A Secret in Clover Cove: a heart-warming romance set on the beautiful west coast of Ireland by Maggie Finn

Author:Maggie Finn [Finn, Maggie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, romance
ISBN: 9781911297147
Publisher: Eleven Press
Published: 2019-08-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

There was a man in Kate’s kitchen. Tessa’s heart jumped, then settled when he turned and she saw the white of the dog collar.

‘Bishop,’ she breathed, pressing a hand to her chest. ‘I thought you were a burglar.’

Tessa had walked up to the guest house on the square to look for Kate to give her the latest news about her encounters with both Charles Balcon and Danny Brennan. The front door was open – it was a guest house after all – so Tessa had gone straight through to the kitchen; Kate had already mentioned that she was Mrs. Brennan’s only guest. She hadn’t expected to find anyone else there.

‘Sorry my dear,’ said Bishop Ray, holding up a tea caddy. ‘We’re out of the good stuff up at the rectory and Mrs. Brennan lets us borrow a few bags when we’re short.’

He looked around.

‘You’re looking for Miss O’Riordan I’m guessing?’

‘Yes, yes I was.’

‘I’m afraid it’s just me right now. Anything I can help with?

Tessa shook her head. ‘No, I… I just wanted to talk something over with her.’

The Bishop nodded.

‘Well perhaps you’d have time for a cup of tea all the same.’

Tessa was about to make a polite refusal, but the old man held up his hands.

‘No names, no pack drill, as they used to say in the army.’

Tessa’s face must have betrayed her confusion.

‘It means you don’t have to tell me exactly what’s going on, but I was a parish priest for more years than I care to remember, and I have always found that talking to a stranger about things can help an awful lot.’

Tessa was skeptical, but she didn’t think she could back out now. Plus maybe Bishop Ray might let slip some information about those turbines outside her window. Since Tessa’s conversation with Charles Balcon, she couldn’t get the image out of her head.

‘Sure,’ she said, ‘Tea would be nice.’

She waited until the Bishop brought two mugs over and they sat at the old kitchen table.

‘So will it be an affair of the heart you wanted to discuss?’ said the priest, blowing on his tea.

Tessa tried to answer, but just spluttered.

‘It doesn’t take Hercule Poirot, Miss Drake,’ smiled the bishop. ‘Guard Noah – the policeman down at Port Quinn? – he once told me that most problems in his line are motivated by love or money. And as you were coming to talk to your girlfriend, I was safe assuming the former.’

It seemed funny talking to an old priest about love, but then Tessa reminded herself that he’d probably been to more weddings than most people.

‘Are you married, Bishop Ray?’ she asked.

‘Forty-one years before the Lord called my Callie back to Him.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry.’

He shook his head firmly.

‘Never feel sorry on that score. I was lucky that God saw fit to bring us together. We were happy.’

Tessa looked at him.

‘Is that what happens, do you think? Does God bring people together?’

‘Of course. Nothing else makes sense. Two hearts finding each other and fitting together perfectly? It would be crazy to think that just happens by chance.

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