The Ballroom on Magnolia Street (32 page)

‘Right you be,’ said the lady. ‘I’ll leave you to your thoughts. If you’d like to take a seat over there? It’s more comfortable.’ She directed Kate to a small sofa behind a blue felt partition, and gave her a blanket to put round her shoulders. Kate was so grateful she hugged the smiling woman, and soon fell asleep. Forty-five minutes later, Kevin came running into the airport. Kate burst into tears when she woke up and saw him kneeling on the carpet in front of her. He looked so worried.

‘Kate, are you all right?’

‘Yes. I’m fine. I’m sorry about all this.’

‘What happened, pet?’

‘Just a funny turn I took.’

‘Cold feet?’

‘Not at all. Not in the sense you mean.’ Her feet were like blocks of ice.

‘But you were going somewhere?’

‘I was toying with the idea.’

‘But why?’

‘It’s just all the excitement. Honestly, my head’s not right today.’

‘But we were going to go to Hogan’s tonight.’

‘I’m sorry, Kevin. I’m too tired.’

‘It’s too late now, anyway. We’ll not be back till midnight.’

‘Please take me home, Kevin.’ She folded the soft blanket. She laid it on the sofa and said, ‘I’m very cold now. That was a nice blanket. I wonder where I could buy a blanket like that?’

‘Here, take my coat.’ He stripped off his leather jacket and draped it round Kate’s shoulders. It smelt of engine oil.

Kate thought it was a very pleasant sensation to be enveloped in Kevin’s jacket. She smiled. ‘Thanks, Kevin. That’s lovely.’

‘Do you want to call off the wedding, Kate?’

‘No.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then, why are you sitting in the airport?’

Kate thought she would try blaming someone else. That’s what she normally did when she was in trouble.

‘Louise Lowry told me you were a drug-dealer.’

‘What?’

‘The Bungalow Baron, she said. That’s your code name.’

‘And you believed her?’

‘I don’t know. You have spent a lot of money on me. The house. The honeymoon. Thousands of pounds.’

‘And you thought the only way I could afford that was to deal drugs?’

‘I don’t know, Kevin. I panicked.’

‘I’ve taken out a massive bank loan, you twit!’

‘I’m so sorry.’

She was truly miserable, Kevin noted. And it was getting late and they were both confused.

‘Is there anything else that’s worrying you?’

‘The baby.’

‘Shirley’s baby?’

‘Yes. And our babies. I’m scared of the pain.’

‘You can have all the drugs they’ve got on offer.’

‘Maybe you could supply me with some!’

And they both laughed, although it was a bit half-hearted.

‘I’m still scared. I don’t want strangers interfering with my
modesty
, as my mother would say. All those little metal tools you see rattling on the trolley in hospital dramas. I just couldn’t bear it, Kevin.’

‘That’s just your mother talking. It will be fine when you’re having our babies. You won’t care about all that when the time comes. You’ll be with the experts. They won’t let you suffer.’

‘How do you know? What if we don’t make it to the hospital on time? What if I can’t cope with the pain? What if I crack up and scream until my brain disintegrates? I know it’s hard for some people to comprehend, Kevin, but telling a nervous person to pull themselves together,
just does not work
.’

‘You can have a pre-planned C-section if you’re that worried. If your doctor recommends you for one. I’ll hold your hand, all the way.’

‘How do you
know
things like this?’

‘Kate, it’s common knowledge. Look. We’ll go private. They give you what you want when you go private. No labour at all. You don’t need to be in labour if you’re having a Caesarean. You can have your own room in the hospital, too. For privacy. And I won’t leave your side throughout.’

‘I don’t know anything about looking after children.’

‘Neither do I. We’ll learn together. We’ll buy a book.’

‘I can’t even cook scrambled eggs. They always burn.’

‘Who cares? We’ll have boiled eggs. I’ve got simple tastes. We’ll take it in turns to fry chops.’

‘I don’t want to grow old.’ Tears were running down her face.

‘Is that it? You don’t want to grow
up
, you mean?’

‘I don’t know. I’m
scared
.’

‘You’ll still be the same age, Kate, married to me or not. It’ll be great, being married. We’ll be a team, helping each other. Supporting each other.’

‘I know that. It’s just…’

‘Shush, sweetheart. I’ll take you home now and you can have a good rest. And we’ll tell Declan that we’re pulling out of the wedding. We’ll get married some other time. If you still want to.’

‘Kevin!’

‘Well, there’s no point in going ahead with it, if you feel this way. You’re supposed to enjoy your wedding day, Kate. I don’t want you to keel over at the altar rails.’

‘Are you worried about being shown up?’ she sobbed.

‘Kate, I don’t want to be left standing there, in front of my relations. Of course I don’t. But more than that, I don’t want to have to cope with a broken heart in the middle of Shirley’s big day. We’ll ruin it for them, too. If you change your mind at the last minute. And it’s Declan’s family who are paying for all this. The reception is in their restaurant. Are you not thinking straight?’

‘I guess not.’

‘Come on, let’s go. We can’t sit here all night.’

They stood up. Kate gathered her bags.

‘What are you doing with all these handbags?’ Kevin asked.

‘I was going to open a shop in Paris.’

‘I see.’

Kevin guided Kate out of the office, through the main doors and down to the car park. A cold breeze was cutting through them as they walked to the car. Kate sat in the passenger seat and stared straight ahead. Kevin covered her knees with a picnic blanket. He thought that Kate was close to collapse and that the wedding was just too much for her. It was all too soon. And he was to blame. Some people dated for ten years before they got married. If Kate ended up on medication, it would all be his fault. She didn’t love him. He could see that now. He would make things easier for her. He would finish the relationship that evening, as soon as he had brought her back to her mother and father. He would tell them not to leave Kate by herself for a few days, until she was back in the real world. They drove home in silence. Kate thought that Belfast looked very peaceful at night with all the street lights twinkling in the darkness. She closed her eyes and slept for a while.

Mrs Winters was standing on the pavement, with her arms folded and her lips pursed. Kevin’s heart was as heavy as a lump of lead when he saw the grim expression on her face. He hoped Kate’s family wouldn’t be too hard on her, in the weeks and months to come. Mrs Winters, in particular, seemed to be missing the sympathy gene.

‘Here she is,’ she began, as Kevin pulled up and switched off the engine. ‘Here comes the runaway bride!’ And she knocked on Kate’s window with the back of her fist, her wedding ring making a tinny tap on the cold glass.

Kate blinked awake. Her mother’s face was distorted with rage.

‘Aw, Jesus wept! I can’t face this now,’ Kate whimpered.

It seemed to both of them that Kate couldn’t face a lot of things.

‘Kate, I never thought I’d say this but I think we should break up.’

‘What?’

‘I think it’s for the best. Don’t you?’

‘No! You don’t mean this?’

‘You obviously don’t feel the same way for me, as I feel for you.’

‘I do. Kevin! I do.’

‘I can’t get married under these conditions, pet. I have feelings, too, you know. I’ve done everything I can think of to make you happy, and it isn’t working out. Let’s just have a clean break. I’m sorry I came on too strong about getting married.’

‘I do love you, Kevin.’

‘But not enough to marry me? You were running away.’

‘It was just cold feet. A silly thing, nothing to worry about.’

‘Goodnight, Kate. Your mum’s waiting.’

‘Kevin, listen –’

‘Kate, please. Just go. If we aren’t ready for marriage, at our age, we never will be. We can talk about the details in a couple of days when you’ve calmed down.’

Mrs Winters was pulling at the door handle. Kevin was reaching for the ignition key and shaking his head. His cheeks were sucked in with disappointment. His highlights were falling over his lovely hazel eyes. The unthinkable was happening.
He
was leaving
her
. No one had ever left Kate Winters before.

And that was when Kate felt a huge sense of loss, even though she was exhausted and cold and absolutely fed up. She was about to lose the only man who had ever truly loved her, and she knew she would be listening to her mother reminding her of that fact, for ever and a day. Drama? Here was high drama indeed. Ten times more dramatic than hanging around with bad boys. And it wasn’t pleasant at all. She never wanted a minute’s drama in her life again.

‘Kevin, wait! I love you madly.’

‘I’m tired –’

‘I want to marry you. Really I do. Take me home, Kevin.’

‘Oh, Kate, don’t do this to me. You’re driving me crazy.’

‘Please! I don’t want to live in this house any more. I don’t want to listen to Mum telling me I have ten O Levels any more. I don’t want to have to look at all those bloody ornaments any more.’

‘You need to get some sleep. You’re exhausted.’

‘I want to get married. I want to be grown up!’

‘I don’t know. I just don’t know any more.’

‘I
want
to be with you, Kevin McGovern. Give me one more chance.’

‘Kate –’

‘Please, Kevin. I’ve been such an idiot.’ There was a touch of hysteria in her voice.

‘Calm down, pet. You’ll upset yourself again. We won’t decide anything tonight. We’ll wait for a few days before we tell people it’s over. Okay?’

‘Do you want me to get out onto the road, and kneel down, and beg you to take me back? Is that what you want?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. It’s cold –’ But she was already reaching for the door handle.

‘I’ll show you,’ she cried. ‘I’ll knock on every door in the street and tell people I have been a complete fool, and that I am a changed woman.’

‘Kate, don’t make this night any worse than it is already –’

‘I love Kevin McGovern,’ Kate roared into the night sky, as her mother stepped back in shock. ‘I really love him, Mum.’ Kate was struggling to get out of the car, her handbags spilling out into the gutter again. She got one foot onto the pavement, and tried to haul herself up. Kevin caught her round the waist and pulled her back inside.

‘You’d better mean this,’ he said gravely. ‘I’m at my wits’ end, here.’

‘I mean it,’ she said. ‘I love you. I love you. I love you.’ She opened the car window and told her mother the great news. ‘I love Kevin. We’re going home now.’

Mrs Winters was about to give Kate another lecture but Kate wound the window up again and waved at her mother happily through the glass.

‘Hurry up, darling,’ she said to Kevin. ‘I can’t wait to snuggle up in our big bed and put all this misery behind us. Like you said before, it’s now or never. And I’m ready for you now…’

Kevin looked at Kate for a long minute, wondering if he was crazy to give her another chance. Then, he thought of his house and how empty it seemed when she was not there. He knew he would be miserable on his own. Maybe Kate was sincere in what she said? And her attempt to leave him was just her way of dealing with the end of her single days? She did seem absolutely determined to marry him now. He decided to take a chance. If she didn’t turn up for the ceremony, though, he’d have to emigrate. He’d have to go to the airport himself, then. He smiled at Kate and flicked his fringe out of his eyes, revved up the engine and pulled out smartly from the kerb. Mrs Winters, who had been lying up against Kate’s window, staggered into the road and hurt her toe. She watched Kevin’s car as it went smoothly down the road, and disappeared round the corner.

‘I don’t know how that girl gets away with it,’ she complained as she went back inside the house and banged the door shut. ‘In my day, they’d have lifted you, for such a disturbance of the peace.’

‘How is she, Martha?’ her husband asked quietly, craning his neck to see beyond his wife. ‘Actually,
where
is she?’

‘That Kate one! She’s gone back to him. After all that drama!’

‘Thank God. We’re not as young as we used to be, love. If anybody can sort out our Kate, it’s Kevin McGovern. He’s a good lad. He’s strong.’

‘We’ll see about that. And the house is freezing, now. You might have closed the door, for pity’s sake. With the price of coal these days,’ she grumbled, as her husband sipped a large brandy, beside the dying embers of the fire.

‘If you think it’s cold in here, you should try sitting in the shed for two hours,’ he whispered, taking off his shoes and rubbing some life back into his poor blue toes.

29. The Main Prize

It was one o’clock in the morning. Kevin and Kate were fast asleep in bed, their arms twined round one another. Kate was still wearing Kevin’s leather jacket.

Hogan’s Goodbye Disco was in full swing. All the showbiz greats were being played. Wham. Dollar. Rick Astley. The dance floor was absolutely heaving. Even the macho men from the Ormeau Road had thrown caution to the winds and were jiving and bopping with the best of them. Louise Lowry was very disappointed that there was no sign of Kate Winters, as she was planning some more interesting requests. But then she saw a little cardboard sign on DJ Toni’s booth that said
NO REQUESTS PLEASE
, so she went to dance with Mary instead. Alex was on bouncing duty tonight, and he could hardly spare the time to look at Louise, let alone talk to her. But Louise didn’t mind. She didn’t love Alex, after all. She didn’t want his conversation, or even his magnificent body. She’d lied to Kate about the red-hot sex she’d had with Alex. She only wanted his money, and Alex had told her that his uncle had a bad chest infection and wasn’t responding to antibiotics.