Aisling Gayle by Geraldine O'Neill Page A

shop further along the street. She walked straight into the shop, and then raced up one aisle and down another, without giving a glance to any of the merchandise. She was suddenly aware of feeling breathless and her heart was pounding. She slowed down, and after a few moments – safely near a pay-desk – she halted and looked towards the shop window.
    Then, her hands gripped her bags so tightly that the knuckles turned white.
    Just as she had dreaded – there – pressed up against the window – was the brightly coloured Hawaiian shirt.
    Aisling willed herself to stay calm, reassuring herself that he wouldn’t dare approach her when she was beside two shop assistants.
    He turned now – arms folded casually – to look in at her. Aisling turned away and walked over to stand by an elderly woman who was stacking soft toys on a shelf. She put her shopping bags down, as the books were fairly heavy. Then, just as she was planning on what to say to the woman – something that wouldn’t sound too paranoid or stupid – the shop phone rang. The woman hurriedly dropped the toys and rushed off to answer it.
    Aisling stifled a little sigh of dismay. Then, her heart suddenly froze as she felt a heavy hand gripping her shoulder.

Chapter 7

    Aisling took a deep breath and then whirled around to face the owner of the heavy hand.
    “Hi!” a cheery young voice said. “I called for you – I called at Jean’s house – this morning. To show you medals – my swimming medals!” Thomas Carroll was beaming with delight at meeting up again.
    “Oh, Thomas!” Aisling was more than delighted herself. In fact, she was almost faint with relief. She looked over his head, her eyes searching. “Who are you with?”
    “Dad,” he said brightly, “I’m with Dad. He’s – he’s over there.” Thomas pointed towards the queue of people at the till.
    Thank God ! Aisling said quietly to herself. Then, she stole a quick glance in the direction of the door, and all she saw was a wide expanse of glass. The weird man had gone!
    She was still staring when she felt Thomas tug at her hand. “Da-ad! Da-ad! This my buddy, Ash-leen. She’s staying – at Jean’s house.”
    Aisling turned to her young companion, still half an eye on the window. “Sorry, Thomas . . . ” she said distractedl y, “what did you say?”
    “This is my dad!” he said, beaming proudly at her.
    Aisling looked above his head to the tall, fairish-haired man he was referring to. He had a light growth of beard that was slightly darker than his longish hair. Their eyes met, and Aisling suddenly found herself completely tongue-tied. She leaned forward to shake hands, forgetting about the bags of books and parcels she had sitting on the floor in front of her. “Oh, sorry!” she cried, stumbling forward..
    A large, tanned hand came forward to steady her. “You, okay?” he said in a low, concerned voice.
    Aisling straightened up, completely mortified. “I’m really sorry,” she said again. “I’ve just had a bit of a . . .”
    His hand came out again now in a handshake before she could explain. “Hi . . . I’m Jameson Carroll – Thomas’s father.”
    Aisling nodded, and shook his hand. “Hi,” she said, her face burning. “I’m Aisling Gayle . . . Thomas told me about you yesterday – I met him down at the lake. I heard you calling across to him – something about a burger and a milkshake?” Then, she felt even more uncomfortable at saying such an inane thing.
    Jameson Carroll looked back at her without saying anything.
    How could she start telling him about the man in the Hawaiian shirt now? He would think she was completely mad. She gave a quick glance at the window, and thankfully, there was no one there. Hopefully he had gone away – so maybe there was no point in mentioning it now.
    Thomas pulled a small package from his pocket. “New tie!” he told her loudly, and started to pull the bright red tie from its wrapping.
    “Okay, Thomas, put it away