The Daisy Picker (32 page)

When they come back, Lizzie McCarthy will move out of the caravan and into Joe McCarthy’s house. She’ll work in Ripe in the mornings, while Joe carves, and in the afternoons
she’ll go to The Kitchen to bake for a couple of hours, and every second evening she’ll go back later to help serve the meals and clear up.

And when school finishes for the summer, in three more weeks, Deirdre and Angela and Pete will hook Lizzie’s caravan to the back of Angela’s car and head off to explore the west
coast for a fortnight.

And in August Deirdre will get a new half-brother or sister.

Angela told Lizzie a few weeks ago. ‘I got the shock of my life when John told me, but actually, it’s the best thing that could have happened. It lets us all move on. And Dee’s
really excited.’

Connemara sorted a lot out for Angela and Deirdre. ‘We talked like we hadn’t in a long time,’ Angela told Lizzie. ‘I realised how much I’d missed. I’d been
assuming she was coping fine with the separation – which she wasn’t, of course. She was hurt and confused and looking for reassurance – and then that man came along, just when she
was vulnerable.’

When Deirdre and Angela arrived home from Connemara, Pete was waiting.

‘He’s so sweet, Lizzie – a real tonic; just what I need. It’s probably not a forever thing – I don’t know that I believe much in that any more – but
while it lasts, I’m going to enjoy it.’

Six months later they’re still enjoying it. When Dominic got back from the States, Pete moved his things into The Kitchen – by then he was well established as the local handyman
– and he’s showing no signs of wanting to move on. If the way he looks at Angela is anything to go by, Lizzie thinks that, in the grand scheme of things, they stand a pretty good chance
of survival.

And in eight years, less with good behaviour, Charlie will be released from jail. And there’s time enough to worry about what will happen then.

‘Back in a sec.’ Lizzie plants a kiss on her new husband’s cheek, unwinds his arm from around her waist and goes through the house, past the dining-room table littered with
leftovers – Jones and Dumbledore will have a feast when Angela goes home tomorrow – and down to the bottom of the garden.

She stands among Daddy’s roses – not open yet – and sees him bent over them, lifting the leaves, touching the buds gently. She puts out a hand and feels the tight parcels of
velvety petals as they think about starting to unfurl.

Life going on. Her life going on.

After a minute, she turns and walks back up the garden.

To Mam and Dad, for being a rock of support, in this as in everything.

To Ciars, for generously sharing his San Francisco home with me and my laptop.

To Treas, Tomás, Colm and Aonghus, just for being there.

To David Rice, for giving me the gentle nudge I needed to set off on this thrilling journey.

To Alison, Deirdre and Tana, for licking me into shape.

To Cliona, Chris and all at Tivoli, for guiding me safely through the process.

To Faith, my far from secret agent, for looking after me.

To Charlie Varon, a valuable mentor and a very nice man.

To John Regan, for kindly sharing his knowledge of woodcarving with me.

To Orla, Mags and all my great friends, for being nearly as delighted as I am.

To Judi, a fellow writer-in-progress and a valuable sounding-board.

To Liz, for whipping out the camera and doing the needful.

To Annaghmakerrig, for allowing me to live like a writer for a summery month.

To Lizzie O’Grady, for coming when I called her.

Tivoli
an imprint of Gill & Macmillan
Hume Avenue
Park West
Dublin 12
with associated companies throughout the world
www.gillmacmillanbooks.ie

© Roisin Meaney 2004
First published by Tivoli 2004
This ebook edition published by Gill & Macmillan 2004

978 07171 3673 6 (print)
978 07171 5723 5 (epub)
978 07171 5724 2 (mobi)

Cover design by Slick Fish Design
Cover illustration by Zink Design

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without permission of the publishers.

A catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

About the Author

Roisin Meaney was born in Listowel, Co. Kerry, and now lives in Limerick, and is a full-time writer. She has also taught in Dublin and Zimbabwe. She has had a
varied career, working as a freelance copywriter, a secretary for a Japanese trading company and a painter of cartoons in children’s bedrooms. She is currently working on her ninth novel, in
between doing cryptic crosswords and watching Coronation Street.

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