The Girl Who Lied(64)

They reached the beach, the tide was at its peak, crashing noisily on the shoreline, throwing up seaweed and then dragging the dregs away, only to bring them back onto the beach with the next wave.

Kerry led Erin to the sand dunes, a familiar spot where the dunes dipped, forming a small valley and providing shelter from the threatening gale.

‘Glad it’s not just me you’re spoiling for a fight with today,’ he said, sitting down next to her, drawing his legs up and resting his elbows on his knees. ‘Were you planning on having a row with everyone in the village or were me and Roisin singled out for special treatment?’

‘I didn’t pick the fight with Roisin,’ she said, scooping up a handful of sand and letting it pour through her open fingers.

‘But you did with me?’

She turned to look at him. ‘I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to come across all high and mighty. Whatever’s gone on with you and your mum, it’s not my place to criticise. You know, glass houses and stones and all that.’

Kerry studied her for a moment. She looked him straight in the eye, unflinching, her face open, she was genuinely sorry. ‘There may have been a slight over-reaction on my part,’ he conceded.

‘Can we scrub all that?’

‘Consider it scrubbed.’ He was aware of the flutter of relief somewhere in the pit of his gut. Erin Hurley was definitely under his skin. Big time. To distract himself from this rather unnerving realisation, Kerry put his arm around her and pulled her close, dropping a kiss on top of her head. She responded by lifting her head, her lips seeking his.

‘That’s better,’ she said as she drew away from him.

‘I have a feeling making up with Roisin won’t be quite as straightforward,’ said Kerry. Immediately, he felt Erin’s shoulders tense. It really was a tricky subject for her. What the hell had gone on between those two?

‘I’ve no intention of making up with Roisin.’ Erin ran the pendant back and forth on the silver chain around her neck.

‘What is it with you two?’

‘Please, Kerry, can we change the subject?’

‘No. We can’t.’ said Kerry. ‘Look, Erin, I think I’ve made it perfectly clear how I feel about you. I really like you, really like you. We get along well. We get each other. And, we’ve both got demons from the past.’ He paused to gauge her reaction. She didn’t pull away. He took this as a good sign and carried on. ‘If we’re to make anything of it, then I think we have to be honest with each other. We need to have complete trust in each other.’

‘I know what you’re saying and, yes, I agree, but you have to earn trust.’

‘Of course you do and sometimes you have to follow your gut instinct about who you can trust.’

‘Do you feel you can trust me?’

She was testing him. He was willing to play. ‘I do. I know I can. You and me, we’re from the same mould.’

‘Tell me what it is that your mother said to make you hate her.’

He had been expecting this and he was willing to sacrifice this for her. It would also explain to Erin his reaction to earlier.

‘As you know, my dad died when I was a teenager. Cancer. It wasn’t diagnosed until it was very advanced. Three months from start to finish.’ He looked out to sea, thinking back to his father. ‘Me and mum, we were pretty cut up, as you can imagine. It was the worst time in my life.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ said Erin. She placed a hand on his arm and dropped a kiss on his shoulder.

‘After a few years, Mum remarried. Me and my stepdad, we never hit it off. I was a rebellious teenager who didn’t want anyone taking the place of my father. My mum had a baby with him and after that things really got bad at home. To cut a long story short, I wasn’t exactly the model son and I rebelled a bit.’

‘That’s only natural,’ said Erin. She sounded genuine and empathetic.

‘I got into trouble a lot, both in and out of school. Basically, I had a big bust up with my mum and stepdad one night. They called the Guards and kicked me out. I spent the next two nights sleeping rough in a farmer’s barn. Word got back to Max what had happened. He and Joe came and found me. Max gave me a job and roof over my head.’

‘That was good of him. You’re lucky you had someone who would do that for you,’ said Erin.

A silence fell between them as Kerry thought back to when he was kicked out of home. It was so much more than just an argument, but even thinking about it now still cut through him. Sliced through his heart like a stake post being driven into the ground. ‘I always thought a mother was supposed to love her child unconditionally. I always believed a mother would never turn her back on her child. I was wrong.’