Cecelia Ahern - How to Fall in Love

‘I wouldn’t say that,’ Adam interrupted. ‘The person who came up with that is extremely unbalanced.’

‘Speak for yourself,’ Amelia snapped, putting Adam in his place.

‘So let’s go to Kenmare,’ Bobby said quickly, clapping his hands.

I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously.

‘You think it’s a good idea?’ Amelia asked, surprised. ‘You think my friend is right?’

‘I think your friend is a genius,’ Bobby said. ‘I mean, I would have recognised the lace at some stage myself, but she saw it straight away. I’d love to go to Killarney—’

‘Kenmare,’ I interrupted.

‘Kenmare, excuse me.’ He gave Amelia a charming smile. ‘I’d love to go to Kenmare, ask a few questions. We’ll find your parents in no time.’

I raised my eyebrows.

‘I’ve had plenty of adoption cases,’ he said, feeling the bad vibes Adam and I were giving out and selling himself a bit harder. ‘Usually we go to the adoption authority and I assist people through that process. It can be a stressful business; it’s not easy to think, to process everything,’ he said, sincere now. ‘We can get results that way too, but it’s always good to follow any clues you can come up with yourself.’

‘I already contacted the adoption authority,’ Amelia said. ‘I’ve downloaded paperwork from their website but,’ she lowered her voice even though there was no one around to hear her, ‘I’m not entirely sure this adoption was done officially. There’s no paperwork that I could find.’

‘Yeah …’ Bobby fingered the note and looked deep in thought. ‘I agree. So, what do you say?’ He reached out his hand to Amelia, eager to close the deal, so he could flee from his nest.

‘How much do you cost?’ The cynical Adam interrupted their exchange.

‘One hundred and fifty euro if I find them, plus my accommodation. Other expenses I’ll cover myself. Deal?’ He looked down at his hand, which was still extended.

Amelia seemed uncertain.

He dropped his hand.

‘I can’t promise miracles,’ he said gently, ‘but I’ve found parents and reunited families before. There’s not much of a set-up here, but I’m good. I don’t get paid until I solve the puzzle and I pay the rent every month. Just about.’ He offered a cheeky smile.

‘It’s not you, Bobby,’ Amelia said. ‘It’s the … situation. If I go ahead with this, well, then it’s real.’ She looked at me for help.

What was considered meddling? ‘You should do what you feel is right,’ I eventually said, then added, ‘What have you got to lose? You haven’t been on holiday for a long time. At the very least, you’ll see another part of the country.’

Amelia smiled shyly. ‘Okay.’ She shook his hand.

Adam shook his head.

‘I know this is crazy,’ Amelia said, keeping her voice down as we walked back to the car. ‘But I have to get out of Dublin, I have to get away from the shop. I need to get away. Get my head together. Everything has been turned upside down, I can barely think straight.’

‘And you think the trip will help that?’

‘No,’ she laughed. ‘But at least I’m going to have fun being wildly confused about it all. Bobby,’ she smiled, ‘he’s an interesting one.’

I was only half-listening, trying at the same time to eavesdrop on the two men behind us.

‘So how did you meet Christine?’ Bobby asked.

‘On a bridge.’

‘Which bridge?’

‘The Ha’penny.’

‘That’s romantic,’ Bobby said, slapping Adam’s back like they were buddies. Adam shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and waited for me to stop talking so we could finally get away.

I turned my attention back to Amelia.

‘Thanks for humouring me,’ she said.

‘That’s what friends are for. But can I ask a question? When we were in the storage room, you went straight to the box with the year you were born. You suspected, didn’t you?’

‘I always wondered. Sometimes I’d ask Mum and Dad questions about the pregnancy, about where I was born, and the answers they gave were all a bit too vague. Plus they never seemed to want to talk about it. I didn’t want to make them uncomfortable or hurt them, so eventually I stopped asking, I gave up on finding the answers. I had no idea what it was they were hiding. But I do know that Mum had four pregnancies before me and she lost every one of those babies. She said having me was a blessing from God. So I thought she was afraid of losing me the way she’d lost them, that’s why she was so precious about me.’

‘Your parents loved you so much.’

‘I felt loved.’ She smiled. ‘So it’s okay. It’s not so much that I want to be reunited with my biological parents, I just … I want to know. And then I think I could walk away. It won’t matter if they want nothing to do with me. I’m not sure yet if I want anything to do with them. All I want is to know the story. I feel like I deserve to know.’

‘You do.’ I thought about it. ‘You’re right, you know, if I was in your shoes and if I knew my mum was out there and I had a chance to find her, I’d do whatever it took. I’d do anything to get her back.’

‘I know you would,’ Amelia said, throwing a worried look at Adam before covering her concern with a smile that was too bright and too quick.

I swallowed hard.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Adam said from the door, watching me pack my bag.

Everything had seemed ridiculous to him all day. Pointless, a waste of time, ridiculous.

‘What’s ridiculous?’ I asked, trying not to sound as drained as I felt.

‘Going to Tipperary.’

‘How are you going to not take over the company if we don’t go to the company to sort it out?’

‘We can’t sort it out, it’s in my grandfather’s will. There’s no way of changing it. This trip will be a total waste of time.’ His voice was hard.

I didn’t know exactly how we were going to sort this out but where there was a will, there was a way and Adam had to face up to his responsibilities sooner or later. The prospect was making him tetchy, fidgety. He was moody again.

He left the room. ‘So this is my last time here?’ he said from the living area.

Then I got it. He had a problem with people leaving him, and him leaving too. I hurriedly followed his voice.

‘You’re moving on, Adam. This is a good thing.’

He nodded, not believing a word of it.

‘Right now, I’m feeling …’ I prompted him.

He sighed. ‘Right now I’m feeling … sentimental.’

I felt it too. Then his phone rang.

‘It’s Maria.’ He handed it to me.

I stared at it, wanting to hang up straight away, but I thought of Leo’s advice. ‘Answer it,’ I swallowed. ‘Invite her to your party. If you want to.’

‘Are you sure?’ He looked uncertain.

‘Of course.’ I was confused by his reaction. ‘Don’t you want her to be there?’

The phone kept ringing.

‘Yeah, only, you know …’

We stared at each other.

I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but I knew what I was thinking. Don’t answer it, don’t fall in love with her, fall out of love with her. Love me.

The phone stopped ringing, leaving a silent room. He didn’t even look at the phone in his hand. He swallowed. He took a step towards me.

The phone rang again and he froze.

Then he answered it and walked out of the room.

While Adam was outside in the car with Pat, I tentatively made my way to Simon Conway’s ward. I was on the lookout for his wife, his children or any member of his family who felt that taking a pop at me would alleviate their pain or bring Simon back to them. The only familiar face I saw – and I cowered away from her as soon as I saw her – was Angela, the nurse who had brought me to Simon’s room the previous week, the night I’d met Adam. I froze when I saw her, but Angela smiled at me warmly.