okay, but hold my hand, please.'
Sam came back and slipped one hand into hers and the other into Conor's. They crossed the road and as the boys chattered noisily, Dee and Conor said hello to Pam, Tom's mother.