Two Days in Biarritz (39 page)

The girl waved as she jumped on the train.
Gary’s eyes were fixed firmly on her as she disappeared behind the sliding doors.

Annabel felt as if she had been slapped across the face. The girl sat up at the front of the carriage, blissfully unaware of the upset that she was causing. Annabel was shaking as the train continued on to the next stop and terminated at Howth. All the carriages emptied. She couldn’t stomach the thought of going home or dealing with the rest of her life.

She had to find out the truth. She needed to speak with Gary and soon.

* * *

Dee knocked loudly on the front door of Greenfield close. Kate had assured her that she would be home at four o’clock. She knocked again and waited. She was about to turn around and get into her car when a vague silhouette came to light through the frosted glass.

Kate seemed disoriented and light headed as she opened the door.

“Kate, love. Are you alright?”

“Fine,
Dee, I was having forty winks,” Kate said giving her eyes a rub and yawning.

“I won’t stay long. I called into see if there was anything I could do for you.”

Dee had been marvellous since Kate moved home. Kate had really missed having a mother figure during her pregnancy.

“Go and put your feet up and I’ll bring you up a nice cup of tea,”
Dee said, ushering her niece up the stairs. “Where are the boys?”

“My dad is collecting them. I’m going to let them cycle home soon. They seem to be happy in their new surroundings.”

Kate snuggled back under her duvet.

Dee
appeared minutes later with two mugs and a packet of digestive biscuits tucked into the crook of her arm.

“I’m going to do my mother-in-law’s shopping so I thought I’d pop in and see if you need anything.”
Dee rested the mugs down on the locker beside Kate’s bed.

“I did a shop yesterday thanks,
Dee. You do a lot for that old woman. Does anyone else look after her?”

“Her daughters emigrated and if you met her you’d know why! I’m tempted to move abroad myself at times!”

“You can’t do that,” Kate begged. “Not now that I’m back!”

“I’m not going anywhere,”
Dee laughed. “By the way I found out about that old boyfriend of your mums.”

Kate sat up in the bed. She was all ears because he wasn’t just her mum’s old boyfriend anymore. He was her father.

“It’s tragic really. Your uncle Bob heard a few years back that he committed suicide. In 1996 I believe. He divorced his Australian wife and moved to the outback. He was dead for days before anyone found him. He left no family,” Dee said in her general matter-of-fact tone as she brushed the crumbs off her trousers. “Sad really.”

She turned to Kate who was
mesmerized with the news.

“Kate? Are you listening to me?”

“I, eh,” Kate felt her eyes well up. “I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s a tragedy. You’re mum knew this, of course.”

“How do you know?”

Dee
nodded her head. “She spoke to your uncle Bob about him several times apparently.”

“Do you think he killed himself because mum wouldn’t leave dad to be with him?”

Dee shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

“I have to dash, love. I’ll check up on you tomorrow,” she leaned forward and gave a dumbstruck Kate a kiss goodbye.

Kate would never get to know Liam now. Maybe it was just as well. Damien was her father and a wonderful father. She could forgive him for falling in love with Annabel. She could see why he did such a thing. It was nothing to do with her at all. If Annabel and her father had a relationship now they would both be entitled to do so.

* * *

Gary was late. Annabel wondered if it had anything to do with the redhead. In hindsight Gary had changed slightly with each meeting but Annabel couldn’t honestly say that she was getting to know him any better. She made a detour into the newsagents beside Molly’s coffee shop where she had arranged to meet him. It was a far cry from Findlaters, where they had their first date.

Annabel picked up the new edition of
Ciao
. It was a tacky Irish magazine and one that had everybody but actual celebrities in it. Melissa’s face in the corner caught her eye. It would pass the time while she waited for Gary in the coffee shop. Annabel settled down at a table by the window. It was the end of summer and the light was changing as each evening passed.

“Would you like something?” the young waitress asked.

“A cappuccino, please.”

She opened her magazine and flicked through the pages. The cover story was also on pages five, six and seven – Melissa and her husband Simon were walking behind the actor Jack Owens and his wife as they entered the
Savoy cinema for the premier of his new movie.  Annabel cringed for a moment as she thought of the gloating that she would have had to listen to if she was still friends with Melissa. She felt relieved to be away from her. But a part of her missed the social charades and games that accompanied her old life. She continued flicking through the pages until she saw a name that she thought she recognised but couldn’t for the life of her figure out why – Natasha Gleason. That name rang a bell. She was wearing a handkerchief dress adorned with diamante studs. Her tan was flawless and her blonde hair was fixed in a loose knot at the back of her head that must have taken hours to get perfect. She was resting her right hand on the crook of the arm of Dublin’s most eligible bachelor. Ron Larkin was part of the multi-million euro hotelier family. But who was Natasha Gleason? She read on and discovered that the two had recently returned from a break in Monaco where they had stayed on his yacht.
Natasha’s estranged husband Captain Shane Gleason
…..Annabel didn’t need to read anymore. So Shane and his wife had actually split. But Fabian had assured her that Kate had finished with Shane. Maybe she didn’t know that Shane was split up from Natasha. Annabel was trembling with all of this information. She longed to talk to Kate.

“Hey, babes, sorry I’m late,”
Gary said, pulling the chair away from the table.

“
Gary, hi.” She felt nauseous on seeing him.

“What are you reading?”

“It’s just a trashy magazine, someone I know is in it.”

Gary
pushed the chair back and took a more comfortable position. “Fancy a drive or a walk?”

“I, eh,
Gary we need to talk.”

His expression changed. He was usually the one that did the jilting with the women in his life and from Annabel’s unfamiliar tone he knew that something was askew. “About what?”

Annabel couldn’t believe that she was coming straight out with it. Inside she was trembling but now she had started she had to finish what she had to say. She needed to know the truth.

“I was on the DART today.”

“Really?” he shrugged.

This wasn’t going to be easy.

“Gary, I saw you kiss a red-haired girl at Bayside station.”

Gary
’s expression changed. His eyes widened like an animal trapped in front of a loaded gun. “That’s my pal Amy. She runs a stall at the Pheonix market.” He frowned. “What’s your problem Annabel, am I not supposed to have other friends?”

Annabel knew that she couldn’t back down now. She had to be firm if she was going to maintain any self-respect. “Of course, you can have friends but she looked like more than a friend.”

Gary pulled his shoulders back and then moved forward on his chair. “Did I ever say that we were exclusive? I mean, you are tied up with your rugrats and I only get a look-in when it suits you.”

Annabel was shocked. This was so out of character. She would never have believed that the fun-loving easy-going guy she had shared so much with over the past few weeks could turn into a monster so suddenly.

“Gary, I’m not seeing anyone else and I thought we had something special. I demand to know the truth.”

He leaned forward across the table until his face was almost on top of Annabel. “Leave it, will you? Did you hassle your old man like this?” he gave a loud sigh before slouching back on his chair.

Annabel felt his comment like a blow. She was seething inside but couldn’t think of the words to launch a counter-attack. Something had gone seriously wrong since she found her new independence. “Gary, can we talk this out, please?”

Gary
shrugged. “To be honest – you’re a bit of a primadonna Annabel. You’re well suited to your drip of a husband. I mean lets face it you’ve friends in crappy socialite magazines. I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt but I don’t need the hassle.” He stood up and gave her a smug nod. Then he left her in the coffee shop with her magazine and cappuccino.

Annabel wanted to cry. Maybe
Gary was right and she did suit Colin. Could she stand to go back to the way she was? She had felt like a butterfly for the last few weeks. Free to make all the decisions in her home and with the children. The girls were coming around even if Sam was still upset with her. She thought she was doing a good job. She had worked hard on the stall and was making a good turnover every week. Oh God, she had been so pleased about her new relationship. How could she have been so wrong?

“We’re closing now,” the young waitress said, interrupting Annabel from her thoughts.

She didn’t know where to go or what to do. She couldn’t go home, Colin was there. She needed to talk to a friend. She jumped into her jeep. She was only a kilometre from Meave’s house.

She parked in front of the prim driveway with neat little rows of Dahlias decorating the footpath. The front door was ajar and she tapped on it gently as she let herself in.

“Meave,” she called.

Meave came running down the stairs on hearing Annabel’s voice.

“Hi, what a nice surprise. Come into the kitchen and we’ll have a cuppa.”

“I hope I haven’t disturbed the kids.”

“Don’t worry about them. They take ages to fall asleep!” Meave went over to the kettle and put it on. “I thought you were meeting Gary tonight?”

“I was, I did, I mean,” Annabel sighed. “Why have I got such awful taste in men, Meave?”

Meave turned and looked at her friend’s despairing face. “What did he do?”

Annabel’s eyes started to water, then she sobbed. “I was meeting Colin in town yesterday and I got the DART home. I saw
Gary at Bayside station,” she couldn’t believe she was saying the words as they dribbled out of her mouth, “kissing a red-haired girl. She couldn’t have been more than twenty-five.”

Meave cringed. “That wasn’t very nice. I thought he was a dreamboat.”

“There was nothing of the dreamboat about him this evening. He said we were never exclusive.”

Meave scratched her head. “I don’t know Annabel. I’m so long out of the whole dating loop I don’t think I’d be able to cope.”

“It’s not easy,” Annabel nodded and took the cup of tea from Meave gratefully. “Maybe I should consider taking Colin back. He is making an effort with Sam.”

“You can’t take him back because
Gary jilted you. You have to be sure that you want to be with him for your sake.”

Annabel knew that Meave was right. It was exactly what Kate would say too. But the pressure of the last few weeks was taking its toll and she didn’t feel so strong anymore.

Chapter 22

Lily was polishing the mantelpiece with great pride and vigour.

“You are doing the right thing, Annabel. The last few weeks have been just awful for everybody.”

“Mum, there’s no need to do all that dusting. The new cleaner is great, she was only here two days ago.”

“That Polish woman is too old. She shouldn’t be taking on a house like this.”

“She’s at least five years younger than you, Mum.”

Lily tut-tutted her daughter. “I think you should have the place nice for Colin.”

Annabel threw her eyes heavenward. She had let Colin convince her that moving home was the best for everyone and after her confidence had got such a bashing from Gary she felt left with no other option. But she didn’t want to slip back into old routines. The way she felt about everything had changed but things would outwardly go back to the way they had always been. Meave had warned her to give herself more time but since the drastic Gary affair she wanted a bit of stability in her life.

The front door swung open and the crash of Colin’s golf clubs against the hall floor told her that he was home. Sam had wanted to be here for his father’s return but when a friend asked him to go bowling he decided he’d see his father later. The girls were in the television room and didn’t make any move to welcome him.

A few seconds later, Colin peeked his head around the door of the living room.

“I’m back.”

Lily ran forward and gave her son-in-law an awkward embrace.