CHAPTER FORTY THREE – EUREKA
All had been quiet for the several hours it took Peter to get everything cleaned and put away. He hadn't seen Fionn all this time either, and when he couldn't find the keys to lock up he suspected Anne had them on her person. He crept up the stairs to find both Anne and Fionn fast sleep on Aidan's sofa. The gin bottle was empty and laying on the floor just inches away from Anne's hand. He tidied everything away and put a blanket over them both.
Anne woke in the middle of the night in a dark room. Fionn whined and scratched at the door. It took a minute to remember where she was. Aidan's sofa was too small for her to lay as she had been and as she went to stand stiffness crawled through her back. She fumbled for a light switch, tasted a bit of gin on her lips and threw up in a waste bin. She collected herself and headed down the stairs. She opened the door into the crisp night and let the cool air wash over her. Fionn bolted out the door.
Patrick sat in his kitchen with a cup of tea again unable to sleep. He hadn't seen Anne since the day Aidan died and he only spoke with Peter briefly on the phone. Aidan had returned Fionn in the night, tying him to Anne's front porch and didn't say a word about who had him or where he had been. He looked at the papers on his kitchen table, all pretty clear. He had a limited number of days before he would be needing to find a new house.
Anne found herself drinking a strong cup of tea in Peter's kitchen.
"Thanks again," she smiled weakly, "for taking care of everything at the pub, and … me."
"My pleasure," Peter smiled topping up her cup.
"Now that's an idea."
"What?"
"Well you are so good at it, you take over the pub, you can have it and run it, it would be a perfect solution."
"Except I don't want it."
"Right, except that," Anne laughed.
"Have you seen Patrick?" Peter asked causally changing the subject.
"No, not for a week at least, have you?"
"You should go see him, he took care of Fionn that night you know."
"No I didn't know. Oh Damn and that night, he said he had something really important to tell me and I just blew him off, I wonder what it was?"
"Maybe you should call up to him."
"Yeah I should, I owe him a thank you by the sounds of it."
Anne put on her coat to set out to Patrick's when a voice called out from behind.
"I heard them say it but I didn't believe it."
Peter and Anne both stopped and looked at the man standing at the end of the drive.
"Leo?" Peter whispered.
