The Eleventh Commandment

Maggie rose from her place, turned to Connor and said, ‘I’m going for a swim. Anyone care to join me?’

‘No, but I’d like another go on the board,’ said Tara, eagerly assisting her mother’s attempt to end the interrogation.

‘How many times did you fall in this morning?’ Connor asked, confirming that he also thought it had gone quite far enough.

‘A dozen or more,’ said Tara. ‘That was the worst one.’ She pointed proudly to a large bruise on her right thigh.

‘Why did you let her go that far, Stuart?’ asked Maggie, sitting back down to take a closer look at the bruise.

‘Because it gave me the chance to rescue her and look heroic.’

‘Be warned, Stuart, she’ll have mastered surfing by the end of the week, and she’ll end up rescuing you,’ said Connor with a laugh.

‘I’m well aware of that,’ Stuart replied. ‘But the moment it happens I plan to introduce her to bungee jumping.’

Maggie turned visibly white, and quickly looked in Connor’s direction.

‘Don’t worry, Mrs Fitzgerald,’ Stuart added quickly. ‘You’ll all be back in America long before then.’ None of them wanted to be reminded.

Tara grabbed Stuart by the arm. ‘Let’s go, Superman. It’s time to find another wave you can rescue me from.’

Stuart leapt up. Turning to Connor, he said, ‘If you ever discover your daughter’s been kidnapped, I won’t be demanding a ransom, and I won’t be willing to settle - in US dollars or any other currency.’

Tara blushed. ‘Come on,’ she said, and they ran down the beach towards the breakers.

‘And for the first time, I don’t think I’d try to negotiate,’ Connor said to Maggie, stretching and smiling.

‘He’s a nice young man,’ said Maggie, taking his hand. ‘It’s just a pity he’s not Irish.’

‘It could have been worse,’ said Connor, rising from his chair. ‘He might have been English.’

Maggie smiled as they began walking towards the surf. ‘You know, she didn’t get home until five this morning.’

‘Don’t tell me you still lie awake all night whenever your daughter goes out on a date,’ said Connor with a grin.

‘Keep your voice down, Connor Fitzgerald, and try to remember she’s our only child.’

‘She’s not a child any longer, Maggie,’ he said. ‘She’s a grown woman, and in less than a year she’ll be Dr Fitzgerald.’

‘And you don’t worry about her, of course.’

‘You know I do,’ said Connor, taking her in his arms. ‘But if she’s having an affair with Stuart - which is none of my business - she could have done a lot worse.’

‘I didn’t sleep with you until the day we were marri

ed, and even when they told me you were missing in Vietnam, I never looked at another man. And it wasn’t because of a lack of offers.’

‘I know, my darling,’ said Connor. ‘But by then you’d realised I was irreplaceable.’

Connor released his wife and ran towards the waves, making sure he always remained just one stride ahead of her. When she finally caught up with him, she was out of breath.

‘Declan O’Casey proposed to me long before …’

‘I know, my darling,’ he replied, looking down into her green eyes and brushing back a stray wisp of hair. ‘And never a day goes by when I’m not thankful that you waited for me. It was the one thing that kept me alive after I’d been captured in ‘Nam. That and the thought of seeing Tara.’

Connor’s words reminded Maggie of the sadness she had felt at her miscarriages and the knowledge that she couldn’t have any more children. She had been brought up in a large family, and longed to have a brood herself. She could never accept her mother’s simple philosophy - it’s God’s will.

While Connor had been away in Vietnam, she had spent many happy hours with Tara. But the moment he returned the young madam had transferred her affections overnight, and although she remained close to her daughter, Maggie knew that she could never have the same relationship with Tara that Connor enjoyed.