Two Days in Biarritz
Page 16
* * *
Two o’clock came around too soon. No amount of hairbrushing or make-up could prepare her for meeting him. The fact that she was carrying some stranger’s child put a different emphasis on her priorities. How could she tell Shane, who was willing to give up his marriage for her that she was pregnant with another man’s baby? She hadn’t a clue how she was going to approach this afternoon. When he eventually rang at the front door she felt a nervous vibration run through her body.
She threw the front-door open and her eyes met his. His mouth widened and he opened his arms. She put her head on his shoulders, feeling comfort and peace for the first since she had left him at Dublin airport. He stroked her hair gently and kissed the top of her head.
“God, I have missed you,” he whispered.
“Me too,” she sighed softly. “Take me somewhere we used to go. I need to feel young again.”
“You are still young,” he said, moving away from her slightly so he could see her eyes more clearly. “Forty is the new thirty.”
She smiled but said nothing as she took her keys and handbag.
They drove through the neatly arranged streets and avenues on the south-side of the city until they reached the picturesque town of Enniskerry. There was only one place he could be taking her.
It was early in the year and he hoped they would have the waterfall to themselves. There were no coaches lining the car park as there would be on a summer’s day. Shane parked his BMW in a corner under a tree. He turned to look at Kate but her gaze was fixed on the steady stream of foam gushing down the side of the hill. The roar of the water grew louder when she opened the car door.
“I love that sound,” she said, turning to Shane who still had his eyes firmly fixed on her.
“So do I.” He was in a daze now. The pain of the last week had dissipated. “Let’s go.”
They ambled like two teenagers afraid to get too close as they approached the pond at the bottom of the cascade. The water was crystal clear and cool.
“I wonder can you drink it?” she mused.
“I would think so, as long as you drank it before it went further downstream.”
“Come on, let’s walk along the ridge like we used to,” she beckoned.
They trod on the stepping-stones, carefully avoiding the narrow stream that carried the overflow from the pond. Kate almost slipped on some moss but Shane was close enough to grab her by the arm and save her from getting wet. They climbed the rough pathway until they were on a height overlooking the vast woodland that covered the valley. Surrounded in a sea of green they felt like Adam and Eve, free from the preying eyes and ears of the rest of the world.
“I love it here so much!” she breathed.
“Why do you think I brought you?” he grinned.
“We share something very few people ever experience, don’t we?” she declared.
“Ah, hum,” he agreed.
“Do you think it’s because you were my first love?”
“There’s lots of people marry their first love and they’re miserable,” he said shaking his head. “I think it’s more than that.”
“So do I. Do you know over the years I could often feel your presence with me? Even when I hadn’t seen you for six or seven years? It’s a strange spiritual kind of thing.”
“I know what you mean,” he nodded. “It’s like you’re always there, even when you aren’t. Why did it take us so long to find each other again?”
“Maybe the timing wasn’t right,” she hesitated. “Maybe it still isn’t.”
“Don’t say that, Kate. I’m banking on it being the right time. I know it’s not fair on Natasha but she’s young and beautiful, she’ll find someone else.”
“It’s not that,” she replied. She felt his words were flippant. Natasha was an unfortunate casualty caught up in the Shane and Kate saga.
The wind blew up, causing her hair to dance in the breeze. A few hairs stuck to her lips and Shane gently brushed them away.
“What is it, Kate?” he asked gently. “Something has happened. I can sense it, I know you too well.”
“I can’t say.”
“Is it Annabel? Is it something to do with your row? We have her to thank for getting together, remember. If I hadn’t met her on the plane from Biarritz we’d both be lost to each other still.”
“Please don’t push me, Shane.”
He folded his arm around her shoulders and she leant in against him.
“I wish we could just stay like this forever,” she sighed.
“We will be together, Kate.”
The conviction in his voice soothed her. She closed her eyes and embraced the moment. The future was as uncertain as it had always been.
* * *
Annabel stood at the gate of the school waiting for Rebecca to clamber out of the yard. Rosa had a hair appointment fixed for one o’clock and Annabel was angry that Colin had given her permission to take it on one of her allocated workdays. Rosa was very flexible though at the weekend and Annabel felt that she had to give the girl some leeway. However, the power issue with her husband had to be resolved. Colin had been making life as difficult and uncomfortable for Annabel as he possibly could since she had started the market stall.
“Annabel!” a familiar voice called over the heads of the five-year-olds that bobbed along the pathway.
“Hi, Melissa,” she smiled a wry smile. “How are you?”
“Great, absolutely fab,” she said with a jingle from the bangles on her wrist. “Listen, I have Sophie’s birthday party next Sunday and I need a favour as I’m turning it into an adult drinks party when the parents come to collect.”
Annabel knew exactly what Melissa was at. Jack Owens’ daughter was in Sophie’s and Rebecca’s class and, although he wasn’t an A list Hollywood star, he had starred in plenty of A list movies over the past decade. He was now revered as one of Ireland’s most important celebrity actors. Annabel wouldn’t say it straight out to Melissa but everyone knew he was in town and taking a rest in between movies. It would be a perfect opportunity for Melissa to hone in on him.
“Sundays aren’t great for me Melissa,” Annabel sighed. “I don’t get finished at the market until nearly six.”
Melissa’s face changed hue. A scowl appeared on her brow. “Annabel, you’re not letting a market stall take precedence over what could be the drinks party of the year in Howth!” Melissa blinked her eyes slowly, thinking that would be enough to set Annabel straight. “I need you to make some of that delicious salmon roulade and then some of those yummy salads. Enough for forty?”
Annabel knew that Melissa had no intention of paying her for this work. She might offer to contribute to the cost of the ingredients but that would be it. Then the penny dropped and she realised why she was included in Melissa’s circle of friends. She wondered why she had put up with Melissa for so long. She really disliked the woman intensely and using her daughter’s sixth birthday party to get a celebrity into her house was a perfect example of her mercenary character. What were the woman’s priorities? She had never said no to Melissa before over anything but the stall was important and she got a real kick out of it for herself.
“I’ll have to pass on it, Melissa, sorry,” she replied firmly. “I’m committed to this new enterprise and I have to see it through.”
“I thought I could rely on you, Annabel,” Melissa was incensed. “I’m really very disappointed.”
“I have commitments, as I said,” Annabel replied, even more firmly this time. Her new voice was growing stronger as she uttered each word. She was sick of being around women like Melissa and being part of their shallow lives, watching who was doing what, where and when. None of it mattered. None of them were real friends. None of them were like Kate.
Chapter 13
“Are you comfortable, Mum?” Kate asked.
Betty nodded her head. She took the bowl of soup from her daughter and sipped it slowly and carefully. She found it difficult to hold down solid fo
od anymore and was taking a morphine injection four times a day.
“The boys will be here later,”
“I’m looking forward to seeing them,” Betty croaked. Her voice was affected along with many other faculties. It was difficult to believe that only four short weeks had passed since her operation. “Have you seen Shane?”
“A couple of days ago, he’s asking for you.”
Betty nodded but didn’t smile. “How do you think your father is?”
“Don’t worry about him Mum, he’s fine!” Kate was exasperated with her mother’s concern over her father.
“He’s a good man, Damien. Make sure he’s happy when I’m gone.”
Kate wondered what had brought this on. Her mother had started the constant referencing to her father’s good qualities for some time. The fact that Kate knew he had slept with Annabel made it all the more difficult to take.
“I wouldn’t worry about him, Mum,” Kate smiled as she wiped her mother’s brow using the blue flannel cloth that lay constantly in the dish beside her bed.
* * *
Rosa tiptoed into the garage knowing that Colin was cleaning the heads of his golf clubs. He often did it on a Monday evening after playing golf at the weekend. She slid her hand around his waist and made him jump momentarily. He spun around and smiled when he saw Rosa’s dark brown eyes dancing at him.
“Where’s Annabel?”
“She has gone out to her mothers.”
“And the kids?”
“The girls are in bed and Sam is in a friend’s house.”
Colin’s mouth widened. The gaps in his teeth making him look eerie in the half light of the garage.
“How would you like to make out in a Mercedes?” he said pointing over at his car.
“Ah, ha,” Rosa nodded her head in agreement.
The next ten minutes dissolved in a flurry of underwear throwing, panting and groping. Tiny beads of sweat had formed along Colin’s shiny forehead, just above his eyebrows. He blinked twice then looked over at the passenger seat where Rosa was straightening her clothing.
“You are something else Rosa,” Colin leered. “I had no idea how much fun it would be having an au pair.”
“I like being an au pair,” she said flirtingly. “But I want to go back to Spain to study in October.”
“Oh really?” Colin was surprised. “What do you want to study?”
“Law.”
“Don’t you need good exam results from school?” Colin presumed that along with her good looks, Rosa couldn’t possibly have a brain as well.
“I have excellent results. I can study any degree but I need to find the money first.”
“How much will it cost you a year?”
Rosa put her finger up to her cheek and looked up in the air. “Including my living expenses I will need about ten-thousand per year.”
“It’s all money, that’s the way of the world,” Colin said harshly.
“Yes, Colin,” Rosa smiled. “I am glad you see it that way, because I need that money before the start of August and I was hoping you could lend it to me.”
“That’s an awful lot of money,” Colin said with a shake of his head.
“It’s not much for you. I have seen your bank accounts.”
“Have you been snooping in my study?” Colin was appalled.
“I was doing some extra dusting and cleaning for Annabel.”
Colin scowled. He could sense the change of atmosphere in the car. The pretty little au pair had turned into a cool calculating operator. This was obviously something she had planned all along.
“Are you blackmailing me Rosa?”
“Really Colin, how awful of you to say such a thing,” Rosa’s English was now perfect. It was very clear that she hadn’t come to Ireland to improve her language skills.
“What if I don’t lend you this money?”
“Annabel would be very upset…”
“I could deny it!”
Rosa took her mobile phone out of her pocket. She had expertly videoed the scene in Colin’s bedroom and his face turning purple as he reached orgasm.
“You are very clever,” he nodded his head, half in awe of the brains behind the pretty face.
“Okay, say I lend you this money. What guarantee do I have that you will stay until October?”
“I am true to my word,” she grinned.
“Well if you are staying I would like us to continue this little arrangement until you leave. If you could guarantee an evening like this three times a week, we would both be getting what we wanted.”
“Twice a week,” Rosa bargained.
Colin held his hand out and Rosa shook it faintly.
* * *
“Hey, you!” Kate smiled down the phone.
“Can you escape for an hour? I could call in on my way back from work,” Shane suggested.
“The boys are coming home today. My dad’s gone to collect them now.”
“I’d love to meet them.”
“There’s plenty of time for that Shane. Give me a day or two at least.”
“Of course,” he replied. It was getting more and more difficult living with Natasha. She was making life difficult for him. She had stopped doing any of the household chores that she used to do to try and fill her day. Instead his credit card was chock-a-block with debts from the local beauticians and boutiques. Her mother had called him on the way to work one day and lambasted him down the phone-line for upsetting her daughter. It wasn’t going to be easy, whatever he did. But Kate was his main concern. He wanted to be there for her every step of the way. He had silently considered moving to France. Airjet had a base in Toulouse and he was senior enough to request a transfer.
“I will call you as soon as we get organised, okay?” Kate didn’t want to sound too standoffish but Shane had to learn that her boys were the most important people in her life.
“Okay, byeee,” he said, trying to sound light hearted.
Kate sighed. Her condition had improved since returning to Ireland and she wasn’t suffering from morning sickness anymore. It was such a relief as it could have gone on for weeks or months. The baby was probably well settled in there and apart from the sleepy hour which usually hit around five in the evening she was having no other symptoms.
“Mummy, mummy,” two loud voices called up the stairs.
Kate dashed down to the hallway and flung her arms around her sons. She hadn’t seen them in ten weeks and they seemed to have sprung up inches in the short time.
“How are my big guys?” she asked, ruffling their smart brown haircuts with both of her hands.
“Where’s Grangran?” Ciaran asked.
“She’s upstairs but you will have to take it easy guys, she isn’t well,” Kate stood back as the boys dashed upstairs. They loved their grandmother. She always presented them with money on their arrival and it usually sufficed for the duration of their holidays.
Kate stood in the doorway of the bedroom as her sons jumped upon Betty’s bed.
“My boys, I wouldn’t know you both, look how big you have grown since Christmas.”
Betty had spent Christmas in the Pyrènees and Damien had stayed at home. Kate was glad that she had come now as it was more than likely her last.
Betty handed her grandsons fifty euros each from her tan leather bag that she kept beside the bed at all times.
“Mum, that’s too much,” chastised Kate.
“Please, humour me.” Betty’s eyes said that it would probably be the last time she would be able to give money to her grandsons and Kate felt a sudden pang of loss.
“Okay, guys, go downstairs and wash your hands, you must be starving,” Kate ordered. She stood in the doorway and smiled at her mother who smiled weakly back. Time had crept up and given her mother a sharp shock.
“Kate.”
“Yes, Mum?”
“Treasure every moment you have with those two boys. Get them out of boarding school. They will be grown before you know it.”
“You’ve become very domesticated in the few days since I was away,” she commented.
“I’m glad Betty is letting me do things, she never let me into the kitchen before in case I made a mess. It’s ironic really that now she has to.”
“Can I have some juice, granddad?” David asked as he levered himself onto a chair and tucked into his ham sandwich.
“Thanks Dad,” Kate smiled. It was the first time she had smiled at her father since Annabel had made her revelation.
Damien beamed back at his daughter, delighted to be in her good books again.
“Hey guys, do you want to go to the park?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Ciaran and David answered together, as was their habit.
“Why don’t you take a rest Kate, the nurse will be here soon?”
“No Dad, I want to come to the park with you.”
After the nurse arrived the four packed into Damien’s Saab, complete with woolly hats and overcoats and took the scenic route to St Anne’s Park.
“Mum, when are we going to see Annabel and Sam?” Ciaran asked naively. That would usually have been one of the boy’s first ports of call.
“Annabel is away darling,” she lied, watching her father’s face for a reaction. “We can go see them next time you’re over.”
“That’s not fair. I wanted to play with Sam,” the young boy sulked.
“Mum, why is Grangran in bed in the afternoon?” David asked. He was always the more sensitive half of the twins, whereas Ciaran was more interested in sport than anything else.
“Grangran is very ill. She won’t be with us next Christmas.” Kate didn’t know how to tell her sons that she was going to die soon.