“Em, eh, thank you.” Annabel wondered who the stranger was.
“Hi! I’m new to this market but I saw you last week,” he said lifting the box from the back seat of the jeep.
“I’ve only been doing this a couple of weeks myself.” Annabel blushed.
“Gary’s the name, by the way,” he said.
“I’m Annabel, Annabel Hamilton.”
“What’s your speciality Annabel?”
“Humus and dips. I started doing quiches recently and they’re a great success.”
“Nice, I’m smoothies and shakes.”
Annabel wasn’t surprised. He was amazingly cool and equally smooth. The two walked over to her patch of the market.
“I have to admit I love smoothies.”
“I’ll drop you over one later! Are you a creamy banana kind of girl or something more passionate with strawberries and raspberries?”
Annabel couldn’t hide the naughty smile that was developing across her face.
“Why don’t you choose?”
“I just know the morning is going to fly by while I work that one out!”
“See you later then.”
“You will indeed.” He put her box of humus onto the market stall and walked off slowly, looking back every now and again and giving a little wave. Annabel saw him disappear into a bright orange van with fruit painted all over it.
The morning did pass briskly and Annabel found it difficult not to peek over every now and again at Gary in his fruity van. He couldn’t be more than about thirty-five and he gave the impression that he was single. Annabel thought she probably gave off that impression too. She wasn’t used to flirting with men. Was it because she was single now that men noticed her more? Or was it because she had a newfound confidence that came from breaking her attachment to Colin? Either way, life was certainly becoming more interesting.
When Gary did finally come over with a large pink-coloured smoothie in his hand Annabel felt her heart beat a little bit faster. He had put a stripy straw and fresh raspberry on the side.
“Hello again!”
“Is that my smoothie?”
“Yes, but don’t tell anyone else about it. It’s made from a very special recipe – it’s top secret. I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you!”
“Top Gun!” Annabel exclaimed.
“Very good. I like a girl who knows her movies.”
“You don’t look old enough to be a Top Gun fan!”
“How old do you think I am?”
“Thirty-five tops.”
“You’ve made my day,” he said with a grin. “I’m forty-one.”
Annabel was impressed. She discretely looked at his left hand but there was no sign of a wedding band.
“So, do you do all the markets or just this one?”
“I started out with the Pheonix Park market and then I did Malahide and before I knew it I was addicted. Gave up the fulltime job in UTA insurance and I can come and go as I please. The fruit’s easier to work with.”
Annabel laughed. She couldn’t picture this guy in a regular job.
“By the way you wouldn’t have Sean Doonan’s number would you? I seem to have lost it and need to settle up my rent.”
“Sure,” she said, taking her phone out of her pocket. “I’ll text it to you. What’s your number?”
She tapped his details into her phone and sent the text.
“You’re a star. That’s worth another smoothie next week!”
“Maybe even a shake?” she said flirtingly.
“Maybe a smooth shake!”
He walked off slowly, looking back every now and again. The market was full of pleasant surprises. She hoped she hadn’t seen the last of Gary.
* * *
“Safe journey,” Damien said giving Kate a big hug at the departure gates. “Look after your mum, boys.”
Ciaran looked up from his Gameboy and gave a nod. David was listening to his ipod intently and hadn’t even heard his grandfather.
“I’ll see you in September,” Kate assured her father. “Are you sure you don’t mind flying over so soon?”
“The past couple of months have cured me of my fear of flying – life’s too short. I want to see as much as possible of you and the boys from now on.”
Kate wrapped her arms around her father’s shoulders warmly. This had been the hardest trip home of her life. Everything had changed. She had lost her mother, a mother it now seemed she never really knew. And her father wasn’t who she thought he was either. One thing for certain, the bond and love between them was stronger than ever.
“Thanks, Dad. Are you going to be okay on your own?”
Kate had mentioned the unthinkable. She could read his mind. It had been hanging over Damien like a heavy fog since his daughter started to pack her bags for her return to France.
“I’ll be fine, honestly. You’re only a couple of hours away. Don’t worry about me!”
Damien ruffled the heads of his grandsons and gave Kate a peck on the cheek, then stood back and watched as his family walked through security. Then he solemnly made his way to pay for his parking space. The airport was a depressing place after saying goodbye. He couldn’t stand the thought of going home. The house was going to be very lonely – it was much too big for one man. He might sell up and move into one of the apartments he had built recently. The Oaks in Howth were nice.
* * *
Shane had to get his act together. He needed somewhere to live. Rob had been very good letting him stay in his apartment in Swords but it was too small and the scruffy first officer didn’t rate hygiene high on his list of priorities. He had got used to living on the Southside of the city but secretly missed the Northside and it was nice to be back. Rob’s place was much more convenient for work. For the time being a move back to familiar territory did seem like a good idea. But could he stand seeing all the familiar places that reminded him of Kate everyday of the week?
He took out the property section of the Irish Times and breezed through the lists of new properties on show at the weekend. A small development of apartments on Howth beach caught his eye – built by Carlton developers. He couldn’t let that stop him going to see them at least. He looked at his watch. It was open to the public until five o’clock today. He had plenty of time to see them before his overnight in Köln.
He folded the newspaper and settled into the seat of his BMW. The day was warm enough to leave the roof off and he drove with the radio blaring along the coast road past Raheny. He had to get over Kate once and for all. He had to get his own life back on track.
His car seemed to know exactly where it was going. Even the scenery he past on the way made him feel as though he was finally going home.
A slim girl in a black business suit and severely tied blonde-hair stood outside the show apartment with a batch of brochures resting in the crook of her arm. She smiled a dazzling set of white teeth at Shane as he approached.
“Hello, would you like a brochure?” she asked, holding out a shiny magazine.
“Thank you.”
“We only have four units left and one of them is the show apartment.”
Shane took the brochure from her and smiled as he walked through the door. He took a quick look at the guiding prices – they weren’t cheap. He could realistically only afford the one-bedroom on the second floor. The two-bedroom would stretch his salary too much if he kept the payments up on Natasha’s cottage as well. He could of course try to sell the cottage but he didn’t want to cause Natasha anymore distress or upset than he already had.
The show apartment was stunning. The furniture was an eclectic mix of different woods and leathers that gave the apartment a natural feel as he looked out the window at the wonderful views of the beach. The show apartment was way out of his reach but he consoled himself that he didn’t need three bedrooms anyway.
“Can I see the one-bedroom by any chance?”
“It’s not officially on view but if you are really interes
ted I could give you a quick peek,” the estate agent said.
“That would be great, thanks.”
The blonde girl led him up a flight of stairs but assured him that the lifts would all be working within the next week. The minute he walked through the doors of the apartment he knew that he was home – a refuge in the middle of all the chaos in his life. He walked over to the huge window that looked out onto Burrow Beach. He could clearly see the spot that he and Kate had sat only a couple of months earlier. He could wake to that view every morning.
He turned to the blonde-girl who had started to look at her watch.
“I’ll take it,” he said.
“Don’t you want to see the bedroom?” she said with surprise. The apartment certainly didn’t have the best view in the complex and the bedroom was tiny.
“Okay, but I’ve made my mind up,” he assured her.
“Fine,” the pretty blonde said. “I’ll pop downstairs and get the paperwork.”
Shane knew that this was where he was meant to be. There was something about this place that drew him like a magnet. Was he hankering after the past? He couldn’t pretend that he was over Kate. How could he possibly be when he thought about her now more than ever? Then he walked over to the window and tried to picture Kate sitting in the sunshine on the sand.
* * *
Kate felt strange as the plane descended into Toulouse airport. She didn’t get the usual tingle of excitement on touching French soil. She had come to enjoy the lifestyle in Ireland that was once so familiar to her. She liked Clontarf and she would miss her father sorely.
Fabian was waiting in the arrivals hall. Pristine and pampered like a turkey-cock. He waved wildly once he spotted Kate and the boys.
“Cherie,” he called. “Come to me Kate, I have missed you too much. How are you boys?”
He tapped them both on the heads and they grunted at him. He was something of an oddity to them and they couldn’t quite make out what was so different about him. He threw his arms dramatically around Kate and she kissed him affectionately on both cheeks.
“Thanks Fabian,” she said as he took the trolley from her. “How are you?”
“We have been, how you say…? Plodding along, doing our French thing. Joy and Simon are opening a B&B and my cousin is going to jail for dealing in narcotics but apart from that you have missed nothing.”
“Oh dear!”
“It’s okay, I don’t like him much. Now tell me, how was your mother’s funeral?”
“It went very well I suppose.” She sighed. “For a funeral!”
“And how is your father?”
“I have so much to tell you Fabian but maybe we can wait until we are at home,” she said nodding at the boys.
Fabian understood but wondered just what more shocking news Kate could possibly have.
It wasn’t until a couple of hours later with her sons absorbed in front of a computer game that Kate got a chance to talk to Fabian privately.
He poured himself a generous glass of red wine and placed a fresh glass of Perrier in front of Kate.
“So, tell me about Dublin!” He leaned forward across the kitchen table – all ears with interest.
“Fabian I don’t know where to start.”
“What about Shane – how is your great love?”
“Fabian I finished with him. I had to. I had to do what is best for him and Natasha.”
Fabian frowned. “What about what is best for you?”
“I just don’t know anymore! Caring for someone you love and watching them die is the hardest thing I ever had to do.”
Fabian nodded. “I can only imagine.”
“But the thing that really gets me is how little I knew about her life and the feelings that she had. Now that she’s gone I don’t have a chance to talk to her about them.” Kate thumped the table with her fist. “I can’t believe some of the things she didn’t tell me.”
“Par example?”
“This has been very hard for me to deal with but after cleaning out her personal belongings I found a box of letters from an old lover.”
Fabian raised his brows but said nothing.
“It turns out she had a long-distance love affair for over twenty years.”
Fabian’s expression gave nothing away.
“There’s more,” said Kate heavily. “That man Liam is my biological father.”
Fabian took a sharp intake of breath.
Kate nodded. “So that was something else that I had to deal with – of course I couldn’t let Damien see how upset I was with the news. I still feel he is absolutely my father but I am curious about Liam.”
“Why don’t you try to meet him?” Fabian said eagerly.
“Because, I’m scared. But believe me I’ve been thinking about it!”
Chapter 18
Annabel was all fingers and thumbs. She fixed her hair into a ponytail and then took it out again. She hadn’t been out to dinner on her own with another man since before she met Colin. Her little black dress was perfect for this evening and the Audrey Hepburn styling was very ‘this season’.
“Tell me again, why are you meeting Damien Carlton?” Lily asked.
“I told you Mum, he has a business proposition. I’m going to open a coffee shop.”
Annabel could see her mother shaking her head in the reflection of the mirror in front of her.
“I wish you’d have more faith in me,” she said turning around to face Lily.
“I don’t know what has got into you Annabel. Colin rang me earlier today and is keen to patch things up. Sam is in an awful state and Rebecca is wetting the bed.”
“Please don’t make it any more difficult than it already is for me Mum.”
“I just don’t understand.”
Annabel felt sorry for her mother. She was from a different time when it was alright for a woman to stay in a loveless marriage, under her husband’s shadow – for many women today it was still enough. If she patched things up with Colin she would be back to square one. It was only now that she was away from him that she realised how much he undermined her confidence. He treated her like hired help when he wanted a particular shirt ironed or something else done and he was never around to give the children any time. That was why she was so frustrated with Sam. She was the one who had stood at the sidelines on the cold winter mornings when he played his rugby matches. She was the one who had brought him and his friends to the movies and she felt she was getting no support back in return. But he was just a child, she had to remember, and this was part of the grieving process that kids go through when their parents split up. Annabel wanted more from life and she was determined to do something about it.
“I’ll be back about twelve I’d imagine,” she said as she sprayed some Prada on her neck and picked up her little black handbag.
“I’ll stay the night,” Lily said.
“Thanks, Mum,” Annabel said, as she gave her mother a kiss on the cheek.
She dashed down the stairs, slamming the door behind her and jumped into her jeep. Two minutes later she was parking outside Aqua.
The waiter took her embroidered jacket as she arrived in the foyer of the impressive restaurant. “This way, Madam,” he said bringing her over the window where Damien was already sitting at a round table covered with a crisp linen tablecloth.
Damien jumped up as she approached and tried to stop his eyes from scanning the body of this beautiful woman. He was dressed in a pale blue shirt and chino jeans with a brown leather belt. He seemed more tanned than usual. When Annabel reached him he planted a polite kiss on her cheek.
“Hi Damien,” she said with a smile. The evening had a feeling of pleasure and ease about it before it even started.
“Hi Annabel, you look lovely.”
“Thank you.” She replied graciously. A tingle of excitement shot through her as she realised that she really was out for the evening with Damien. The man she had dreamed about for most of her young life and much of her adult life. She had
to pinch herself to remember that he was only recently widowed and she must not read into this as anything more than a business meeting.
She sat and the waiter handed her a large brown leather menu.
“The view is spectacular, isn’t it?” she said, looking out at the twinkling lights from the village and fishing boats reflecting on the water.
“I love it here.” He nodded.
The setting was beautiful, the scene perfect for a couple who were once attracted to each other to rekindle their feelings but Annabel felt awkward and painfully aware of Betty’s presence hanging over them.
“How have you been?”
Damien swallowed and put the closed menu down on the table. “Honestly?”
Annabel nodded.
“I’m lost and lonely. Kate cleaned out Betty’s things and gave them to the St Vincent de Paul. I wish she hadn’t but it was under Betty’s instructions.
“Has Kate gone back to France?” Annabel desperately wanted to hear news of her friend.
“She went yesterday.”
“How is she?” Annabel leaned forward on her elbows hanging on his reply.
“She’s well, considering,” he paused for a moment. “Actually she has a bit of news. It came as a shock – she’s pregnant.”
Annabel was taken aback. “When? How?”
“Apparently it was some chap she met when she was in Biarritz.”
“Brett?” Annabel’s mouth dropped open.
“Was that his name?”
Annabel nodded. “What’s she going to do? Has she tried to contact him?” She wondered how she would find him as it seemed he trekked around the world.
“She said there’s no point in contacting this fellow. She is all over the place, Annabel. I don’t think she has thought any of this through. I mean she already has the boys to look after and she’s on her own now.”
Annabel nodded. She found it difficult coming to terms with life on her own since Colin had moved out. Strange that for the first time in their lives she and Kate were in difficult situations. It was such a pity that they didn’t have each other for help and support anymore.
Two Days in Biarritz Page 23