Cecelia Ahern - If You Could See Me Now

Elizabeth snorted.

“Wow,” Luke whispered. “But why do people do that?”

Elizabeth laughed. “That’s my boy.”

Ivan ignored her. “Hundreds of years ago, people used to eat the green leaves of the dandelion seeds because they are extremely high in vitamins,” he explained, “which gave it its Latin name which translates to the ‘official cure of all ills.’ So people see them as good luck and now make their wishes on the seeds.”

“Do the wishes come true?” he asked hopefully.

Elizabeth looked at Ivan angrily for filling her nephew’s head with false hopes.

“Only the ones that are delivered properly, so who knows. Remember, even the post gets lost sometimes, Luke.”

Luke nodded his head, understanding. “OK then, let’s go catch them!”

“You two go on, I’ll wait here in the car,” Elizabeth said, staring straight ahead.

Ivan sighed. “Eliza—”

“I’ll wait here,” she said firmly, turning on the radio and settling down to show them she wasn’t budging.

Luke climbed out of the car and she turned to Ivan. “I think it’s ridiculous that you fill his head with these lies,” she fumed. “What are you going to tell him when absolutely nothing he wishes for comes true?”

“How do you know it won’t come true?”

“I have common sense . Something which you seem to be lacking.”

“You’re right, I don’t have common sense. I don’t want to believe what everyone else believes. I have my own thoughts, things that weren’t taught to me or things that I didn’t read in a book. I learn from experience. You, you are afraid to experience anything and so you will always have your common sense and only your common sense.”

Elizabeth looked out the window, counting to ten so that she wouldn’t explode. She hated all this new age self-belief crap; contrary to what he said, she believed it was exactly the kind of thing that could only be learned from books. Written and read by people who spent their life searching for something, anything to take them away from the boredom that was their real life. People who had to believe that there was always more than the very obvious reason for everything.

“You know, Elizabeth, a dandelion is also known as a love herb. Some say that blowing the seeds upon the winds will carry your love to your lover. Others say that if you blow the puff ball while making a wish and succeed in blowing off all the seeds, your wish will come true.”

Elizabeth frowned in confusion. “Stop your gobbledy-gook, Ivan.”

“Very well. For today, Luke and I will settle for catching Jinny Joes. I thought you always wanted to catch a wish,” Ivan said.

Elizabeth looked away. “I know what you’re doing, Ivan, and it won’t work. I told you about my childhood in the strictest of confidence. It took me a lot to say the things I said, it wasn’t so you could turn it into some game,” she hissed.

“This is not a game,” Ivan said quietly. He clambered out of the car.

“Everything is a game to you,” Elizabeth snapped. “Tell me, how is it you know so much about dandelion seeds? What exactly is the point of all your silly information?”

Ivan leaned forward through the open door and spoke softly. “Well, I think it’s quite obvious that if you’re going to rely on something to carry your wishes in the wind, you might as well know where exactly it has come from and where it intends on going.”

The door slammed shut.

Elizabeth watched them both run to the field. “Then if that’s so, where exactly are you from, Ivan?” she asked aloud. “And where and when do you intend on going?”

Chapter Twenty-One

Elizabeth watched as Ivan and Luke darted around the long grass in the field, jumping and diving to catch the dandelion seeds that floated in the air like feathery balls.

“I got one!” she heard Luke yell.

“Make a wish.” Ivan whooped.

Luke pressed it between his hand and squeezed his eyes shut. “I wish that Elizabeth would get out of the car and play Jinny Joes!” he roared. He lifted his podgy hand to the air, opened his tiny fingers slowly, and released the blow-ball to the wind. It carried it away.

Ivan raised his eyebrows at Elizabeth.

Luke watched the car to see if his wish came true.

Elizabeth watched his hopeful little face, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it, to get out of the car and make Luke believe in fairy tales, just a fancy word for lies. She wouldn’t do it. But again she watched as Luke raced around the field, holding his arms out. He caught the seed, grasped it tightly, and shouted the same wish.

Her chest tightened and her breathing quickened. They both watched her with such hope in their eyes and she felt the pressure of being relied upon. It’s only a game, she tried to convince herself, all she had to do was get out of the car. But it meant more to her than that. It meant filling a child’s head with thoughts and ideas that would never happen. It meant sacrificing a moment of fun for a lifetime of disappointment. She gripped the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles were white.

Luke joyfully jumped up and down, trying to catch another. He repeated his wish at the top of his lungs, this time adding a “Please, please, please, Jinny Joe!” Holding up his arm, he looked like the Statue of Liberty, and then he released it.

Ivan didn’t do anything. He just stood still in the field, observing it all with a look and presence she felt so drawn to. She saw the frustration and disappointment growing in Luke’s face as he caught another, squashed it angrily between his hands, and let it go with an attempt to kick it into the air.

Already he was losing faith and she hated to be the one to be the cause of that. She took a deep breath and reached for the door handle. Luke’s face lit up and he immediately began chasing more. As she walked onto the field, the fuchsia waved and danced wildly, like spectators waving their redand-purple flags to welcome a player onto the field.

Driving slowly by in his tractor, Elizabeth’s father almost drove into a ditch at the sight he saw in a faraway field. With the sparkling sea and the sun in the background, he could see two dark figures dancing around in the field. One was a woman whose long brown hair, caught by the wind, draped itself wildly around her face and neck. She was whooping and hollering with joy as she leaped around the field with a young child, trying to catch the dandelion seeds that were parachuting in the wind. Brendan stopped the tractor and gasped in shock at the familiar sight. It was as though he were seeing a ghost. His body shook as he watched in wonder and fright until a beeping behind him startled him and urged him on.

Benjamin was driving back from Killarney at six thirty on Sunday morning, looking out at the sea view and wishing to be on the other side of the Atlantic, when a tractor in the middle of the road caused him to step on the brakes immediately. Inside was an old man with a face as white as a sheet, looking out into the distance. Benjamin followed his gaze. His face broke into a smile as he spotted Elizabeth Egan dancing around with a young boy in a field filled with dandelions. She was laughing and cheering, bounding about like he had never seen her before. She was in a tracksuit, not a crisp suit, her hair was down, loose and blowing around freely instead of being tied back severely. He hadn’t thought she had a son but he watched her lifting him up into the air, helping him to reach something, and swinging him back down again. The little blond boy giggled with delight and Benjamin smiled, enjoying the sight. He could have watched her all morning, but a beeping from behind startled him and as the tractor’s engine started up and moved on, they both crawled down the road slowly, still watching Elizabeth.