Something You Should Know

by Melissa Hill

  Chapter 33

  Tessa squealed down the phone excitedly. “So you’ve got it all booked – the church, the flowers, the dress, everything?”

  “Everything except the dress,” Karen said proudly. She was started to look forward to this wedding, now that everything had been arranged. She had spent the last half hour on the phone to Tessa, filling her in on all that had happened, and to let her know that she and Shane had confirmed a date.

  “June 15th – put it in your diary. And it’s not at the church, by the way, but at the registry office.”

  “Oh,” Tessa was taken aback. “But what about your dress, flowers and bridesmaids and everything? Won’t you miss having all that?”

  Karen laughed. “Tessa, the registry office can be decorated with flowers too, you know – we’re not getting married in The Temple of Doom.”

  “Oh right.” Tessa considered this. “It’s just that I’ve never been to a registry office wedding before. I haven’t a clue what to expect, that’s all.”

  “It’ll be fine. I can assure you that Shane and I will not be dancing around an open fire, our faces painted in pagan blood. And don’t worry, you can still dress up to the nines in some slinky figure-hugging outfit, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  Tessa gave a little giggle. “At that stage, I won’t get an ordinary dress to fit me, let alone a slinky one.”

  Karen shook her head in amusement. “Why, have you put on weight? I didn’t notice anything when you were here last.” Knowing Tessa, she would undoubtedly turn up at the wedding, wearing some kind of show-stopping, super-sexy outfit that would make Liz Hurley look frumpy.

  “Not exactly,” Tessa sounded coy.

  “Not exactly? What do you mean by that?” Then it hit her. “Oh my God. Tessa – you’re not telling me what I think you’re telling me, are you?”

  Tessa laughed. “I’m nearly five months gone.”

  “Five months. But you must have known that time you and Gerry were here after the honeymoon – why didn’t you tell me?”

  She could sense Tessa shrug on the other end of the line. “If you think back, you were upset at the time about all the baby-talk you were getting from the Quinns. You might have exploded if I landed that on you, and I didn’t think it’d be fair to tell you then, so I told Gerry to keep his mouth shut too.”

  “Oh no, I feel awful now. You must have been dying to tell us.” Now that she thought of it, Karen remembered that she herself had drunk most of the wine on the day of their visit.

  “Well, as you know, I was never a great one for keeping secrets. We worked out the dates and it seems that we conceived just a few weeks before the wedding – can you believe it?”

  “So, it wasn’t exactly planned then?”

  “Not at all. I went to the doctor not long after the honeymoon, not suspecting a thing. I got some shock, I can tell you. But we’re both thrilled about it now that we’ve had the chance to get used to it.”

  “Oh, I’m so pleased for you. Wait until I tell Jenny – she’ll be delighted.”

  “How is she anyway? The big romance still going well, I hope?”

  “Seems to be,” Karen nodded, forgetting that Tessa couldn’t see her. “You should see her – she’s going around these last few weeks positively beaming.”

  “And she’s thrilled about being your bridesmaid too, I suppose?”

  Karen paused. She had wondered whether Tessa might not be a bit put out by the fact that she was having only one bridesmaid. She had no sisters and, as her oldest friend, Jenny was the obvious choice.

  “Yeah. I hope you don’t mind me asking her, Tessa. It’s just that she’s been my friend since we were kids and –”

  “Will you get away out of that, girl?” Tessa was having none of it. “I wouldn’t expect you to have anyone else. Anyway,” she groaned, “come June I’ll be the size of a house, and ready to drop any minute.”

  “When are you due?” Karen asked, momentarily afraid that that very thing might happen. Imagine Tessa going into labour on her and Shane’s wedding day.

  “Not until July so you’re safe enough yet.”

  “Good. I have to admit I was a bit worried there for a minute.”

  “I kind of gathered that,” Tessa said, and they both laughed. “I’m glad you rang. God knows I needed to hear a bit of good news. We went home last week and there’s another delay on the house, apparently, so we won’t be moving for a while yet.”

  “Sounds like it’s taking a lot longer than you expected,” Karen said, remembering that she and Gerry had told them their new house should be completed early in the new year, and it was now late March.

  “Don’t talk to me,” Tessa moaned. “We’re having terrible trouble with planning permission, and I think we might have to change the plans for the house. I’m raging, because I had my heart set on Liscannor stone-facing, you know, to give it a rustic look, but now it seems that the planning board won’t allow it. Not in ‘keeping with existing surroundings’ or some other rubbish like that.”

  “That’s a pity,” Jenny said, “Still, I’m sure it’ll be fabulous when it’s finished and decorated.”

  “I don’t know about that. Money will be tight enough when junior comes along, and with my having to give up work.”

  “Will you give up for good when you move home?” Karen asked, wondering how on earth Tessa would manage at home with just a baby for company.

  “Not at all – are you mad? A few months of nappies and bottles will be more than enough for me – after that, he can go to Granny Sullivan. Luckily, I don’t have to worry about finding a childminder down there.”

  “I suppose it’s good your mum is willing to help out.”

  “Mmm – take over, more like. Anyway, speaking of parents, how are things with you and Nasty Nellie?”

  Karen rolled her eyes. “Well, since Shane and I had our little chat, I haven’t seen her half as much lately.” Thank God, she added silently to herself. “Jack is still hanging around, though.”

  “I thought he was based in London,” Tessa mused. “Why is he spending so much time over here?”

  “Good question. I know he has business contacts in the city but honestly, he’s back and forth nearly every second week.”

  “Maybe he’s seeing someone and doesn’t want anyone to know yet,” Tessa said reasonably. “You said before that he didn’t have a girlfriend.”

  Karen sat up in her chair in surprise. “You could have something there, you know – it would certainly explain why he doesn’t stay up in Meath with Nellie.”

  “He’s what – thirty-three or something?” Tessa asked. “Surely he’s a bit old to be hiding his girlfriends from Mammy.”

  “Depends on whether or not it is a girlfriend.”

  “Oh.” Tessa understood immediately. “You think he might be the other way inclined?”

  “It had crossed my mind, although I’m not quite sure why. It’s just something about him. And the fact that he’s never had a serious relationship, as far as Shane knows. The family seem to have given up on Jack producing the heir to the Quinn empire.”

  “Empire?”

  “Well – the ten-acre farm, anyway,” Karen laughed. “I don’t think Nellie would be too impressed if it turned out that one of her little darlings was gay.”

  “Not in this day and age surely?” Tessa sounded appalled at the idea.

  “We’re talking a sixty-odd-year-old farmer’s wife from the wilds of Meath, Tessa. She’s not exactly a regular in The George, you know.” Karen laughed out loud at the notion of Nellie Quinn having a drink in one of Dublin’s best-known gay bars.

  “Poor old Jack,” Tessa said, sympathetically.

  “Poor old Jack nothing – if he wants to conduct an illicit affair, let him do it somewhere else.”

  “You don’t think he’d bring anyone back to your house, surely?”

  “I should bloody hope not – male or female,” Karen exclaimed, “but obviously if he’s
seeing someone, he’ll be in Dublin more often. Anyway, I’m not going to rock the boat by saying anything to Shane. He and I are getting on brilliantly at the moment, so I’m just going to mind my own business.”

  “For a change.” Tessa laughed.

  It was true though, Karen thought, after she and Tessa had said their goodbyes. As far as she was concerned Jack could do whatever he liked, as long as it didn’t interfere with her and Shane. She had just put the phone back in its cradle when it rang again.

  “Karen? It’s Nellie Quinn,” said a prim voice at the other end.

  Karen cursed silently to herself. Speak of the bloody devil. “Hello, Nellie – how are you?” she said pleasantly, trying her best to be civil. “Shane’s not back from work yet if you’re hoping to speak to him.”

  “It’s you I wanted to speak to, actually,” she sniffed.

  Karen groaned inwardly. What was it this time?

  “Shane told me at the weekend that you’ve set a date for the wedding, and I might add that it’s about time. But he says the ceremony will be taking place in some kind of – of council office in Kilkenny. Is that right?”

  “Quite right, Nellie.” She had expected that Nellie would disapprove of a registry-office wedding, but by her tone you’d swear that the place was on equal par with a lap-dancing club, or a brothel.

  Nellie sniffed again. “Karen, far be it from me to interfere, but I don’t think that such a place is at all suitable for a wedding. Why can’t you have a normal church wedding, like everyone else? I don’t know if you were reared as a child of the Lord, but Shane certainly was and – ”

  “Really?” Karen interjected, stung by the remark about her upbringing, “and when was the last time Shane was inside a church, Nellie?”

  “But you could ask of every couple your age these days, dear,” pleaded the other woman, “and it doesn’t stop any of them getting married in the Lord’s house. After all, where else would you get such beautiful surroundings? The photographs would be no good otherwise.”

  “Nellie, with all due respect, Shane and I aren’t getting married so that we can look pretty in our wedding photographs.” Karen’s voice was steely. “Nor have we any interest in lighting a rake of candles up at the altar, and rattling off prayers for the sake of it.” She had been through this a dozen times already with the girls at work, today with Tessa, and even with Jenny. Everyone, with the exception of her own parents, had seemed almost appalled at the idea of a civil wedding ceremony. They couldn’t understand that she and Shane had absolutely no interest in a church wedding. Karen could almost picture Nellie’s apoplectic expression down the telephone line.

  “Well, I simply won’t have it.” Nellie cried, her earlier calm deserting her. “I do not like being stopped on the street, by people wondering why my youngest can’t get married in the Lord’s house. Will you please tell Shane to telephone me, when he gets home from work?”

  “Fine,” Karen answered shortly, and without another word, hung up on her mother-in-law to be.

  When Shane arrived home later, she passed on the message for him to ring Nellie, giving him no hint of their earlier conversation. Dutiful son that he was, Shane returned the call after dinner.

  She looked up from scraping the plates in surprise when, minutes later, Shane returned to the kitchen guffawing loudly.

  “Mam’s hopping mad,” he said with a grin. “Some oul wan from the Legion of Mary stopped her in the street today, and asked her if it was true that her youngest was a marrying a refugee or something, seeing that he couldn’t get married in the church. I nearly wet myself when she told me.”

  “Oh dear,” Karen said, a smile crossing her features as she filled the kettle. “I wondered what she meant earlier about people stopping her in the street about it. What did you say to her?”

  “Well,” he said, coming up behind Karen, and putting both arms around her, “I told her to tell people that it was no business of theirs, but if they really wanted to know, she should tell them that I’m getting hitched to a rich American who’s had so many husbands they wouldn’t let her within a shadow of the church – a woman that would make Liz Taylor blush. That should give them all something to talk about.”

  “Shane, you’re OK with all of this, aren’t you? I mean, you’re sure that we’re doing the right thing here?” Karen was feeling guilty all of a sudden. Maybe they should just go with the flow, and do what everyone else expected them to do, rather than having to put up with all this hassle.

  Shane was having none of it. “What did I say to you before, love? It’s our wedding, and as long as we’re happy Mam can say what she likes. It’s nothing to do with her.”

  “But what if she ends up boycotting in protest, or something? None of us would want that.”

  “Let her,” Shane said firmly. “If she’s more worried about what the neighbours think than being happy for us, then that’s her look-out.” He kissed her softly on the forehead. “Look, it took me long enough to convince you to set a date, I’ve no intention of changing anything, just to keep my mother happy.”

  “You’re positive?” Karen said, a little unsurely. She just hoped that the woman would leave them alone to get on with the wedding plans, without whining and complaining about every detail. Knowing Nellie, she’d develop a severe allergy to orchids (Karen’s choice for the flower arrangements) or have some aversion to Wicklow Lamb for the banquet. She’d already expressed her opinion on the venue. Goodness knows it was hard enough as it was, trying to organise the entire thing, without the added strain of a finicky in-law. She and Shane had just come through a difficult patch, and now was certainly not the time for his mother to try and throw a spanner in the works.

  But unfortunately, Karen had already experienced that Nellie Quinn could be terribly persuasive in trying to get her own way.

  Chapter 34

  “Cheers.” Jenny smiled at Mike as they clinked glasses. She had cooked him dinner at her apartment, to celebrate the fact that a bid he had placed for a house in Blackrock had been accepted earlier that day. Jenny had gone with him to see the house some time before, and had agreed that the four-bed 1930’s bungalow suited Mike perfectly. The house had been only recently renovated with an attic conversion; the owners keeping the original streamlined look on the outside, but to Mike’s delight, had favoured a stylish and modern interior. The house itself was situated off the busy roadway, and not far from Blackrock village. The fact that it was surrounded by its own garden and hidden behind mature elms and beech trees, gave the property extra privacy. Mike had instantly fallen in love with it; so much so that he had engaged in a bidding war with other interested parties, and had paid well over the asking price. He was hoping to have everything finalised within a few weeks.

  “I can’t wait to move in,” he said dreamily, sitting back on the couch, and putting a hand behind his head, “I was sure that English couple were going to bid higher again. Thank God they didn’t; I would have to have got a second job to afford that house.”

  Jenny laughed. “Hey – cut the poor boy crap. Remember where you keep your bank accounts.”

  Mike grimaced. “I’d forgotten you know my net worth. Mmm – maybe I should move to another bank.”

  “Don’t you dare,” Jenny exclaimed. “I’m already getting weird vibes from Barry. I have a feeling he thinks my seeing you is some kind of conflict of interest.”

  “And is it?” Mike looked momentarily concerned.

  “Nah.” She refilled her glass with Moet. “As far as I know, there’s nothing in my contract that says I can’t date rich and powerful customers. Anyway,” she added with a wicked grin, “it’s never stopped me before.” She ducked just in time to miss the cushion he threw at her. “Hey, watch it – you nearly knocked over my glass.”

  “Sorry.” Mike tried to look ashamed. He sat up suddenly. “Are you doing anything this weekend?”

  Jenny shook her head. “Why – were you thinking of whisking me away somewhere romantic?”
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  “Not exactly,” Mike said, the expression on his face becoming serious, “it’s just …” He hesitated. “Well, Rebecca’s in town, and I’ve told her about us, and – well she’d really like to meet you.”

  “Oh.” Jenny couldn’t think of anything else to say. Rebecca. For all her curiosity about Mike’s ex, the last thing Jenny wanted to do was meet the woman face-to-face. What on earth would they have to say to one another? And why was Rebecca so anxious to meet her? Was she checking her out?

  Since that time in Wexford, she and Mike had hardly spent a night apart. They had been on a night out with the InTech crowd only recently and he had introduced her to his colleagues and staff as his ‘partner’. Jenny had been a little taken aback by this at first, but gradually found that she was very much excited by the prospect of a real relationship with Mike and being considered important in his life. And it was wonderful not to have to worry about whether or not he was really interested in her, or whether or not he was going to get bored with her and leave, like she had always felt in the relationship with Roan. With Mike, everything, including his feelings, was totally transparent, and he expected the same from Jenny.

  And now, he wanted her to meet his ex-wife. How very civilised. Jenny wasn’t quite sure why but she already disliked this woman. After all, the way she saw it, Rebecca had up and left Mike when he didn’t agree to her demands for a family, instead of supporting him in setting up his business. And then afterwards, to rub salt in the wounds, she had gone on to have two children with this other guy Graham.

  Again, Jenny wondered why on earth Mike stayed friendly with the woman after everything she had done to him. But then again, that was the kind of guy he was. She couldn’t imagine him being angry with anyone, at least not for very long, although she had heard from Ken, who managed his accounts at the branch, that he was as hard as nails when it came to his business.

  “Well, what do you think?” Mike asked, bringing her back to the present. “Graham is Welsh, and they’re coming over here for the rugby match at Lansdowne. Rebecca thought it would be a perfect opportunity for us all to meet up.”