My Mother's Secret by Sheila O'Flanagan Read Free Book Online Page B

with clips as she ran.
    ‘All right, all right,’ she yelled as the bell rang again. ‘Give me a second.’
    At first she could hardly make out the man on the doorstep in front of her, shielded as he was by a simply gigantic bouquet of flowers arranged in a bronze vase. But then he lowered them and she could see that beneath a shock of ink-black hair, and day-old stubble, his indigo-blue eyes were sharp and piercing and looking at her with recognition.
    ‘Hi,’ he said. ‘Sorry if I disturbed you. It’s Steffie, isn’t it?’
    ‘Um, yes.’
    ‘You don’t remember me, do you?’
    Steffie hated when people did this. Nobody in the world could be expected to remember everyone they’d ever met. And she met a lot of people these days. Although, given the still precarious nature of her business, she could always do with meeting more.
    ‘I’m sorry.’ Better to ’fess up now than try to pretend. ‘I’m not sure …’
    ‘Liam. Liam Kinsella,’ he said.
    It took a moment and then she remembered.
    ‘Liam Kinsella? Michelle’s brother?’
    The Kinsellas lived in Castlemoran and she and Michelle had played with each other as children during the long summer holidays. But they’d lost contact when they’d left school and Steffie hadn’t heard from the other girl in years.
    ‘You’ve changed,’ she said, barely managing to keep the shock out of her voice. When she’d known him, Liam had been a barrel of a boy. Overweight, with train-track braces on his teeth and a perpetual hangdog expression, he hadn’t given any indication of turning into the undeniably attractive man standing on her doorstep.
    ‘So have you.’ His eyes flickered up and down her body and she suddenly realised that her cotton dress was sticking to her. And that she hadn’t bothered with any underwear.
    ‘Yes, well,’ she said as she tugged at the dress and hoped that it wasn’t too revealing. ‘What can I do for you?’ As far as she remembered, he hadn’t been invited to the party. Neither had Michelle. Although Mr and Mrs Kinsella were on the guest list, and had accepted.
    ‘Mum asked me to bring these around,’ he said, indicating the floral display in his arms. ‘She wanted to get it here early so that you could place it somewhere suitable.’
    ‘That’s really nice of her,’ said Steffie. ‘It’s gorgeous. And very extravagant.’
    ‘Mum owns the florist’s,’ Liam reminded her.
    ‘Oh. Yes. So she does.’ Steffie had forgotten that too. The truth was, she’d left her life at Aranbeg and all the people in it behind her a long time ago. ‘I’ll put it on the veranda,’ she suggested. ‘It’s where most of the party will be happening.’
    ‘Do you want me to carry it for you?’ asked Liam.
    ‘If you wouldn’t mind.’ It wasn’t that she was weak or feeble or anything, but the arrangement looked heavy and Steffie didn’t fancy dropping it on the floor that she’d swept and washed half an hour previously. She led the way to the veranda, where Liam commented on how festive the celebratory banners and balloons made it, before placing the floral arrangement on a small table that he thought was prominent enough to satisfy his mother.
    ‘It really is nice of your mum to send it,’ said Steffie.
    ‘She’s good with flowers,’ agreed Liam.
    Steffie vaguely remembered occasionally calling to the florist’s to meet Michelle. She’d liked the scent of the cut flowers and the artistic way that Liam’s mum had arranged them.
    ‘Do you work with her?’ asked Steffie.
    Liam grinned. ‘Not me. I’m a chef.’
    Recalling the fact that she’d rarely seen him without some kind of food when he was younger, Steffie wasn’t altogether surprised. Although clearly he cooked more than he ate these days.
    ‘In Cody’s,’ added Liam. ‘It’s my restaurant.’
    ‘You own a restaurant?’ And perhaps that shouldn’t have been a surprise either.
    ‘The best in town,’ he assured her. ‘If you’re staying for a