“I know what you did in there,” Frankie murmured as she linked my arm and we left the shop. Gabriel and Mammy had left before us (also linking arms, I might add).
“Made a few decisions, ordered a few dresses, tried to keep everyone happy,” I said.
“No. You held out your hand to someone who needed you and I’m very proud of you.”
“What are you waffling on about, woman?” I asked.
“I’m talking about Gabriel and how you’ve offered to take him to Donegal. I feel really sorry for him, you know, and I know that in your own way you were trying to let him know that you are on his side.”
“Don’t be getting any ideas,” I warned. “I am not about to start looking as if I got dressed in the dark and putting all my clothes on back to front in unsuitable colours. I just happen to think that his parents are a pair of insensitive, small-minded dickheads and the sooner people like that are stamped out the better.”
“You’re not going to stamp on anybody, are you?”
“Metaphorically speaking,” I said before she started thinking that I was about to leave footprints on heads. “I’m not that bad. Besides, this is something that Gabriel needs to work through on his own, the same way I’m doing, only in his case maybe it’s worse. At least I was only abandoned by the person who gave birth to me. Poor Gabriel was abandoned by the people who brought him up which must be a much harder cross to bear. I should know as I’ve watched Luke go through it as well and it’s not pretty. The only difference is that he has his sister to share the burden with and me to pick up the pieces after every nuisance phone call.”
“He’ll get over it with our help,” Frankie said cheerfully. “We’ll take him out for the night and let him get it all off his chest.”
“The Smugglers’ Inn won’t know what’s hit it,” I said as we made our way down the street in preparation for going home to pack.
Chapter 40
“Ruby, I can’t just drop everything. I’ve got photographs to take tomorrow. The local papers are desperate for them and if I do a good job there’ll be more work in it for me.”
“Can you not forget about it? It’s only one job,” I grumbled.
“No, I can’t. We have a wedding to pay for and a honeymoon to plan and I’m not leaving anything to chance. I’m going to take every bit of work that’s offered and then some.”
“Feckin killjoy,” I said. “Everybody else is going. Even Gabriel.”
I thought that this revelation might have a bit of an effect although I wasn’t expecting Luke to seem quite so stupefied.
“Do I need to take your pulse to make sure you’re still breathing?” I asked as he continued to stare at me open-mouthed and rooted to the spot.
“I’m alive,” he said. “Completely and utterly amazed but alive. What happened?”
“Nothing happened as such. I just decided that we needed to go to Donegal and that it would be nice to make it an enjoyable time for everybody. We’re due a night out with Frankie and Owen, and Mammy would appreciate the company. Plus, the gallery exhibition is on this weekend and, as you’re going on Gabriel’s suggestion, I just thought that it might be a nice gesture to ask him along.”
“Ruby and Gabriel,” Luke said with a grin. “Friends at last.”
“I wonder would you ever feck yourself,” I said crossly. “I just thought that it was the right thing to do.”
“I knew it would happen eventually,” Luke said in an irritatingly knowledgeable tone of voice.
“Knew what would happen eventually, darling?”
“Knew that you would eventually see sense and agree with the rest of the world in acknowledging that I made a brilliant decision when I hired Gabriel.”
“I don’t have time for this,” I said. (Note to women everywhere: never tell a man he is right and definitely never tell him that you are wrong as it will lead to lifelong anguish and sentences that begin with “Do you remember the time I was right and you were wrong . . .”)
“I have a bag to pack. For the two of us,” I added. “Because you are going to tell the papers that your future wife has important plans for you and your camera tomorrow that don’t involve them.”
“I tell you what. Why don’t you girls have a wee night to yourselves tonight and then Owen and I will follow you down tomorrow evening? Gabriel will have the time of his life giving you all a make-over while we’re not there. Have you spoken to Mandy?”
“Yes. I did ask her to join us but she said she had plans. She was in quite a strange mood. And FYI Smart-arse Gabriel will be doing no kind of make-over on me. He’s already got me agreeing to things I never thought I’d entertain, just to shut him up, but he needn’t push his luck and start thinking that he can transform me into a horrible girlie-girl because it just won’t be happening.”
“And I wouldn’t want it to,” Luke said, cupping my face with his hands and pinching my cheeks. “I love you just the way you are.”
“Good job too,” I said. “’Cos you’re stuck with me.”
After I had packed a bag, given Luke a kiss and gone to Frankie’s where Carly and Jack had spent half an hour climbing over me, we finally prepared to set off. Celia had been roped in to baby-sit and was doing her usual fuss routine and driving Frankie to distraction.
“I will kiss the ground when I finally get out of here,” Frankie had growled as Celia went off on another tirade about how many nappies she would need for Jack and how Frankie hadn’t packed enough, making me wonder did she know her child at all.
“A few days away from my mother will be a holiday in itself. Poor Daddy and the children can be the focus of all attention for her.”
“Does that include Angelica?” I asked as I hadn’t seen her.
Frankie gave me a quizzical look. “Angelica and my mother in the same room for an hour is quite likely to cause bloodshed. What is it you’re after – another civil war? She’s wisely decamped to a friend’s house and is staying firmly out of the way until we come back. Owen is also taking himself off and has already left to go to Dublin and visit his mother for the night, since we’re having a girlie night with Gabriel.”
“I do wish you’d stop calling it that,” I mumbled. The word ‘girlie’ conjured up all sorts of scary images that appealed to me about as much as chewing my own arm off (yeuch).
“Oh stop complaining, there could be worse ways to spend your time,” Frankie said, grinning broadly. “It was your idea to go down and take the biggest girl of all with you, so you have nobody to blame but yourself.”
“I am going to check that my mother’s cottage is safe and secure. We will go for a wee drink tonight and then on to the art exhibition tomorrow night and nowhere in that do I anticipate doing anything pink or fluffy or Gabriel-ish.”
“Whatever you say,” she answered whilst quite obviously laughing at me.
We were going to meet Gabriel at the border and Mammy had already left, muttering that instead of preserving the cottage she’d be better applying for planning permission to knock in a few more rooms as she didn’t know where everyone was going to sleep.
“I think some of us should stay in the hotel,” Frankie suggested when I told her of Mammy’s concerns.
“You just want a dirty weekend away,” I said accusingly at which point I got my ear flicked.
“Noooo,” Frankie said sternly. “I would love a dirty weekend but now is not the appropriate time. I just thought that if some of us were to stay in the hotel we might be able to do a little more snooping and see what the lovely Judith is up to.”
I thought about her suggestion for a few seconds and then grinned. “I think that would be a very good idea actually. Have you packed your best lingerie?”
“Well, as it so happens I always like to be prepared. I never know when Superman is going to appear so I always like to look my best.”
“Jezebel,” I muttered.
By the time we arrived in Donegal it was already getting dark and the thought of curling up in front o
f the fire in the Smugglers’ Inn with a drink was highly appealing.
We had driven in convoy after we’d met with Gabriel who, judging by the bags he’d packed, must have thought he was moving in with Mammy as opposed to going to stay for two nights.
“This is the cutest cottage I have ever set eyes on,” he announced when he saw it. “It’s like something you’d see on a postcard.”
He had then stood in awe as he looked towards the hotel which was standing in all its magnificence in the evening sunshine and looking very impressive.
“Wow! That is the most gorgeous place I’ve ever seen and look at the amount of cars! Business must be good.”
My stomach did a flip when I heard this as, the more I thought about it, the more I feared that Mammy was going to be subjected to a campaign which would result in her either having to move or wanting to move because she was no longer happy. Why else would bloody Judith have been photographing the place? Obviously she was planning to use the photos to add to the appeal of the hotel by advertising the cottage or else she was jumping the gun and taking photographs in preparation for a sale. A sale which would not be happening, I thought grimly. When I had talked about a surveillance team I had only been half joking. I would nearly camp out in the car myself just to make sure that nothing untoward was going on.
Mammy had obviously been cleaning in anticipation of her guests as the smell of furniture polish in the cottage had the capacity to make you high.
“Dear God, Mother, do you have shares in Mr Sheen that you haven’t told me about?” I asked with watery eyes whilst trying not to lose consciousness from the whiff.
“Yes. They needed somebody to take your quota of cleaning products so I offered.”
“Oh ha ha,” I said, hands on hips. “I’ll have you know that I’ve become quite domesticated in the last while. I don’t know whether it’s due to the fact that I need something to burn off excess nervous energy or because it distracts me but I’ve found I quite like it.”
Frankie and Mammy both looked at me as if I had sprouted horns.
“Shut up,” I said as I grabbed my bag and made my way to my room.
The girlie night which I had been dreading didn’t happen. (Obviously I cried with vexation as I had been so looking forward to it.) Instead I was subjected to the weirdest night I’ve ever had in my life. Mammy had decided that it was time that Donal got acquainted with everyone who was in any way involved with her daughter’s wedding, so both he and Robbie joined us for drinks in the Smugglers’ Inn.
In order to be dressed for the occasion, Gabriel had decided that it would be appropriate to wear a flamboyant long purple velvet coat (complete with a pink and green corsage in the lapel), his favourite pink shirt and a pair of jeans decorated with brightly coloured beading. He accompanied these with pointy-toed boots which wouldn’t have looked out of place on the child snatcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He had said that the jeans had cost him an obscene amount of money in Paris but to me they looked like they had been decorated by a child who had been let loose in the arts and craft box (in other words they looked like crap).
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he had said when being introduced to Donal and warmly shaking his hand.
Robbie had limply shaken his hand whilst looking at him in disbelief.
“I’m Ruby’s wedding planner,” Gabriel had gushed. “It’s always so nice to meet the family before the wedding. I become very attached to my clients, you know!” He put his arm around me (and potentially shortened his life span).
“And what is your role again?” Robbie asked, looking very confused.
“I’m a wedding planner,” Gabriel said slowly as if he was talking to an eejit (the point could be debated, I supposed). “Therefore I am responsible for putting the wedding together, so to speak. I organise the flowers, the catering, the photographer, the video, the invitations and also liaise with the hotel. I usually like to play a major role in picking out gowns for the bride and bridesmaids but on this occasion have come up against quite an obstinate bride who is insisting on choosing her own designer and designs.”
“Does that mean that she’s picking her own dress?” Robbie asked.
“Unfortunately it does,” Gabriel said dramatically. “I can only advise. I can’t force.”
Robbie raised his eyebrows and turned away and I resisted the urge to burst out laughing when he gave me a double thumbs-up sign underneath the table.
“He’s very bright,” he commented as we went to the bar to buy another round of drinks.
“Are we talking intelligence bright or are we talking ‘sore on the eyes and in your face’ bright?”
Robbie clarified by shading his eyes and looking in the general direction of the snug where we were all seated.
When we arrived back with the drinks, Donal had gone to talk to some friends and Frankie had left to go the little girls’ room. Robbie had also excused himself to go outside for a smoke, looking nervous as Gabriel followed in hot pursuit, clutching his designer cigarettes. With everyone otherwise occupied, Mammy moved closer towards me.
“I declare it’s a miracle,” she said. “You and Robbie are actually growing fond of each other.”
“We are not,” I snapped. “I just needed help at the bar and he has a pair of willing hands.”
“If you say so.”
“Yes, Mother, I do.”
“About the other little matter – have you had the chance to think any more about what you’re going to do?”
“There have been so many matters lately I’ve had to make decisions on that you’ll have to enlighten me as to which one you’re referring to, Mammy.”
“The chat we had on Friday night,” she said awkwardly.
“I don’t know yet,” I said, not wanting to commit myself and have her breathing down my neck and either constantly asking for updates or trying to talk me out of it.
“When you make a decision, will you let me know? Because whatever you decide, I’d like to be part of it. Whether it’s good or bad I’d like to be there to help you through it.”
She looked imploringly at me and I put my arm around her and gave her a squeeze.
“I haven’t made any plans as of yet,” I said truthfully, “but when I do I promise to let you know.”
Robbie and Gabriel came back to our company and were deep in conversation about fishing which made the rest of us look at each other in amusement. They made a most unusual pair: the old man clutching his battered pipe wearing a jumper and corduroy trousers and the spectacle that looked like he had just stepped off the set of a West End production.
“My grandfather used to take me fishing when I was young,” Gabriel said. “He was a lovely man, very gentle and quiet. And understanding,” he added as an apparent afterthought.
Gabriel’s expression grew sombre once more as he stared into his drink whilst obviously recalling memories of happier times in his youth.
“I sell rods, you know,” Robbie announced suddenly. “I’m sure I could get you one that you’d be happy with and maybe we could go out while you’re down here. Just for old time’s sakes. I had a grandfather who liked fishing too.”
Gabriel looked like he might cry (I feckin hoped he didn’t – Robbie wasn’t fit enough to run out the door in a state of panic) and Mammy was patting me on the knee and looking all agreeable and not aggravated for a change and I suddenly discovered that it was when you least expected it that people could surprise you the most.
Chapter 41
The following day was spent relaxing – which I interpreted as slobbing about in my pyjamas until I was eventually prised out of them to go up to the hotel for a meal before going on to the art gallery.
Owen and Luke had arrived down in the morning and we had all spent a very enjoyable day together. Mammy made lunch early as she reasoned that none of us would want our appetite to be spoiled if we were planning to dine in the restaurant in Monroe Manor early that evening.
Gabriel and Robbie
had left to go fishing at some ungodly hour in the morning. I didn’t hear them leaving the house but Mammy told us all in a halting voice, in between laughing her head off, that she had heard Robbie tell Gabriel that unless he wanted to scare the feckin fish he better wear something a bit tamer that he wouldn’t mind getting dirty. Gabriel had then apparently come up the stairs and was heard swearing loudly as he couldn’t find anything remotely suitable. It wasn’t until Donal arrived in the afternoon for something to eat that we heard the full story. Gabriel had had to borrow clothes from him and, as they were two completely different sizes, was left wearing trousers that were at least three inches too short for him and held in at the waist by a belt that was buckled as tight as possible but still too big for him.
“He must look like one of those schoolboys who has to wear his brother’s hand-me-downs,” Frankie said.
“Knowing Gabriel he’ll make it into some sort of fashion statement,” I commented. “We’ll see all the celebrities sporting a similar look soon and then he can take credit for starting a new trend.”
“I never saw anyone with a wardrobe quite like it,” Mammy said in disbelief. “It’s very bizarre. Yet he seems to have great taste in every other way.”
“It’s not that he has bad taste,” Frankie said, quickly jumping to his defence. “It’s just that he’s an extrovert who likes to express himself through his clothing. He wants to be noticed and talked about.”
“He wants to be loved,” I whispered.
“What did you say, Ruby?” asked Mammy.
“Oh nothing. Just talking to myself again. Take no notice of me.”
Gabriel and Robbie arrived back just before four o’clock and in time to make arrangements for dinner. Gabriel was grubby and tired but had a glorious smile painted on his face.
Anyone for Me? Page 23