Happy Ever After Page 5

  ‘With pleasure.’ Ciara selected a folded-up strip and waved it around.

  ‘Open it and put us out of our misery. If I have to visit that cow, my weekend will be ruined,’ Linda growled.

  Ciara opened it and caught Debbie’s anxious gaze. ‘Sorry.’ She made a face and handed her the strip with her name on it.

  ‘Oh shit,’ muttered Debbie, her heart sinking.

  ‘Well, at least there’re two of us in the same boat,’ Ciara shrugged. ‘When do you want to go?’

  ‘The sooner the better. Let’s get it over and done with. What do you think?’ She eyed her colleague glumly.

  ‘Good thinking, Wonder Girl. How are you fixed for tonight?’

  ‘Well, I was supposed to be meeting Bryan for a bite to eat—’

  ‘Look, seeing as you’re representing us, and you’ll have to go and get flowers and a card – which will come out of the kitty, of course – why don’t the pair of you get changed and head off around four?’ Caitriona offered kindly. ‘It would give you a chance to get there early enough, and you’d only have to stay for ten minutes or so, and at least she’d have had a visit from her section. If Judith’s in for a long time, I’ll go on my own for a visit. Janice told me she’ll be going in, and I suppose some of the other managers she has her tea break with will visit. So is that OK?’

  ‘Yeah, it’s fine, Caitriona. Thanks.’ Debbie smiled at her friend, not wanting her to feel bad, knowing that she understood very well how she was dreading having to visit Judith.

  ‘Thanks, Caitriona.’ Ciara got up and rinsed her coffee cup in the sink. ‘I think we should take a taxi to the hospital. I’m not sure of the bus routes on the Northside,’ she suggested as they went back to their desks.

  Just as well it was payday, Debbie sighed, thinking of her precarious financial position. Taxis were a luxury for the moment, until she got back on the straight and narrow financially.

  ‘Good idea,’ she agreed. ‘We can always get a bus back into town, and I can meet Bryan later. We can buy the flowers and the card in the hospital, which will save us some time.’

  ‘Look, if she’s in hospital for ages, some of the others will have to go, so at least we’ve done our duty and we won’t have to do it again.’ Ciara was doing her utmost to make the best of the situation.

  ‘You’re right, and we get off an hour early, which was decent enough of Caitriona,’ Debbie agreed with false cheeriness as she bent her head to her keyboard and began to key in some figures for a pension package one of the receptionists was getting on her retirement the following week.

  Her enjoyable day back was ruined. The thought of having to see Judith brought on that tense, stomach-knotting feeling of anxiety she always felt around her boss. None of the others realized just how stressed Judith made Debbie feel. None of them was picked upon as much as she’d been this past year. Judith had it in for her for some reason. That bitch had held back her salary increment, a raise she could have badly done with, and now Debbie was going to have to pretend to be nice to her and offer her sympathy when it was the last thing she felt like doing.

  The thought of seeing her boss was actually making her feel nauseous. She supposed she could have refused outright to allow her name to be put in the hat, but all the others felt they had as much of an excuse not to want to visit Judith as she had, and it had been the most democratic way to do it. It was just her tough luck, she thought glumly, sending her husband an email to tell him the score.

  No probs, Debbs, he emailed back. Meet us in Farringtons and then we can have a bite to eat in Eden later. Going to book a table for 8.30. You should be back in town by 7.30. Love ya and miss ya. Wish we were in NY. B XXXXXXXX

  Debbie read his email and shook her head. Bryan needed to realize that they were going to have to economize for the next few months. And while she loved the food and the ambience in Eden, she’d been thinking of somewhere more cheap ’n’ cheerful to eat, to suit their current financial circumstances.

  Well, they wouldn’t be having starters or desserts if it was Eden he wanted to eat in, she decided. Cutbacks would just have to be made, whether her darling husband liked it or not.

  Bryan sat at his desk and stared at the worksheet in front of him. The office-design and fit-out company he worked for had secured a contract for planning and structuring three floors of offices in a big new block just across the river from where he was based in the IFSC. Appointments had been made for him to meet with the clients to discuss their requirements. The first one was at nine thirty on Monday morning, so he had a little leeway to ease himself back into work mode.

  He tried to look on the bright side. As long as he was on the project, he could take the Dart into work and walk across the Liffey at Matt Talbot Bridge, so at least he wouldn’t have to drive and be stuck in traffic snarl-ups like he’d been that morning. He was being given the task of designing the CEO’s office as well as the rest of the management team’s, so he’d have a chance to use a bit of flair and imagination, if the budgets allowed. It was better than having to design and fit out the ordinary employees’ open-plan space, which didn’t offer a huge amount of scope for innovation. Having come up in the ranks, he was now being entrusted with the more expensive and coveted jobs. He could do open plan in his sleep!

  Bryan sighed and chewed the top of his pen as he stared out at the sun shining intermittently on the gunmetal-grey waters of the Liffey. An easterly breeze was blowing up the river, and choppy white-capped waves pummelled the quay walls, not with the ferocious intensity of stormy weather but with a relentless, angry slapping which suited his mood. The traffic on the street below had ground to a halt, and he saw a woman in a blue Focus talking on her mobile as she stood beside her car at a junction, the flashers on. Behind her was a stream of traffic waiting to turn left, horns honking in impatience.

  Two men got out of their cars to give her a push, and Bryan brushed his fingers through his silky black hair and turned back to his worksheet, glad that it wasn’t him stuck at the lights. He stared at the figures in front of him but couldn’t concentrate. Work was the last place he wanted to be.

  At least it was payday. It had been a great idea of Debbie’s to come back to work on a payday and get that horrible first day back over with. They were planning to eat out after work, and even her hospital visit shouldn’t interfere with their plans. Eden was his restaurant of choice, with a few drinks in Farringtons first, with any of the gang who were going to a film in the Film Centre.

  He picked up the phone on his desk and dialled 11890, got put through to the restaurant and made a reservation for eight thirty. If he and Debbie couldn’t enjoy a night out on their first day back at work, it would be a poor life indeed, Bryan felt, starting to text a few of his mates to let them know they should meet up for drinks after work. Slightly cheered up by the prospect of a night on the tiles, he bent his head to his work and tried his best to concentrate.

  Any chance you could meet me in Meadows & Byrne tomorrow morning? Was thinking about getting a new table for the kitchen. Would like your opinion. And we could have a cup of coffee.

  Connie keyed in a text to Debbie as she sat in the supermarket car park, having done her weekly shopping. The nap she’d had earlier had revived her, and she thought she might take a walk on the beach as soon as she’d put away her groceries.

  She’d promised Barry she’d facilitate a meeting between Melissa and Debbie. It wouldn’t take up too much of her morning, or Debbie’s either. It was so handy that they all lived on the Dart line. Debbie would be in Dun Laoghaire in five minutes, and Barry and Melissa were only a stone’s throw from the station.

  Her phone rang.

  ‘Hi Mum, it’s me,’ Debbie said. ‘I’m just on my way in to visit Judith Baxter in hospital; my name was picked out of a hat, unfortunately. But I’d love to meet you in the morning. What time?’

  Her daughter’s cheerful voice crackled on the mobile.

  ‘Will you be having a lie-in, seeing as it’s
Saturday? How about ten thirty? Would that suit? I’ll ramble around the store until you get there.’

  ‘Perfect, I’ll look forward to it, Mum, I’ll see you then.’

  ‘Bye, love.’ Connie smiled as she hung up. It was great to have Debbie home again; she’d really missed her when she was in New York. They had been such a tight little unit for so long, just the two of them, it was hard to believe she was now a married woman with a home of her own.

  It had been a real wrench when Debbie had moved out of home the previous year. It had taken Connie a long time to get used to the silence in the house. She still hated eating on her own, especially in the evening after work, or on Sundays at lunchtime.

  She loved meeting Debbie for lunch or dinner when it was just the two of them. Bryan was a different kettle of fish. Connie shook her head as she put her phone back in the handset and straightened up her steering wheel. She still couldn’t take to her new son-in-law. He was far too laidback for her liking. And he spent money like it was going out of fashion. That ridiculous sportscar, for one thing, and those designer sunglasses he wore. Debbie had told her they cost 280 euro. He spent a fortune on grooming products, she knew that for a fact because, when she’d asked Debbie what to get him for birthday and Christmas presents, Debbie had told her the moisturizers and hair products he used, and they weren’t cheap. Where was he getting his money from, with a big mortgage to pay off and their wedding and honeymoon expenses? I see and I want seemed to be Bryan’s motto.

  Debbie had let slip when she’d come back from her honeymoon that their Visa card was maxed out. Bryan would really want to be reining in his spending and getting on with decorating the house, Connie reflected as she switched on the engine and began to manoeuvre the car out of the parking space. Her phone rang, and the Bluetooth kicked in.

  ‘Hi, is this Connie Adams?’ a woman’s voice asked.

  ‘Yes, that’s me. Who’s speaking?’ inquired Connie as she mentally cursed the owner of the massive SUV parked carelessly beside her, which was causing her great difficulty in seeing approaching traffic.

  ‘I’m Jessie Sheehy, Mrs Mansfield’s other part-time day nurse. You and I will be job-sharing, and I was just wondering if I could ask a big favour of you? I know you haven’t even started working here yet, but I was wondering if you could cover for me for a wedding in six weeks’ time? I know I’ve an awful cheek asking you when we haven’t even met.’

  ‘Not at all.’ Connie laughed. ‘Who knows – I might even need you to do the same for me some time. Are you working right now?’

  ‘Yes, I’m on duty at the moment. We’ve just been for a walk, and Mrs Mansfield is having a little rest.’

  ‘Look, how about I pop over for ten minutes and introduce myself. I just need to go home and store my groceries. I have some treats for Mrs Mansfield’s cat. I was telling her about them, they’re ones you get in Aldi, and my one goes mad for them. I told her I’d get her some. I’ve had them here for a week, so I could kill two birds with the one stone.’

  ‘That would be lovely,’ Jessie agreed. ‘I look forward to meeting you.’

  ‘Right, I should be over in about half an hour or so. See you then,’ Connie said, as she finally managed to squeeze out of the parking bay and head for home.

  It would be good to meet her co-worker. And of course she’d oblige her for her day off. Connie might need the favour returned some time. Hopefully, she and this Jessie woman would have a good working relationship. She’d unpack the shopping, drive over to Mrs Mansfield’s and then go for a quick walk on the beach. She was dying for a breath of fresh sea air. She always felt so much better having done a walk.

  It didn’t take her long to put away the shopping, and she slipped into a pair of jeans and a light pink and grey fleece. Even though it was a peachy evening, there was an easterly breeze blowing in off the sea and it would be nippy enough down on the beach.

  She ran a brush through her short, layered auburn hair, noting the odd strand of grey. She was lucky, she reflected: her mother had gone grey in her thirties; she was in her late forties and still had her own colour. She didn’t look too bad, Connie decided as she applied some lipstick on to her full lips. She was beginning to get those pucker marks around her mouth, and the spiderweb of lines around her blue eyes was nothing to cheer about, but her skin was good and she looked healthy. The band of her jeans was a bit tight, and, she thought ruefully, her ass was sinking fast, and not all the walking in the world was going to change that. But she was tall and that helped, and walking on the stony beach was challenging to her calves and great for toning thighs. She was so lucky to have the beach ten minutes down the road. Life was good these days, she decided happily. It could only get better.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Lily Baxter sat on the bus on her way home from the hospital feeling quite perturbed. Judith had been in very bad form today, hardly even making the effort to chat. When Lily had asked her for the third time if she was in pain and did she need a nurse, her daughter had snapped, ‘No, Mother, I’m fine. Stop fussing.’

  It had been just like she used to be in the bad old days in their relationship, and Lily had felt a spurt of temper and been tempted to retort, ‘There’s no need to be so rude, madam.’ But she’d refrained from making any comment, reminding herself that her daughter wasn’t that long from being near death.

  ‘Sorry, Ma. I didn’t mean it, just having a bad day,’ Judith had muttered when Lily had eventually packed away her knitting and stood up to leave, not wanting to get stuck in the tea-time rush hour.

  ‘That’s all right, Judith. I suppose it’s to be expected. I’m sure you’re fed up in this place anyway.’ Lily softened, and gave her daughter’s hand a little squeeze.

  ‘Thanks, Ma. And you know you don’t have to come in every single afternoon. Hospital visiting is tiring.’ Judith squinted against the sunlight, and Lily went over to the big plate-glass window and pulled down the blinds.

  ‘I know that,’ she said firmly. ‘But you’d do the same for me, so we’ll have no more of that talk. Now try and have a little rest for yourself. I know Cecily is coming in tonight before she goes to France for a month, so she told me, and your Aunt Annie and your cousin are coming over from Lucan. So you’ll need your strength for that.’ At least that had got a laugh out of Judith but, on her way out, Lily had gone to the nurses’ station and had told the staff nurse she was worried about her daughter. ‘She seems very down in the dumps, and I know she’s in pain,’ she explained.

  ‘It’s natural to get a bit depressed after a big trauma like that, and being in pain doesn’t help,’ the staff nurse said reassuringly. ‘We’re hoping to start her on physio and get her moving about a bit more, so that will help. Don’t worry – we’re keeping a good eye on her. These things take time to recover from.’

  Lily had thanked her but, nevertheless, she was troubled and, as she sat on the bus heading back towards town, she came to a decision.

  It was something that had to be done. She’d shilly-shallied long enough. She glanced at her watch. She just might make the bank in time. She should have made an appointment, she knew. Getting to see a bank manager was like getting to see a hospital consultant these days, she’d heard. But her manager, Francis Long, always made time to talk to her and never rushed her. He was a gentleman of the old school, not like some of the young whippersnappers who wouldn’t give an elderly person the time of day.

  The bus whizzed along, leaving the traffic on her right crawling. These bus lanes were a gift, Lily approved, as she sat up ramrod straight, her hands gripping her handbag tightly on her lap, preparing in her mind what she would say to the bank manager.

  She needed to have her wits about her, to make everything clear to him and to be clear herself about the consequences of her actions. Tom, her eldest child, would be furious with her if he knew what she was about to do, but bad scran to him, he’d left her in the lurch and never gone out of his way to help her. He’d left it all up to Judith, and now
Judith was going to get what she deserved, Lily thought grimly as she stood up to get off at the next stop.

  Her heart was beginning to race, and she could feel the familiar nervy flutters in her tummy. ‘St Michael give me courage, Holy Spirit guide me in what I’m about to do,’ Lily prayed fervently as the bus shuddered to a halt and she stepped out into the warm afternoon sun.

  She could cross the busy main road and walk home, or she could take a deep breath and set in train a chain of events that would cause ructions in the family when it came to light.

  ‘Do it.’ Lily gave a start and looked around. She was sure she’d heard a voice, a voice like Ted’s, her beloved husband. But that was only fanciful imagining. Ted and Judith had been very close. A shaft of shame pierced her as a memory of long-forgotten jealousy surfaced. Yes, she admitted, she’d been jealous of their bond, jealous of their mutual interest in those Greek and Roman history books they used to read. Had that played a part in the way she’d treated her daughter when her husband had died? Had she, at some level, taken out her malice on her eldest daughter? Lily bowed her head as her lip trembled. It was hard recognizing your flaws, and she had more than most. She had been a bitter old woman and taken out all her anger and resentments about her failed life on Judith. It really was time to make amends.

  Ted would want her to do it. She wanted to do it herself. She was being given another chance, a chance to give rather than take, as she had always done. This was St Francis showing her how, and she would not shirk from it even though she was very apprehensive. The safety net of her home would be gone. She might be at Judith’s mercy in the future, but she would have to trust her daughter. She would have to have faith that the good Lord would take care of her, she decided firmly, straightening her shoulders and gripping her handbag even more tightly. Ted was guiding her from the grave, she was sure of it. She wasn’t alone.

  She made her way into the bank and stood at the information desk. A young bank clerk looked up and smiled at her. ‘Can I help you?’ She was so young and bright and alert, with all her life ahead of her, Lily thought with a little jolt, remembering how Judith had been like that once. Fresh-faced and bright-eyed and full of enthusiasm.