Cathy Kelly - Always and Forever

ALWAYS AND FOREVER

BY

CATHY KELLY

Fairy godmothers exist, even in the tranquil hil s of Ireland

Once upon a time, in the beautiful town of Carrickwel , lived three women. Three women who thought they had life pretty much mapped out.

Ambitious Mel had a high-flying career, caring Daisy wanted a child with the boyfriend who was everything to her, and hot-headed Cleo was ready to step into the family business once shed finished her hotel management degree.

Until the landscape shifted and it al came tumbling down.

Now Mels job comes second to the guilt of being a working mum-of-two. What should be the most natural thing in the world for Daisy becomes the most torturous. And Cleo has to watch the cherished family business crumble along with her relationship with her parents and siblings.

Suddenly everything the three women have always worked for, always desired, looks in jeopardy.

But Carrickwel is a magical place. Nestled in the shadows of Mount Carraig, its as ancient as time itself. And the opening of the new Clouds Hil spa by Leah, a woman with her own secret turmoil, is destined to cause ripples no one could ever have imagined. The arrival of Leah brings change for Mel, Daisy and Cleo - and the courage to find out what real y matters, always and forever

Photograph Simon Warren

ALWAYS AND FOREVER

Cathy Kel y is the author of seven other novels Woman to Woman, Shes the One, Never Too Late, Someone Like You, What She Wants, Just Between Us and Best of Friends - al of which were top 10 bestsel ers in the UK and Ireland. Someone Like You was the Parker RNA Romantic Novel of the Year. Cathy Kel y lives in Wicklow with her partner and their twin sons. She is currently working on her next novel.

For more information about Cathy Kel y, visit her website at www.cathykel y.com.

For automatic updates on Cathy Kel y, visit HarperCol ins.co.uk and register for AuthorTracker.

By the same author:

Woman to Woman Shes the One Never Too Late Someone Like You What She Wants Just Between Us Best of Friends ALWAYS AND FOREVER CATHY KELLY

HarperCol insPublishers

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authors imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

HarperCol insPublishers 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpercol ins.co.uk

Published by HarperCol insPublishers 2005 35798642

Copyright Cathy Kel y 2005

Cathy Kel y asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 0 00 718287 2

Typeset in Sabon by Palimpsest Book Production Limited, Polmont, Stirlingshire

Printed and bound in Australia by Griffin Press Al rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

For Dylan and Murray

The woman stood as stil as the mountains around her, taking in the view from Mount Carraig House - the windswept, overgrown gardens and the ragged path leading down to the smal lake. Behind her towered Mount Carraig itself. Rob, the estate agent, had told her that

Carraig meant rock in Irish, and thats exactly what Mount Carraig was: a spectacular rock dominating a smal er range of mountains known as the Four Sisters, which swel ed to the southwest.

Spread out before her lay Carrickwel , the bustling market town that took its name from the mountain. It was bisected by the silver line of the River Tul ow, and from here, high up, she could make out the gently winding main street, the sprawl of houses, shops, parks and schools, and the medieval cathedral at the centre.

A quarter of a century before, Carrickwel had been a sleepy backwater, within reach of Dublin but stil very much a rural community. Time and the price of houses in the city had turned it into a busier town, but the air of tranquil ity had remained. Some said this was because of the ancient ley lines that crossed it. Druids, early Christians, religious refugees - al in their turn had come to Carrickwel and set up home in the benevolent

shadow of Mount Carraig where they could seek refuge and thrive on the pure mountain spring water.

On a slope to the left of the mountain were the ruins of a Cistercian monastery, now a honey pot for tourists, watercolour painters and scholars. There was also the remains of a round tower where the monks had raced up rope ladders to safety when invaders came.

Across the town, near the pretty but slightly crumbling

Wil ow

Hotel, was a smal stone circle that archaeologists believed to be the site of a druidic settlement. Mystical Fires, a smal shop in the town that sold al manner of alternative artefacts, from crystals and tarot cards to dream catchers and angel pins, did a roaring trade in books about the druids at midsummer.

At Christmas, visitors drifted unconsciously away from Mystical Fires to The Holy Land, a little Christian bookshop, where they could buy recordings of Gregorian chant, as wel as prayer books, delicate Hummel Holy Water fonts, and the shops speciality, mother-of-pearl rosary beads.

The respective owner of each shop, a pair of lovely septuagenarian ladies, each devout in her chosen creed, didnt mind in the slightest that their businesses waxed and waned in this manner.

The wheel of fortune turns in its own way, said Zara from Mystical Fires.

God knows whats best for us, agreed Una from The Holy Land.

With al the spiritual vibes, there was a great sense of peace hovering over Carrickwel and it drew people to the town.

It was certainly this aura that had drawn Leah Meyer to Mount Carraig House on a cold September morning.

Despite a thick wool en jumper under her old ski jacket, Leah could feel the chil sneaking into her body. She was used to the dry heat of California, where cold weather meant 68 degrees

Fahrenheit, and the possibility of using less sunscreen.

Here, the climate was so different and the unaccustomed cold made her feel achey. Im beginning to feel my age, she thought, shivering, though she knew everyone marvel ed at how young she looked. Shed taken good care of herself over the years, but time had marched on and, eventual y, no cream could keep away its mark. It had taken a discreet eye and brow lift a few years ago to give her back the finely sculpted face shed been born with. Sixty real y could be the new forty, Leah smiled to herself - as long as you had the right plastic surgeon. And she could put up with the aching joints for a while because shed final y found it, the place she had been looking for for years in which to build her spa.

Carrickwel and Mount Carraig House were perfect. And in that state of mind, she didnt feel the air as cold, but as pure and cleansing. Calm, she said final y, turning to the estate agent, who was standing a polite distance away. Thats the word I was looking for. Dont you feel instantly calm when you stand here? Rob, the estate agent, studied the tumbling wreck that was Mount Carraig House and wondered whether it was he who needed his head examining or whether it was the elegant American visitor.

Al he saw was a ruin in a wilderness that had been on his agencys books for four years with neer a sniff of serious interest from anyone. A few people had come to look, al right, drawn by the lyrical description written by a one-time employee who had a definite flair for making a silk purse out of the proverbial pigs ear.