My Husband's Wives (35 page)

‘Dear Kasia, I wish he had told me. I wish he had brought you here. You could have had a much better life after your mother passed away. I'm so sorry that he left you there for so long.' She smiled now, a shaky half movement about her lips. ‘Oh, dear, I thought I did him out of something for so long, when it seems he was the one who made us both lose out.'

‘Evie, you are…' Tears welled up in Kasia's throat. She couldn't speak. It didn't matter; words were inadequate. She bent closer and threw her free arm about Evie.

‘Shall I continue with the will?' Malcolm looked across at Grace who was now crying tears that Annalise thought must be happiness, because beneath them her smile beamed with an emotion that went far beyond pleasure.

‘Of course,' Annalise said, ‘and as soon as you are done, we are going to celebrate the newest official members of the Starr family!'

‘She has slept almost all afternoon,' Kasia said. Baby Eve stirred in her cot as though she knew that something wonderful waited down stairs.

‘That's good news, isn't it?' Annalise whispered. Each time Annalise came to Carlinville now, she went in search of Eve. ‘I can't help it, I swear. She's totally addictive.' Annalise doted on the little girl. ‘We should get her ready.' Annalise had brought a choice of outfits. She held each up in turn for Eve's approval.

‘Annalise, she is a baby, she is too small to know the difference.' Kasia laughed. She was so happy. She pulled back the curtains that had kept the afternoon sun out of Carlinville. ‘Oh, Annalise, it is a dream come true.' At the oddest of moments she would feel a tremor of emotion surge through her, and then realize it was happiness. She could hardly believe she was living in this beautiful house and this would be her home forever. But better than that, she had family; a real family. Not just her and Baby Eve as she thought it would be. She had a half sister and half brothers. And she had Evie and Grace and Annalise, and she knew she was the luckiest person alive.

‘Kasia, you are funny.' Annalise held up Eve, and gazed at her. ‘But I suppose I felt a little like that too, when the boys were small. I couldn't believe my luck.'

‘And now?' Kasia could still see the sadness of losing Paul in Annalise's eyes. It was there at times when she least expected it. Perhaps it was the knowing that he would miss out on so much that he should share with his sons.

‘Life is good now. We have the exhibition tonight and it's going to be a great success.' Annalise nodded towards the dresses that she'd hung beside the cot for Kasia to decide. ‘And then, little Eve Starr, then we are going to have the best party Carlinville has ever seen.'

Kasia was really looking forward to it. Her cuts and bruises were healed and Annalise brought them all shopping for dresses and shoes, once they had agreed a date with Patrick. Kasia felt like one of those celebrities that Annalise once adored, except of course, this was the real thing. Funny, she thought recently, but Annalise didn't bother with all that anymore.

They had spent the whole week putting the house to rights, but in the end Grace had insisted on bringing in people to get the rooms set up. The rooms looked huge once the workmen had finished, and Kasia gasped with delight when she saw the dining room cleared back, and the wooden floor polished for dancing. ‘Just in case,' Evie said, but her eyes twinkled and Kasia threw her arms around her. She knew the dark days were well and truly behind them now.

*

The date for the exhibition had crept up on them before they knew it. Grace put aside fifty pieces to exhibit. Most of them were new: many drawings in pen and ink, and quite a few charcoal portraits.

‘Will they find the place?' Evie asked. They sent out invitations with an image of Carlinville on the front. Of course what she meant was, would everything be all right in Carlinville? Would it be an adequate host for the prestigious crowd?

‘Will people actually show up?' Grace was terrified. It had been almost six years since she'd held an exhibition.

‘Well I, for one, am very optimistic.' Patrick had a thrill in his voice as he gauged each piece. ‘You may have disappeared for a while, but talk about coming back with a bang!'

‘Let's wait and see how the night goes before we start to celebrate.' Grace was cautious; Evie couldn't understand why, and she told her so too. The work was the best she'd ever done – at least Evie thought so. It was certainly the warmest, and contained the most emotional depth she had ever seen on a canvas.

‘Well, you definitely have two sales.' Evie nodded across at Madeline, who was fawning over two watercolours of her grandchildren.

‘Make that three.' Jake stood beside them, strong and steady. Grace didn't try to hide that it was good to have him near her.

‘I'm glad you came.' She meant it.

‘All the news scoops in the world wouldn't keep me away,' he whispered in her ear.

‘Steady,' she smiled at him. They were taking things slowly – dinner dates and walks on the beach – but he fit with their odd extended family set up. In some ways, he was already part of them.

‘Do you know she's a terrible tease?' he said, smiling at Evie who was being lured away from them by Annalise's dad.

‘And you are going to love me for it.' She leaned in close to him.

‘Maybe I already do?'

‘Stop it, you two.' Delilah looked sternly at them, but Grace knew she was delighted that Jake and Grace were hitting it off so well.

‘You look beautiful, Ms Starr.' Jake did a little bow. ‘I may just have to bring you dancing later.' He winked at Delilah.

‘Not in a million years, Grandad.' Delilah laughed and Grace thought it was good to see her so happy. Not that they didn't still have days when Paul seemed to loom large between them, but now, more often, they would shake off any melancholy by picking up Dylan and Jerome and heading off to the local park, or just by hanging out in Carlinville. Delilah was crazy about Eve. They were all crazy about her. Eve had transformed this house. Grace sometimes stood back in amazement; she was such a tiny person to have impacted so fully on everyone around her. Grace loved her too, held her every chance she got, although there was always a queue. Somehow things had worked out well; better than Grace could have ever imagined, and tonight was the icing on the cake.

‘Who's that talking to Evie?' Grace was watching Evie. Being a hostess suited her. It seemed as though she sparkled, even managing to outshine the beautiful Carlinville.

‘No idea, but isn't that Annalise's father beside him?'

‘Maybe it's a big collector?' Delilah said.

‘Well, whoever he is, it looks as if he's hitting it off with Evie,' Jake said.

‘It would be good for her, I think…' Grace said wistfully. She watched Evie chat to the man who seemed to hang off her every word. ‘They would make a cute couple, don't you think?' She turned to Jake.

‘I certainly do,' Jake said.

‘It would be an unexpected gift from this evening.' Grace studied them; there was something in the way they stood. You could see it a mile off. He was nothing like Paul. He wasn't any taller than Evie, and he had a face that looked as if he loved to live. His shape was that of a man who ate and drank well of life. His eyes danced and he had a manner of delivering his words and receiving them that told of someone who would not allow life to pass him. He wouldn't remain cooped up with a house of books, not when there was a whole world beyond to enjoy. He looked like a man who had been educated not in Trinity, but in life. In a word, he looked the opposite of Paul and maybe exactly what Evie needed.

By eight, the crowd was in and it felt as though Carlinville had waited for years for this moment, as though it was letting out a warm sigh of relief with every person who arrived.

Patrick had organized the hanging space for the work, so people could move around the paintings. Each set of ten represented a different aspect of Paul's life. Patrick was enjoying this immensely, dancing from foot to foot as he escorted one well-heeled buyer after another around the room.

It felt more like a party than any exhibition Grace had ever held. It was strange to be surrounded by Paul in this way. It was as though he was still here. Funny though, the last few months, Kasia, Evie and Annalise had taught her more about love than she'd ever experienced with Paul. That love had filtered through to Delilah and now, she could feel, it was moving her closer to Jake. She wandered around the room, passed all her paintings, thrilled with the red circles indicating that many had sold already. Grace managed to get to Evie before the speeches were to begin.

*

‘I hope you're going to buy a painting tonight, Jake. After all, you can well afford it now.' Annalise looked stunning, but more than that, she felt comfortable and at one with the world, at last the captain of her own destiny. ‘You still haven't told us how much the documentary made,' she chided him.

‘You can talk; I hear that ITV are looking to get you fronting their fashion programme?' Jake retorted.

She grinned back. ‘Thanks to you, Jake. And Kasia.' She turned to Kasia. ‘I wouldn't have any offers at all if it wasn't for you,' she said.

‘It would have come your way at some point. You are very talented. It's obvious you're going to make a great presenter.' Kasia smiled at Annalise.

‘Actually, I'm keeping my options open, waiting for
Time
magazine to come back with a serious offer.' Annalise wrinkled her nose. ‘This new agent that Jake hooked me up with,' she nodded towards Jake, ‘well, she thinks there might be a chance to front something similar here. I wouldn't mind doing another programme like the one I did with Jake, see then if it sells. It'd be better than trekking off to London every Monday morning.'

‘That's for sure,' Jake agreed. ‘There's nowhere like good old wet and wintry Dublin.'

‘Less of the wet and wintry; it's lovely tonight and that's all that matters,' Annalise said and she looked out onto the garden where the boys played with Delilah. Annalise loved Delilah; she could spend hours on end playing with the boys – a lot like herself really. She enjoyed them. They were half-siblings catching up on a lot of lost time.

‘She's a great girl, isn't she?' Kasia came up behind her. It was uncanny, but it seemed she could still read her thoughts.

‘She is lovely,' Annalise sighed. ‘Just like her mum.'

‘You sound a little surprised.'

‘I suppose I am.' Annalise thought back to all of those years she'd wasted being jealous of Grace. ‘I never thought I'd like her so much.'

‘You like her?' Kasia nudged her. Baby Eve, in her arms, seemed to be mocking her also.

‘Okay, so I never thought I'd be so close to her, that I'd be so… fond of her.'

‘And Evie?

‘God, if I'd known she existed two years ago, I'd probably have had a meltdown.' It was true. Paul never mentioned Evie to her. He never really spoke about Grace either and Annalise knew now that her life had been the poorer before for not knowing either of them. ‘I'm glad I know them now, Kasia.' Annalise bent her face towards baby Eve, drank in the lovely powdery baby smell of her. ‘I'm so glad I have all of you in my life now.' She thought about it for a moment. ‘It's as if the Starr family are finally a real family after all.'

*

Carlinville was looking more beautiful than Evie had ever seen it. The windowpanes seemed to wobble and dance in the gentle glow of candle lamps lit inside them. The gilt mirrors winked and the heavy dark wood had turned almost water-like in its gleaming shine. Sad, Evie thought, that Paul had never seen it so breathtaking. The bouquet scent of fresh flowers and the occasional waft of crusty bread and smoked salmon from the caterers filled the air. Harder to pin down was a sense of expectation, shored within its walls, as though it was sitting on the cusp of a sparkling new future. In the large entrance hall, a jazz band tuned up and the musicians started on a gentle medley to launch the evening. They would hit full swing by midnight and make this into a night of celebration. Evie was delighted for Grace. Her work was phenomenal, but this? Well, this was special. It held far more optimism than any she'd exhibited before and she looked happy to have Jake at her side. Evie managed to bump into a few old acquantances too.

‘This is Edwin,' Evie said, introducing the older man at her side to Grace. ‘Edwin Rooney – we knew each other many years ago. He's Eddie's father. I'd never have guessed.'

‘Eddie from the track?' Grace must have heard Evie mention the mechanic often. Evie had a soft spot for him from the first day they'd met. Annalise joked it was a two-way appreciation society.

‘Oh, he couldn't say enough about her.' Edwin extended a thick strong hand. ‘And of course, I knew, even though the name had changed to Starr – it had to be little Evie Considine. She was always a flier behind the wheel.'

‘I wasn't that good, Edwin.' Evie blushed.

‘You know well you were. Even old Sergeant Conway, you ran him off the road more than once.'

‘Stop it.'

‘No, you have to tell me?' Grace was enjoying Evie's girlish blush.

‘We were sweethearts – oh, it was all a long time ago now and we were very young. It was very innocent compared to today's standards. But we'd meet Wednesdays, race our fathers' cars out around the old bends. Sure, she'd always win, what with her driving a Merc, but it was worth the beating, just to see her.'

‘You never let me win, or not easily anyway.' Evie sipped her champagne.

‘I never let you win, full stop. You beat me fair and square.' He raised his glass. ‘Then one Wednesday night, she never showed. Well, I thought that was the end of it. She met some posh bloke. I can't say her dad was ever that keen on me.' He looked at Evie now, a faraway look in his light blue eyes. ‘I waited out at the spot we always met. I bet you never guessed that I showed up there for weeks afterwards – hoping you'd show. Sure, then I thought she must have well forgotten me. Times were hard and I shipped off to London the following year and only came back when we had the couple of kids and to take over where my father left off.'