Free Aftermath by Joanne Clancy Page B

loved Niall's spontaneity.
    “Why don't we go to Paris?” he suggested one lazy Saturday morning when they were lounging around, watching television and reading the newspapers.
    Hope looked at him in surprise and then her face broke into a beamin g smile. “Why not?” she agreed , with a nonchalant shrug.
    An hour later and they were at Cork airport getting ready to board a flight to Paris! They checked into the Hotel Saint Germain in the Latin Quarter and spent the next few days taking in the sig hts. Niall hired a car, a luxurious Audi convertible, and they drove all over the city. They explored the Etoile, the Champs Elysees and onto the grand boulevards of the Left Bank. They enjoyed leisurely lunches in the little cafes which clustered the footpaths and at night they went for peace ful strolls along the avenues. One evening, they went dancing together at a club in the First District. Niall was quite shy about dancing and left most of the moves to Hope.
    Hope suggested they drive to Normandy. She wanted to see Etretat which is famous for having a massive rock in the ocean with a large hole in the middle. Many artists, such as Monet had painted it. They left their hotel and drove west toward the Channel. The trip was spent listening to music at full blast on the stereo system. When the car's satellite navigation system broke down they tried to read the maps but they failed miserably and soon were hopelessly lost. They had planned to have a romantic picnic along the way but they couldn't find a place they liked. It was late at night when their hunger pains finally forced them to stop and they pulled up beside a small cemetery and ate their pic nic overlooking the tombstones. Etretat was as fascinating as Hope had imagined. The rock was breathtaking and Hope was excited to share her first view of it with Niall.
    Looking back, it seemed to Hope that without even realising it, they'd always been on a race against time. She was dashing off to her latest television gig and he had another endless business meeting somewhere. She treasured those three days in Paris with him. Those days were even more precious than she ’d realised; in a few short years he would be gone.
    Hope never believed that she would ever meet anyon e as special as Niall. It was like a dream come true. He made the impossible seem possible and every minute she spent with him was like living in paradise. She felt very lucky and blessed that their paths had grown together and when they were apart she missed his smile, h is touch and every bit of him. Hope felt like she was living in the clouds during those early, heady months of their relationship. Niall told her he felt the same way too. He was so very tender and loving.
    “What's the most special day to you about our relationship?” he asked her once.
    “The night we first made love,” she answered, without hesitation. “That night signalled the true beginning of our romantic journey for me. What's yours?”
    “Our first kiss,” he smiled shyly. He was sentimental and not afraid to show his feelings, like no man she had ever known. It was wonderful that they had two different special dates in their hearts; this gave them two memories to celebrate.
    Niall knew that Hope was nervous about getting married. The fiasco of her first marriage had scarred her and she wanted to be completely certain before she even contemplated marrying again. Instead, he jokingly talked about making a contract with her.
    “How about twenty years?” she teased.
    “Only twenty years?” he asked. “So, when I'm old and with ugly, twisted hands you will disappear and leave me. If we make a contract, it is forever; that's my deal.”
    Niall had a silly complex about his hands. When he was a small child, mayb e five or six years old, he’d fallen off his bike and broke n his fingers and now they were ever so slightly crooked, hardly noticeable. His friends and family teased him mercilessly about them but Hope loved his