Love & The Goddess Read Free

than the silly dream catcher and carved wooden thing you bought at that Indian reservation outside Vegas. Return it to the
gallery and get a piece of sculpture instead.” The door slammed shut after him as tears pricked my eyes. I’d felt angry and hurt but I’d decided not to force my idea of art on
Trevor, convincing myself that he was right – that the print would not be in keeping with the décor of our home. So instead I chose to hoard it with all my other secret treasures in
the back of the closet.
    Now, in defiance, my picture was hanging in pride of place. In shades of yellow, orange and green, the three faces of the Goddesses called to me – Virgin, Mother and Crone. I stood back
and soaked it in. An eagle emerged from the central Goddess’s head, along with a variety of symbols from lizards to a full moon and a lioness guarding a human baby in a lotus flower. A secret
passageway and butterflies blended subtly into the fabric of the Goddess’s clothing.
    Everything in the painting symbolised transformation.
    As I stood there entranced, I could almost imagine a mist enveloping me. Swept up in the picture’s dream-like imagery, something stirred from deep within. Throwing my shoulders back, I
straightened my spine as a tingling started in my toes and travelled all the way up my legs. This picture had been my secret guilty pleasure and now it was my first act of rebellion. It was the
proverbial two fingers up to Trevor’s stifling notion of convention. The feeling of a woman being one with nature was not something he would ever understand, never mind tolerate. In my
defiance, I felt a spark of hope; a glimmer of the will to survive along with an urge to live life on my own terms from now on. Pleasing others had gotten me nowhere.
     
     
     

Chapter Two
    B efore I could do anything, Julie had to be told. It was terrible timing. She was a second-year law student in Dublin, and about to head off
to Boston for a three-month placement with a law firm. Our only opportunity to tell her that her family had fallen apart would be during the fleeting visit she planned to pay us on her way to
Shannon airport.
    Trevor collected her from the train station in Galway city. I stayed at home, busying myself in packing the clothes she had asked for from her wardrobe. As I was filling a plastic toilet bag
with sun-block, sachets of shampoo and conditioner, I heard a key turn in the front door and hurried out on to the landing.
    Julie came through the door first and I ran down the stairs to embrace her, stroking back her long dark hair. “What’s going on, Mum?” Her tear-stained brown eyes studied me in
disbelief. “He told me you two were breaking up!”
    Trevor was walking in behind her. “Come and sit down,” he said, steering us both into the living room and pointing to the sofa. I sat down, but Julie remained standing.
    “I can’t understand why you have to divorce at your stage in life,” she screeched at me.
    Taken aback, I jolted upright. Obviously, Trevor hadn’t told her the full story. “You’d better ask your father.”
    Trevor was shifting uncomfortably in his armchair. “Like I said, your mother and I simply grew apart. Our relationship has become a battleground. It must have been difficult for you to
witness during the past few years.”
    “Oh cut the crap, Trevor, and have the guts to tell her,” I snapped.
    “Julie.” His eyes searched hers. His voice was pleading. “I’ve fallen in love with Martha. I’m not proud of the fact, but we can’t choose who we fall in love
with …”
    Julie interrupted, her voice raised. “Martha? Your pathetic little secretary?” She moved to stand over him and he also stood up and tried to embrace her, but she crossed her arms
like two swords to fend him off. A glimmer of satisfaction almost caused a smile to escape my lips. But I suppressed it. Right now, Julie’s feelings were more important than revenge.
    Trevor drew a shaky breath. “You