5 Peppermint Grove

by Jackson, Michelle

  This was one of those nights.

  Julia looked at the alarm clock beside her bed. It was twelve fifteen and she was wide awake. She pulled on her dressing gown and went downstairs to get a cold drink. The tapping of keys on a laptop came from the front room and she peeked in to see her mother engrossed before the screen.

  “Hi, Mum – you’re up late.”

  “I’m playing with Omar in Spain and Ellen in Amsterdam – it isn’t often that we can co-ordinate to be on at the same time now that Omar is working in a bar.”

  Julia’s mother amazed her. Five years ago she wouldn’t have been able to switch on a computer – she was now playing bridge internationally with her new friends from all over the globe.

  “Would you like a drink of something? I’m getting some carrot juice.”

  Without looking up, Carol answered, “Nothing for me, thanks – we’re taking a tea break in fifteen minutes and then I’ll skype Ellen for a chat.”

  Julia felt very left out – her mother was available for a chat with a complete stranger in Amsterdam but couldn’t say two words to her own daughter who was in the living room in front of her. She went into the kitchen and poured herself a tall glass of juice. She went back to her bedroom and was trying to focus on what she had to do the next day when her phone rang. She knew who would be at the other end of the line.

  “Ju-u-lia,” the voice babbled at the other end of the line, “I d-d-don’t think I can take it any more!”

  “Ruth – what’s happened now?”

  Julia was in her element – straight down to fix-it mode no matter what the hour.

  “It’s Ian.”

  Naturally. Who else would have her friend in such a state?

  “What’s he done?”

  “I think he’s seeing someone else.”

  Julia was so close to saying ‘Yes, you’re right – his wife’ but she held back this once. Ruth was too upset.

  “Why do you think that?”

  “Because he said that he’s changed his roster and he only ever does that to see me – I feel like the other woman.”

  Julia tried hard to be kind but rational thinking was taking over.

  “Ruth, I hate seeing you so hurt all of the time and you have been through so much with Oliver who was a complete bully – Ian should have been there for you tonight. Do you think maybe that he just wants you to soothe and comfort him but, now that you need help, he isn’t there for you?”

  Silence at the other end of the line told Julia that she had said enough. She had to be gentle with Ruth who was used to getting knocks from Ian but needed Julia for support.

  “Okay,” Ruth said reluctantly. “I take your point. So what can I do?”

  “You can finish with him.”

  “I’m too weak – you know that!”

  “Ruth, my dear friend – I have known you since you were eight and I can tell you here and now that you can do anything that you want. You must end it with Ian – the relationship has become toxic.”

  Ruth started to howl on the other end of the line.

  “Please, Ruth,” Julia begged, “I only want what’s best for you. Will I ring Tourism Ireland in the morning? If you aren’t strong enough to end it with him in Dublin maybe you should consider getting away – out of sight is out of mind!”

  Ruth howled even louder.

  “I’m sorry, Ruth – look, come in to my office tomorrow – I’m there all day – we need to get you sorted.”

  “Okay, Julia, thanks – I’m all over the place.”

  Everything was falling in on her friend and Julia hated to see it. She would do her best to fix her, now that she was ready to get help.

  Julia took a sip from her glass of juice. From downstairs she could hear her mother cackle on Skype to her new friend in Holland. Her mother had found a new lease of life after her husband had died. That was a traumatic time. Julia’s father was a builder who would never wear a hard hat and that was to his cost as a JCB digger struck him on the side of his head one day during a routine check of a building development. Julia often cursed the property boom for causing his death but the truth was that she couldn’t blame anyone but himself for his carelessness – and, at the end of the day, it was an unfortunate accident and only one of many that happened where buildings were under construction.

  Her mother had been a very quiet and demure woman always – totally needy and dependant on her husband to do everything for her. But that was not the case any longer. After his death, Carol had become a marvel in matters of finance and organising the house in the way that she wanted. Her departure into technology was another change and she was now not only playing bridge on the computer but booking flights and accommodation for weekends away with the bridge club. She learnt to drive within weeks of her husband’s untimely death and was now also helping the ‘old people’ on a Friday with Meals on Wheels. Sometimes Julia wondered if her mother would still be an avid fan of Coronation Street and afraid to drive if her father was still around.

  Carol’s father Horatio moved in with the family after the death. Julia enjoyed her grandfather living with them. He appreciated his helpful granddaughter. He had been a watchmaker by trade and spent several hours every day tinkering with the old clocks and timepieces that people brought him to fix.

  Julia loved to hear his stories about the old days and what her parents were like when they were younger. She had made it her mission to start a family tree before the year was out. Her grandfather was eighty-seven and, although his brain was sprightly, she worried about his cough and wheezing chest. She was the keeper of the family and would do what was best for every member – her sister and brother, mother and grandfather. She was equally busy taking care of her friends and employees.

  As she bit into her dressed cracker, she smiled smugly to herself. Life was good – she had plenty to do and plenty around her to care for. Top of the agenda was fixing Ruth and it was time to move drastically.

  Chapter Two

  Odette stumbled in through the doors of Perrin Travel laden with shopping bags.

  Gillian, the new receptionist, looked up and smiled.

  “Hello, can I help you?”

  “Yes, I’m Julia’s sister and I was wondering if she is here?”

  “Oh, of course,” the mousy receptionist said, flustered on learning who the visitor was. She put the phone up to her ear and rang for Julia. “Your sister is here.” She paused and hung up. “She says go on into her office.”

  “Thank you,” Odette said.

  Julia had done well for herself and she was still only thirty-four years old. Her office was in a prime location only a few metres from College Green and, even though it was her father who had bought the lease originally, Julia had taken it over eight years before under her own steam – she was only in her twenties at that time and Odette admired the drive and vision that her younger sister showed and wished that she had a piece of it herself.

  Julia rushed to open the door to her sister. She took some bags from her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

  “What a nice surprise! I didn’t expect to see you in town.”

  Odette plopped down on the chair and smiled at her sister. “I don’t have to pick the kids up today – they have after-school activities so I thought I’d catch up on a bit of Christmas shopping.”

  “But it’s only November the eighteenth!”

  “I know but I want to be organised this year.”

  Julia watched her frazzled sister peel off her coat and cardigan.

  “It’s hot in here,” Odette sighed.

  “I like the clients to be warm and cosy when they’re booking their holidays. You look like you could do with a break – is suburbia getting to you?”

  “Oh, you sound like Mum – she wants me to go to the Christmas markets in Cologne with her – apparently she has some Dutch friend who she’s meeting there in December.”

  “Oh!” Julia was disappointed that her mother hadn’t invited her. She wouldn’t
have gone of course because someone would have to stay with her granddad but it would have been nice to be asked.

  “Don’t mind me – Craig is working very long hours – they’ve whittled his department down to eleven people. How you can just let thirty staff go like that is beyond me. I only get to talk to him on a Friday night these days – then he’s off with Jamie and his football team on a Saturday and cycling with his friends in the afternoon. If we go out on a Saturday night it’s with friends. After Sunday dinner he sits in front of the fire and then the week starts all over again!”

  “But you have your lovely kids!”

  Julia wondered what was really up with her sister that she wasn’t telling her. She didn’t have to wait long to find out.

  “I want to have another baby!” Odette blurted out, bursting into tears.

  Julia jumped up and went over to console her sister. She handed her a tissue to mop up the tears.

  “I don’t really know what’s wrong with me any more – I should be the happiest woman alive – I’ve a perfect little son and daughter and Craig is a good husband but I get so frustrated sometimes that I want to scream.”

  Julia was in new territory.

  “And do you think having another baby is going to change that?”

  “Jamie is getting so independent and he’s only eight – he made his own breakfast and lunch for school yesterday. Charlotte is only five and she told me that she hated me yesterday and that I was the worst mother in the world.” Odette sobbed harder. “I wish they were babies again and really needed me.”

  Julia was knocked for six. She had never seen her sister like this before. She really needed to talk to her in greater detail about how she felt. She wasn’t dressed as perkily as she normally would be which made Julia wonder if she was slightly depressed. But what had she to be depressed about? She would find out.

  “Put your coat on, we’re going for a nice lunch.”

  Odette blinked back the tears and looked up at her sister. “Thanks, Julia.”

  Julia felt so loved and needed. She would take her sister to a lovely little deli on Wicklow Street and fix her!

  Ruth was the second caller to Julia’s office – she arrived just before five o’clock.

  “Can I see Julia, Gillian?” she asked the receptionist.

  “Yes, I’ll call her now.”

  Gillian spoke with Julia – then told Ruth to go ahead.

  Julia was putting the last details of her summer brochure to rest and had recently introduced cruises into the catalogue.

  “Hi, Ruth,” she said, signing off the last few samples and getting up to give her friend a hug. “Did Tourism Ireland call you?”

  Ruth nodded. “Thanks so much, Julia. I can’t believe how well connected you are – well, actually, I can believe it – but I have an interview next week.”

  “Good!” Julia smiled smugly. “And any word from Ian?”

  Ruth quickly changed the subject. “And I need help finding something to wear for the interview.”

  Julia looked at her phone. Almost five – she could go. She had done a good day’s work in the office and she had time to spare as this was Carol’s bridge night (bridge night out, that is) and her grandfather liked to just get a Chinese for himself.

  “Right, we’re taking a walk around Grafton Street.”

  “Great – I don’t know where to start!”

  “River Island – if we don’t get fixed up there we can try BT’s. Fancy a bite to eat after?”

  “Oh yes.” Ruth smiled – she felt so much better now that Julia was there to sort her out.

  Chapter Three

  Seven o’clock in Singapore. Michael turned over in his bed and sighed. He could go to the gym before work or he could think about her! Against his better instinct he closed his eyes and pictured the lovely Lydia. With her straight blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, people often mistook her for a Swede. But she was very much an Irish girl and one who knew how to light up a room with her presence. She was clever and witty and intelligent and why he had never asked her to marry him baffled him. He would be forty soon and was beginning to wonder what he was doing with his life. He had ridden the Celtic Tiger for the first half of the noughties and split as things went sour in the economy. Coming to Singapore had been a good decision – he now owned his apartment in Sutton and could live there if and when he decided to return to Dublin. But the last two years had felt shallow and were now at the point of becoming monotonous. It wasn’t too late to call Julia. She would throw some light on his situation and help him clear his head.

  “Hey, sis,” he called into the laptop.

  Her Skype clicked on.

  “Michael!” Julia was surprised. She loved the fact that she could see his face as she spoke with him even though he was on the other side of the world.

  “I’m thinking of coming home for a holiday soon.”

  “But it’s so near Christmas – can’t you come home for that?”

  “It’s not easy – not a Christian country over here – you know that.”

  “But I thought by now you would get the time – Mum would love to see you sooner though . . .” She paused. “Actually cancel that – Mum doesn’t seem to have time for anyone at the moment unless they play bridge!”

  Michael laughed. “How’s Granddad?”

  “Good – he’s thinking of taking up painting – there’s a course in the local community centre.”

  “That pair are a hoot – they are well able to look after themselves – why don’t you get a place of your own?”

  “That’s all very well for you to say, Michael, but what if Granddad fell out of the bed or Mum needed something done around the house that she couldn’t manage?”

  Michael laughed louder. “Mum and Granddad are in their own little world. Anyway, have you any nice friends that would suit me?”

  “I’m giving up on you, brother dear – after you blew it with Lydia I’ve decided not to waste my matchmaking skills. When are you going to settle down and stop messing around with so many women?”

  “Oh, don’t do that,” he sighed. “You haven’t heard from Lydia, have you, by any chance?”

  “Of course I have. She’s doing well and has met a new man according to our last conversation.”

  Michael sat up in the bed with the shock. “But she only finished with that other guy a couple of months ago!”

  “Yes, but she’s a pretty girl and she’s thirty-five. She’s keen to get settled down.”

  “Oh,” said Michael, uttered dejectedly. He was stupid to think that she had any feelings for him any more. “I don’t suppose you’ll see her again soon?”

  “I’ve no plans – but we’ll meet up before Christmas, I’m sure. Why all this sudden interest in Lydia again? You’ve got quite a history, you two, and the scars are so deep I doubt she’s going to go there again!”

  Michael realised that his sister was probably right but he didn’t want to think that he would never be with Lydia ever again.

  “Look,” he said, “I was thinking of dropping a line and seeing how she was.”

  “I wouldn’t do that – I mean, she’s deleted you from her Facebook friends since the last time.”

  Michael was well aware of that. “But I can still see her photos when I look her up through your page.”

  “Don’t do this to yourself, Michael – she has moved on and I thought you had too?”

  Julia knew her brother too well and she wondered what was making him feel this way.

  “I’ll see about leave for Christmas then – I’ll try to come home as close to it as I can.”

  “That would be nice for Mum and Granddad, and for me too!”

  “How’s Odette?”

  “She wants another baby and I’m talking to her about it – Craig’s working hard and she’s feeling neglected and I’ve a feeling she thinks another baby is going to fill the gap.”

  “Maybe she just wants another child?”

  Julia tut-tutte
d down the phone. “It’s never that simple – there’s a reason for everything and I know her too well. I’ll keep you posted though. Anyway, I’m really tired – I went shopping with Ruth and got her a nice suit for her interview next week.”

  “Why is she changing job?”

  “Her boss was a bully and a brute – I’ve suggested a job in Perth.”

  “Scotland?”

  “No, silly – Perth, Australia!”

  “Well, she’ll have plenty of company there – half of the city is Irish at this stage!”

  “I think the change will do her good.”

  Michael didn’t dispute that.

  “Okay, sis – I’ll let you get to bed. If you’ve any suggestions about Lydia, though, let me know – I would like to see her again.”

  “I’m not allowing you to mess her around.”

  “I wouldn’t be – I’ve changed – I miss her.”

  “Well, make sure you know how you really do feel – I’m not doing your dirty work to find you’ve decided you don’t want her after all. You can’t do that a third time, Michael – it wouldn’t be fair!”

  “I know that, sis – I’m forty years of age – I’m getting on and don’t want to spend the rest of my life alone.”

  “You will always have some woman at your side.”

  “I don’t want just any woman,” Michael sighed. “I want the woman!”

  “And why have you suddenly decided that Lydia is the woman?”

  Michael paused, wanting to give the right answer.

  “I just know that I have never been happier than when I was with her.”

  Julia loved her brother madly but she knew what a cad he was when it came to breaking women’s hearts – he was a total charmer and unremorseful in most cases. But he was family.