5 Peppermint Grove (5 page)

The truth was that Carol
had
to change after her husband died. She really had no choice. It was such a shock to find that you couldn’t do anything for yourself. Her own father had lived superbly on his own for twenty years and his moving in had been more Julia’s idea than anybody’s. She was so like her father. It was important that she didn’t overwork in the same way that he had.

Chapter Six

Julia liked Mondays. She had a meeting at eleven with her staff and would plan her aims for the upcoming week. She wondered how Dylan was feeling today after the Irish coffees. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to tolerate his company again until Christmas. Maybe he would go skiing this year like he had done two years before. She smiled as she considered the prospect and opened her email. There was the usual deluge after the weekend and she scanned through them quickly until one in particular caught her eye. It was from Lydia. Julia read through and smiled at the invitation to have dinner in Salamanca restaurant on Wednesday. She was relieved that she had an excuse to meet her. Julia had an uneasy feeling where Michael and Lydia were concerned but there was a powerful desire to fix Michael that was much stronger than the voice of reason that she used more frequently.

It was strange that
Lydia should contact her only the day after Michael had asked about her. Julia was a practical person who didn’t believe in mumbo jumbo but she did believe in the power of thought, and positive thinking especially. Telepathy was something else that she found fascinating and after watching the scientist Sheldrake’s talk on the internet she was convinced that if you thought about someone enough they would get the signal from your thoughts and eventually contact you. It explained why animals knew when their owners were on their way home – or how the Aborigine men knew to come home from walkabout at the exact time that their wife was about to give birth. All living things were energy wrapped up in matter and that made perfect scientific sense as well as fulfilling her need to believe in her gut instinct.

She read on and saw that
Lydia was happier than she had been in years. Her boyfriend was not only a policeman but a sergeant and, even better than that, a detective sergeant which meant that he did not have to wear a uniform and drove an unmarked car.

But it was the way that she spoke about his kindness and gentle manner that made Julia’s alarm bells ring.

At the moment she would wait and see what transpired during their meeting and she wouldn’t mention Michael unless the conditions seemed right.

Ruth brushed down the grey skirt that Julia had picked out for her the previous week. The jacket was stylish and the suit a cut above anything Ruth would usually choose. But this was a job that would take her into a new direction not only in her career but in her life. She wondered if she truly wanted to make the bold move to the other side of the world at all. She entered the stylish lobby of the Westin Hotel where the appointment had been set up by Julia. It was to be a purely informal meeting as the position was not to be filled until January but Julia had assured Ruth that if she got on well they might decide to just give her the job.

Ruth braced herself as she approached a man sitting at a table with a laptop open on the table in front of him. He had a brochure advertising
Australia on his lap, leaving Ruth in no doubt that he was Steve Nelson, the director of Tourism Ireland in Australia. He stood up as she proceeded toward him with her hand outstretched.

“Ruth Travers?” he asked, his head cocked.

“Yes – Mr Nelson?” she replied.

He smiled widely. First appearances mattered. “Please call me Steve!”

As Julia would say – you are in there, girl! Ruth knew that the interview could only go in one direction from that moment.

The next forty-five minutes were an informal chat and when Úna, Steve’s colleague, arrived the three were giggling and chatting about life in
Dublin and how much they all had in common. It was a culture shock for Ruth – she had become accustomed to game-playing with Oliver and taking hammering after hammering on her confidence. Now she felt physically refreshed by such enlightened company. If everyone was like this in Perth she would seriously consider making the move. The only thing blocking her was the thought of being so far away from Ian. She really wasn’t sure that she would be able to stand the distance between them. There was no way that Steve or Úna guessed her reservations – as far as they were concerned by the end of the meeting, they had found the girl for the job!

Julia waited with great anticipation to hear how her friend’s interview had gone.

Ruth was almost breathless as she called and relayed the details. She liked Steve and the way that he made her feel intelligent, important and competent. Julia listened patiently and as Ruth spoke the realisation truly hit her that Ruth might well get the job. Julia had nothing to complain about. The desire to protect her friend was her motive for organising the interview. She really didn't know how else to help Ruth to see what a hopeless relationship she was embedded in. But now, as the excitement in Ruth's voice resonated with Julia, she felt a pang of loss. Could her friend actually be leaving and starting a new life on the other side of the world? Julia had dealt with emigration before and when Michael first left for Singapore she had cried for three days. But even though he was family, Ruth was different: Ruth was her best friend. She was not sure how she would cope without her and, as she listened to her tell about the interview, all she could focus on was the emptiness that she would feel without her.

“That sounds great!” she said in the most enthusiastic tone that she could muster.

“I know, I have never felt so good after an interview,” Ruth chirped. “Except that – please don't hate me, Julia, or think that I am ungrateful – I am worried about moving so far away.”

Julia had to dig deep inside herself to remain cheerful. “It's such a great opportunity you’d be mad not to take it, especially the way things are going here in
Ireland.”

“I realise all that but you know why I don't want to go. Ian and I have been together so long I don't know how to tell him.”

“I'm sure he’ll understand and if he loves you he’ll want what's best for you.”

“You always say the right thing, Julia, but Ian is unpredictable and, even though you find it hard to believe, he is sensitive.”

Julia had to bite the side of her cheek to keep from saying something that might upset her friend. “Maybe it’s best to deal with Ian after you are offered the job.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right – can’t count my chickens until they are hatched!”

And Julia wished that Ruth would be more selfish and think of herself first.

Michael was so tempted to go ahead and send his email to Lydia – time was rushing on and the longer she spent with this ridiculous policeman the more chance she had of falling in love with him. He would first send it to Julia for her seal of approval – he had to be sure that it had the correct tone. He gave it one more look over before pressing ‘send’ to his sister.

Dear Lydia

I hope that you are keeping well and all is good in your world. You are probably wondering why I am emailing you after you deleted me from your Facebook friends
– but you know me – I never was one to take a slap on the face to heart. The truth is that I have been thinking about you and it’s not just the approachof Christmas that has me feeling this way – although the best Christmas I ever spent was with yo
u


Julia told me that you have met someone and I hope that he is good enough for you – he had better treat you with all the love and respect that you deserve. I am very jealous of him because there aren’t
any girls like you over here.

Singapore
is hot – all year around to be honest – even in the rain. Julia said that it is mild at home this year and no sign of snow. That is good.

I keep up with what is going on by reading the Irish papers every day. I hope to get home for a few days early in December and was wondering if you might be free to meet up? I understand that you might not want to, but if your boyfriend isn’t the jealous type he might not mind us meeting for a coffee for old times’ sake?

I miss you so much, Lydia, and I really need to see you again.

All my heart

Michael

Julia was sad for her brother when she read his email to Lydia. For all his experience of life and bravado he really was behaving very naively. Just because he was missing Dublin and deciding that he wanted to settle down, it was unfair of him to expect that Lydia understood these changes. He really was asking too much of her. Michael was not around when Julia had to sit and listen to Lydia’s sobbing after their last break-up. It was Julia’s job then to turn up at her friend’s house with tubs of Haagen Dazs ice cream and boxes of handkerchiefs. It went on for weeks and Michael was cold and utterly unconcerned about how much he had hurt Lydia. He couldn’t understand why Julia took it all so personally either. Lydia was his affair as far as he was concerned and his sister should be seeing his point of view. But Julia was a good friend to everyone and she longed to see everyone happy and, even though Michael was her brother, she would never take sides. She was pleased that she had kept her integrity and been fair to both of them but she did feel sad for her brother and the lonely situation that he now found himself in.

So she set to reworking the email and making it sound more pleasant and fun – a lighter approach that might give him some chance of getting a response from Lydia. She wanted to get it back to him so that he could send it on to Lydia as soon as possible and she would know how her friend felt before they met in a couple of days’ time.

Hi
Lydia

I hope that you haven’t deleted this email before opening and if you are at line two already that there is a pretty good chance you will read o
n

I was devastated to be knocked from your friend list on Facebook – please tell me what I have to do to get back on it or
I’ll always have to snoop around by checking your photos through Julia’s profile and run the risk of her deleting me too!!

So here I am in Singapore and I don’t have to tell you it is hot – all year around to be honest
– and even though the ambassador is having parties coming up to the Christmas season I am wishing it was more like Dublin, to get in the party mood.

I hope to get home for a few days early in December and was wondering if you might be free to meet up for a coffee and chat for old times’ sake? Phew! Looks like I got you to read through the entire email – look forward to seeing you.

Hope you are having fun

Michael

Julia put ‘new version’ in as subject and emailed the amended text to Michael – she knew that he would have the good sense to send her revised email.

Suddenly the phone rang and Ruth winced when she recognised Steve Nelson’s number. Her hands shook and she took a deep breath before saying hello.

“G’day, Ruth – Úna and I really enjoyed meeting you today and we knew instantly that you were the girl for the job – we don’t want to mess around interviewing other people if you feel the same way – so we’d like to offer you the two-year contract with the possibility of something more permanent even sooner.”

Ruth squealed with delight. “Thank you, Steve – this is very exciting – I got your email earlier outlining conditions and pay and it is very attractive.”

“All you need to say is yes and then we can get rolling right away – how does first week in January sound, to start in Perth? We can get started before that and lay down the ground work sorting out visas etcetera in December?”

“Perfect – I can’t tell you how exciting this opportunity is.”

“I hope that you’ll like it out there – they’re a great bunch and you will fit in well. Have a glass of wine tonight to celebrate and I’ll call you in a day or two, okay?”

“Thanks again, Steve – talk soon.”

Ruth was filled with the excitement of the world of possibilities that had been opened to her. But in the pit of her stomach was a pain. She dreaded telling Ian because she had no idea how he was going to take it.

She would possibly wait until after dinner and see how confident she felt.

The doorbell rang briefly and the door-latch clicked. He always let himself into the apartment but gave a courtesy buzz as he turned the key.

Ruth stirred the Thai curry one more time and wiped her hands in a tea towel.

Ian was in the kitchen before she reached the hall. He raised his brow and gave a wide boyish smile, exposing perfectly straight teeth.  His hair was thinning but it suited the shape of his face.

“Something smells good and I’m not talking about the curry!” he said, grabbing Ruth by her waist and kissing her on the nape of her neck.

Ruth shivered. She loved the way he took ownership of her when they were alone. He made her feel so sexy and passionate and even after all this time the thrill of being his woman – even on a part-time basis – was what she wanted more than anything else in the world. There was no way that she could tell him tonight – he was in such buoyant form – maybe her news could wait.