Love, Rosie (110 page)

been
able
to
get
the
thought
of
Billy
Rogers
out
of
my
head.
Looking
around

with
tears
in
my
eyes,
listening
to
speeches,
accepting
gifts,
catching
the
new

guys
sneakily
glimpse
at
their
watches
wondering
when
they
could
slip
away

love,
rosie

169

to
get
home
to
their
girlfriends
or
new
wives
or
children
or
whomever
.
.
.
I

couldn’t
help
but
think
about
all
the
guys
who
came
through
those
office

doors.
Thought
about
the
guys
who
started
off
on
the
same
day
as
me;
Colin

Quinn
and
Tom
McGuire,
guys
who
never
made
it
to
retirement
like
me.
I

suppose
that’s
what
life’s
about.
People
come
and
go.

So
there
are
no
more
early
mornings
for
me.
I
caught
up
on
a
whole

load
of
sleep
I
never
even
thought
I
needed.
The
garden
is
spotless,
everything

in
the
house
that
was
once
broken
is
now
fixed.
I’ve
played
golf
three
times

this
week,
visited
Rosie
twice,
took
Katie
and
Toby
out
for
the
day,
and
I

still
feel
like
hopping
into
my
car,
speeding
down
to
the
office,
and
teaching

the
rookies
a
thing
or
two
about
how
to
do
business.
But
they
won’t
care;

they
want
and
need
to
learn
it
for
themselves.

So
I
thought
I
would
join
the
Dunne
women
in
writing.
It
seems
that’s

all
they
do.
Keeps
the
phone
bills
down,
I
suppose.
Let
me
know
how
things

are
going
for
you,
son.

Did
you
hear
about
our
Rosie’s
job?

Love,
Dad

from
:

to
:

subject
:

Kevin

Stephanie

Dad

How
are
things?
I
just
got
a
letter
from
Dad
today.
Dad
writing
a
letter

is
weird
in
itself
but
what
he
was
writing
was
even
more
bizarre.
Is
he
OK?

He
was
talking
about
some
guy
called
Billy
Rogers
who
died
over
thirty

years
ago.
Make
sure
he’s
not
losing
it.
Anyway,
it
was
good
to
hear
from

him
but
he
sounded
like
another
man
altogether.
Not
necessarily
a
bad
thing.

Sorry
I
wasn’t
there
for
his
retirement
do.
Should
have
made
more
of
an

effort
to
be
there.

Tell
Pierre
and
Jean-Louis
I
was
asking
for
them.
Tell
Pierre
I’ll
beat
his

culinary
skills
hands
down
next
time
I
see
him!
Here’s
a
little
pair
of
runners

(for
Jean-Louis
obviously)
that
I
saw
in
the
sports
shop.
He’ll
be
the
trendiest

little
seven-month-old
in
France.
Dad
mentioned
something
about
Rosie’s

job?
What
has
she
done
now?

170

from
:

to
:

subject
:

Stephanie

Mum