‘Yes…if it makes you happier,’ she conceded.
‘Excellent. It’s organised for four this afternoon at the Court.’
Her eyes widened. ‘Today?’
‘I want the testing done quickly and discreetly. The results will take a few days to come back.’
The tests were done within minutes of her arrival at the Court. The bespectacled chemist who performed the simple procedure behaved as though there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. Rafael accompanied Harriet back out to her car. ‘Do you ever wear the brooch I gave you?’
Harriet swallowed hard. ‘I look at it.’
‘However the tests go, I’d like to see you wearing it.’
Harriet bent her head to hide the shimmer of tears in her strained gaze. ‘OK.’
She had complete faith in the fact that the tests would fully confirm her mother’s claim. What would happen when Rafael was forced to accept the inevitable? Would he start trying to think of her as a half-sister? Or would he distance himself? When she found herself thinking that she was lucky that he owned fifty per cent of the livery yard, she knew she had sunk low indeed.
The following morning, Fergal called in to see her at breakfast time. Accepting the mug of tea that she automatically offered, he gave her a huge grin. ‘Rafael Flynn has offered me a job on his stud farm. Assistant trainer, no less…Well, I’ll be one of four, but it’s a fantastic opportunity!’
Harriet was amazed. ‘I had no idea you were looking for a job.’
‘I wasn’t.’ Fergal laughed, his excitement making her want to smile too. ‘But, sure, working with the horses is what I always dreamt of doing. When Mr Flynn came to watch me schooling Tailwind last week I thought he was interested in the gelding. Instead he was considering me for the vacancy he had!’
‘So you’ll be moving to Kildare. Will your mother mind very much?’
‘She knows my heart isn’t in Dooleys. She’ll keep up the post office, but my uncle will hire a bar manager. I’ll be earning good money, and sharing a flat at the stud, so I’ll be able to send cash home to help out,’ the young blond man said earnestly.
‘I’m really happy for you.’
‘The one drawback is that I have to leave almost immediately. I’ve made arrangements to sell my horses. It wouldn’t make sense to try and keep them.’
‘When do you have to go?’
‘Day after tomorrow. I won’t get the chance to say goodbye to Una, so I was hoping you would pass on my good wishes and stuff,’ Fergal said gruffly, studying his oversized feet. ‘I’m hoping to get home once a month.’
‘Be sure to come and tell me how you’re getting on.’
Harriet was appalled at how ruthlessly efficient Rafael was at attaining his own ends. He had said he would deal with his sister’s infatuation with Fergal and he had not been joking. Una and Philomena had just gone off on a three-day trip to Dublin, which had been a gift from Rafael. Una would come home to Ballyflynn and Fergal would already have gone to live on the other side of the country. The teenager would be shattered by that development.
Harriet invited Tolly over for lunch the next day. He was always bringing her fresh vegetables and fruit, not to mention flowers and cakes, and she loved having his company. Indeed, if her mother’s revelation had not been of such a sensitive nature she would have confided in Tolly. The doorbell went when they had finished eating and were discussing possible sites for the vegetable patch she had planned for the autumn.
‘I only want to grow easy things to start with…lettuce, peas.’ she was saying to Tolly as she opened the front door.
‘I would’ve phoned, but I was afraid that you would put me off. I really do need to talk to you,’ Luke stated flatly.
Harriet was stunned into silence by the sight of her onetime fiancé.
Tolly lodged in the kitchen doorway. ‘If you have company, I’ll nip down to the kitchen garden to get in a couple of hours before the sun goes in.’ He walked forward to extend his hand to the younger man. ‘I’m Harriet’s neighbour—Joseph Tolly.’
‘Luke Jarvis.’
The old man’s welcoming smile died round the edges, and he took his leave with clear reluctance.
Harriet turned back to Luke to say, ‘What on earth are you doing here?’
‘Alice and I are finished.’
Harriet studied him, looking in vain for the man she had once loved. He was not as tall as she recalled, and he was a touch heavy round the jowls. She no longer found him attractive. Eight years, she thought with regret. Eight years that had been wasted in many ways—for she had never loved Luke as she loved Rafael. That undeniable fact made her feel oddly guilty, and a touch less ready to condemn Luke for his infidelity. But she could have borne his betrayal a good deal better had he strayed with someone other than her own sister.