Mother of the Bride

by Marita Conlon-McKenna

  ‘I’ll join you.’ Sheila smiled, and snapped off the TV. ‘I’ve seen that programme before.’

  Over the next hour she entertained them with stories of family weddings she’d attended: the disasters, the hilarious, romantic and beautiful ones.

  ‘I think your Uncle David arriving at his wedding on his motor-bike all dressed in black leather, and that girlfriend of his, Anna, turning up wearing a white leather top and a white leather skirt with biker boots, and coming on a Harley, was one of the ones that really stood out.’

  Amy couldn’t imagine her boring old Auntie Anna wearing leather, let alone riding a motorbike. Now all she did was knit big ugly chunky jumpers for her children and cook disgusting organic dishes made up of beans and lentils. A meal in Anna’s house always upset everyone’s stomach for days.

  Amy remembered when her sister Ciara and herself were flower girls for her Cousin Terry’s wedding, and the excitement of it all. They had had to carry baskets full of rose petals and scatter them.

  ‘You can’t beat a family wedding!’ declared Sheila, pouring another sherry. ‘There are enough sad things in life: illnesses, goodbyes, moving house, losing jobs, or emigrating. That’s why this family believe in celebrating the good things when they happen. I saw Paddy today. Helen said that the doctor’s fixed his heart. Isn’t it amazing what they can do today? And what a celebration it will be when you two lovely people get married!’

  Amy squeezed Dan’s hand. She didn’t want to wait another year, and there was no question of them running off to an exotic beach or far-flung destination to wed. Sheila Hennessy might be well into her eighties, but Amy wanted her beloved granny at their wedding.

  Chapter Fifty-two

  Helen O’Connor was so relieved to have Paddy back home again. It didn’t matter that he was weak and shaky and quieter than she had ever seen him in her life. Paddy was back in his home where he belonged, and the nightmare of hospitals and doctors and the operation was over. Driving out of the Blackrock Clinic she had felt anxious about coping with Paddy being ill, but the staff on the ward had reassured her that he was making great progress and was totally fit to go home.

  ‘We are throwing him out of here,’ teased Staff Nurse Lucy O’Driscoll as they said their goodbyes. ‘But he’ll be back for his physio sessions and, when he is ready, he can join the Healthy Heart programme we run.’

  At home, Helen felt like all the energy and adrenalin that had kept her going over the past eleven days had suddenly vanished, and she would love to have crawled up under the bedcovers for about two days to recharge her batteries, but there was far too much to be done now that she had Paddy home.

  She had read over and over the notes from the hospital dietician, and had totally restocked the fridge with healthy heart foods. Paddy’s favourite butter spread on everything was a thing of the past, and his love of a decent steak a few nights a week was now going to be limited to once only. They both would have to get used to a new regime of fish and chicken and vegetables – and a new lifestyle. She had gone to the fishmonger’s and got some salmon fillets to bake in the oven for dinner with some of the baby new potatoes he loved.

  Paddy, true to his word, had refused to sleep downstairs, and in a way she was relieved. She couldn’t imagine them not sharing a room or being together.

  The first night he came home all the kids made a big fuss for his homecoming. Ronan, without complaint, cut the grass and weeded the flower beds, and Ciara had the house so spick and span and gleaming, it looked as if the Molly Maids had been in. Amy had bunches of flowers in every room, and had made a welcome-home cake with Paddy’s favourite lemon icing.

  As Helen looked around the kitchen table she could see the stress and strain of the past few weeks suddenly beginning to lift. Even poor Barney couldn’t contain his excitement, and barked and wagged his tail for nearly twenty minutes when he saw Paddy walk through the hall door.

  ‘There will be plenty of walks, boy,’ Paddy promised the dog. He’d a strict exercise routine to follow now, which meant a long walk every day.

  Helen tried not to get upset when she saw the changes that the operation had made to Paddy. He couldn’t concentrate or read a newspaper or watch the TV, and she caught him crying a few times. Some days he didn’t seem to want to do anything, and sat around like a sack of potatoes, irritating her. Mr Mulligan had reassured her that this was to be expected, and it would take a few weeks for him to return to normal. They had to be patient: his body had been through a major shock and was slowly trying to recover.

  ‘Don’t expect too much for the next five to six weeks,’ Lucy O’Driscoll had warned when she was packing up Paddy’s things to go home. Helen prayed that the Paddy of old would eventually be restored to her.

  Fran and Tom and all the neighbours and their friends called to see Paddy, and Father Tom Doorly was a great support, spending time debating the meaning of life and change with him.

  Paddy wasn’t a very religious man normally, but he seemed to have found a new spirituality since the bypass. And, of course, he still had his good friends to fall back on: Fintan Byrne and Noel Phelan and Sean Kennedy brought him down to the local during his second week home.

  ‘I’m on the mend,’ he reassured her when he came home drunk after one pint of shandy.

  The news that Amy and Dan were back together again, and living in Dan’s apartment, had also lifted Paddy’s mood. Eddie and Carmel had phoned Paddy about it, equally delighted to see the young couple reunited. Because Amy couldn’t be there all the time any more, a night roster of family to stay with Sheila had been drawn up. Amy, Ciara, Ronan and Helen’s brother Tim’s boys Rob and John all took their turn. For the future, Helen’s brother David’s youngest, Caroline, was hoping to go to college in Dublin in the autumn, and the offer of free accommodation in return for keeping an eye on her grandmother was certainly very appealing to the young student.

  Amy and Dan were determined to get married, and were scouting for a new place to have their wedding, which they hoped might be some time before the year was out.

  ‘We just want to be married,’ they candidly admitted, as they made plans for the future.

  Helen gave thanks for the life-saving surgery that meant Paddy would at least be well and strong enough to proudly walk his elder daughter up the aisle when the time came.

  Chapter Fifty-three

  The minute Jessica Kilroy heard the good news that Amy and Dan were back together she thanked her lucky stars that she had stayed on her diet. She was down by ten kilos, which made a huge difference: her jelly belly was flatter, her arms thinner and she felt so much healthier and trimmer.

  ‘Jess, we’ll be getting married as soon as we can,’ confided Amy. ‘So I hope that you will still be my bridesmaid.’

  ‘Of course I will,’ Jess promised. ‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world, and thank heaven I still have my dress!’

  ‘You still have the bridesmaid dress!’ gasped Amy.

  ‘I told you that I loved it and would have bought it anyway.’ Jess grinned. ‘Though I did suspect – or hope – that I might get to wear it when my best friend and her boyfriend eventually came to their senses.’

  Amy hugged her, tears in her eyes, so relieved that Jess had insisted on paying for it herself, as otherwise she probably would have returned it. It amazed Jess when she found out that Helen had also kept Ciara’s bridesmaid dress, and hidden it in the back of the wardrobe.

  ‘Mum said that she couldn’t face going through all that rigmarole with Ciara ever again,’ confided Amy. ‘She thought that maybe some day Ciara might need a dress, and that she would have it for her.’

  Jess smiled, knowing that, like her, Helen O’Connor had been secretly hoping that Amy and Dan would get married after all, and that’s why she had not returned the dress.

  Jess was looking forward to the wedding. As well as losing weight, she had maintained her exercise regimè. She was walking as much as she could: an hour at least every day before or after
work. She went swimming with Tara once a week and, encouraged by her sister Ava, had signed up for the summer on a GI-type training session two nights a week in the local park. It was the toughest thing she had ever done, and she had had to force herself to get over the embarrassment of being surrounded by blonde skinny girls who didn’t need to exercise and looked askance at her as, red-faced, she puffed and panted and sweated through one awful exercise after another. For the first time in her life her body was doing what it was meant to: stretching and jogging and moving, instead of lying or sitting around on couches and chairs.

  Second class didn’t know what hit them as she took them off on long nature walks in the nearby park and added an extra PE class to their school routine. If the weather was good Jess believed it was far better to have them exercising outdoors in the fresh air than being stuck in the classroom or the school hall.

  Looking in the mirror as she got ready to go to lunch with Amy and the girls in the Canal Café, Jess could see that her hair had improved and her skin was actually glowing.

  She might not have a boyfriend or a man in her life but she actually looked good.

  The busy restaurant was packed and they all were shoved on to a table near the back.

  The girls were all delighted for Amy and thrilled to know that Dan and she were back together again.

  ‘We knew you’d get back!’ they all shouted, as Amy showed them that her engagement ring was firmly back on her finger again.

  ‘I’m never taking it off again,’ she swore. ‘Never!’

  ‘True love always wins out,’ insisted Tara. ‘Everyone knows that you and Dan are totally meant for each other.’

  ‘Is the wedding back on again, too?’ asked Orla, curious.

  ‘Yeah,’ grinned Amy. ‘We both want to get married before Christmas, but it’s hard trying to get somewhere.’

  ‘You’re not going back to the castle, then?’ Jess wanted to know.

  ‘No, this time the wedding will be a lot smaller and more lowkey,’ Amy said, glancing over at Jess, who was delighted that Amy could talk about her wedding normally, instead of being a crazy Bridezilla!

  They studied the tall menus, and Jess ordered a mustard and honey chicken salad while the rest of the girls went for lasagne and garlic bread and the chicken wings and wedges.

  They were all just tucking in and chatting when Sarah fled from the table. Orla informed them a few minutes later that poor Sarah was throwing up violently in the Ladies. Her half-full wine glass was still on the table when she reappeared, looking pale and wretched.

  ‘I’m ten weeks gone,’ she said grimly as she downed the wine. ‘And sick as a parrot.’

  ‘Congratulations!’ shouted Jess and the girls. ‘Well done. That’s great news!’

  They all knew to a woman that Sarah was struggling to cope with her nine-month-old son, Sam, who’d had desperate colic and was an awful sleeper. It had put such a strain on her marriage that her husband Tom slept in the spare room during the week. That way, one of them could surface and work.

  ‘It’s not great news,’ she admitted. ‘It’s shite news . . . the last thing Tom and I wanted was to have another baby so soon when we have Sam. It’s a nightmare.’ She began crying. ‘A nightmare!’

  ‘Babies who don’t sleep a lot are usually really bright and intelligent in school,’ Jess consoled, trying to think of something positive to say. ‘Sam’s great, and you and Tom are so lucky to be having another baby. My sister Ava has been married almost three years and is dying for a baby, and she can’t get pregnant.’

  ‘Tell her she can have one in about seven and half months’ time,’ wailed Sarah. ‘I’m sure I won’t be able to manage.’

  The rest of the meal was spent trying to cheer Sarah up and listening to the on and off saga of Tara’s love life with Johnny, the rat she’d been dating for over a year.

  ‘He’s a disaster,’ insisted Aisling, ‘and he doesn’t even treat you well. You should dump him!’

  ‘I know he’s not the best,’ Tara admitted. ‘But it’s really hard being on your own and not having a boyfriend. I don’t know if I could cope with being single like Jess.’

  ‘Thanks a mill!’ shrugged Jess, trying not to feel insulted.

  ‘Ah, you know what I mean,’ garbled Tara. ‘Must be tough always doing things and going places on your own!’

  Jess took a deep breath. She did know what it was like. She would give everything in the world to change it. To have a guy she cared for, and who loved her back, in her life. But she wasn’t going to let the fact that there wasn’t destroy her. There might never be someone special, and she just had to get used to living her life the way she wanted and enjoy it.

  ‘You get used to it.’ She smiled. ‘Besides, I’m very independent. I like things my own way and I couldn’t see myself sticking with anyone who treated me badly just for the sake of it!’

  An hour later they divided up the bill and said their goodbyes. Jess decided to walk home along by the canal and enjoy the sunshine . . . she was alone and there was no sign of that changing any day soon, but that didn’t alter the bizarre fact that she was happy, and had a sense of contentment with her life.

  Chapter Fifty-four

  ‘This time let’s have a smaller, more personal wedding.’ Amy smiled as she lay curled up in Dan’s arms. ‘Let’s keep it simple, so it’s just about us getting married and making our vows to each other and celebrating with the people we care about.’

  ‘The two of us in flip-flops on a faraway beach,’ he teased.

  ‘Tempting.’ She giggled. ‘But since Dad’s operation I’d be worried about him being stuck out in some hot place, with no decent hospital. Besides I really want Granny to be there. She’s says she’s too old to fly!’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ he agreed, kissing her shoulder. ‘Sheila will be there. Anyway, I don’t think we should be asking our friends and family to shell out a thousand euros, and waste their holiday time, just to come and see us getting hitched beside a swimming pool in some fancy hotel or castle in Spain or France. We’ve all been there, done that, and certainly don’t need to do it again!’

  ‘Dan, it would be nice to get married in St Mary’s, our local church, and have the reception fairly near by.’

  ‘That sounds good.’ He smiled, kissing her. ‘Do you remember that awful B & B in Donegal we had to stay in, when we went to Sarah and Tom’s wedding? Our room smelled of sick,’ he reminded her.

  ‘Just as well we were drunk when we came back to it, or we’d never have slept the night. It was disgusting!’

  ‘We need some place pretty close to home, with good food and a bar, where we can chill and have a party with everyone.’

  ‘A garden or nice views would be lovely,’ she added. ‘Do you think we should go for a restaurant? Or maybe even a small hotel?’

  ‘I’m not traipsing the countryside again looking,’ he warned sternly.

  ‘I know that,’ she said, kissing him. ‘This time we are keeping it simple.’

  Dan and she drew up a map of places that were approximately an hour or so from Dublin. Amy phoned a number of them to discover that they were booked out totally until the autumn of next year, and to her dismay found that they were left with a country house, a modern hotel with a golf course, and a quaint inn with a really good restaurant.

  ‘Please, Dan, can we go and check them out this weekend?’ she begged.

  Tully House looked good in photos, but up close was pretty rundown and ramshackle. All the weekend dates were gone until April next year, and looking at the shabby paintwork and upholstery Amy and Dan immediately said no.

  The Carrick Ross Hotel and Golf Club had no Friday or Saturday available during the busy golf season, but could cater for a mid-week or a winter wedding. The hotel was modern and bright, with a fairly nice function room overlooking the golf course. Amy could feel a growing sense of panic and déjà vu. Then, as they drove along the road from Wicklow Town on their way to the Inn, Amy saw the sign for
Glebe House.

  ‘Let’s stop in there for a drink or something to eat,’ she suggested.

  ‘Is it on “the list”?’ puzzled Dan.

  ‘No, they don’t do weddings. But it’s the place Mum and Dad love to escape to,’ she reminded him. ‘Ciara and Ronan and I stayed here twice when we were kids. I remember they had a little pontoon on the lake and Ronan caught a huge fish. He nearly fell into the water.’

  Amy had forgotten how nice Glebe House was. She could see a lot of work had gone into painting and restoring it, and the gardens looked amazing. Dan and she found the bright airy drawing room and studied the menu. There was a good selection of afternoon tea, sandwiches, soup and crusty bread, a fresh salmon plate or prawns.

  ‘I’ll go for the prawns,’ Dan said happily.

  Amy opted for the same, and they went out through the French doors and found a small table outside in the sunshine, overlooking the gardens.

  ‘Is everything all right with your meal, or do you need something else?’ checked the young woman serving them politely, as they tucked into a huge plate of prawns and salad with fresh home-baked brown bread.

  ‘Thanks, it’s perfect.’ Amy smiled.

  ‘No wonder Paddy and Helen love it here,’ joked Dan, tucking in. ‘I can only imagine how good dinner must be.’

  ‘Paddy and Helen?’ The waitress looked at them inquisitively.

  ‘My parents,’ explained Amy. ‘The O’Connors from Blackrock. They come here a lot.’

  ‘How are they?’ asked the young woman, introducing herself as Trudy Hanlon, the owner’s daughter.

  ‘Actually, my dad hasn’t been well. He’s had bypass surgery,’ Amy explained.

  Trudy was all concern for Paddy and Helen, and Amy found herself telling the sorry saga of Paddy’s illness and her broken engagement and the renewed hunt now for a suitable venue. ‘I know what it’s like.’ Trudy smiled sympathetically. ‘I only got married three years ago myself.’