It's All About Him

by Colette Caddle

  'I'm really looking forward to it, Dee, but I'm a bit nervous at the same time.'

  'Don't worry, we won't throw you in at the deep end. And remember, even if you have the occasional disaster at the start, my freezer is only minutes away.'

  Zoe laughed. 'I'll remember that.'

  'I'd better get going.' Dee drained her mug. 'See you tomorrow.' After waving goodbye to Ronan, she walked out of the restaurant with a smile on her face. All in all it was turning out to be rather a good day. On impulse, she went into the florist across the road, bought a small bunch of white roses, and walked the short distance to Ronan and Julia's house.

  'Dee, what a surprise.' Julia smiled brightly and held open the door. 'Do come in.'

  'I can't stay, I just wanted to bring you these to say thank you.' She handed over the bunch of flowers and pecked Julia's cheek.

  'How sweet of you, but what have I done to deserve these?' Julia led her through to the kitchen and took a small, cut-glass vase from the window sill.

  'I've just come from the farm and I saw all of your wonderful handiwork.'

  Julia's smile widened. 'Oh, good, I'm so glad you like it. And what does Sam think?'

  'He hasn't seen it yet but I know he'll be thrilled, although Conor may live to regret it; Sam won't want to come home! I love your little finishing touches, like the mugs,' Dee continued. 'You have a real flair for interior design. You should go into business.'

  'As if I'd have the time,' Julia trilled.

  'True,' Dee said apologetically. 'Well, I must go. Thank you again.'

  'You're very welcome,' Julia said, walking back down the hall with her, 'and thank you so much for the flowers. I do love roses.' She opened the door and waved at the rows of white roses outside the door.

  Dee's face fell. 'Oh, right, good. Well, goodbye, then.'

  'Goodbye, Dee, love to Sam.'

  Chapter 36

  Peggy watched Neil swing the BMW away from the curb and then hurried up the stairs. She went into her own bedroom first and took the Spanish dictionary from the back of the drawer in her bedside table before hurrying into Neil's bedroom. She had realized after her fourth foray into her son's bedroom that she wasn't going to get anywhere unless she found someone who could read Spanish or – she had a flash of inspiration – she bought a dictionary. Now, after waiting all morning for Neil to leave, she finally had an opportunity to use it.

  Quickly, she found the documents that had sparked her interest and got to work. She no longer felt guilty about invading Neil's privacy. When she read that bill from the garage more carefully, she discovered that the car he had boasted so much about was, in fact, just leased. He had lied to her and she needed to find out why, for Sam's sake as much as for her own sanity. She didn't want to uncover any sordid or dishonest details about her son or his life in Spain but she couldn't shirk from the truth either. He had hurt Dee once already and she couldn't – wouldn't – let him do it again.

  When Dee had phoned asking her to meet up next Wednesday her first instinct had been to refuse, balking at the idea of being the bearer of bad news. But there was no point in putting off the inevitable. Instead she decided to find out everything she could, good or bad, so she could give Dee the full picture.

  She took the first page, unfolded it carefully and started to work her way through the main words, jotting down the translation on the inside of the back cover of the dictionary. As she progressed, her heart sank. The key words she had uncovered were 'warning', 'notice', and 'debt' and the amount – she hadn't realized before that it was a number because it was spelt out – was seventy-three thousand euros. She dropped the page into her lap and put a trembling hand to her mouth. 'Dear, God,' she murmured, closing her eyes. After a moment, she forced herself to go on; she had no idea when Neil would be back so she had to make the most of her time. She carefully refolded the document and put it back where she'd found it. She took a deep breath before picking up the next page, the handwritten note, and, hoping that it wouldn't prove too difficult to decipher, Peggy started to read.

  'You're kidding.' Dee stared at Conor. The children had all gone home for the day, Sam was helping Lisa and Martha tidy up and the couple were alone in the kitchen having a cup of tea. Dee had been on tenterhooks all day wondering what Conor's secret was and now that he'd told her, she couldn't believe her ears.

  He smiled happily. 'Nope, it's true.'

  'Someone has paid you a quarter of a million pounds for half an acre and it has no planning permission?'

  'Yep.' He laughed. 'The property boom, don't you just love it?'

  'I can't believe it. So apart from doing up your house, what are you going to do with the money?'

  'Probably build up the herd and I was thinking of going into venison production.'

  'You're kidding?'

  He laughed. 'No, and will you stop saying that? Why are you so surprised, do you think you're the only one capable of innovation?'

  'No, of course not, it's just you've never mentioned it before.'

  'You never mentioned your new business plans either,' he reminded her.

  She laughed. 'That's because I didn't have any. It was all Lisa's brainwave and if it wasn't for her badgering and Lauren's brilliance it would never have even got this far.' She shook her head. 'I really don't know what I'm getting myself into; I'm not entrepreneur material.'

  'That's rubbish, what about Dee's Deli Delights?'

  'That was a lucky accident. If it wasn't for Sam's allergies I'd never have got into cooking.'

  'I wish you wouldn't belittle your achievement. You turned a passion into a career and as a result you are now on television and being quoted in newspapers.' He smiled at her. 'You are a huge success, Dee Hewson.'

  She laughed. 'It's all a bit surreal.'

  'Yes, well, that's the way I felt when the estate agent told me how much that tiny piece of wasteland was worth.'

  'I'm thrilled for you.' She hugged him. 'You've worked so hard, you deserve it. Now, before I feed you, can I ask you something?'

  'Sure.'

  She smiled sweetly. 'Will you fix the loo please?'

  An hour later they were sitting at the table tucking into Dee's homemade burgers and chunky chips and Sam was regaling them with stories of his antics with Tom in the garden.

  'I'm going to start a worm farm,' he told Conor finally.

  Conor nodded. 'Good idea. It's called a wormery.'

  Dee looked from him to her son. 'No way.'

  'Ah, Mum!'

  'Maybe we could have one up at the farm,' Conor suggested. 'Not in the house, though, we'd have to keep it in the barn.'

  'What about Boxer?' Dee said. The barn was where the dog slept and where Conor kept him when Sam was around and she had to suppress a shudder at the thought of her son going in there.

  'I'm in the process of clearing out the barn and I've built Boxer his own kennel and run,' Conor told her.

  Dee smiled and reached over to squeeze his hand gratefully. 'Sam, do you realize how lucky you are to have a friend like Conor?'

  The child nodded. 'Do you, Mum?'

  She laughed and her eyes locked with Conor's. 'I certainly do.'

  'So I'll be able to look after the worms,' Sam said, grinning from ear to ear.

  'I'm also planning to get some chickens,' Conor told him.

  'Cool!' Sam jigged up and down excitedly. 'Can I help you look after them too?'

  'Only if your mum thinks it would be okay.'

  Dee shrugged. 'It should be fine.'

  'Brilliant!'

  Dee shook her head as Sam bounced precariously on his chair again. 'Be careful, Sam, you'll spill your milk.' She looked back at Conor. 'So does this mean you'll be supplying me with fresh eggs?'

  'Fresh organic eggs,' he told her.

  'Brilliant,' Dee echoed her son and Conor laughed.

  'When can we get them, tomorrow?' Sam asked.

  'No, champ, sorry, it will take a little longer to organize that. First we need to bui
ld them a nice comfortable house. Then we have to build a fence around it to make sure that they are safe. And then,' he leaned closer to Sam, 'we have to find the right kind of chickens that will give us the best eggs.'

  'Is there a chicken shop that we can go to?'

  Conor chuckled. 'No, but there's a poultry farm down in Tipperary where I think I can get what we need, maybe you and your mum could come with me when I'm choosing them.'

  'Can we, Mum?'

  Dee looked at his eager little face and smiled. 'Of course we can.'

  'Oh, this is great, wait until I tell Tom!' Sam was almost beside himself with happiness. 'Can I phone him and tell him right now?'

  'No,' Dee said firmly. 'You can finish your dinner, have a short playtime and then you're going upstairs for a bath.'

  Sam's face fell.

  'Don't,' she warned him. 'You are a very lucky little boy and I didn't even hear you say thank you to Conor.'

  Sam smiled shyly at Conor. 'Thank you.'

  The child finished his food and drained his cup. 'Can I go and play with my Power Rangers in my room, Mum?'

  She looked at him from under raised eyebrows.

  'Thanks and please?' he said, dutifully.

  Conor laughed.

  'Go on then,' Dee smiled and shook her head as he sped off. 'You have made one little boy very, very happy.'

  'Good, although I'm sorry I told him about the chickens. I should have run it past you first.'

  She shook her head. 'Don't worry, it's fine, he seems to be impervious to feathers. We visited the farm at the zoo last year and before I could stop him, he was holding a little chick in his hands; thankfully with no ill effects.'

  He smiled. 'I know, I remembered.'

  'You are a very good man,' she said, leaning across to kiss him.

  'I think I should make the most of this gratitude,' he murmured, pulling her over on to his lap.

  Dee reluctantly pulled away after a few minutes. 'That was very nice but I have a bath to run.'

  'For me?' he asked, his eyes twinkling.

  'No, but if you play your cards right, you might be in luck later.'

  'Sounds good.' He ran his fingers through her short hair, combing it back from her face. 'Happy?' he asked.

  She nodded, smiling. 'Oh, yes.'

  'So, is now a good time to tell you that your loo has had it?'

  'Oh, no, you're kidding.'

  'Nope, sorry.'

  'But how can that be?' she groaned, standing up. 'It was only installed four years ago; it's the newest thing in the house!'

  'I'm afraid the plumber must have been a bit dodgy.'

  'I don't have much luck with plumbers,' Dee grumbled as she cleared away the dirty dishes. 'The bloke who replaced the boiler definitely overcharged me.'

  'There's a new guy in town and I've heard very good reports about him. If you like I'll ask him to come and take a look.'

  Dee sighed. 'Yes, I suppose so. It has to be sorted.'

  'And if you can't afford to pay him, I will,' he told her firmly. 'For once I'm in a position where I can help out.'

  She smiled, bending to kiss the top of his head. 'Thanks, but I should be okay.'

  'But if you're not,' he persisted, 'tell me. No more secrets, okay?'

  'No more secrets on either side,' she amended.

  His eyes widened as he held up his hands, all innocence. 'I've never had any secrets.'

  Dee threw a tea towel at him. 'No, but you don't tell me anything either, and that's just the same as having secrets.'

  He shrugged. 'What can I say? I'm just not the chatty sort.'

  'Don't I know it,' she muttered.

  He laughed, reaching for her again. 'Okay, I'll make you a deal. You can ask me one question a week and I promise, whatever it is, I'll do my best to answer it.'

  She studied him suspiciously. 'About anything?'

  He nodded. 'That's what I said. Go on, you can ask me the first one right now.'

  'No way.' Dee slipped out of his grasp, a wide grin on her face. 'I have to have a think first.'

  Conor rolled his eyes dramatically. 'Oh God, what have I let myself in for?'

  She went to the fridge to put away the milk and took out two beers. 'Want one?'

  He nodded. 'Just the one, I want to get home early and start work on the back room. My computer equipment should arrive in the next couple of days.'

  'You've gone completely mad with this money, haven't you?'

  'Well, every penny has always gone into the farm in the past. It's nice to be able to spend something on the house for a change.'

  'It was a bit basic,' Dee acknowledged. In the two years since Conor had moved to Banford, he had done nothing to the house but as he had spent most of his time on the farm, in his parents' house or with her, it hadn't been a problem.

  He sighed. 'I must be getting old, I kind of like my comforts. I blame you, you've spoilt me.'

  She laughed. 'I'll take that as a compliment but I wouldn't get too focussed on your house just yet because now that you've told Sam you're going to get chickens, he'll be on your case until you build that chicken house.'

  'Don't worry, it shouldn't take long but you're right.' He drank the last of his beer and stood up. 'I'd better get back to work.'

  Dee moved into his arms and hugged him tightly. 'Thank you, Conor, for everything, but especially for your kindness to Sam.'

  He kissed her. 'He's a wonderful little boy.'

  'Do you want to go up and say goodbye or will I call him down?'

  'I'll go up.' Conor gave her another quick kiss and walked out of the kitchen.

  Dee smiled as she listened to him take the stairs two at a time, knowing he'd be up there for at least twenty minutes with Sam possibly even wangling a story out of him. There was a time when she would have followed him up and told Sam that it was time to say goodnight and that Conor had other things to do. It had taken a while for her to realize that Conor spent time with Sam, not because of her but because he wanted to and their relationship was a completely separate thing. Sometimes – and she hated to admit it even to herself – she was jealous of their closeness but most of the time, like now, she just thanked her lucky stars.

  Chapter 37

  'Change of plan for today's show,' Carolyn announced as soon as Dee walked through the door. Marge and April were already sitting at the table and Dee slipped into a chair and took the A4 sheet Carolyn held out to her.

  'The opposition party have just announced that if they get into power after the next election, they will introduce the same traffic-light food labelling system that was introduced in the UK last year,' she explained to Dee.

  'Wow, that's interesting.' Dee said, scanning the press release.

  'Are you for or against?' April asked, sitting back and taking a sip of coffee.

  'Definitely for,' Dee replied, looking up. 'Aren't you?'

  'I'm not too sure. It may cause even more confusion in the long run. I mean, fruit is high in sugar but with this labelling a perfectly natural, healthy smoothy could be labelled red, which is very misleading. Also, the foods are graded in relation to other foods on the market so you may get oven chips that are coded green but that just means that, as chips go, they're healthier than other brands.'

  Marge sat back in her chair and glanced at her watch. 'Can you explain it to me very simply, April?' she begged. 'I have to leave in fifteen minutes and this press release is too long and complicated.'

  April nodded. 'Okay, it basically works the exact same as ordinary traffic lights. Red is danger and is used to warn you if a food is high in fat, sugar or salt. Orange shows that the level of these constituents is acceptable, and green shows that the levels are low. So, for example, you might have a ready meal that has a green light for sugar, orange for fat and orange for salt.'

  'What about red?' Marge asked.

  'I don't think we'll see many foods with a red light,' April said. 'They won't sell if there's a healthier option.'

  'Has the
system worked in Britain?' Marge asked.

  'It's got mixed reviews,' Carolyn told her. 'Some of the big manufacturers don't like it.'

  'That's a plus for a start,' Dee said.

  'Why?' Marge asked.

  Dee shrugged. 'Like April says, they're going to have a harder job shifting products that have red lights on the front of the package so it will probably force them to produce healthier products and that can't be a bad thing.'

  'Yes, true,' April agreed, 'but it's still misleading. Just because a processed meat pie has three green lights, it doesn't mean it's a healthy option.'

  Dee nodded. 'Yes, April, but the people who eat meat pies are going to eat meat pies no matter what; at least this way they may choose one that is slightly healthier. Also, all the nutritional information and the guideline daily amounts would still be shown somewhere on the packaging.'

  'But the traffic lights will be on the front,' Carolyn added.

  'So you're for, Dee,' Marge said, making a note, 'and you're against, April?'

  'Not against,' April corrected, 'but cautious.'

  'That's great,' Carolyn said. 'We will be joined by the party spokesman on food and agriculture – what's his name again?'

  'No, idea,' Marge replied.

  Carolyn laughed. 'I'll confirm that with you later. You get the politician to explain how the system works, Marge; Dee, you could be the consumer's representative. Have you any questions you could ask?'

  'Oh, yes.' Dee started to scribble notes in the margin of the press release.

  'And I'll be the Rottweiler,' April said with a grin.

  'Excellent.' Marge stood up.

  Carolyn smiled. 'Well done, ladies, thank you.'

  The spot went like clockwork and afterwards they went to the canteen to celebrate.

  'This is great, we don't have any work to do on next week's show now,' April reminded Dee.

  'True,' Carolyn said, 'but you might have some other things to discuss.'

  'Oh?' Dee looked at her curiously.

  Carolyn smiled. 'I had a meeting with Marty this morning and he's very pleased with the way the nutrition spot is working out. So much so that he thinks we should continue it until the end of the series.'

  'Oh!' Dee smiled delightedly. 'That's wonderful.'