She was about to protest again at his assuming she was free but seeing the candid expression of desire in his eyes knew that there was nothing that she would let interfere with seeing him again in a few hours’ time.
‘Till tonight then.’
She smiled to herself, wondering how she would get through work, willing the hours to pass and the day to end so she could be with Mark.
Chapter Fifty-eight
Oscar Lynch went through the gentle exercises the hospital’s physiotherapist had shown him. Little by little his strength and mobility was returning. The pain of arthritis in his hip no longer gripped him and he could sleep comfortably in his own bed. Coming home was the best thing ever and having Irina to help had been a godsend. It felt good to have a woman in the house again and he knew Elizabeth would approve of the sparkling china and glass on the sideboards and in the cabinets and the freshly laundered cushion covers, bedspreads and household linens that Irina provided.
She was a wonderful girl and he enjoyed helping her with her English, encouraging her to attend classes and improve her ability to speak her new language. She in turn was teaching him a few words in her complicated native tongue so that when he was back on his feet and out and about in Dublin’s restaurants and shops and bars he could exchange a few words with her countrymen in their own tongue.
The house was filled with music as Irina listened to the radio and sang as she worked in the kitchen baking fresh bread and cakes and concocting nourishing soups and casseroles to feed him up as if he were a child. Already he had put on three kilos! Every day she made him dress up and go out for a little walk, helping him negotiate the steps and stairs and getting him to the street corner and then the park and then right around the park. Having Irina was better than having nurses and carers as with her bright smile and blue eyes she encouraged him constantly to get better.
The neighbours had been more than attentive, Maggie dropping in regularly and Gerry Byrne bringing him down to the pub for a drink. The young Scot Angus called in and had played chess with him, kindly letting him win and promising a rematch next week. He had his newspapers, the TV, the radio but now with Irina living in the cosy flat in the basement he had something more. He no longer felt lonely.
He enjoyed her company and often they would watch soap operas together or those complicated medical murders that were solved by genius forensic examiners. Whenever her friends called, Irina always introduced him and chatting to them he found it interesting to see how this new community was making its way in Ireland. One young caller was more persistent than the rest and it was clear that the Polish plumber Adam who had come to fix their immersion heater was falling for Irina – and who could blame him? Night after night the young man sat in his kitchen talking to the girl or they played music and laughed down in the basement flat.
It was good to hear the music and young people laughing and in love in the old house. Perhaps someday Irina and this young man would marry; property prices in Dublin were outrageous, far too expensive for young couples to find a home, and yet here below him there was a perfect home for a couple, for children too. He found himself thinking of children playing on the landing, on the stairs, in the garden. Elizabeth would have liked that. Perhaps a simple visit to the solicitor with regard to his will and everything would be in order. He smiled thinking about the future, this house and the correct thing to do.
Chapter Fifty-nine
Myles had phoned Maggie to invite her to a jazz night in the Pavilion Theatre. Leo had hated jazz but she had always had a fondness for it and, taking a deep breath, Maggie had accepted. His voice had sounded hesitant on the phone and she knew it had taken courage for him to ask her out.
She had phoned Kitty, like a basket case, demanding her sister come over immediately to discuss if she was doing the right thing, and if she did go ahead and meet Myles Sweeney what she should wear!
Kitty was dieting for the wedding and had drunk three mugs of black coffee as they had talked the situation through.
‘You’re not agreeing to marry the man or have sex with him!’ her sister argued, putting everything in context. ‘You’re just friends who happen to be different sexes going along to a night in the theatre.’
Then Kitty had sat on the bed and watched as Maggie pulled on tops and skirts, suits and trousers, trying to decide what would suit for the occasion.
‘The black trousers, the cream shirt and your little cream jacket!’ her sister decided.
The day before the outing, racked with guilt, Maggie had almost cancelled, imagining the spectre of Leo haunting her as she sat down with Myles and tried to listen to the music, but after a night’s sleep she had decided that Leo would not have wanted her to be lonely and would certainly not have begrudged her a bit of male companionship.
Since Myles was collecting her at home she decided to tell Sarah so it wouldn’t be too much of a shock if she bumped into him on the doorstep.
‘Is that the lovely man you met at the spa?’
‘Yes,’ she gulped, feeling like a sixteen-year-old as Sarah took in her guilty expression. ‘Don’t say anything,’ she begged her daughter. ‘It’s simply two friends having a night out.’
The small theatre was packed but they had wonderful seats up near the front where they were able to see and hear perfectly as the musicians played their hearts out. They went through all the jazz classics with the sound of the bass and rhythm guitar getting everyone going and itching to dance or move in their seats. Myles’s large frame and feet were tapping to the music too.
They bumped into Fran and Liam during the break and Fran could barely disguise her surprise when Maggie introduced Myles. The four of them arranged to go for a drink in the pub across the street afterwards. Driving her home at midnight Myles revealed how much he had enjoyed the night and she had to agree with him. It felt good to be a sort of couple! They had sat chatting in the front of his Jaguar and she had simply held his hand when they said goodnight, arranging to meet up again the following week to try out a restaurant that they had both heard was great.
Chapter Sixty
The Pleasant Square Residents’ Association had organized their annual End-of-Summer Barbecue on the last Saturday in August. Maggie Ryan insisted that Mark McGuinness should be included, even though he was technically not a resident yet because he did own a house on the square, and of course her tenant Angus Hamilton.
The committee, which included Gerry Byrne and Maggie’s long-time neighbours Jim and Sheila Flannery and Hugh and Liz Grogan, had organized the loan of barbecues and parasols, tables and chairs from the residents. Hugh’s son Dylan, who was in a band, had been hijacked with a few of his mates into helping set up the music and speakers and lights with the promise of unlimited burgers later on. Garden lamps were placed around the park and a red and yellow bouncy castle loomed temptingly through the trees.
The Saturday was clear and warm and one hundred potatoes wrapped in tin foil were baking in Maggie Ryan’s oven. Sarah had made four trays of chicken wings and a huge tomato and onion salad. Evie picked up on the excitement as she watched neighbours start to make their way to the park.
‘Will Granny come on the bouncing castle too?’ she asked.
‘No,’ giggled Sarah, ‘but I’m sure Grace and Anna and Angus will.’
Grace pulled on a pair of cut-off cream cotton trousers and a pale green T-shirt, grabbing sunglasses and a cardigan just in case it got chilly later in the evening. She couldn’t miss the square’s barbeque! She’d been going ever since she was a kid. Mark was coming too. He’d told her he had to take care of something first but would join her there.
Anna and Rob had come to Dublin for the weekend as Anna wanted to move the rest of her books, clothes and knickknacks from her rented house in Dodder Row to Roundstone, so her mother had roped them into coming along and travelling back to Connemara tomorrow. Anna, to everyone’s shock, was taking a year out of Trinity and had signed on for five hours a week lecturing in UCG in Galway. A
few more hours’ work tutoring or teaching and she should be able to survive.
Anna was wearing a pretty multicoloured skirt which clung to her hips and showed off her tall figure; with her brown hair held back with a band of green ribbon she looked amazing, relaxed and laughing as she paraded Rob around for all the neighbours to meet.
The square was starting to fill up when they arrived and the noise of laughter echoed through the summer’s air. Her mother was sitting over at a table with Sheila Flannery, mother of the gorgeous Clodagh, and a few women friends; Gerry Byrne was on duty at the barbecue along with Hugh Grogan and Oliver Crowley, who had moved to the square five years ago, and the smell of chicken and burgers and sausages cooking filled the air.
‘God I’m starving!’ announced Grace, laughing as she placed the Greek salad she’d made on the big gingham-covered buffet table.
‘Let’s go and say hello to Mum and Sarah,’ Anna said.
Their mother waved at them and introduced them as her ‘beautiful daughters’. Sheila and all the friends said hello. Oscar was sitting holding court on a proper wooden garden chair wearing a panama hat and his striped linen blazer.
‘I’m on one crutch now,’ he said proudly as Helen Byrne topped up his glass.
‘I brought some wine and a few beers too,’ Grace said. ‘Where should I put them?’
‘In the red cool box near the table. There’s a load of ice in it.’
She grabbed a glass of wine and Anna took a can of beer as they strolled over to join Sarah and a gang of friends. Angus was with her sister.
‘God, those two are mad about each other,’ hissed Anna. ‘They make such a perfect couple.’
‘Sshh,’ warned Grace. ‘He’s exactly the kind of guy Sarah needs.’
‘Hello to the pretty ladies,’ Declan Byrne welcomed Grace, kissing her warmly on the cheek.
‘You didn’t call us that a few years ago when you were holding us hostage in the trees over there,’ she joked.
‘We were only playing pirates,’ he reminded her.
Three of the Byrne boys were present, all well built and sturdy like their father.
Matthew the eldest introduced them to his wife Christine who was expecting at the end of September; Barry and his girlfriend Melinda showed off their son Daniel who was fast asleep in the buggy.
‘Your dad is doing a great job cooking, I see,’ commented Anna.
‘It’s a laugh,’ Barry confided, lowering his voice, ‘Dad doesn’t cook a thing at home, the old dear does it all, then he comes along here and puts on his stripy apron and suddenly he’s “the chef”!’
They all clapped when Vince Flannery appeared in a pair of surfer shorts and blue and white shirt, his arm around a leggy blonde in a sundress.
‘Surf’s up!’ teased Barry.
He’d been away working in Australia for the past two years and introduced Katie, his girlfriend from Melbourne.
‘We’re staying here with the folks for a few weeks until the apartment we’ve bought in Carrickmines is ready.’
The chat was easy and they stood around listening to the music as Evie ran around with two other little girls.
‘Hey, I think we’d better make a move on the food before it’s all gone,’ suggested Rob.
Grace scanned the park looking for Mark, then joined the queue and piled her plate with a chicken breast, a burger, one of her mother’s potatoes and a load of salads. She needed a seat if she was going to eat this lot. She squeezed in at a table beside Irina and a handsome blond man, who she discovered was from Poland too.
‘Did you know that your mother introduced us?’ asked Irina. ‘Adam and I both come from Poland and yet we had to come to Dublin to meet.’
Irina had made a delicious creamy potato salad with chives and made them try it. ‘I am trying all the recipes in Oscar’s cookbooks, that way we don’t get bored having dinner,’ she explained.
Rob and Anna had gone off to get a few more cans of beer when Evie came over and grabbed Grace by the hand.
‘Please, please come on the bouncy castle with me, Auntie Grace. Mummy said you would . . .’
She glanced over. The castle was crowded with an assortment of kids bouncing like there was no tomorrow; one or two mothers were trying to hold on to smaller kids as the castle wobbled and shook.
‘OK, pet,’ she said, kicking off her cream leather sandals and jumping on to the castle. Bouncing up and down as Evie squealed and laughed with her she remembered her parents hiring a smaller one of these for her birthday party when she was about eleven or twelve. They’d had it up for two days in the back garden, herself and Anna and Sarah bouncing on it in their pyjamas before they went to bed and back up on it again first thing the next morning.
Dylan Grogan and two of his friends got on, the young college students bouncing so hard they made the kids fly off their feet. Grace grabbed hold of Evie’s hand as they were thrown around.
She glanced down at the crowd watching their antics and saw Mark McGuiness standing with a grin on his face. Ten minutes later she was out of breath and flushed and in dire need of a cool drink. Anna hopped on and took Evie’s hand so Grace could clamber off, practically falling into Mark’s arms.
‘Would you like a drink?’ asked Mark, supporting her as she fumbled to put her shoes back on.
‘Water and ice would be great, thanks,’ she said and he magically produced a glass of Ballygowan from the kids’ drinks table close by.
‘Wow, you forget how they make it look so easy,’ she laughed as she got her breath back. ‘I think I’m getting a bit beyond it.’
‘This is some party,’ he said, looking at the crowds of neighbours sitting around the tables and on rugs on the ground under the trees, candles and lamps flickering as the park got darker.
‘I’ve been coming every year since I was born.’ She smiled. ‘Everyone makes the effort to be a part of it, all the parents and kids and the older people like Oscar Lynch and of course Regina Reynolds. She lives in the house at the far end of the square with the big old glass sunroom at the side. She must be ninety and is as deaf as they come.’
‘Then I am glad to have been included in such an illustrious gathering.’
‘You live here,’ she said softly.
For a few giddy moments as she caught his eye she felt as if she was back on the bouncy castle with the air knocked out of her. She swallowed hard as he smiled at her.
‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Let me get you something a bit stronger.’
Sarah was off sitting on her own with Angus, their heads bent close together, engrossed in talking. Anna was still bouncing with Evie, skirt flying in the air, and Maggie was laughing her head off with Gerry and Helen and Oscar, knocking back another glass of wine.
‘I’ve a lovely burgundy,’ Mark offered, leading her over towards the park bench.
The wine was smooth and rich and reminded her of France.
‘Did you eat?’
‘Not yet.’
‘Come on then,’ she ordered, grabbing him a plate. ‘Before everything is gone.’
They went back up to the barbecue line, where Dylan and his friends were asking for more burgers.
‘This is your fifth!’ reminded his father, Hugh, scooping a quarter-pounder on to his paper plate.
The chicken was all gone so Mark had a piece of steak and a burger and some blackened-looking sausages, topping up with potato and a spoon or two of salad. He was wearing jeans and a fitted pale blue shirt, his body long and lean, his skin tanned as he led her back towards the bench.
‘Want one of these sausages?’ he offered.
She dipped a piece of sausage in his ketchup, her hand brushing against his; he caught it.
Every touch of his skin ignited her need for him and, embarrassed, she took a sip of her wine. This was a neighbourhood barbecue for heaven’s sake!
‘Come on and I’ll introduce you to some people,’ she said once he’d finished eating.
He was charming and polite
and fielded question after question about renovating the house as she introduced him to Gerry and Helen, Jim and Sheila Flannery, and Oscar and Regina.
‘When are you moving into that old house?’ asked Regina, craning her wizened face upwards, straightforward as usual, her piercing eyes running up and down as she assessed him.
‘I hope to move in very soon,’ he shouted, raising his voice so that the old lady could hear him. ‘Very soon.’
‘A bit of new blood will be good for the place.’ She nodded, patting his hand. Grace glanced at him, relieved that Regina liked him.
Music began to fill the air and a few people got up to dance.
‘Grace, can we dance?’ he asked, ‘Please?’
She loved dancing with him and gave in as he pulled her along by the hand. They joined the group of couples and fathers and mothers and kids on the makeshift dance area. Anna, who was dancing with Rob, raised her eyebrows when she saw them. They danced to the Beatles and Abba, Thin Lizzy and the Boomtown Rats, and as the music slowed, Mark pulled her into his arms as the voice of the man – Van Morrison – drifted over the park. She could feel his heart beating through his shirt, his skin warm against hers as he held her.
‘Grace, can we go? I want to show you something,’ he said softly, taking her by the hand. It was getting late and the neighbours were beginning to disperse, the barbecues growing cold.
They said their goodnights and slipped away on their own, Mark leading her out of the park and across the street to number 29.
A flickering trail of tea-light candles lit up the path and steps that led up to the front door.
‘It’s finally finished,’ he whispered, as he pulled the key from his pocket. Grace hesitated on the step for a minute, nervous, not sure she wanted to see the massive changes that he had wrought on the O’Connors’ old house. But then Mark put his arms around her and ushered her inside, turning on the light and closing the front door.
‘Oh, Mark!’ She gasped, taking in the utter transformation all around her. ‘It’s so beautiful.’
The Matchmaker Page 32