The Peacock Hat

When Grace shared her tale with Nickolas, Rose was silent before she spoke up.

"Oh, that sounds like a lover's fuss to me." Rose finally said after Grace told her how she knew Mr. Meyer.

"Let's just say I was in love with a man whose heart is linked to another."

"And you got your heart broken." it was a statement than a question.

"Maybe just a bit of it, not all of it." Grace still desired to have some of her pride intact.

"Well, the best way to heal a broken heart is not locking yourself away from the world, in an old town like Culmore. besides, I heard Mr. Meyer was asking about you down at the guesthouse."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Well. Luis mentioned it the other day in passing." she looked down in shame at being caught out.

"A man like Mr. Meyer who opened his home to you and took care of you seems to me like he was laying the groundwork for the future."

"It seemed to me like he was protecting his image."

"Uh.huh. I knew a man once who protected his image, I can tell you, girl. we did more exploiting than protecting." Roses' cheeks took on a shade of color.

"Rose!" Grace shut her eyes tightly, as she attempted to take that picture out of her mind.

The phone rang, startling them both.

Grace got up to answer the call. It was Miss Luis from the guest house, looking for Rose of cause. she got up and took the phone from Grace's outstretched hand.

after a lengthy amount of "Ohs" and "Mmhs."

Grace could only guess what and who the conversation was about.

After a while Rose came back to her chair, the tension from earlier had lifted and now she grinned from ear to ear.

"Grace dear I think you should change into something more presentable," she said casually

"What did Miss Luis say?"

"She thought she saw Mr. Meyer making his way this side, and she also said she saw him go into Wendys, that old hag next to the hardware who sells flowers."

"And all of this Miss Luis saw from her Window, I suppose?"

"Will you stop? now you know how Culmore has only one street, one only needs to stand in the churchyard by the hill to see everything down below."

"So you mean to say Miss Luis was standing by the churchyard at noon when she happened to notice Mr. Meyer's car driving to Wendys before making its way to our lane. or maybe it was father Mattews," she gave the older woman a wink.

They both knew how Father Mattews disliked gossip, he said so in his sermons every Sunday.

***

Grace sat at her dressing table and looked at her face, it looked tired. she washed it and put on a touch of makeup. she didn't want to look too eager but she had long realized that whatever happened between her and Nicko, she could not keep Neill from his father because of their problems.

she felt like she was in a better place than she had been in London. in a way, she had grown these few months.

When she was done 'Smartening' herself up as Rose would often say to her, she made her way downstairs, only to find Neill on Rose's arm looking all dolled up. the two were a funny pair, they looked like they belonged in a different era.

she wondered if poor Neill could breathe with his shit buttoned up to his tiny neck. Rose had powdered her cheeks but still, they looked like they were burning, and had put on red lipstick. she looked at Grace when she got to the bottom of the stairs.

"is that what you wearing?" she was looking at Grace's jeans and a top with a disapproving eye.

"This is very comfortable, I don't have to be dolled up to see Nickolas"

true to the grapevine's word. before she could sit, they heard a sound of a car outside. Rose jumped to her feet and was opening the door before Grace could stop her, she could only roll her eyes and wait. from inside the house she could hear Rose's cheerfulness.

when she came back inside with Nickolas on her heel, He looked handsome in faded jeans and a golf shirt paired with sade loafers. she noticed he had cut his hair shorter than usual. it was a wonderful change from his business attire. he also looked relaxed, it must be the country air she thought as he took a chair closer to hers. Grace wondered if she'd been caught staring.

Rose busied herself blushing furiously. she put Neill in his cot and left them alone. the whole situation was awkward. they looked like two teenagers meeting for the first time. he looked around the small living area with its outdated finishings, Grace thought he was sizing her up.

"I didn't know you been expecting me," he spoke first to break the silence hanging in the air.

"We weren't... it's just that. News around here travels fast." she was tense

Rose hurried back from the kitchen and took the flowers he was still holding

"I'll take these before they wither" she shot Grace a disapproving look.

Nicholas didn't see the exchange between the two women, his eyes were focused on the cot in the corner of the room. where Neill was on his back blowing bubbles in his buttoned-up shirt, and he wondered if he dressed like that every day or if everyone was at their best on his account. he definitely could not imagine that the Lady who had welcomed him dressed in a peacock hat every day.

"Are you alone?" she looked outside expecting someone else to walk in

"Yes, I'm alone" He knew she must be worried about Amelia. she didn't answer him but nodded her head.

" I'm glad you okay. I'm sorry about the way things turned out."

" How did things turn out?" she didn't like the tone in her voice. she wanted to sound casual, and carefree

"The way you found out about Amelia and the baby's paternity. I shouldn't have doubted you about the baby and I should have told you about Amelia." he was gazing into her eyes, and she was afraid he would see into her thoughts.

"Why you here Nickolas?" she felt herself close to tears.

Feelings that lay buried for the past months, were threatening to come above the surface.

before he could answer Rose waltzed in with a tray of tea and her ma's recipe scones. Grace silently thanked Rose for her timing, things got heavy fast.

They waited for Rose to be out of sight before continuing.

Nickolas moved from his chair, to kneel in front of her, he took her hand in his.

"To see you Grace and my son, naturally I don't expect you to believe me but you two are all in been thinking about these past months." he was almost pleading.

To that she had no words but felt all her walls slumping to the ground.

Seeing Rose blushing face behind the kitchen island, she knew that from this one visit only, hers and Neill's lives would never be the same again and Roses standing in the community was forever changed.