5 Peppermint Grove (36 page)

“Are you serious?”

“Yep!”

“And what about Gillian – I thought he was dating her?”

“Well, I don’t know about her. There’s something in the water in
Dublin at the moment – everyone is acting so strangely. Horatio is in love with the Brazilian housekeeper and she’s easily fifty years younger than him – as long as he doesn’t frighten her away – the last thing I need to cope with now is housework on top of everything else!”

Ruth couldn’t help but laugh. A call from Julia was just what she needed after what she had been through tonight.

“Oh but, Ju, you don’t really think that Dylan has the hots for Odette – I mean seriously?”

“It’s been so bizarre since Craig died. Odette is not herself naturally but she doesn’t confide in me the way that she used to – she seems to need Dylan more than anyone. And I was in shock when I met Gerry first –”

“Wait, I can’t keep up – tell me more about Gerry!”

“Would you believe they have already been away together – away as in
Germany! And they are off to the UK soon. I swear this whole bridge scene is a cover-up for some sort of online dating system. They are sending each other music and stories and e-cards and all sorts. It’s a virtual community that has spilled over into the real world.”

“What does your granddad think of it all?”

“I think Mum finding love has made Horatio frisky – he was very shook at the funeral but seems to have bounced back remarkably quickly – he keeps saying that life is short.”

“Well, it can be bloody long when you keep jumping from one disastrous relationship to the next!” Ruth declared.

“Ruth, don’t be so harsh – how were you to know that he was married?”

“Well, obviously I should have asked – what sort of a feckin’ eejit am I?”

“Ruth, you have to stop cursing for a start!”

“I can’t help it – I’ve been deranged here for the last two hours – it’s two in the morning.”

“Gosh – I’m sorry – I had no idea that it was so late there – I’m all over the place!”

“I’m just pleased that you did.”

“So how long has Brian been married?”

“I don’t know the details.”

“So what did he tell you about it?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? Why?” Julia scrunched up her face.

“Because I just ran.”

“You ran?”

“Yeah, I ran away – we were walking along the Esplanade SOR and I just ran away from him!”

“And did he not run after you?”

“Oh yeah, but I was quicker – I don’t know where I got the speed from – I just couldn’t look at him. I jumped into a taxi and came straight home.”

“Did he try to call you?”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t answer. He came around to the house but I wouldn’t let him in. He kept saying ‘Let me explain’ – so I just said that I would call the police if he didn’t fuck off and after that I’ve been cursing at the cushions and the wall until you rang.”

Julia nodded her head. “Okay, so now I can see where the cursing comes in. And do you like him?”

“I hate him – fucking bastard!”

“Before you knew that he was married, did you like him?”

“Julia, I’d fallen in love with him – why do you think I’m so bloody angry? We even did
it
– twice!”

“Oh boy, Ruth – you do need to talk to him.”

“I can’t – I swore after you were here that I would never
ever
sleep with a married man again – then the first guy that comes my way is
voilà
– another married man!”

Ruth started to sob again and Julia wished desperately that she could hug her friend. It felt so difficult to be apart at times like this.

“I wish I was there, Ruth.”

“I wish you were here too, Ju – oh God – I’m so sorry for ranting on – how selfish am I? We should be talking about you and how you’re coping after Craig’s terrible death and dealing with a new man in your mum’s life.”

“And now Michael is coming home for good.”

“For good? Has he got a job?”

“No – he’s returning on the 1
st
March for an interview. Oh I do hope that he gets it!”

“Wow, I never thought that he would just pack up and drop everything like that!”

“Ruth – I told you everyone has gone crazy! So I’ve changed. I am going to be philosophical in future – no more sorting people out or giving advice – it’s live and let live for me from now on!”

Ruth wished that she felt the same way but all she felt was a rock in her heart and disappointment with herself and the world.

Chapter Forty-seven

Lydia
had planned what she would do. She had booked a table in the Unicorn restaurant where Peter had taken her on their first date. He would wonder why they were going somewhere so nice on a Wednesday evening but she would make up an excuse – it could be a present from the Perrin family for all the help he had given them with Craig’s case. All she had to do was get him there and then she would order a bottle of champagne and pop the question. This was just a little shove in the right direction.

Carol was nervous about driving all the way up to the North of Ireland on her own. She had been slow to agree to the trip as she wanted to be there for her daughter to help with the children and talk things through. But Odette didn’t want her around at all and that saddened her.  Her daughter had made it quite clear that she wanted only Dylan to be around her house. Carol worried that Odette might be trying to fill the gap left by her husband with his brother. But she had to respect her daughter’s wishes and while she was annoying her so much the only thing to do was to disappear. Besides, Gerry had been trying to get her to come up to his part of the world for months and she was now ready. Life was short.

She would never have imagined that her son-in-law would do such a thing but she herself had suffered from bouts of depression throughout her life that she now regretted terribly. All that loss of energy that should have been spent doing things that she enjoyed and helping others.

The road signs were good and she knew from Gerry’s clear directions that she hadn’t far to go now. Going to his home and seeing his life would be as much an eye-opener as she was sure it had been for him when he came to Dublin. At least now she needn’t be clandestine. Julia and Horatio liked Gerry very much and, although Odette was in no position to see what was going on around her at the funeral she did notice Gerry and even said that he seemed nice. Carol shivered as she thought of her poor daughter and her little children. Why did things like that have to happen?

She took the next right which she saw was the entrance to
Hawthorn Way and counted six houses until she saw Gerry’s Ford Mondeo in the driveway. She turned into the drive and stopped. She was excited and thrilled that she had completed the odyssey on her own. Life was to be savoured and she hoped that if her children were to learn anything from Craig’s unfortunate departure that it was to embrace life. It was too late to wonder why he did it – time couldn’t be turned back and he was gone forever – but those that remained behind had a duty to live their lives to their fullest.

And as Gerry stepped out onto his front porch with a beaming smile, beckoning her to come further up the drive, that was something that she intended to do.

It was brave and adventurous and something that
Lydia would never have imagined doing before she met Peter. He was coming to meet her in the Unicorn straight from work. His broad dark figure sauntered into the restaurant – he was wearing a smart pinstriped suit and she loved that dishevelled coolness that he had at the end of the day. Like a character from
CSI New York
.

He spotted her quickly and went over to the window where she sat sipping on a glass of table water.

“I hope I’m not late,” he said, looking at his watch before leaning forward to kiss her.

“No, I was early. Did you have a good day?”

He sat and took his napkin and put it on his lap. “Hectic – most days are hectic but they just seem to be getting worse!”

Lydia
was so proud of him.

“So what’s on the menu tonight?” he asked, his eyes scanning the card.

“Peter, I’ve been so looking forward to tonight.”

Peter looked up from the menu. “Every night is good for us – we have a great life,
Lydia – when I see what so many poor souls have to go through every day I thank God for my life.”

“I don’t know how you remain so positive – I really only got a glimpse into the awful things that you have to deal with on Craig’s case. The Perrin family are so grateful for all that you did for them.”

“Believe me, Lydia, that wasn’t the hardest – not by a long shot. I had to call around to a couple tonight whose son went missing . . .” He stopped. “I’m not going to talk about work tonight – it’s too nice being out like this.”

Lydia
smiled. “You can say anything to me, Peter – we’ve done so much these last six months and living together has been wonderful.”

He agreed with a nod and poured himself a glass of the water.

Lydia was desperate to just blurt it out and see what he thought of her proposal but she had planned to wait until after the main course. She was nervous inside but wanted the moment to be right.

Chapter Forty-eight

Julia drove as close to the front door as she could – the boot of the car was full of Michael’s luggage – he’d had to leave a lot of his furniture and ornaments behind.

He stood on the driveway and pounded the ground with his foot.

“I’m home! You know, Ju, even if I don’t get this job I’m just glad to be back. Call me a young fogey if you like but that’s what I am!”

“Give you a year or two and you’ll be called an old fogey!”

“Hey!” Michael couldn’t get cross with his sister. He was so thrilled to be home.

Horatio came to the front door. He had been so looking forward to seeing his grandson. He held out his arms.

“It will be nice to have another man in the house,” he said, hugging his grandson tightly.

“I won’t be staying more than a week or two, Granddad – the apartment is available soon – the tenants are moving out so the timing has been perfect.”

“Ah, you won’t want to leave here once you’ve met Paola – she’s a beauty. But hands off, she’s mine!”

“Granddad,” Julia chastised with the crossest voice she could muster.

But the mood was too jovial among the three for crossness to last.

“Where’s Mum?” Michael asked.

“She’s popped up the north to Gerry. He came down here last week – they’ve been seldom apart since Craig’s funeral.”

“And he stays over?” Michael quizzed.

“Yep!” Julia said with a roll of her eyes.

“Julia doesn’t think us old folk are up to much – she’s got a lot to learn!” Horatio said with a shake of his head.

“Come in and have a cup of tea and sit down,” Julia ordered them both.

They were laughing and dipping Rich Tea biscuits into their mugs when Julia’s phone rang. She saw
Lydia’s name flash up and considered leaving it to ring. The call would be more than Michael needed after the long flight from Singapore. Lydia’s engagement would not help him to settle any better and for now she was just pleased to have him home.

“Are you not going to answer that?” Horatio asked.

Julia shook her head. “Nah – I’ll call them back.”

Julia called Lydia when she was sure that Michael was asleep in bed. It was one o’clock in the afternoon and she was anxious to hear how she had got on in the Unicorn Restaurant on her big night.

“Hello?”

“Lydia, it’s me – Julia – come on, spill the beans, I’m dying to hear how you got on!”

Lydia
paused at the end of the line. Then she started to sob.

Julia had expected to hear wonderful news – not sobbing.

“Julia, I’ve made a terrible mistake – we were having a lovely meal and he was kind and considerate and attentive like he always is but then I told him that it was 29
th
of February and I proposed. He thought it was a joke at first and then he got really angry. I’ve never seen him like it. He told me that I was crazy – what did I expect from him so soon? He had moved in with me quickly and he was happy with that but now I wanted to go and ruin everything by rushing into marriage when we didn’t know each other well enough.”

“
Lydia, I don’t know what to say – I thought he was saying all sorts of things about commitment and settling down?”

“Yes, he was, but he said he was in no rush to get married. And what really upsets me is the fact that he wouldn’t consider kids if he wasn’t already married. His last relationship lasted ten years. I don’t want us to be together ten years and then he decides he doesn’t want to get married!”

Julia was tempted to put on her rational and reasonable hat and offer some sound advice but that was not what her friend needed. For now she was just going to listen.

“I’m so sorry,
Lydia – maybe he felt his manhood was threatened or something and that proposing was something that he should do? He has something of a superhero aura about him!”

“He’s like that in public but he’s really sensitive when we’re on our own – that’s why I can’t understand his reaction.”

“How old is he?”

“He’s thirty-nine.”

“How long did you say he went out with his last girlfriend?”

“Ten years – and he was eight years with his previous girlfriend.”

“Maybe he’s a serial monogamist?”

Lydia
sighed heavily down the phone. “Julia, I don’t want to lose him but I feel like life is passing me by – my job isn’t as important to me as yours is for you. I want a family more than anything.”

Julia had to bite her tongue – she didn’t want to say what she was really thinking.

“Look, why don’t you come out with me tonight?” she said. “I could do with a bit of fun.”

Lydia
sniffed into the phone. “Okay,” she said reluctantly. “I’ll see you after work?”

“Yeah, that would be great – I’m only heading into the office now and I have to visit Odette on the way so the later the better.”

“That’s the nice part about being your own boss, I guess!” Lydia was envious.

“I collected Michael from the airport today – he’s come home for good.”

“Oh!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell him that we’re meeting.” Clearly
Lydia was shaken at the mention of her brother – that was interesting, thought Julia.

“Thanks, Julia – I couldn’t take a head-melting situation with him at the moment.”

“I know and he’s very vulnerable too so I don’t think seeing you would help.”

“Okay. Talk later – and thanks.”

Julia turned off her phone. She would swing by Odette’s on the way into work. There was something in the air that she couldn’t put her finger upon – a sense of everything just falling apart for those around her. Ruth and Lydia were broken-hearted. She had to watch Odette and her children in pain. Carol was the only woman who had found happiness and she hoped that everything was going well there or she wouldn’t be able to cope.

Dylan’s car was in the driveway and it was almost two o’clock in the afternoon. Julia parked and rang on the door.

Odette opened it quickly on seeing that it was Julia.

“Come in,” she smiled brightly. “I’m so glad it’s you – I couldn’t stand another do-gooder offering to help. I’m seriously thinking of booking a trip to the country for a few days and just taking the kids away from all this.”

Julia followed her sister into the kitchen and looked around.

“Is Dylan here?”

“No, he left his car here last night to make it look like he was here – just for security – he’s been so good, Julia.”

“He has alright – and where was he?”

“On a date with Gillian, I think – she is so weird – I seriously think she is stalking him!”

Gillian had said nothing when in work the day before. But her sister was the person that Julia had come to see and she had more pressing needs.

“Sit down and let me make the cuppa!” Julia said.

Odette practically had to fight to get the kettle from her sister. “No, I need to be doing things – Julia, my mind is going crazy and has been for months. I need to get back to some sense of normality – life has changed and I am on my own now so I just have to get used to it.”

Julia surrendered the kettle. “Odette . . . do you have any idea what was going on inside Craig’s head? I’m sure you need to process it.”

“I know he felt the tension between us but I really don’t know what else could have made him do something so drastic.” She shrugged as she filled the kettle. “Dylan has looked at our finances and they are not as healthy as I would have imagined. Also he had taken out a large insurance policy on himself a year ago which makes me think that he was planning this in some way.”

“But then he wouldn’t have committed suicide because the insurance won’t pay.”

Odette suddenly became defensive. “It hasn’t been proven that is what he did – but yes, I know it doesn’t make sense. Life doesn’t make sense at the moment.”

Julia reached out and held her sister in her arms. There was nothing she could do to help relieve her pain.

“Will I come back later – tonight?” she asked.

Odette nodded. “Yes, and please stay, Ju.”

“I will,” Julia assured her sister. “Michael is going to come out to see you later too – he took a nap for the afternoon. Actually, I’ll get him to come here when he wakes up – I just remembered that I have to meet
Lydia for a little while after work but I’ll come back here later.”

“Okay. You’d better go into work – I’ve taken up enough of your time.”

Dear sweet Odette, Julia thought fondly as she got into her car and battled through the city traffic into her work. She wasn’t sure how she could help her – but she would do everything that she could.

Her thoughts jumped to Gillian. She really wasn’t sure what that girl was doing but, one thing for certain, Dylan was entertaining her and she couldn’t figure out why. Julia would have liked to believe what Horatio had said now – that Dylan had feelings for her – but he hadn’t shown any signs of it since she’d returned from
Australia. There was always the possibility that he did like Gillian a lot – why did it seem so incredible?

The curiosity was stinging her by the time she got to work.

Gillian had a beaming smile on her face when she saw Julia.

“Hi, Julia – how are you doing?”

“Good, Gillian – any urgent messages?”

Gillian shook her head. “I spoke with Cruise Holidays today and they would like to discuss their brochure with you – also that domain name you enquired about is available so I bought it.”

“Great.”

Gillian had come on so much in the last few months. It made Julia wonder just what exactly the girl was capable of.

“How are things with you?” she asked.

“Oh fine! You know me.”

But that was just it – Julia felt that she really didn’t know Gillian at all.

“Is it okay if I go a few minutes early this evening? “ Gillian asked. “I have to see someone.”

“Of course. You’ve been doing hours of overtime with the funeral and all the time that I’ve been away. Thanks for everything.”

“That’s okay!” she said with a smile and a swagger that Julia hadn’t noticed before. She was radiating confidence and it made Julia uneasy and curious – she wondered was she meeting Dylan again by any chance.

Julia focused on her emails and the day’s tasks to take her mind off the thoughts that were running through her head.

Three hours had passed and she hadn’t answered all of her emails or made all of her calls but she could hear Lydia’s footsteps coming through reception. Her work could wait – she turned off her computer and braced herself. Lydia would need a lot of support.

“Hi, Ju, thanks so much for meeting me – I know you are up to your eyes.”

Julia kissed her friend on the cheek and grabbed her coat and bag.

“I told you I am always here for you,
Lydia. Where do you want to go?”

Lydia
shrugged. They walked out onto Wicklow Street and found their way naturally onto Grafton Street.

“Let’s try the Bailey?”
Lydia suggested.

They found two high stools in the corner of the bar and ordered a glass of wine each from the barman. Once he was out of earshot Julia listened as
Lydia told her the story of the disastrous proposal in detail.

“I can’t believe that he said he didn’t want to get married,” Julia said.

Lydia shook her head incredulously. “That’s the crazy bit – he’s all smiles as if nothing has happened. I mean when we came back from the Unicorn that night he just went into the bathroom and then got into bed in silence. Then he said to me today that he was talking to friends who had bought extra tickets for the Madonna gig in the summer and did we want to go?”

“Well, at least you know that he’s planning on being with you – I mean, he didn’t want to move out or anything like that.”

“Oh no, he’s normal as anything and that bit I find weird. I mean, if we can’t have an argument and work it out afterwards how are we going to be able to survive a marriage together? I swear he’s just brushed it under the carpet as if nothing happened and we are expected to move swiftly along – on his terms, mind you – and play the perfect couple again.”

“Maybe there’s no such thing as perfect.” Julia had to say it – she had never believed in perfect. It was possibly another reason why she had never been keen to enter into a committed long-term relationship.

“I don’t know what to do, Julia. The sheen has been tarnished – don’t you hate it when that happens in a relationship?”

“It happens at some stage with every relationship – it’s how you both handle the aftershocks that will determine whether you have a future together or not.”

“What made you so wise, Julia Perrin? I mean, for someone who doesn’t get caught up in relationships you have plenty of wise words.”

Julia threw her head back and laughed. “I’m a know-all,
Lydia – you should have figured that out by now. But I’ll say something that I probably shouldn’t when you are feeling this way. I think Michael really loved you and for all his bad qualities he has bucket-loads of good ones.”

Lydia
looked down at her fingers and fiddled with them nervously. “I know I was cruel to shoot him down after I met him at Christmas,” she sighed. “But I would have kept him on ice if he hadn’t sent me that whingy needy email a couple of weeks later. He was putting pressure on me and I thought that he was just jealous because I had met Peter. I also thought that it was only a matter of weeks before a proposal.” Lydia rolled her eyes and sighed again. “What am I like?”

Julia smiled. “
Lydia, you were in the throes of the honeymoon period. This is just another stage. You have to decide now if you want to move forward with Peter on his terms and see how the next six months go or if maybe he isn’t the one for you.”

Lydia
knew that Julia was right. She would have to see how she really felt but she was aware that doubt had already set in.

Chapter Forty-nine

Julia drove out of the city and headed for the northside. It was seven o’clock and although it put pressure on her time-wise she was glad that she had made the effort to see Lydia. She had almost forgotten about Michael who would definitely be up by now. She dialled home and Horatio answered the phone.

“Michael and I are having a great time here – so don’t rush home!”

“I thought Michael was coming with me to see Odette?”

“Give the lad a chance – he’s very jet-lagged and anyway I’m after opening a couple of cans of Guinness and we might pop up to the village for a pint in the Abbey Tavern later. It’s not often I get my grandson to myself and if you stay with Odette tonight we’ll have no one bothering us!”

Horatio did have a point and Michael would be suffering from jet lag. Tomorrow would be a better day for Michael to call and see Odette. Besides, Julia really wanted to spend the night with her sister and it was good that Horatio had company now.

“Okay, Granddad, tell Michael to come to my office in the morning and we can go out to Odette’s for lunch – mind you, she could be in a daze herself – I never know how she will be from hour to hour let alone day to day.