Happy Ever After Read online

  We live in interesting times. Was that a Chinese saying? It had just popped into her head. Her whole life was changing and, with that, came a change in attitude. That had to be a positive development, she supposed. The best thing to come out of her accident was her new, respectful, even tentatively affectionate relationship with Lily. Judith smiled, thinking of the phone call she’d got from her mother a little while ago.

  ‘I’ll be in later than I usually get in,‘ Lily had said. ‘I have things to tell you.’ She’d been quite mysterious, but there was a lilt to her voice that had never been there in all their years together. It was good to hear it.

  Jillian had phoned her earlier in the day also, telling her that the guest room awaited her and not to be malingering. For the first time since she’d come out of her coma, Judith found herself looking forward to getting out of hospital.

  ‘Time for your exercise, Judith.’ Her physio poked her head around the door, startling her from her reverie.

  ‘I’m ready,’ Judith said firmly, getting to her feet with more alacrity than she’d shown since she’d started the exercise regime the previous week.

  ‘You’re doing great, Judith,’ the other woman praised.

  ‘I’m not doing too bad at all,’ Judith agreed, as she positioned her crutches and began her walk down the long and by now very familiar corridor.

  ‘You’re looking a lot better, Judith, and it’s great to see you out of the bed.’ Lily studied her daughter critically, noting the faint smudge of colour in her cheeks and the more alert expression in her eyes.

  ‘I went for a short walk outside today with my physio. It was wonderful to get a breath of fresh air. I just stood breathing lungfuls of it in,’ Judith explained, raising her face for Lily’s now daily kiss.

  ‘I’m sorry I’m late today,’ Lily apologized, pulling up a chair beside Judith and sitting down. ‘I had a painter in.’

  ‘You got a painter in?’ Judith looked at her in surprise.

  ‘Not me, Judith. Tom organized it.’

  ‘You’re kidding! What’s he getting a painter in for?’ Judith’s brows drew down in a frown.

  ‘Well, he came up with this notion that he would get your bedroom and my bedroom painted to give you a surprise when you got out of hospital—’

  ‘Don’t let that fella into my room, Ma. I don’t trust him,’ Judith warned agitatedly, remembering their last fraught encounter.

  Lily held up a calming hand. ‘Don’t worry, Judith. I have everything under control.’ She patted her bag. ‘I know he wants to have a good root around. He was trying to get me to give him a key to get one cut, but I wasn’t having that. Does he think I came down in the last shower? The painter – a very nice chap indeed by the way – made a start on my bedroom this afternoon. Now, I can stay there all day when he’s there, or I can lock your bedroom when he’s working on mine. I have all my financial information and post-office book and the will in my bag, so even if Tom does get the chance to pry, he won’t find anything,’ Lily said triumphantly. ‘And the thing is, Judith, we’ll have the bedrooms painted, courtesy of your brother. I picked the exact colours to go on yours that’re there already. I thought you’d want that. And then, when Jimmy – that’s the painter’s name – has finished the bedrooms, I’m going to get him to do the rest of the house. Because, once you get your own place, Tom will guess something’s afoot, financially, and I’m very sure I won’t be getting any more offers of help from him. What do you think of that then?’ Lily sat up tombstone straight and looked eagerly at her daughter.

  Judith started to laugh. ‘Oh, Ma, you’re something else. He’ll be going mad. That’s brilliant. The house was long overdue a painting anyway. Now, listen, there’s a beige envelope folder in the second drawer of my chest of drawers, and in it is a brown envelope that all my bank statements and savings accounts are in, and another one with my insurance policies. I don’t want him to get his maulers on it. Where could I put it?’

  ‘Well, he won’t really have a chance to look around your room, because I’ll make it my business to be there when it’s being painted but, just to put our minds at ease, I could put them in my bag if you liked,’ she offered tentatively. Judith was very private about her personal business, and she wouldn’t wish to step out of line in that regard.

  ‘If you wouldn’t mind, Ma.’ Judith patted Lily’s knee. ‘I’d be grateful.’

  ‘Thank you, Judith, for trusting me. You know I respect your privacy, and you need have no fears that I’d be nosy about your money or your private business,’ Lily said hastily, extremely pleased that her daughter would allow her such latitude.

  ‘Ma, at this stage in our lives, we know each other well enough to be clear that we wouldn’t go snooping. You could have done it long ago, and so could I, but we wouldn’t sink so low. Anyway, I’d like, when I get out of here, to go through my savings with you so that, when I take you up on your kind offer of putting me on the deeds, you’ll know how much I can put towards a mortgage. It’s only right for you to know, if your house is going to be collateral.’

  ‘Our house,’ Lily said, beaming with pride that Judith would confide her private and confidential business to her.

  ‘And, you know, I should make a will too,’ Judith said slowly. ‘If I had died, I would have wanted my money to go to you. I’ve nearly a hundred thousand in savings, after all my years’ working, plus an insurance policy. I certainly don’t want Tom getting his hands on any of it.’

  ‘Sure, that’s a grand amount to put towards a house or an apartment.’ Lily was delighted at the news. ‘Judith, you’ll be living like a queen yet,’ she exclaimed. ‘But then, you always did live frugally enough. You were never a spendthrift. And now, when you need it, it’s there for you.’

  ‘Do you know, Ma, I’m starting to get excited about it,’ Judith confessed. ‘Are you sure about it, now? I’ll stay living with you if you want.’ She had to make the offer for her own peace of mind. Would Lily revert to old ways and take her up on it? Judith almost held her breath. Had she scuppered her chances of a life of her own?

  ‘You will not, and ruin my chances of finding a toy boy,’ Lily joked. ‘Judith, nothing would make me happier than for you to be settled in a place of your own. I just hope you don’t move too far away. Especially not to the Southside. I’d miss seeing you.’ Lily’s cheeks were pink from her little speech.

  ‘Don’t worry, Ma, you’ll be seeing plenty of me, and I certainly won’t be crossing the river. The air is better over here.’ Judith felt a wave of relief, amazed that, after all the years of tension and antagonism, this lovely new gentle kindness had emerged between them. It brought a balm to her she hadn’t thought possible. For the first time in her life, she actually liked her mother. What a wonderful moment was that, Judith reflected gratefully, noticing how Lily was so obviously chuffed to be involved in making plans for her future. Thank you, God, she thought humbly, grateful for this second chance to get to know and love her mother. It was as if a huge burden had lifted from her shoulders, a dark and smothering energy had dissipated and she could breathe again, be optimistic about her life. To think she had passively considered allowing herself to commit suicide by not avoiding the tree as the car had careered into it. She would have died a bitter woman, estranged from her mother, and not known any of the unfamiliar but comforting new emotions she was feeling. She would have forgone this . . . this new friendship with Lily. Always at the back of her mind, since her father had died, she had toyed with the idea that, if life got too much for her, she would take enough tablets to end it all. Now Judith knew that, no matter what life threw at her in the future, she would never go down that road. In a strange way, it was a liberation to have made that decision. For the first time in her adult years, she finally felt she was in control emotionally, if not yet physically, of her own life.

  She smiled across at Lily and felt a surge of affection for the elderly woman sitting beside her. ‘Now, what do you think? Should I go for a house
or apartment?’ she asked, feeling that some generosity of spirit was called for on her part.

  ‘Well, now, let me see.’ Lily was all businesslike, and took a small notebook out of her handbag which she used to write her grocery list in. ‘Let’s do a list of pros and cons and take it from there.’

  ‘Good idea,’ agreed Judith happily. ‘First pro: apartment . . . no gardening.’

  ‘Con: neighbours on either side and above and below, depending what floor you buy on,’ Lily batted back triumphantly, pen flying over the pad, as they bent their heads companionably to the task at hand.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  I need the car tonight and I won’t be having dinner. D

  Debbie stared at the screen, dithering whether to add a couple of kisses after her initial, as she usually did before pressing send. Bryan had hardly spoken to her that morning, and she’d had no cheery texts or emails from him, as she frequently did during the day.

  She saved the draft and picked up her mobile, looking furtively around, before remembering that Judith Baxter was not sitting in the corner office with her eagle eye on her. Judith had been very strict about the use of mobiles during work time. Debbie’s fingers flew over the keys.

  Hi Melissa are you free 2 drive down 2 Greystones with me after work and will we have supper together? D xx

  She pressed send and got the delivery report note. Melissa responded promptly.

  Gr8. I’d like that. M xxxx

  Debbie chewed the top of her pen. She didn’t particularly want to meet Aimee, so she decided against collecting her half-sister from her apartment block.

  Pick you up at George’s yacht club at 6.30. xx

  That would be easier all round, she decided, as a confirmatory text flashed back on to her screen. She studied her email to Bryan and sent it, without the kisses. Why should she send Bryan kisses and pretend that all was well between them? He’d behaved like the lowest of the low, laying all the blame for their financial straits on her and, for once in their relationship, she wasn’t going to be the appeaser. As long as she’d been with Bryan, she’d always been the one to give in and make up. She’d given him his chance to back out of the wedding when she’d brought him on a surprise trip to Amsterdam just weeks before they’d got married. She’d asked him did he want to postpone it, and he’d said no, so he could take it back for blaming her for pushing them to marry. She should have thought of that when he’d been flinging his accusations at her, but she’d been so dismayed at his reaction, it had slipped her mind.

  She hated fighting with Bryan. It had always unsettled her when they were engaged, and she’d worried that he would call it off, but things were different now. They were man and wife and, short of divorcing her, he needed to work with her to sort out their differences and their finances. And the sooner Bryan realized that, the better for their marriage. Her husband needed to grow up, she observed dejectedly as she brought up her section’s overtime records and began working on the necessary calculations.

  Bryan read his wife’s email and scowled. She could have the bloody car. The petrol gauge was nearly empty, so she could fill it up herself, because he wasn’t going to pay for her jaunting around.

  ‘Hey, bud, how’s it going? Are you all ready for the Galway Races? Some of the guys are thinking of hiring a chopper to get down there. Have you sorted any accommodation? The prices are an arm and a leg this year.’ Ed Murray sat on the corner of his desk, tanned and affluent in his bespoke grey suit. Ed was one of the marketing managers and would have his expenses at Galway paid, as he’d be hosting several corporate events on behalf of the company.

  ‘Yo, Ed.’ Bryan pretended cheeriness. ‘Hope to be going, but I’m a married man now, I have other commitments. I can’t be acting like a carefree bachelor,’ he joked feebly.

  ‘I’m married, too, but that never stops me going to Galway or chatting up the birds on Ladies’ Day,’ Ed scoffed. ‘Don’t let Debbie turn you into a wimp. If you give in the first year, you’re going to be pussy-whipped for the rest of your life. Start as you mean to go on, mate, that’s my advice to ya. See ya around.’

  ‘Sure thing, Ed. Cheers,’ Bryan said flatly, watching the other man swagger down the office. It was well known that Ed did more than ‘chat up’ the ladies and, if the rumours were to be believed, his marriage of ten years was shaky, and his attractive blond wife had started drinking way more than was good for her. Debbie wouldn’t be able to afford to turn to drink if he went off with other women, he thought dryly, sending off an email to her with a curt, Fine.

  If he told her he was considering a trip to the Galway Races, World War Three would break out, so he’d say nothing and try and scrounge the money together somehow. But where was he going to get a couple of thousand smackers? There was no point in going to Galway with pennies in your pockets. And if he didn’t go, the others would agree with Ed and say he was pussy-whipped. So much for happy ever after, he grimaced, staring down at his wedding band and heartily wishing he were single again.

  ‘Hey, Bryan, you wouldn’t be interested in buying a Bang & Olufsen stereo system and an almost new flatscreen TV, would you?’ Alison Reed, the MD’s PA, stopped at his desk, cutting short his dour thoughts.

  ‘No, why?’ He looked at her in surprise.

  Alison sighed, flicking her chestnut hair back off her face. ‘My boyfriend’s lost his job, and he’s moving back home to his parents’, and I live with my parents, so neither of us has any room for them.’

  Bryan ran his fingers through his hair as he studied the slender brunette standing beside him. He liked Alison, but he didn’t fancy her; she was too skinny for his tastes, all angular, jutting, bony bits and no curves. From the back, she could almost pass for a boy. ‘That’s rough, who was he working for?’

  ‘He worked in the corporate services of FB Sweeney auctioneers. They let fourteen people go the same day as Gerry.’ She shrugged helplessly. ‘It had been on the cards for ages. They were cutting down on entertaining and days away and wining and dining prospective clients, so he was half expecting it, but it was a shock just the same. Ed would want to watch out – our corporate entertaining budgets are going to be cut in half. There’s a raft of cost-cutting measures coming down the line. We’ve lost two big contracts this week because the companies involved have pulled out of the officeletting sector. It’s going to get rocky here too,’ she said sombrely, getting off the desk. ‘So are you interested?’

  ‘Sorry, Ali, we have a TV and stereo, but I’ll ask around. Why don’t you put it up on the newsletter?’

  Alison made a face. ‘I don’t really want the world and his mother to know – it’s a bit embarrassing, if you know what I mean. People would start asking questions. I mean, it’s the pits not having a place of your own to go back to. We can’t even have a decent shag any more. You’re so lucky being married and having a house of your own.’

  ‘I suppose I am,’ Bryan said slowly. ‘Sorry to hear of your troubles, Ali,’ he added. ‘What’s Gerry going to do?’

  ‘He might have to emigrate, the way things are going. We didn’t save much, we were too busy having fun, so there’s not much to fall back on, and we couldn’t manage on just my salary, so it’s all up in the air. We never thought the good times were going to end. Anyway, thanks for listening to my moans – I better go, there’s a big meeting in twenty minutes to discuss the recession and its potential implications for the company. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’re a few job losses here too, and he’ – she pointed at Ed, who was flirting with one of the secretaries – ‘might not be so cocky this time next week. See ya.’

  ‘Bye, Ali,’ murmured Bryan, dismayed at what he’d heard. If Ali knew the state of his finances, she might not be so envious of him. This recession thing was getting serious. Ali’s boyfriend, Gerry, had rented a cool, duplex apartment in Grand Canal Dock and had often thrown lavish parties to which Debbie and he had been invited. Now he was back living with his parents. That had to be the pits.


  And all this talk about job losses was unsettling. It was true the market for offices had contracted. If it got worse, he could be in trouble, and then they’d have to let the bank repossess the house, because Debbie wouldn’t be able to pay the mortgage out of her salary. Gerry and Ali might not be the only ones living with their parents, he thought gloomily.

  Debbie was right, although it pained him to say it. They did need to get their finances sorted, or they were going to be in deep trouble. Going to live with either of their parents, Connie in particular, was an option to put the fear of God in him. His conversation with Alison had been a wake-up call Bryan didn’t particularly want. The Galway Races would be the first casualty in his belt-tightening exercise, and life would be all the more lacklustre because of it. If this was what it was going to be like for the foreseeable future, emigrating looked like a very attractive option. Bondi Beach would suit him just fine.

  ‘Mom, I’m meeting Debbie to go and see Connie’s cat, ’cos she’s away in Spain, so I won’t be home when you get in from work. It’s fine with Dad.’ Melissa left a message for her mother. She’d tried to phone her, but it had rung out before going to her voicemail. She must be at a meeting; it was all she seemed to do these days: work and sleep.

  She flung herself down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Sarah had asked her to go to Dundrum to hang out at the shopping centre with her cousin who was visiting from England, but Melissa hadn’t been in the humour. She knew they’d want to go to have something to eat at some stage, and she just couldn’t do that right now. She couldn’t risk slipping back. She had to keep focused on losing the weight, seeing as the scales were giving her such positive results. She’d pretended to have bad periods.