Maire's Story

Chapter 21 and 22

C H A P T E R   T W E N T Y - O N E
"I wasn't sure if Monique would be mad at me for taking her weird painting to the auction," wrote Maire in a letter to Timothy after church the next day.

"She looked real funny when Nick an' Mr. Fall...uh, Rory... an' even Conor Haugh were trying to outbid each other. That's so funny 'cause I heard Mrs. Adam — that's the Mrs. Adam of the old Magic Maple house, not my godmother — tell Mrs. Mulvey that Conor's the cheapest man in Guilfoyle.

"Then she — Monique, I mean — looked so surprised when Mr. Sheehan closed the bidding an' the price was lots more than what her other painting went for. She was even more surprised to realize it was Rory who had the winning bid.

"He was so pleased to have the painting. I'm not sure I've ever seen him this happy. But Monique wouldn't even look at him. An' I could tell Rory wished she would It's too bad she hates him so much, Timothy, 'cause since he stopped trying to take me from Monique an' started coming to church, he's turned into a real nice adult. Hmmm...maybe I can make Monique change her mind about him...."

Suddenly inspired, Maire dropped her pencil and went downstairs to the living room. There, Monique was rereading a letter from her lawyer detailing the progress on her adoption case.

"We should invite Rory over for supper," announced Maire, who wasn't old enough to realize such a notion should be approached with great care.

Monique looked up, her face resembling a deer's when caught in a car's headlights.

"I beg your pardon?

"Let's have Rory over for a visit," Maire repeated. "It would be fun."

"It would most certainly not," Monique said with biting certainty.

"Why not?"

Monique put the letter down and shook her head. "Where on earth did you get this notion?" was her version of an answer. "Oh, never mind. I suppose it was one of those things that just pops into a child's head. It would not be 'fun' to have Mr. Fallon over because I wouldn't trust him to tell me the correct time of day."

"Well, I trust him."

"And what has he done to deserve that?"

"Well, he stopped trying to take me away from you, an' I think that means he doesn't want any of Mom an' Dad's stuff."

"As far as we know, he doesn't," Monique advised darkly. "That man may be plotting some new and more devious way to separate you from your inheritance. He's already living in your parents' house."

"But I've spent time with him," Maire protested. "He different now. He's nice."

Monique sighed. "You may think so, but you can believe me on this: You haven't experienced the things I have with men."

"Is that why you don't like them? Mrs. Adam — I mean, my godmother — doesn't understand it, but she said there are lotsa things she doesn't understand, though I can't imagine what they would be. Can you? The other Mrs. Adam told her you musta been jilted at the altar. Does that mean a man ran off before the wedding? I asked Coleen about that an' she told me it's not something I should worry about. So I try not to."

"Well, that's good. The last thing you need to be doing is concerning yourself with gossip."

"So can we let Rory visit?"

"I believe I said no, did I not?"

"Yes, but —"

"There are no buts, young lady. You asked, I answered and that's the end of it."