Olivia's Pirate: When love leaps aboard, can her heart keep up? (Isabel and Friends Book 5) by McIntyre Maggie

Author:McIntyre, Maggie [McIntyre, Maggie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ryeland Press
Published: 2023-07-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

There is nothing worse than sleeping badly and then being dragged awake from feverish dreams by an insistent buzzing in one’s ear. Olivia was standing in some women’s prison, waiting in line to use a phone. The queue of women in front of her grew longer every minute, and she knew she would never get to make her call before the association time finished. It was a frustration dream, lifted straight from Orange is the new Black, and even as she slept, part of her brain knew this was all about Niamh, trying to reach her, desperate to hear from her.

The buzzing grew unbearable. She would have to lose her place in the line, fail yet again to connect with the person she loved.

As the dream faded, the buzzing grew louder; she woke, and realised her mobile was vibrating under her left ear, below her pillow. In the half light of dawn she struggled to catch the call, and pushed the answer button, even before she could see a name.

“Hello?”

The answering sound pitched her into full wakefulness. No-one spoke, but someone was sobbing down the phone like a baby, completely out of it. Olivia sat up in bed, swung her feet around, and stood bare-footed on the woodblock flooring.

“Niamh? Whatever’s the matter?”

More sobbing, then “Olivia, forgive me for calling so early but Granny died while I was asleep. I wasn’t there to see her go! They should have woken me.”

Olivia’s heart shot like an arrow straight through the airwaves. Yes, she’d craved connection, but not enough to want to hear this anguished wail from her Irish friend. She forgot the rules, ignored what one should or shouldn’t say on hearing news like this from a casual new acquaintance.

“Oh, I’m so, so sorry, darling! When did it happen?”

“Just now. Well, they’ve just told me. She died in her sleep a few minutes ago. The monitors went into some emergency alarm beeping, but when they came to her bedside, she’d gone.”

Niamh was trying to regain some control, attempting to stop crying.

Olivia sought to reassure her.

“But you were there, weren’t you, next to her bed? She would have sensed you were nearby. You were there to the end. You couldn’t help catching a few hours rest.”

“I suppose not, but no-one told me they expected her to die. If I’d known I would have stayed awake all night. I haven’t even rung Ruairí.

I needed to talk to you first. I’m so sorry I didn’t call last night. I wanted to, so much. Oh, Olivia, I do wish you were here.”

Then Niamh started to sob once more, but by now Olivia was on firmer ground. So Niamh had called her first, instinctively coming to her before all others. She had cared. She had turned to her. Olivia mattered that much in her life. It was food for her heart, but she went straight into sensible friend mode. She remembered how she’d felt the moment five years before sitting by the bed to see her sister had breathed her last, the shock, the feeling of nausea.

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