He pressed the buzzer for Richard's apartment twice before it was answered.
'Hello?'
Fergus grinned at the groggy voice. 'Richard, it's Fergus.'
'Come on up,' Richard muttered.
When Fergus stepped out of the lift, the door to the apartment was open. He went in, closed the door and headed for the kitchen. Richard, predictably, was standing at the fridge with a carton of juice to his mouth.
'I thought you sounded a bit seedy,' Fergus said climbing onto a stool.
'Don't look so bloody cheerful,' Richard said, before going in search of painkillers. 'What time is it?'
'Five o'clock in the afternoon. What have you been up to?'
'Working,' Richard told him and then added with a lopsided smile, 'and celebrating.'
'You didn't have your phone with you?'
'I forgot it. Why, were you looking for me?'
'Me, Celine, Dominic.' Fergus ticked the names off on his fingers.
Richard frowned. 'Celine? Is something wrong?'
'The shop was broken into last night.'
'Shit! Is she okay?'
'Fine. They made an awful mess of the shop though.'
'She called you?'
Fergus smiled. 'Yeah.'
'God, I'm glad you were around.'
'I didn't do much,' Fergus admitted. 'The cops had arrived by the time I got there and the thieves were long gone.'
'Did they get much?'
'Nothing. They just wrecked the place. Cheers,' he said as Richard handed him a bottle of lager. 'The police think it was probably kids and that the newsagent's was their real target.'
Richard slouched against the counter and watched him through narrowed eyes. 'But you don't agree.'
Fergus hesitated for a moment and then shook his head. 'I'm pretty sure I know who's behind it.'
'Some of your old pals from Sandhill?'
'One. A guy called Mick Garvey. He's a dangerous character. A club member, would you believe? Who says crime doesn't pay.'
'Has he been giving you a tough time?'
'He wants me to work for him.'
'Dealing?' Richard straightened, his hangover forgotten.
Fergus nodded. 'I said no, of course, but then he found out where I lived, where the shop was.' He shot Richard a worried look. 'He doesn't like to take no for an answer.'
'You need to tell the police.'
'Tell them what?'
'About the break-in for a start.'
'Waste of time,' Fergus told him. 'Mick will have arranged that through one of his contacts. You can bet that the lads who did it don't even know Mick's name.'
'There must be something we can do. If he's capable of this God knows what he'll do next.'
'He's not the sort to give up,' Fergus admitted. 'Ma will kill me when she finds out.'
'It's not your fault, Fergus.'
'I should never have taken the bloody job.'
'Then she'll have to kill me too as I got you that bloody job.'
Fergus ran a shaky hand through his short hair. 'Sorry. The job's great.'
'Vincent owns a couple of other centres. We could ask him to transfer you.'
'There's no point now that Mick knows where I live. Short of disappearing again, there's no solution to this.'
'We could get Mick arrested.' Richard smiled slightly.
'I told you, we don't have anything on him. I need to get out of Dublin. Maybe even Ireland.'
'There's no guarantee he'd leave Rose alone.'
Fergus sat down and put his head in his hands. 'What the fuck am I going to do?'
Richard sat down next to him and patted his back. 'We'll think of something.'
When Fergus had gone, Richard showered, dressed and walked the short distance to Close Second. It was closed and in darkness so he pressed the buzzer for Celine's flat. 'Hello?'
'Celine, it's Richard.'
She didn't answer but pressed the release on the door.
Marina, who was hanging clothes out on the fire escape, stuck her head in the window. 'Do you want me to leave?'
Celine shook her head. 'There's no need.' She opened the door and greeted Richard with a cool smile.
'Celine, I heard what happened. I'm so sorry I wasn't around.'
'I coped and luckily I managed to get hold of Fergus.'
'Yeah, I was just talking to him. Oh, hi, Marina,' he added as she stepped into the room.
'Just washing some of the stock,' she explained. 'Dominic took another load to the dry-cleaners. It's all hands on deck at times like this,' she added pointedly.
He nodded. 'What can I do to help?'
'We have everything under control, thanks,' Celine replied.
Richard looked nonplussed and then brightened. 'If you like I could drive you and Fergus to see Rose tomorrow.'
Celine picked up her sewing. 'I'm not sure I'll be able to go tomorrow.'
Marina glanced from one to the other and picked up her bag. 'I'd better go, Celine, but I'm not working tomorrow so if you need me—'
Celine stood up and embraced her friend. 'Thanks for everything, Marina, I really appreciate it.'
Marina kissed her cheek. 'That's okay, darling, what are friends for? Bye, Richard.'
'Goodbye, Marina.'
Celine stood in the doorway until Marina had let herself out on to the street.
'Come and sit down,' Richard said from the sofa.
'I think I'll have a coffee, would you like one?'
Richard sighed. 'Sure.'
Celine made the coffee in silence and then sat on a stool at the bar to drink it, leaving him alone on the sofa. Richard stood up and came over to stand beside her. 'Are you angry because I wasn't here last night?'
'Last night was difficult. It didn't help that I had to drag Fergus over here. The agreement was that you would be my contact if I had any problems.'
'I know that and I'm sorry. I went away for a couple of days and I forgot to take my mobile.'
Celine forced a smile. 'These things happen.' Where the hell had he been? Who had he been with?
'Let's go out and get something to eat.'
'I don't think so, I'm very tired.'
'You need to keep up your strength,' he insisted.
Celine wished he wouldn't be nice to her. 'Okay, then.'
Richard closed and locked her window and then stood over her as she locked the hall door.
'You don't think they'll come back, do you?' She shot him a nervous look as they walked to the Chinese restaurant.
'Of course not. Sorry, I suppose I'm guilty of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. I wish I'd been here with you. You must have been terrified.' He put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze.
Celine swallowed hard. 'It wasn't so bad,' she lied.
'You handled it very well. Fergus was telling me the police were already here when he arrived.'
'I called them first.'
'Which was exactly the right thing to do,' he said, his voice soothing and gentle.
When they were seated he picked up the wine list. 'I think we should have some champagne.'
'Are you trying to be funny? The shop that I manage has been destroyed by thugs and you think we have something to celebrate?' Her voice rose into an indignant squeak.
'I think we should celebrate the fact that no one was hurt and that you have managed to salvage so much of the stock,' Richard replied quietly.
The menu in Celine's hands began to shake uncontrollably. 'I lied when I said it wasn't so bad, Richard,' she whispered. 'I was scared out of my wits.'
He pushed the menu out of the way and took her cold hands in his. 'It's okay, Celine, you're safe now.'
Early the next morning, Celine slipped out of bed and tiptoed out of the bedroom. After making a cup of coffee, she opened the living-room window and sat down on the ledge to enjoy the sunshine. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, relishing the warmth on her skin. She smiled as she relived the previous night. Richard had told her as he'd led her into the bedroom that he was going to make her forget all about the break-in and he'd certainly delivered on his promise.
'Good morning.'
Her eyes flew open and her smile broadened when she saw him standing over her dressed only in boxer shorts. 'Hello.' She stretched up a hand and pulled him down next to her.
'How are you this morning?' he asked after a gentle kiss.
'Fine.'
Richard raised an eyebrow. 'You do look rather . . . pleased with yourself.'
'Pleased, satisfied, content, sated.' Celine looked at him through her lashes. 'And full of energy.'
He faked a yawn. 'Woman, you'll wear me out! Any chance of a cup of coffee first?'
Celine laughed and went to get him one.
'What are you going to do today?' he asked when she'd returned.
She nodded towards the pile of clothes on the chair opposite. 'Keep working on that lot, I suppose.'
He rubbed a hand absently up and down her bare leg. 'Let's go and see Rose. If we set off early we could have a leisurely lunch on the way back.'
'What about Fergus?'
'He doesn't really need to come, does he? And I'm sure he'd rather not take any more time off work.'
'I'll phone him and see what he says.'
Richard glanced at his watch. 'It's too early to phone. We'll have to think of something to keep us occupied for a while.'
Celine stood up slowly and untied the sash of her robe. 'I don't know about you but I'm going for a shower.'
'Excellent idea,' he murmured. 'I feel positively filthy.'
Celine giggled as she pulled him towards the bathroom. 'A very long, hot shower for you then.'
'Will you scrub the bits I can't reach?' he asked.
'And the rest,' she promised.
Half an hour later they fell back into bed, wrapped in towels.
'Maybe we should just stay here for the day,' Richard said with a wide yawn.
Celine laughed as the phone started to ring. 'I don't think that's going to be possible.' She stretched across him to lift the handset. 'Hello?'
'Hi, Celine, it's Fergus.'
'Fergus! I was just about to call you.' Celine pushed Richard away as he started to tug on her towel. 'Richard was going to take me down to see your mum today.'
'Oh, right. Do you want me to come along?'
Celine was happy to hear the lack of enthusiasm in his voice. 'I don't think it's necessary, unless you do.'
'No, I don't think so. Tell her I'll be down next weekend. I'll phone her to let her know what train I'll be on.'
I'll tell her.'
'Thanks, Celine. How are you doing? I don't suppose you got much sleep last night.'
'Not a lot,' Celine agreed, grinning at Richard, 'but I'm fine. Marina and I were able to repair a lot of the clothes yesterday and that made me feel much better.'
'Good, I'm glad. Will you give me a call later and let me know how you got on?'
'Sure. Bye, Fergus.'
As Celine reached to put the phone back, Richard slipped his hand between the folds of her towel. 'You two seem very friendly.'
Celine curled up like a cat next to him. 'Amazing, isn't it?'
Richard ran his fingers through her hair. 'It's great. Fergus is a good kid.'
Celine raised her head to look at him. 'Kid? He's only three years younger than me.'
'Ah, but you're more mature and sophisticated,' Richard said quickly.
Celine smiled. 'No, I know what you mean. He seems very vulnerable. I can understand why Rose is so protective of him. It's probably just as well he got the job in Sandhill. Independence will be good for him.' Richard didn't answer. 'Are you gone asleep again?'
'Me, asleep, no.' He pretended to snore.
Celine started to tickle him. 'Come on, mate, you promised me a long, lazy lunch, remember?'
'Mmnn.'
She pulled his towel off and slapped his bare butt.
'Ow!'
'There, that woke you up.' Celine hopped out of bed before he could retaliate.
'You're a tough woman,' Richard complained but obediently climbed out of bed.
Celine studied his lean body appreciatively and had to steel herself not to reach out a hand to touch him. If she did that she knew they'd never get to Arklow. Selecting a pair of cotton trousers and a light top from her wardrobe, she carried them into the bathroom.
'Are you getting shy on me?' Richard taunted.
'No, just playing safe. I happen to know that your intentions are far from honourable.' And she closed the door with a decisive click.
An hour later they were travelling down the coast road, with the top down on Richard's SLK Merc. Marina would have been horrified at the state of her hair, Celine thought with a smile, but she loved the feel of the wind in her face.
'Are you okay?' Richard asked, putting his hand on her knee.
'Fine,' she shouted back and reclined her seat slightly. Talking was impossible so she might as well catch up on sleep. It seemed only seconds later that Richard was calling her.
'We're just coming into the town, Celine.'
'Already?' She sat up and rubbed her eyes.
'Would you like me to stop so that you can tidy up?'
Celine grinned. 'Bad as that, eh?'
'A bit windswept,' he admitted.
Celine rummaged through her bag for a comb and some lipstick while Richard pulled into the side of the road. When she'd finished with the comb she passed it to him. 'Your turn.'
Once they were both presentable, Richard drove through the town and out towards Babs' house.
'You seem to know your way around here,' Celine observed.
He nodded. 'Yeah, I've brought Rose down a few times. Driving got difficult for her in the last year.'
'You're a real nice guy, aren't you?' she teased.
'Substitute nice for boring,' he muttered as he turned into the driveway.
Celine frowned as she noticed Babs' car was missing. 'Gosh, I hope they're in.'
'There's only one way to find out,' Richard said and rang the doorbell.
After several moments, it opened and Rose was looking at them, a mixture of surprise and delight on her face. 'Celine! Richard! What a lovely surprise. Come in.'
Celine embraced her and then moved aside as Richard gave Rose a gentle hug.
'You look well, Rose,' he told her.
'I'm fine. Come on through. Babs should be back in a minute. She just went to the supermarket. How on earth did you persuade Sadie to look after the shop on a Saturday?' She smiled at Celine but there was concern in her eyes.