Tara Road

by Maeve Binchy

  'Haven't I spent a lifetime humouring you? Tell me before I burst. Is it true, are you being rescued?' 'Yes, Poll, I am.'

  'So why haven't we the champagne out?'

  'But at a price. A terrible price.'

  'Polly, it's Gertie here. Is this a good time to talk? I have a bit of a favour to ask you.'

  'No, Gertie, it's not a good time to talk.'

  'Sorry. Is Barney there?'

  'No, and he's never going to be here again.'

  'I don't believe it! I knew he was in a bit of trouble but…'

  'He's in no trouble now, it's all been smoothed out for him, but he's not ever going to be here again, that's part of the deal. Actually I'm not going to be here much longer, that's part of the deal too.'

  'But how?'

  'His wife. Wives always win in the end.'

  'No they don't. Ria didn't win, did she?'

  'Ah shit, Gertie. Who cares?'

  'I do, I'm very sorry. Maybe he doesn't mean it.'

  'He means it. It was either or. What was your problem by the way?'

  'Just… it doesn't matter, it's not big compared to yours.'

  'What was it, Gertie?'

  'It's just that Jack got some silly notion in his head that I was earning the extra money, well you won't believe how he thought I was earning it, so I had to tell him I was working for you. He might come round to check so can you say yes?'

  'Is that all? Is that the big problem?'

  'It was quite big at the time, and might be again if he's still brooding about it.'

  'Were there any stitches this time?'

  'No, no.'

  'Gertie you're such a fool, such a mad fool. I'd love to come over and shake every remaining tooth out of your head.'

  'That wouldn't help me. Not a bit.'

  'No, I know that.'

  'It's only because he loves me you see, he gets notions.'

  'I see.'

  'And you know that Barney loves you, Polly, he'll be back.'

  'Of course he will,' said Polly Callaghan and hung up.

  Marilyn Vine said to Greg that they were going to drive out to Wicklow for the day on Monday. It was less than an hour's journey, and very beautiful. She was going to make what would pass for a picnic.

  'Here, I'll show you a map, you love maps,' she said as she got out Ria's picnic basket. 'Now, you can see where we're going and navigate if I take the wrong turning.'

  He looked at her in amazement. The transformation was extraordinary. The old enthusiasms were back. 'We can go to the country in one hour?' he said, surprised.

  'This is an extraordinary city, it's got sea and mountains right on the doorstep,' she said. 'And I want to take you to this place I found. You can park the car and walk over the hills for miles and meet no one, see no one. You can't even see any dwelling places. It's like Arizona without the desert.'

  'Why are we going there?' he asked gently.

  'So that nobody can interrupt us. If we stay here in Number 16 Tara Road we might as well be in Grand Central Station,' said Marilyn, with the easy laugh that Greg Vine had thought he would never hear again.

  Bernadette looked very white. His stomach nearly turned over when he saw her. 'Go on, talk to her. She's been counting the moments till you got here,' the nurse said.

  'She's asleep,’ he said, almost afraid to approach the bed.

  'Is that you, Danny?'

  'I'm here beside you, darling, don't speak. You're tired and weak. You've lost a lot of blood, but you're going to be fine.'

  'Kiss me,' she said. He kissed her thin white face. 'Properly.' He kissed her on the lips. 'Do you still love me, Danny?'

  'Darling Bernadette, of course I do.'

  'You know about the baby?'

  'I'm sad we've lost our baby, very sad,' he said, eyes full of tears.

  'And, God, I'm sad I wasn't here to be with you when it happened. But you are all right and I'm here for you and that's what's going to make us strong for ever and ever.'

  'You're not glad or anything, you don't think it sort of solves things just now?'

  'Jesus, Bernadette, how could you even think that?' His face was anguished.

  'Well… you know…'

  'No, I don't know. Our baby is dead, the baby we were building a home for, and you're so weak and hurt. How could I be glad about anything like that?'

  'It's just that I was afraid, you being out in America…' her voice trailed away.

  'You know I had to go out to America to tell them face to face about the business. And that's done and I'm home now, home with you.'

  'And did it go all right?' Bernadette asked.

  'Yes, it went all right,' said Danny Lynch.

  Ria rang Rosemary. 'You haven't set out for work yet?'

  'No. Hey, what time is it out there? It must be the middle of the night.'

  'It is, I couldn't sleep.' Ria sounded flat.

  'Is anything wrong?'

  'Well, yes and no.'

  And Ria confided to her good friend Rosemary that Danny had gone home early because of Bernadette's miscarriage. She had nobody in Dublin to keep her informed of what was going on, could Rosemary keep an ear to the ground ? Nobody else would tell her what was happening, but Rosemary saw Danny from time to time and she would be in a position to know.

  Ria also told her how she hoped to get into some kind of catering job when she got home. Everyone here had been pleased with her work, she would try to get commissions from Colm for desserts and from the big delicatessen to do specialist work. She said she thought that everything was going to be all right again.

  'And how was Danny when he was out there?'

  'He was fine, it was a bit like the old days,' Ria said. She didn't go into details but Rosemary got the distinct feeling that more had happened than was being said. But even Danny Lynch wouldn't be so foolish as to sleep with his ex-wife under such circumstances. Surely?

  When Rosemary went out to get into her car, still concerned about it, she met Jack Brennan. He did not smell of drink—but he wasn't sober. 'Just quick question, Rosemary. Do you pay my wife to clean your house?'

  'Certainly not, Jack. Gertie is my friend not my cleaner. I have cleaners who come from an agency twice a week.'

  'And do other people pay her? Ria and that one staying in Ria's house, Polly, Frances?'

  'Don't be ridiculous, Jack, of course they don't,' said Rosemary as she slammed her car door and drove to work.

  Finola Dunne drove Danny to his office.

  'I have to talk to Barney about what this rescue business is all about. It may be nothing, only puff, but it just might be something we can cling on to. I'll be back to Bernadette before lunch.'

  'You'll need some sleep, you look terrible,' Finola said.

  'I can't sleep, not at a time like this,'

  'Ber losing the baby… at this time…?' Finola was tentative.

  'Makes me love her still more and want to look after her even more desperately than I did before…' Danny finished the sentence for her.

  'But there must be ways…?'

  'Surely you know, Finola, that I adore her, that I wouldn't have left my wife and children for her if I didn't love her more than anything else in the whole world. You must know that.'

  In the office a full-scale meeting was taking place. The receptionist was surprised to see him. 'They didn't think you were coming back until tomorrow,' she said, startled at his dishevelled appearance.

  'Yes, well I'm here now, who's in there?'

  'The accountant, the lawyers, the bank manager, and Mrs McCarthy.'

  'Mona?'

  'Yes.'

  'And was anyone going to tell me about this summit or was I to hear about it when it was all over?'

  'Don't ask me, Mr Lynch. I'm on notice like everyone else here, I don't get told what's happening either.'

  'Right, I'm going in there.'

  'Mr Lynch?'

  'Yes?'

  'If I could suggest you sort of… well… cleaned yourse
lf up a bit.'

  'Thank you, sweetheart,' he said. The girl was right. Five minutes in the men's room would take the worst edges off.

  The sun shone through the trees as Greg and Marilyn sat at a wooden table and unpacked their picnic. They had walked and talked easily in the hills, looking at the sheep that barely gave them a second glance.

  'Why did you come here?' Marilyn asked.

  'Because Ria said you had talked to her children about Dale. I thought you might be able to talk to me about him too.'

  'Yes, of course I can. I'm sorry it took so long.'

  'It takes what time it takes,' Greg said. He laid his hand on hers. Last night he had slept in the big white bed beside Marilyn. They really hadn't touched each other, not reached out towards the other, but they had held hands for a little. He knew he must be very gentle in asking questions. He wouldn't ask what had changed her. She would tell him.

  And then she did. 'There's always some stupid unimportant thing, isn't there?' Marilyn said with the tears that he had never seen her shed in her eyes.

  'I mean it's so idiotic that I can hardly bear to tell you. But it was all to do with those children. Annie said that of course we couldn't have let him play with motor bikes any more than you'd let someone play with guns. And Brian said that he imagined Dale was up in heaven looking down, sorry for all the trouble he had caused.' The tears fell down on to their joined hands. 'Then it all made sense somehow, Greg,' she said through her sobs. 'I mean, I don't think there's a real heaven or anything, but his spirit is somewhere, sorry for all the trouble. And I must listen to him and tell him it's all right.'

  'The wanderer returns,' Danny said, coming in with a false smile and confident stance to the boardroom where the meeting was going on. The stolid figure of Mona McCarthy sat beside Larry from the bank and the two lawyers.

  I'm sorry, we didn't know you were going to be in the country, Danny, there was no attempt to exclude you,' Mona said. Mona was speaking at a meeting like this?

  'Well, tell the prodigal if the story in the Irish Times about a fatted calf was true.' Barney seemed curiously mute, so Danny was playing to the gallery now, trying to take control, or raise it a little anyway.

  'Less of the jokes, Danny.' Larry from the bank had never liked him, but today he was speaking as if Danny were a schoolboy.

  Danny was silent. And in the space of fifteen minutes he learned that Mrs McCarthy had, entirely without any legal or moral need to do so, decided to rescue the firm from bankruptcy. Everything would be wound up, the assets sold, the debtors paid. There would be no more work for Danny Lynch since the company no longer existed. The bank manager also managed to let Danny know that it might be extremely difficult for him to find a position in any reputable estate agency. The word about the financial mishandling was well known.

  The good news was that the personal guarantee on Number 16 Tara Road was now rescinded. The house would not be sold to pay Barney McCarthy's debts. Danny could feel his breath slowly beginning to return to normal. But Larry added that on the Tara Road front there was also, on a practical level, bad news. Danny had no assets, no job and a considerable personal overdraft. The house would have to be sold anyway.

  Fergal, a man that Colm knew slightly from the AA, called to see him. He was a detective as far as Colm could remember. 'You know the way we're all meant to be like the Masons or the Knights looking out for each other?' Fergal said, slightly awkwardly.

  'I know. And are you telling me something or asking?' Colm made it easy.

  'Telling. The word is that your brother-in-law is dealing here in this restaurant. There could be a raid.'

  'Thank you.'

  'You knew?'

  'I suspected.'

  'Will you warn him, move him on somewhere else or what?'

  'I'd like to see him moved on to gaol but I have to do something else first.'

  'Will it take long, what you have to do? You haven't got long,' Fergal said.

  'Then it will have to be done quickly,' said Colm and prepared for the worst conversation in his life. He had promised his sister that he would look after her. Looking after her had long involved turning a blind eye to her addiction. Colm hoped that Marilyn Vine would deliver on her promise to help.

  Mona was still talking in the boardroom. Barney and Danny walked out together. They weren't necessary any more.

  Danny was determined to be bright. 'In better times we'd have said this was the day to ring Polly and book Quentin's for lunch,' he said.

  'There won't be any more days like that.' Barney was subdued.

  'Part of the deal?'

  'Absolutely. And how did it go with you out there?'

  Danny shrugged. 'You know…'

  'Well, at least Ria will get something now this way.'

  'Yes.'

  'So what brought you back early anyway?'

  'Bernadette lost the baby.'

  'Oh dear, oh dear. Still there are ways that it might all be for the best.'

  'There are no ways that it's in any way for the best,' said Danny coldly and went out to get a taxi back to the hospital.

  Greg had gone back to America. Marilyn had longed to get the plane with him. 'I can't leave her house, I can't abandon ship now, leave a house she's going to lose anyway, it would be too cruel.'

  'Of course not,' he had said.

  'I’ll be back on September the first, back in Tudor Drive,' she promised.

  'So will I, in that week anyway,' he said.

  'Hawaii?'

  'They'll understand.' Greg was confident. 'It was a compassionate posting anyway. They'll be glad we got better.'

  'It's just a pity that Ria didn't get better,' Marilyn said.

  'We don't know, maybe she did.' Greg was hopeful.

  'No, she wants that guy back and she's not getting him. I hear from the network here that he's back and glued to the girlfriend again.'

  'She'll survive,' said Greg.

  'What's she like?' Marilyn asked suddenly. 'As a person?'

  'I forgot you don't know her. She's very warm, innocent in ways. She isn't short of a word. There was a time I didn't think you'd like her but now I think you would. I think my brother Andy did too.'

  'There!' Marilyn cried. 'We might end up being sisters-in-law.'

  'Don't hold your breath,' said Greg.

  After he had gone, she sat at the table talking to Clement. 'You know we're going to get a cat, just like you, you foolish animal.'

  Colm came in from the garden. His face was pale. 'Glad to see you talking to the cat,' he said. Marilyn was startled. Normally he never came in unannounced. He didn't wait for her to speak. 'I've got to do it, I'm telling her today. Will you help?'

  'You've been to the centre?'

  'Yes.'

  'And they'll take her if she's willing.'

  'Yes.'

  'Then of course I will,' said Marilyn Vine.

  'Ria, it's Danny.'

  'Oh thank God, I was hoping to hear from you,’

  'Well, it was a bit fraught.'

  'How are you…?'

  'Well, we lost the baby but that was to be expected.'

  'I am sorry.'

  'Yes, I know you are, Ria.'

  'But in a way…'

  'I know you're not going to be like these people who wrongly say it's all for the best,' he interrupted her.

  'No, of course I wasn't going to say that,' Ria lied.

  'I know you weren't, but people do and it's very upsetting for us both.'

  'I'm sure.' She was confused but she must never show it. 'Anyway the children are fine, they're winding down to go home now, and then we'll all meet and make plans about the future.'

  'Yes, it's not quite as bleak as it looked on that scene,' he said.

  'What do you mean?'

  'Mona had some savings, Barney doesn't get our house after all.'

  'Danny!' She was overjoyed.

  'We'll still have to sell it, but at least this way you and I get the money, we'll find somew
here for you to live.'

  'Sure.'

  'So that's what I rang to tell you.'

  'Yes…'

  'Are you okay?' He sounded concerned.

  'Fine, why?'

  'I thought you'd be so pleased. Out of all this misery something good has emerged in the form of Mona McCarthy.'

  'Yes, of course I'm pleased,' she said. 'Sorry, Danny, I have to go, someone's ringing at the door.' She hung up. There was nobody at the door but she needed to go without him hearing the tears in her voice. And the total wretched realisation that it had all meant nothing to him and that there were no plans for them for the future.

  'Monto will have a table for six tonight and he'd like the one near the door,' said one of the nameless friends who accompanied Colm's brother-in-law.

  'We have no reservations,' Colm said carefully.

  'I think you have.'

  'Ask Monto to talk to me himself if he's in any doubt,' Colm said.

  He had asked his friend Fergal to tell the Drugs Squad that Caroline was safely installed on a rehabilitation programme. She could not be reached by Monto, offering her more supplies.

  'Monto doesn't like people playing games.'

  'Of course he doesn't.' Colm was pleasant.

  'He'll be round.’

  'I'm sure he'll believe you that there's no room for him here tonight. Why shouldn't he take your word?'

  'You'll be hearing from him.'

  Colm knew he would. Fergal said he'd make sure there were a couple of guys in the vicinity, in an unmarked car.

  'Very good of you, Fergal, there'll always be a dinner for you and whoever here.'

  'Ah, my whoever didn't hang around after the drinking days,' Fergal said sadly.

  'And I never found a whoever at all. Right pair of eejits we were. Still, this should be the year.’ Colm pretended a much greater sense of ease than he felt.

  Marilyn called to the restaurant. 'I thought I'd invite Gertie here for dinner tonight.'

  'On the house and with pleasure,' he said.

  'I wouldn't hear of it.'

  'Look what you did for Caroline.'

  'She was ready, truly she was, she thought you'd feel let down if she went in, that's all.'

  'Aren't we all mad in our ways?' he said.

  'Sure,' she agreed with a laugh. 'Still Gertie and I will have a nice quiet time here compared to the first visit. Remember the singer who drank the carnations?'