Stand by Me (54 page)
‘And so have you got this money now?’ she asked. ‘Are you going to be able to pay everyone back?’
‘It still isn’t that simple,’ he told her.
The money had been invested in high-risk funds and the stock markets had fallen sharply, wiping a lot of it out. He’d hoped to use this money to bail out the Barbados investors, but he couldn’t.
‘When all this happened, I was close to losing my mind,’ he told her. ‘Regardless of what happened to the companies - and I was devastated by that – I couldn’t bear to think that people I knew, people who were friends, had lost money. I hadn’t thought that could possibly happen.’ ‘You were always too damn optimistic,’ she said. ‘And then I was mugged. Properly mugged.’ His hand went to the scar on his face. ‘My own fault. I was walking in a bad neighbourhood and I was jumped on. The same thing that could happen in any city, I guess. And I stupidly tried to resist, which made things worse.’ He took off his shirt and showed her another scar on his back. ‘But in the end I was lucky. Something happened to disturb them. They look my wallet, my cards . . . I was left with nothing.’
Dominique wasn’t sure what to say.
‘I’d never felt so down in my life,’ Brendan continued. ‘I couldn’t believe it had come to this. I was Brendan Delahaye. I was a successful businessman. And here I was, lying on my back in the mud in Panama City with blood pouring down my face like some clapped-out nobody. It was like I’d stepped out of my life.’
‘What happened then?’ She stared at the scar, wanting to touch it, to trace the line of it on his face.
‘I eventually made it to my hotel. I had some money in the safe there - well, I wasn’t using credit cards, because I was afraid they’d be traced. I sat in my room and flicked through this magazine, and I saw an article about UNICEF and a water project in Paraguay. There was a picture of Gabriel. And contact details. So I phoned him.’
Dominique said nothing.
‘I told him what had happened and he said he’d come straight away. He was a great comfort. I said that I was in Panama to get money back I’d invested. That a lot was lost but that some was tied up in . . . well, complicated accounts. That I needed to stay to work things out. And Gabriel told me I was wrong. That to work things out I had to come home.’
‘Gabriel!’ Dominique shook her head at Brendan’s words. ‘Gabriel persuaded you to come back? What made him think he could persuade you to do anything?’
‘I like Gabriel,’ said Brendan defensively. ‘He helped me to get my head together.’
‘Converted you to the whole happy-clappy I’m-a-good-person routine, did he?’ Dominique was scathing. ‘He can talk, when he’s probably responsible for wrecking your brother’s marriage!’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Emma and Greg are getting a divorce,’ she told him.
Brendan looked at her in shock.
‘Well it’s not surprising. Gabe practically instigated it, what with all the hands-on comfort he was giving Emma when you left.’
‘Why would he have to comfort Emma?’
‘Because our fucking lives were destroyed by you!’ It was the first time she had ever sworn at him. ‘Don’t you get it? You threw a grenade into the heart of our family and walked away. Everyone else got caught up in the explosion. June and Barry are separated too - or at least they would be if they were able to sell their house. June blames me completely and utterly for everything, because she thinks it’s all down to my Dazzling Domino lifestyle, which I made you give me! Your father has hardly left their home since the day it happened. Lily has to make a big effort to go out because she’s so ashamed.’
‘She has nothing to be ashamed about. She did nothing wrong.’
‘How thick can you possibly be?’ demanded Dominique. ‘You talked about it yourself. Our good name. Well, for people of your parents’ generation, that’s probably the most important thing they have. How d’you think Lily feels when she goes out and knows everyone is talking about her son? Are you just totally insensitive? Are you?’
‘Of course not.’
‘You used to understand!’ cried Dominique. ‘You used to see every point of view. You were the one who told me not to argue with my parents, to try to get on with them. But you left it all behind, Brendan, in some mad rush to be the most successful, the richest, the . . . oh, I don’t know.’ She slumped suddenly, the fight draining out of her. ‘We all would’ve stood by you. But you left.’
‘You mean you’re not standing by me now?’ he asked. ‘You’re going to head off with your . . . boyfriend? That’s what he is, is he? That guy who was going to call you or whatever?’
‘Oh, give me a break.’ Dominique could feel the tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. She didn’t know whether they were tears of anger or of sadness. ‘You have a damn nerve waltzing back into our lives without any warning and expecting us to take up where we left off.’
‘I’m not expecting that,’ said Brendan. ‘Of course I’m not. But you’re my wife, Domino, and we’ve been together a long time. We work well together. The Dazzling Delahayes. We can make it work again. I know that I put you through hell, and I’m sorry about that. I didn’t think, though, that you’d fall into the arms of the first guy who came along.’
‘Don’t be stupid.’ Anger, thought Domino. That was what the tears were. She was angry with Brendan. Angrier than she’d ever been before, even when she’d found out about Miss Valentine. ‘I didn’t fall into anyone’s arms. Paddy is a friend, that’s all. And I needed friends because you weren’t around to help me.’
‘I thought you’d be able to work things out,’ he said. ‘I thought you’d get decent legal advice and you’d be OK in the house and that you’d manage until I came home again.’
‘Well you thought wrong,’ retorted Dominique. ‘I did get legal advice, but I couldn’t stay in the house. And I
have
managed, though maybe not the way you thought.’
have
managed, though maybe not the way you thought.’
‘I got everything wrong,’ said Brendan blankly. ‘You, the house, the business. I thought I knew what was best. And I thought Googling would keep me in touch. I thought if I saw all the reports I’d know what was going on. But I was wrong. Completely wrong.’
‘Yes,’ said Dominique. ‘We finally agree on something. You were.’
Emma asked the taxi driver to go to Drimnagh instead of Rathfarnham. She got out of the cab, paid the fare and then stood for a moment on the pavement outside the Brady house. The last time she’d been here had been the time she called around dressed like Madonna, hoping to persuade Gabriel Brady that there were far better things for him to think about in life than being a priest. He’d been totally impervious to her charms then. She flushed a little as she remembered. She’d thought he’d like how she looked, but he’d told her, in his quiet, reserved voice, that it was too trashy for her. She’d been hurt and embarrassed by his comments and for the first time in her life had asked herself why she was actually bothering with Gabriel Brady. And yet, even as she’d gone home, angry with him, she’d been wondering when she’d see him again. Besides, he’d been right. Afterwards she’d toned down the make-up, invested in skirts that came closer to her knees (though not too close; she was proud of her shapely legs) and tops that hinted at more than they actually showed. Her style had become more subtle. And that, in the end, had been what had snared Greg Delahaye. He’d said it to her once. He’d told her that she was the most sophisticated, elegant girl he’d ever met. A proper grown-up, he’d called her, a comment that made her feel good inside. Gabriel Brady had always treated her as a child. Greg knew that she was a woman.
The front door of the Brady house opened and she saw Gabriel framed in the orange glow of the hall light. She walked slowly up the pathway.
‘Hi,’ she said.
‘Emma.’ He looked awkwardly at her. They hadn’t seen or spoken to each other since the day in Lily’s garden when she’d argued with Dominique.
‘Are Mr and Mrs Brady in?’ She didn’t want to see Domino’s parents.
‘It’s very late,’ Gabriel reminded her. ‘They’ve gone to bed.’
It seemed odd to follow him into the house. It was like stepping into the past. Her heart beat faster. She hoped that Mrs Brady wouldn’t come downstairs to see what was going on. She’d always been a bit scared of Dominique’s mother.
‘So,’ she said as she sat at the kitchen table, remembering all the times she’d sat there before, not really interested in talking to Dominique but hoping to seeing her brother, ‘you brought Brendan back.’
‘He needed to come home,’ said Gabriel. ‘He was miserable.’
‘How did you find him?’
‘He found me.’ Gabriel explained how Brendan had discovered his whereabouts in the magazine.
‘That must have been a shock.’
‘Yes,’ said Gabriel.
‘Why wasn’t he arrested when you got home?’
‘There isn’t a warrant out for his arrest,’ said Gabriel. ‘As yet, there isn’t a criminal case against him. And there may not be. He’s managed to get some funds together, although I don’t know how much. He just didn’t know the best way forward.’
‘Was it your idea he should turn up tonight?’ asked Emma.
‘He’d planned to call on Domino today, and then I learned about the party from Kelly. So I told him to wait. But Brendan thought she’d be in a better mood after a party, more inclined to listen to him. He said she always liked parties. To be honest, I think he was a bit surprised that that was what she was doing. He was hoping she’d be sitting in, on her own.’
‘Waiting for him?’ Emma made a face.
‘I suppose so.’
‘Men are such fools,’ she said. ‘You all think that’s what we do. Sit around and wait for you.’
‘That’s a bit harsh.’
‘It’s bloody true. We have lives, you know.’
‘I know that.’
‘Domino has done great things without Brendan. She’s got a job and a house and a boyfriend.’
Gabriel looked surprised.
‘Oh, yes,’ said Emma. ‘She’s found someone new. Paddy. I met him tonight. He’s lovely.’
‘I don’t believe she has a boyfriend.’
‘Why? You don’t think she’s attractive enough?’
‘Brendan’s still her husband and she loves him.’
‘Gabriel! Brendan left her. He betrayed her. He shamed her. Why the hell would she still love him?’
‘She’s always loved him,’ said Gabriel, ‘because he stood by her.’
Emma shook her head. ‘Is it a male thing to think that just because you once did the right thing, a woman will forgive you for every wrong you do in the future?’
‘Forgiveness is important,’ said Gabriel. ‘It’s the most important thing of all.’
The atmosphere between them changed suddenly. Emma said nothing, but looked down at the table, her long chestnut hair hiding her face.
‘And between us?’ she asked eventually. ‘Who has to forgive whom?’
‘I’m sorry.’ Gabriel spoke again and she looked up. ‘That was unfair of me, Emma.’
‘Greg and I are getting a divorce,’ she told him abruptly.
‘Why?’
‘Because he doesn’t love me,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t really matter, you see, how I feel about him. He doesn’t love me. And I can’t blame him for that.’
‘Emma . . .’
‘He tried to forgive me.’ She swallowed hard. ‘He tried very hard. But it was asking too much.’
‘Forgiveness is—’
‘Oh, don’t tell me how important forgiveness is again. You’re talking about theoretical forgiveness. It’s a lot more difficult in real life.’ She took a tissue out of her bag and wiped her eyes. ‘God knows, I’ve never really forgiven him for caring as much as he does for Domino. So why the hell would he forgive me for sleeping with her brother?’
Emma Delahaye had slept with Gabriel Brady when she was pregnant with Lugh. It had happened on one of her first visits to Dublin to see her mother. Following the lunch with Dominique when she’d told her about Maura’s illness, and having got Gabriel’s phone number from her, she’d called him and he’d been sympathetic and understanding. He’d told her to tell him the next time she was coming to town because, he said, he’d make a trip too, to see her. She could do with extra support.
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