“Look, obviously this is not the job of your dreams, though frankly I doubt you’re half as good an accountant as you are Domestic CEO but, still, if you need to hang around temporarily, I’d like it to be here.”
“But, Mark, I’ve lied to you, I’ve lied to Dawn. How could you possibly overlook all that?”
He looked at me, and even though he was still smiling, a look of sadness suddenly came into his eyes. “On a scale of one to ten, I’ve heard worse lies, Holly.”
Not the words I’d been expecting.
“Why are you being so nice to me? I don’t deserve it.” It was a genuine question – he’d have been well within his rights to turf me out and change the locks.
“Holly, you’ve got yourself into a bit of a scrape, but you haven’t exactly killed anyone yet. You need to take your time, relax, take some time out – you can’t possibly make intelligent decisions when your head is in this kind of state.”
“I’m not in a state.” I knew this was a lie as I said it.
“So when was the last time you cried on someone’s shoulder? Any kind of tears, let alone the deluge you subjected me to?”
I shook my head. I’d no idea but it certainly hadn’t been recently.
“So you’ll think about what I’m saying?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Good. Now, this might be completely your idea of hell, but Fenton is putting together a table for the Hunt Ball next Friday. Why don’t you come with us? He pressed me to come last year but I said no. But, you know, maybe we could both do with a night out. It could be your going-away party. Maybe Harry might come and you could even ask Dawn if you like – might be a good chance to cheer her up too.”
“Who’ll mind the kids?”
“My mother said she’d take them to hers for the weekend. Come on, apparently it’s a very glamorous occasion.”
“I won’t know anyone.”
“You’ll know me, and Harry, and Tara.”
Ah, Tara. Of course.
“Let me think about it.” The last thing I felt like doing at the moment was dressing up and going to a party. Though the competitive streak in me was poking its head up, whispering about being a good opportunity to show these country bumpkins the real Holly Green.
“I’ll take that as a yes but, while I have you, there is one other thing you could do for me.”
His look of embarrassment unnerved me.
“What?”I asked.
“Well, it’s our debtors’ list. You see, we’re owed quite a bit but we just don’t have the time to chase our debtors. Now, not that I’m saying that you’ve masses of free time, but you seem to have a bit of a business head on you, and you’d definitely scare them.”
“I beg your pardon?” I couldn’t help but be indignant at what he’d implied.
“Oh come on, that can’t be the first time you’ve been called scary!”
“I am not scary!”
“Holly Green, you are singularly the scariest woman I have ever met – how have you not noticed that I’m terrified of you?”
“You are terrified of me!” I laughed aloud. “You’re hardly brimming with good humour and positivity yourself, Mr Fielding!”
When I found myself batting my eyelashes, it hit me – there was no escaping the fact that I was flirting.
With Mark Fielding.
I mean, it was almost four in the morning, I’d no make-up on, no fancy clothes, and none of my lines had been rehearsed for hours beforehand . . .
But it was definitely flirting.
And it actually felt okay.
“I am a vet, Ms Green. If I liked humans, I would have become a doctor.”
I grinned at him. “And I’m an auditor, Mr Fielding. If I liked humans I’d have –”
“Got a job minding children?” he finished for me, one eyebrow arched, a smirk on his lips.
He was flirting back!
“Touché!” I murmured. “But speaking of said children, I really should go back to bed – I doubt they’ll be too understanding about this early-morning rendezvous at seven o’clock when they expect me to start tending to their every need.”
“Yes,” he sighed, looking at his watch, “I’ve to be on the gallops in exactly three hours.”
“Good point.”
“Yes.”
We looked at each other, neither seeming to know what to say next.
So I got up.
“You’ll think about what I asked?” he said hurriedly.
“The bad-debts thing? Of course I’ll do it – I’ll start tomorrow.”
“No, not that – well, that too, but the other . . .”
“The ball?”
“No – the staying. I mean, you’ll think about staying. Will you?” Now he was standing too, and for a moment I saw a younger Mark, so like Jamie when he wanted something, almost hopping from foot to foot with anxiety.
And, just like I’d say to Jamie, I said, “I’ll see, Mark, I’ll see.”
And with that we went to bed.
Chapter 45
Despite my complete lack of sleep the night before, byhalf nine the next morning I was pounding on Dawn’s front door. All the curtains in the house were still closed and there was no sign of life.
“Dawn, it’s Holly. Let me in!”
After a few minutes the door opened. Even poor Amber stepped back in fright at the sight of Dawn, who looked even worse than she had yesterday. She was in her dressing gown, clearly hadn’t showered and looked wretched. More worrying, I could hear Daniel roaring in his room.
“Oh Dawn!” I sighed. “Come on, let’s get you sorted.”
I manhandled her into the kitchen and stuck on the kettle. Then I brought Amber into the sitting room, plonked her on the cream couch and found a children’s channel with non-stop cartoons to keep her busy. Before leaving the room I tugged open the huge curtains and opened a window. The whole house smelled musty and stale.
I strode back into the kitchen and sat in front of Dawn.
“Where’s Graham?”
“He’s at work now,” she said. “But I wouldn’t let him in last night. I don’t know where he went.”
“Okay. Fair enough. Look, I want you to listen to me, Dawn.”
She looked at me, tears welling up in her eyes again.
“I want you to go upstairs and have a shower and get dressed. Moping around in a dressing gown is not going to work. You are going to put on some make-up too. I’m going to bring Daniel down, dress him and feed him. Then we are all going out for a walk. We’re going to go for coffee and we’re going to figure out what you need to do. Okay?”
“I can’t,” she whispered, the tears overflowing.
“Yes, you can. One step at a time. As soon as we have a plan, you’ll feel better. Trust me. Can you do that?”
She nodded.
“Right, up to the shower. I’m going to grab Daniel.”
We went upstairs where she reluctantly headed for her bedroom. Upstairs looked nearly worse than downstairs – there were puddles of laundry everywhere and again every window and curtain was closed.
I sighed. I needed to work quickly. Scooping up a distraught Daniel and propping him on one hip, I swung open his curtains and opened his window.
“Now that’s better, isn’t it?”
He looked up at me with giant sad eyes. Poor little soul, I thought, it’s not your fault that everything is such a mess. I brought him downstairs, pausing first to listen outside Dawn’s bedroom door, where to my relief I could hear the shower going.
Amber was mercifully well-behaved and still engrossed in the cartoons and, by the time Dawn came back downstairs, I had Daniel fed and changed and on his play mat. I’d also raced around the house, opening curtains and windows and scooping up all the dirty washing. I’d one wash on and another waiting and the dishwasher was loaded.
“Hey!” I said when Dawn walked quietly into the kitchen. “You look much better.”
“I can’t go out Holly,
really, I can’t. I just can’t face anyone.” She looked at me with her giant sad blue eyes and for a minute I thought she was going to cry again.
“Okay. No problem. But you are going to let me cook you something to eat, and you’re going to sit down and eat it while I fly up and change your sheets. Then we’re going to have a chat, get our plan together and I’ll take Daniel for the day while you go back to bed.”
To my surprise she just nodded and sat down. Within minutes I’d rustled up an omelette and two giant mugs of tea and I sat down with her while she ate slowly and with difficulty – but she ate.
At last she pushed her plate away.
“Right, Dawn,” I said, “I want you to take a deep breath and tell me everything you know.”
At my words, fresh tears started to spill down her cheeks. I handed her a square of kitchen roll.
“Her name is Nicola and it’s been going on for about six months,” she finally managed.
“How do you know all this?”
“Well, he went to London on Friday afternoon, and when I went to phone him that evening, I noticed he left his phone behind.” Her mouth broke into a crooked sneer. “The fool! I mean, it’s such a cliché, isn’t it? Anyhow I worried that he’d think he’d lost it in the airport and be going crazy trying to find it so I rang Charles, the colleague he was in London with – sorry – the colleague he was meant to be in London with – but he knew nothing about the trip. Which just didn’t add up. Anyhow, I had the phone, and God forgive me but I’ve read enough books and watched enough silly TV to know that it mightn’t be a bad idea to go through it. Bingo! I could read his emails and everything. He hadn’t tried hard to hide anything really. He must think I’m a complete gobshite.”
“So what are you going to do?”
She shrugged. “Well, that’s just it. I don’t know, do I? I mean,” she gulped, clearly trying not to break down again, “what do I do? I wouldn’t let him in when he got home last night, so God only knows where he is now. He’s been trying to phone but I haven’t had the energy to talk to him. What would you do?”
Oh crap, was I totally the wrong person to answer that question!
I sighed. “I don’t know, Dawn, I really don’t. But either way you’ll have to talk to him eventually. No point in doing it when you’re so tired though, so let me do your bed, then you get into it for a few hours and I’ll take Daniel to Mark’s with me.”
“What if he comes back while you’re gone?”
Before I got a chance to answer, her phone beeped with a text message.
“It’s him,” she said, looking at it. “He wants to come home tonight, to talk.”
“Okay. So what do you want to do?”
“I don’t know!” She started to cry again.
“Right, well, I think you should let him. I’ll hang onto Daniel and that might let him see you mean business. You’re going to have to talk to him sometime.”
She nodded.
“Now go and pack me a bag for Daniel while I do your sheets and then you must get to bed – you look like you haven’t slept in a week. Then I’ll head with the kids.”
I pottered around for a while after she went upstairs to make sure she was asleep before I left. Then, packing up the two children, I headed down the street to Mark’s.
“Oh my, don’t you have your hands full today.”
As always Bernadette Foley was hanging around near her front door.
“Hi, Mrs Foley, yes, lots of children today!”
“Nothing wrong with poor Dawn, I hope?”
“Oh no, Mrs Foley, but everyone needs a break sometime, don’t they?”
“I suppose,” she sniffed, peeved that I wasn’t giving her more information. “After all, poor Emma needed more rest than most, didn’t she?”
I paused, my key almost in the door. “I wouldn’t know, Mrs Foley. I wasn’t here then, remember?” My voice was sharp, but I was wondering what she meant.
“Oh well, I remember poor Teresa Murphy was worn out minding those children. I mean, I used to say to her that it was ridiculous, them with a perfectly good mother and father of their own.”
“Really.” I was torn between getting away from this awful woman and finding out more.
“Oh yes, but I was told in no uncertain terms to mind my own business! But I’m telling you, sick or not, that pair took some advantage of Teresa all the same.”
“Sick?”
“Oh, I’ve said too much now. Anyway, what does it matter now, sure didn’t God take her when he wanted in the end. All that worrying on Teresa’s part couldn’t do much about that, could it?”
I’d heard enough.
“Bye now, Mrs Foley.”
I really hadn’t the energy for this today. Not alone had I an extra child to look after, I really wanted to get stuck into ringing the list of debtors Mark had left for me that morning.
And I had plans for the evening . . . in the form of a Christmas tree I had ordered earlier that morning.
It wasn’t a vast list, but some of the amounts and the length of time they’d been owing, were incredible. Mark had written notes in the margin as to the various disputes or other matters that might be delaying payment. I suspected that most, as with the majority of outstanding accounts I’d worked with, simply required a few timely reminders from a different voice in order to prompt payment.
As soon as I got Amber immersed in a jigsaw and Daniel down for a nap, I made a coffee and sat down with the phone.
I eased myself in gently with a few non-contentious-looking accounts.
An hour later I decided to call it a day. It had been relatively successful: three didn’t answer their phones, two promised a cheque, and four promised to pay but looked for discounts. I’d knew have to discuss the discount element with Mark later, so I promised to phone them back.
Before I tidied up, I scanned the list one last time to see who I might phone after lunch. One particular account caught my eye, mostly because it was such a large amount of money.
New Trafford Stud, Maynooth, Co. Kildare
Amount: 15,899
Outstanding: 120 days
I looked at the clock then, casting a quick glance at Daniel who was only just starting to stir, I picked up the phone and dialled the number.
“’Ello?” a voice with a thick Dublin accent answered.
“Hi, this is Raven’s Hill Veterinary Clinic – to whom am I speaking?”
“Never mind who I am, what the fuck do you want?”
And then, with a crashing heart, I realised exactly who I was speaking to.
Chapter 46
“Not that way, Daddy!” Jamie shrieked as Mark deliberately hung the giant Santa upside down.
“Daddy, no!” Amber giggled.
I smiled at them all. This was exactly how I’d imagined this scene. The children’s faces were alight both with joy and the sparkle of the lights of the newly erected Christmas tree. They ran from the bundle of decorations to the tree and back over and over again, only stopping to gaze at the fat Santas on the mantelpiece that I’d purchased while in Newbridge with Dawn the week before and the giant rosy-red stockings that hung below. I almost felt sorry that Daniel, asleep in his buggy in the hall, was missing all the excitement.
“I still think this is ridiculously early.” Mark shook his head at the festive chaos around him.
“Bah, humbug!” I teased, poking his arm gently.
“Seriously, Holly, I’m a last-minute-Christmas-Eve kind of guy – this is madness.”
My smile faded for a second as I remembered my real reason for the early preparations. No matter what happened I wasn’t going to be here Christmas Eve, and I’d really just wanted to see the children’s faces when the tree went up.
“If that tree dies, you’ll be the one putting up another one!” Now it was Mark’s turn to tease me, as if sensing my sudden change of mood.
“I’ll water it,” I smiled, trying to shake off my moment of gloom. Tonight was not the night
for it.
Anyway, I was glad I’d twisted his arm. The kids were ecstatic although I may have pushed the boat out a bit far with the preparations. Already there were presents under the tree and every now and again Jamie would re-examine the labels to see whose was the biggest. And Amber, poor little Amber, was just mesmerised by the whole experience. Her little arms reached up to the decorations and she had a strand of tinsel wound around her chubby little fist.
I gazed in happiness around the room and then felt Mark’s arm around me.
“Thanks,” he said.
“It’s – it’s fine,” I stuttered, my face almost as red as the stockings.
“No, seriously, they’re thrilled, and I’m not so sure I could have – well, you know, done this myself.”
His arm was still around me and for a moment I leaned my head against his shoulder.
“They deserve it,” I said quietly.
“Yes. It’s just a pity you won’t be –”
“Mark, don’t.” I moved away from his arm and went to start tidying up some of the empty boxes.
“Sorry, it’s just – forget it.”
“What’s wrong, Daddy?” Jamie looked up.
“Absolutely nothing!” I interrupted gaily. “Now, who’s for hot chocolate and marshmallows!”
“Us!” the two of them screeched in unison and Mark looked at me, relieved.
I smiled back at him, glad the tense moment had passed, and then without thinking went to the window again to peep through the curtains.
“Is his car still there?” he asked, smiling.
“I don’t know what you mean.” I blushed again.
“Don’t think I haven’t seen you peeping out those curtains all night.”
I had to laugh. He was right. In between all our decorations chaos, I’d been stealing glances through the window at Dawn’s house, to see if Graham had gone yet.
“Guilty as charged,” I sighed, “but I’m just worried about her.”
“Well, at least they’re talking.” Mark shrugged.
“Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing,” I muttered.
“So you think she should kick him to touch?”
Between You and Me Page 29