by Melissa Hill
“Don’t be silly – you look just as good as she does, and don’t you dare think otherwise,” Leah said. “Not every man thinks stick-insects are attractive, you know.”
Olivia raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious?”
“Well, if she’s so gorgeous and wonderful and such a good cook, why isn’t he with her then?”
“I really don’t know. But up until a couple of weeks ago I was sure they were married, and now I think I understand why.” She bit her lip. “It’s just typical, isn’t it? The first guy to come along in years that I actually like, and now it seems as though it’s over before it’s even begun.”
“Over? Why?”
Olivia explained how Matt had barely tried to prevent her leaving, and how she hadn’t heard from him since.
“Ah, I’m probably better off anyway,” she said, although her heart felt empty at the thought of not seeing him again. “It would never work – and of course I’ve got way too much baggage.”
“So you still haven’t told him then?”
“I didn’t have an opportunity, Leah. The kids were around whenever we were together, and then last night we were at Catherine’s.” She twisted a tendril of hair around her finger. “In a way, I’m glad I did bide my time though. I was obviously wrong about him.”
And that was what hurt the most, Olivia thought. She had really believed that Matt was different, that there was something special between them, and she had been willing to give herself up to the possibility that they could have a future together. But after Matt’s behaviour last night, it was hard to see how.
“And I can’t believe the nerve of the woman implying that you’re a bad parent,” Leah fumed. “If only she knew.”
“Well, that’s another thing,” Olivia said. “I’m not too inclined to spill my guts to Matt now, when he already believes I’m irresponsible when it comes to Ellie. What will he think then?”
“Well, look, leave it for a while and see what happens,” Leah continued. “I’m sure Matt will come to his senses and if he doesn’t, then he wasn’t worth it in the first place and –”
The sharp shrill of the doorbell cut off the remainder of her sentence, and Olivia jumped up to answer it.
Matt stood at the doorway, his face drawn and guilty-looking. “Can I come in?” he asked sheepishly.
“If you like,” Olivia stepped back to let him pass. “Leah’s here,” she added and Matt visibly tensed.
Leah jumped up from the sofa. “I’d better get back – I’m going out with Kate tonight.” She picked up her bag and gave Matt a curt nod. “I’ll talk to you later, Olivia.”
“OK, talk to you soon.” Olivia smiled warily at her friend’s retreat. She could certainly do with some of Leah’s wilful temperament at the moment, she thought, wondering what on earth was coming.
When the two of them were alone, Matt tentatively took one of Olivia’s hands in his. “I’m so sorry,” he said, and almost instantly Olivia melted. “I should have said something but, to be honest, I didn’t know what to do. You must have had a terrible impression of us.”
Us? Olivia repeated silently. The way he was talking, you’d swear that he Catherine and Adam were a package.
“It wasn’t what I had expected, that was for sure.”
“How’s Ellie? I feel so bad about it. In fact, I was so shocked at Adam’s behaviour I couldn’t think straight. The poor thing must have been in an awful state.”
“She was very upset, not so much about the bump, but more so about the fact that she and Adam were fighting.”
“I know, and believe me I gave Adam a good talking to afterwards,” he added.
Then he sat down and ran a hand through his hair. “Whatever I was saying before about discipline, I do think that sometimes I can be too soft on him. But he’s all I have left now.” He looked at her sadly. “You can understand that surely?”
“Of course I do,” Olivia said, sitting down beside him. “And I understand too that kids will be kids. I was the same with my best friend when we were younger – one minute we were the best of friends and the next we were killing each other. But the parents shouldn’t really take sides in these situations, Matt, not when they don’t know the facts. Otherwise we’d all end up at each others’ throats, and what kind of example is that to be setting the kids?”
“You’re so understanding,” he said, shaking his head. “I told Catherine that you’d understand but she was sure you’d tell me to go to hell.”
Oh? Olivia thought. So now Catherine was reading Olivia’s mind and anticipating her reactions, was she? What a strange woman – maybe Leah had been right in thinking that she was jealous of her – jealous of her and Matt.
“I don’t think Catherine liked me very much,” she said cautiously, not willing to add that the feeling was very definitely mutual.
Matt shook his head. “No, no, it’s not like that all. I know she wasn’t overly friendly last night but … look, you have to understand that Catherine and I are very close – too close maybe, and sometimes, to our detriment. I know she’s started seeing some guy now and while I’m delighted – because I worry that with all she does for Adam and me that life is passing her by – I’m also worried and protective of her in the same way that a big brother would worry about his sister. And Catherine is exactly the same with me, possibly more so because of Natasha. She knows what I’ve been through and she doesn’t want me to get hurt.”
“I see.”
Olivia considered this and decided that, yes, there was certainly a possibility that Catherine would be suspicious of her. A while ago, he didn’t know Olivia from Adam (she laughed inwardly at the unintended pun) and then all of a sudden he was involved with her and her daughter. It was only natural that a good friend would be concerned, wasn’t it? Still, thinking back on Catherine’s behaviour last night, she couldn’t get past the sneaking suspicion that Leah might have been right.
Maybe Catherine and Matt were unusually close, but wasn’t it also possible that in the other woman Olivia could have a serious rival for his affections?
Olivia hoped not, because she really didn’t think she could cope with something like that. Not again.
35
Leah applied another layer of lipstick and ran a brush through her long dark hair. She’d have to get it cut soon, she decided, spotting tendrils of static broken hair sticking out of the top of her head. She’d been so busy lately she barely had time to eat properly, let alone attend to day-to-day grooming. No wonder her sex life had gone off the boil recently, she thought with a guilty grimace – hairy legs were undoubtedly a huge turn-off! Still, all her late nights and weekends had paid off – the store looked fantastic and business had been incredibly brisk these last few weeks. The launch party and subsequent chocolate-tasting evenings had really paid off.
Oh it was so exciting, Leah thought proudly, her very first store and hopefully the first of many. She shook her head, still quite unable to believe that this had really happened. Who would have thought that an ordinary girl from a small village outside Tipperary would end up running a successful chocolate boutique – and in trendy, upmarket, Blackrock of all places. Her old mentor, Anton Belligni, would have been thrilled with her. She really should contact him and tell him how things were going.
The new store was going to send her business into the stratosphere, she was sure of it. Then, after a while, when things had calmed down, maybe she and Josh could think about buying a place of their own, and he wouldn’t have to worry too much about being beholden to his father. Things were looking good.
But tonight, she would try her best to put all thoughts of the store out of her mind. Tonight she was going out for dinner with one of her very best friends, and with all that had been going on in both girls’ lives lately, she knew that they both really needed it. Having spent so long off the drink while pregnant, she knew Kate was dying for a decent night out.
Checking her appearance once more, Leah idly wondered if Olivia had resol
ved her little misunderstanding with Matt.
She hoped so. She knew Olivia really liked him and while they might be having a few teething problems, Matt did seem like a very nice guy. And oh, didn’t Olivia deserve it! After Peter, Leah was never really sure whether or not her friend would go on to love anyone else. She always hoped she would – after all Olivia was such a loving and generous person that she really ought to have someone special in her life, but Leah had never expected that her friend would ever meet someone who would live up to the incomparable Peter. Maybe Matt didn’t. For the few minutes Leah had spent in his company he seemed an easy, happy-go-lucky kind of guy, but didn’t have quite the same magnetism or charisma that Peter had. Still, if he made Olivia happy then that was all that mattered.
Leah grabbed her car keys and, trying her best to stay upright in a pair of spiky heels that would cripple a lesser woman, she raced out the door. She’d told Kate to go all out and dress up to the nines tonight – town wouldn’t know what hit it.
HALF AN HOUR LATER, Leah turned into Kate’s driveway a little bit faster than she realised and jerked to a stop right behind Michael’s black BMV. Whew, she thought with more than a little relief. Michael certainly wouldn’t appreciate her slamming into that with her little Fiesta, would he? And really, her car had more than enough dents on it already.
Leah mentally reminded herself to apply once more for her driving test, now that she had a little bit more time on her hands. Although, she thought with a sigh, it would undoubtedly be another complete waste of time.
Only the other day, she’d been trying to manoevre out of a tight spot near the shop, and in order to reverse out, had no option but to scratch the paintwork of the jeep parked alongside her. Leah had left a note on the owner’s windscreen, and later had endured a barrage of abuse, which she supposed was justified. It was unfortunate, but at the time there was nothing else she could have done – she had deliveries to make, and in fairness, the jeep owner was just as much at fault for parking so close alongside her in the first place.
No, she’d have to get her test soon, otherwise her insurance company would just flat out refuse to cover her and her now scratched and sorrowful-looking Fiesta. And that certainly wouldn’t do.
Getting out of the car, and having to choose her steps extra carefully on Kate’s cobble-lock driveway in her heels and rather clingy chiffon skirt, Leah approached the front door. Unusually, the house looked unkempt from the outside: the flowers hung limply in their hanging baskets, and the front lawn looked as though it hadn’t been touched in months. And shock horror, Leah spotted greasy handprints on the sliding doors of the porch. She smiled to herself. Looking after a new baby had obviously affected Kate’s normally fastidious housekeeping. Her friend was famous for her compulsive cleaning – a fact that used to annoy Leah no end when the two shared a flat together throughout university.
A very harassed-looking Michael appeared in the doorway.
“Hello,” Leah reached forward and greeted Kate’s husband with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She hadn’t seen him in the few weeks since the baby was born, and with his unshaven jaw and the tired, ravaged look in his eyes, he looked equally as unkempt as the house.
“Hi, Leah,” Michael returned her greeting with considerably less enthusiasm. “Kate was trying to ring you …” He trailed off and by his tone Leah knew immediately that their planned girlie night out had hit a snag.
“Let me guess, she’s still getting ready,” Leah said with a conspiratorial smile. Despite her apparent devil-may-care attitude, Kate was as fastidious with her appearance as she was with her housekeeping, and Leah knew from experience that it could take her well up to an hour and a half to get dolled up for a night out. Probably more so tonight, Leah thought, imaging her friend cheerfully discarding potential items of clothing, when she hadn’t been out in months and hadn’t yet shifted the extra baby weight.
“No, it’s not that,” Michael replied wearily, directing her through to the living-room.
A tired and wrecked-looking Kate was sitting on the couch with a crying Dylan in her arms. Leah couldn’t remember ever seeing her looking so dishevelled. She knew that young babies could be disrupting, but because Kate was normally so calm and in control, Leah hadn’t expected the chaotic sight that greeted her.
Apart from the baby essentials – nappies, creams and toys that were scattered all over – the room looked as though it hadn’t been tidied in years. There were half-empty coffee cups on the floor around the sofa, glasses on the mantelpiece, empty takeaway cartons … in all honesty, it looked to Leah like a student flat, a dingy student flat.
This was so out of character for Kate that she felt rather unsettled and instantly guilty. She hadn’t seen her friend since that time in the hospital. Thinking that the new parents would need time to enjoy this much-wanted new baby, she had consciously kept out of Kate’s hair – not to mention the fact that she too had been up to her eyes at work. She had made all the usual offers to help and ‘call me if you need anything’ platitudes, but thinking of it now she wondered if she shouldn’t have insisted.
“Hey,” she said, sitting down alongside Kate on the couch and forcing a smile so as not to betray her unease, “how are you?”
“OK,” Kate whispered and immediately, seeming to take his mother’s shifting attention as some form of rejection, Dylan screwed up his tiny face and cried – roared – even louder.
“Ssshh, ssshh, it’s OK love, Mummy’s here, Mummy’s here,” Kate soothed, holding him close and rubbing his back in a comforting gesture. “I’m sorry, Leah,” she said wearily, “but I think we’ll have to call off our night out.”
Oh. Leah hadn’t expected that. She thought there might be a bit of a delay and that they’d be late getting to the restaurant but …
“Oh, dear, is he sick?” she asked, realising. “Does he have …” She racked her brain for the common baby-sickness that Ellie had when she was a baby. “Group or something? The poor little thing.” She reached across and touched the baby in a sympathetic gesture.
“I don’t know … Michael?” Kate’s eyes widened with alarm and she looked to her husband for assistance. “Could Leah be right? Could there be something wrong with him?”
“I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with him, Kate.” He gave Leah a look that conveyed blatant irritation, before continuing, “He’s just tired, that’s all.”
“But what if there is something wrong with him?” Kate’s tone hinged on hysterical. “How am I supposed to know? He can’t tell me, can he? What if there is something wrong with him, and he needs to go to the hospital or –”
“For goodness’ sake Kate, he’s fine. Babies cry, you know that. It’s just that this particular baby happens to cry more than most,” he added, almost under his breath.
Leah began to feel more than a little uncomfortable and out of place in this family scene. She knew now that her hoped-for pleasant night out, catching up with Kate, wasn’t going to happen. She knew that newborn babies could be tough work, and Kate had said that she was dying to let her hair down and get some time to herself.
“Look,” Michael continued, his tone more placating, “if you’re not going out, and Leah’s staying on here, I might head down to the local for one or two, if that’s OK?”
“Sure, go ahead,” Kate said, with an absent nod, as Dylan’s cries began to subside.
“I couldn’t possibly leave him like this.” Kate turned to Leah, a pleading tone to her voice. “I’d just be worrying and worrying about him all night, and I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it. You don’t mind, do you?”
Michael didn’t seem to mind leaving him, Leah thought uncharitably. Surely if the baby was that hard going, Kate needed a break too?
“Of course I don’t mind,” Leah said, trying to inject some enthusiasm into her voice. This wasn’t exactly how she’d envisaged her only night off in weeks but still … “Look, why don’t you and the baby just lie down there for a quiet moment and I’ll ge
t out of your way.”
She’d have to ring the restaurant and cancel, she thought, and she felt lousy about that because she’d had to beg for a table in the first place. If only Kate had rung earlier to let her know the situation, then she could have slung on a pair of tracksuit bottoms and brought a bottle of wine or something.
Although she thought guiltily, it was hardly fair to expect Kate to worry about putting Leah out, when she was obviously put out about the entire situation as it was – and on top of it, she was probably looking forward to it just as much as Leah, if not more.
Well, if nothing else, Leah thought, removing her trench coat and hanging it over the banister in the hallway, she could give Kate a bit of hand with the tidying-up.
Why on earth wasn’t Michael doing it though? As far as she knew Michael was a modern man, and as he and Kate both worked, had no aversion to sharing the housework.
Obviously Kate’s priority would now be the baby rather than cleaning the windows, so surely he could muck in that little bit more? Oh, well, she thought, shaking her head. Perhaps the new arrival caused more disruption than they’d imagined. She couldn’t imagine it herself. In her and Josh’s teeny apartment they could barely stretch to having visitors, let alone giving it all over to the chaos that evidently went hand in hand with a newborn baby. She smiled tightly. There was no fear of that happening.
Removing her shoes, which were already becoming uncomfortable and seemed a little out of place in this domestic situation, Leah went back into the living-room to find Kate lying full stretch on the couch. Seeing Leah about to speak, she put a finger over her lips in a silencing gesture, and indicated gently to Dylan’s crib at the other end of the room. She had finally succeeded in calming him then, Leah thought, freezing in mid-movement. Well, at least she and Kate might get to do a bit of catching up anyway. Maybe her friend had a bottle of wine from her pre-mummy days stashed around somewhere and they could crack that open and have a good old giggle and relax a little. It was almost nine o’clock – Dylan would sleep for the rest of night now, surely?