Love, Rosie (292 page)

dreds
of
them
spread
across
the
floor,
each
telling
its
own
tale
of
triumph
or

sadness,
each
letter
representing
a
phase
in
her
life.

She
had
kept
them
all.

She
sat
on
the
sheepskin
rug
in
front
of
her
fire
in
her
bedroom
in
Con-

nemara
and
continued
to
take
in
the
array
of
words
spread
out
before
her.

Her
life
in
ink.
She
had
spent
the
entire
night
reading
back
over
them
and
her

back
ached
from
stooping
and
her
eyes
stung.
Stung
from
the
tiredness
and

tears.

People
she
had
loved
had
so
vividly
come
alive
in
her
head
during
those

hours
as
she
read
their
fears,
emotions,
and
thoughts
that
had
once
been
so

real,
but
that
were
now
gone
from
her
life.
Friends
that
had
come
and
gone,

workmates,
schoolmates,
lovers,
and
family
members.
She
had
relived
her
life

all
over
again
that
night
in
a
matter
of
hours.

Without
her
even
noticing,
the
sun
had
risen,
the
seagulls
were
dancing

around
the
sky
calling
with
excitement
as
their
meals
were
thrown
around
by

the
angry
sea.
The
waves
crashed
against
the
rocks
threatening
to
come
fur-

ther.
Gray
clouds
hung
like
smoke
rings
outside
her
window.

430

Cecelia
Ahern

The
bell
from
the
front
desk
downstairs
rang
loudly.
Rosie
tutted
and

glanced
at
her
watch.
6:15.

A
guest
had
arrived.

She
rose
to
her
feet
slowly,
wincing
at
the
pain
of
being
crouched
in
the

same
position
for
hours.
She
held
on
to
her
bedpost
and
pulled
herself
up
onto

her
feet.
She
slowly
straightened
her
back.

The
bell
rang
again.

Her
knees
cracked.

“Ouch,
coming!”
she
called
out,
trying
to
hide
the
irritation
in
her
voice.

She
had
been
so
stupid
to
stay
up
all
night
reading
those
letters,
today
was

a
busy
day
and
she
couldn’t
afford
to
be
tired.
She
had
five
guests
leaving
and

four
more
arriving
not
long
after
them.
Their
bedrooms
needed
to
be
cleaned,

their
sheets
washed
and
replaced
for
the
next
arrivals,
and
she
hadn’t
even

started
making
breakfast
yet.

She
carefully
tiptoed
between
the
mess
of
letters
scattered
around
the
rug,

trying
not
to
step
on
the
important
papers
she
had
saved
all
her
life.

The
bell
rang
again.

She
rolled
her
eyes
and
cursed
under
her
breath.
She
was
not
in
the
mood

for
impatient
guests
today.
Not
when
she
hadn’t
had
a
second’s
sleep.

“Just
a
minute
,”
she
called
cheerfully,
holding
on
to
the
banister
and

rushing
down
the
stairs.
She
felt
her
toe
hit
against
the
luggage
that
had
stu-