Summer's End, page 25
Try as she might to ignore it, pictures of people sleeping on the couches, chairs and even on the floor of the boat drifted into Lily’s mind, and she wondered for the umpteenth time where Dara and Ava had slept.
She forced herself to go back to Peyton Place in an effort to keep the disturbing thoughts out of her mind.
Chapter 33
Lily was standing by the door, holding her case steady and waiting for the train to come to a halt when she caught a glimpse of Dara standing by a pillar as they went past. The train pulled up about ten yards ahead of him and since there was no one waiting to get off behind her, Lily stood for a few moments watching him without him knowing.
He was wearing a green casual army-style jacket with lots of pockets, and she was greatly relieved to see that his hair was not cut as short as she had feared. It must, she reckoned, have been damp or something in the hurling photo which made it look so different.
She observed him as he moved along the carriages, scanning the coaches for a sign of her. His face – quite serious and slightly anxious – was more familiar than she thought it would be after all these weeks. Then, as he moved closer to her door, she thought he looked even more handsome and attractive than she remembered.
She pushed the latch down on the door. It swung open and she stepped down onto the platform. “Dara!” she called, and as he came jogging towards her a wave of excitement washed over her.
He lifted her case onto the platform and pushed the train door closed. Then he turned towards her and pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
When they were both breathless, he held her at arm’s length and looked at her. “Oh, Lily . . . Lily . . . I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you!”
“Good,” she said. “Because I’ve missed you more than I could ever have imagined.”
They walked out through the station, both talking at the same time and then stopping to let the other finish what they were saying.
“Is everything okay back at the house?” Lily asked. “Was it weird to be there without me? Were my mother and father okay?”
“They were grand,” Dara told her. “Couldn’t be nicer. Your mother asks me every ten minutes if I want anything to eat or drink. I’ve eaten so much I don’t think I’ll need anything for the next month.”
“She was delighted with all the lovely gifts you brought over – that was very good of you.”
He shrugged and pulled a face. “It was nothing, and what else would I do coming to stay with your family for a fortnight?”
“It was still nice of you.” She reached out to touch the back of his head. “I was worried you’d had your hair cut really short. It looked very short in that photograph you sent me.”
He smiled, slightly self-consciously. “I did get a few inches off it, but it grows really quickly.”
“Good,” she said. “It’s nice now, but you suit it longer too. What did my mother have to say about it?”
“She just said I had a good thick head of hair.” He gave her a sidelong grin. “To be honest, that was one of the reasons I got a bit cut off it. I didn’t want to give the wrong impression the first time I met her.”
Lily looked at him. “That hadn’t crossed my mind. You’re very thoughtful.”
They went over to the ticket office to get Lily’s single ticket to Rowanhill, talking ten to the dozen as they went. Lily was reassured that all was well between her family and Dara, but she knew she wouldn’t feel relaxed until she had checked out her main concern.
They were walking towards the big board with the train timetable on it to check what time theirs left, when she broached the subject that had dominated her mind. “And how was your journey over?”
“Grand,” he said. “Long and boring, but no complaints.”
“And how was Ava? How did you get on travelling over with her?”
There was a definite hesitation. “Do you want the truth?”
“Yes,” she said. “I do . . .”
“I feel bad saying this, since she’s your brother’s girlfriend, she’s nice enough, but . . . she’s actually quite a boring person. Not the sort you can really talk to. Not a bit like you.”
“Really?” Lily was relieved to hear him say that but curious. “But my dad and the boys all really loved her because she’s always making them tea and fussing after them. I thought you might like that as well.”
“Of course I do.” A bemused look came on his face. “And she wanted to do the same on the boat. She brought a huge pack of sandwiches and cakes and everything for us. But anybody can do that. Your mother and my Aunt Carmel fuss about doing things like that all the time, because they’re older and it’s the way they were brought up. All that stuff about the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. But Ava’s only a young girl and she doesn’t seem to have anything interesting about her. She doesn’t really read for one thing. She was just flicking through a magazine or making comments about the other passengers and she knew nothing about music or films or anything like that.”
“Oh . . .” Lily was beginning to feel much better.
“She’s actually very limited,” Dara went on. “When I think of how you and I filled five whole days in your college room and we still didn’t get time to talk about half the things we wanted to. Just think of all the albums, all the books and all the films we still have to discuss.” He gave a sigh. “The biggest discussion we had was what sort of chocolates we should buy to give to your brothers – not exactly riveting stuff!”
There was a tiny bit of her still not convinced. “But don’t you think she’s really attractive?”
“Oh, there’s no doubt she’s a nice enough looking girl.”
Lily felt a little sting as she thought how unfavourably her own looks compared to Ava’s, and wondered if Dara was just being nice. “Don’t her looks and figure make up for all the other things?”
“No,” he said. “They don’t. It’s like looking at a lovely picture. You can only stare at it for so long and you need something more – like an interesting personality. And that’s what Ava is sadly lacking.”
“Well, Declan seems totally besotted by her.”
He took a deep breath. “I wouldn’t want it repeated, but I don’t think Declan knows her at all. I have a feeling that he had a certain image of her in his mind and it might not be entirely accurate.”
Lily was really intrigued now. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that he has spent very little time with her –” He suddenly stopped. “I feel bad now. I shouldn’t be talking about the poor girl like this. There’s nothing wrong with her at all. I suppose it’s just that having spent so long in her company – just the two of us – it just emphasised the fact that we’re completely different types.”
Lily now felt completely reassured, and realised that her fears about Dara becoming besotted by Ava had been completely groundless. She turned her attention to the train times.
“We have a train in a half an hour,” she said. “Or we can catch the next one at four o’clock or even the one after that at six o’clock. What do you want to do? I know you’ve already had a bit of a walk around, so would you rather go straight home now?”
“How are you? Are you tired after travelling or do you want to have a couple of hours here?”
She looked at him. “I’d love to stay up here in Edinburgh. I’m not a bit tired, and once we get home we’ll be with other people for most of the time.”
“Brilliant! I was hoping we might get time to look around it together. I just had a walk along Princes Street and around the streets behind it. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s even better than I had imagined. The Georgian buildings are amazing and so is the view of the castle.”
She loved that he was so enthusiastic. “That’s only the New Town. If you’ve only been to that side of the city, you haven’t seen anything yet.” She smiled and squeezed his arm. “I can’t wait to show you the medieval buildings in the Old Town.” She halted and looked around her. “The phones are back in the main building where we got the tickets, so I’ll just give my mother a quick ring and then we can put the case and things in left luggage.”
He grinned at her. “You phone and I’ll put the luggage in, then we’ll be out all the quicker.”
Lily pointed over to the wall by the taxi rank. “I’ll meet you right there in five minutes.”
Chapter 34
Mona Grace hung up the telephone in the hall and then came back into the sitting-room to Ava. The Irish girl was sleeping at Sophie’s at night and spending most of the day up at Mona and Pat’s house. Declan had organised to get as much time off as he could while she was there, but there were certain coach and taxi runs that he couldn’t get cover for.
“That was Lily,” Mona said, smiling and shaking her head. “I’m not a bit surprised – they’re going to have a few hours looking around Edinburgh this afternoon, and then catch the later train down this evening. They might as well. That way they won’t have to pay for a separate train trip from here to see the city.”
“It is a lovely day,” Ava agreed, turning to look out of the sitting-room window.
“Lily loves Edinburgh and the castle and all the old buildings,” Mona said, “and she’ll be in her element to have a lad with her who likes that sort of thing. She studies history at college, you know, and she was saying that he likes all that kind of stuff too with him studying to be an architect.” She paused. “Do you think you would like a trip up to Edinburgh one of the days?”
“I’m sure I would,” Ava said. “It sounds lovely.”
Mona tilted her head to the side. “And would you like the old buildings or would you prefer to have a look around the shops?”
Ava gave a little shrug. “I’m easy,” she said. “Whatever Declan wants to do.”
“Well, I’d definitely prefer the shops,” Mona said. “I’ve been around the Royal Mile and all the streets leading up to the castle and if you’ve seen it once, it’s more than enough. I don’t know what Lily finds so interesting about it that takes her back there so regularly.” She gave a little laugh. “It’s not for the high fashion shops anyway. Lily is happier wandering around those odd kind of shops that the students like, and you wouldn’t know what she would buy.” She looked at Ava’s classy buttoned-up lilac cardigan, her tight black skirt and matching stilettos and her discreet pearls and earrings. “I must say your own outfit is lovely – did you buy it in Ireland?”
“Dublin, in Clery’s.”
Mona recognised it as one of the better shops. “You can tell it’s good quality,” she said, nodding and wondering how a girl who worked in a bed and breakfast could afford such expensive clothes. “I must get Lily into Glasgow and buy her a few decent rig-outs for her teaching practice. She’ll have to look the part if she wants the other teachers and the parents to take her seriously.”
“She always looked lovely when I saw her in Ireland.”
“Thank God for that at least,” Mona said.
Ava glanced at the window again. “Did you hear how Seán is this afternoon? Is there any improvement with his flu?”
They hadn’t seen him yet as he had taken to his bed.
“No, I must give a ring soon and see how he is. This is Eileen’s night for going over to her mother’s and Seán usually minds the kids. She’ll probably have to cancel it if he’s not well.” She gave a sigh. “It’s unusual for Seán to be sick. If he’s no better in the morning we’ll probably go up and see him.”
A car pulled up outside the house and Mona moved to the window to see who it was.
“Talk of the devil! There’s Seán’s car now.” She watched carefully as the driver’s door opened. “Oh, it’s only Eileen and little Susan.”
As Mona rushed to get the door, Ava sat up straight and smoothed her skirt down over her knees. A few moments later Mona, her daughter-in-law and two-year-old grandchild came into the sitting-room.
The small thin Eileen was dressed in her housework clothes of slacks, an old sweater of Seán’s and plimsolls, her hair cut in a short, boyish style that spoke of tidiness and lack of time to manage anything longer. Her face today looked more pinched and harassed than usual.
“Excuse the state of me,” she said, embarrassed when she saw how elegantly dressed Ava was, “but I’ve been up to my eyes cleaning the windows and the oven.”
“Those windows must have the cleanest glass in Rowanhill,” Mona laughed.
Ava stood up to shake Eileen’s hand, towering a good six inches over her.
“I called yesterday and met Dara, but you were over in Sophie’s,” said Eileen.
“I was in bed,” Ava said. “I had no sleep on the boat coming over.”
“Begod, I know what that’s like,” Mona said. “Every time I go to Ireland it takes me a couple of days to recover.”
“Next time I’ll go on the plane,” Ava said. “Declan said it’s far easier and you don’t miss a night’s sleep.”
“Oh, that’s for sure,” Mona said. “But I have to confess I’m not a lover of aeroplanes. I have the Rosary beads out from the minute I get on it to the minute I come off.”
Eileen looked flustered when Mona asked her if she would have a cup of tea. “I can’t stay,” she said. “You’re not going to believe it, I’ve just had a phone call to say my mother’s been rushed into hospital.”
“Again?” Mona said incredulously.
“The doctor says they’ll definitely keep her in this time,” Eileen said, making a grab at little Susan who was trying to climb up on the sofa beside Ava. “They’ll have to do something. She can’t keep on like this.”
Ava bent forward to lift the child up beside her and then started playing with her.
“They’d be better taking the gall bladder out now,” Mona stated. “I was the very same before they operated on me, hoping every attack was the last one, but it always came back.”
“The only thing is, with Seán in bed sick, I’ve nobody to mind the kids to let me go to the hospital.” She looked at her watch. “And I need to pick up Beth at school and take her straight to the optician’s. I’m hoping she doesn’t need glasses as she’s a bit too young for that. They don’t look a bit nice on girls, and she’d be forever taking them off and losing them.”
“If she needs them she needs them,” Mona said philosophically.
“So, I don’t know what I’m going to do about the hospital if Seán doesn’t rally round.”
“Oh, I’m sure we’ll sort something out,” Mona said. “I could always go up to the house for a few hours.”
“But it’s your night for the Catholic Mothers’ Association, and you’ve got that priest coming out from Glasgow to talk to you all.”
“Oh, God,” Mona said, clapping her hands on either side of her face, “can you believe it? I nearly forgot about that. We’ll have to think of something else.”
“What time is Lily due back?” Eileen asked. “She’s always good with the children.”
“Oh, it could be seven or eight. They decided to have the day in Edinburgh since it’s fine.”
Ava lifted Susan onto her knee and started jiggling her up and down. “Could I help?” she offered. “Declan has a taxi run out to the airport and he says he won’t be back until after nine o’clock, so I won’t be doing anything else.”
“Oh, I don’t like to ask you,” Eileen said. “It’s not fair – you’re here on holiday, not to be baby-sitting . . .”
“I’ve nothing better to do,” Ava said, “and I’m well used to children. I used to do a lot of child-minding for a family in Dublin.”
Eileen looked over at her mother-in-law to see if she had any objections. “I don’t like to take advantage.”
Mona looked at Ava now, delighted that the girl had made the offer as she didn’t want to miss Father McShane’s visit. He was a great character, always telling jokes and he usually brought his guitar with him to give them a song or two. And besides, it would give Ava something to do while Declan was working.
“If you’re sure,” Mona said, “that would be a great help.”
“It certainly would,” Eileen said, smiling gratefully at Ava. She checked her watch again. “I’d better go and pick Beth up now.”
* * *
Declan pulled up outside Seán and Eileen’s house, to drop Ava off on his way to the airport.
“It looks lovely,” Ava said, looking at the new two-storey house with the sweeping cream-lace curtains tied back with satin ropes on each window. It was different in every way from the grey post-First-World-War houses that Mona and Sophie lived in half a mile away.
“It’s very good of you offering to look after the kids,” he said, putting his arm around her. “I hope you don’t mind us not going out tonight?”
“Not at all,” she said, “I’m grand.”
“We’ll make up for it tomorrow,” he told her. “I’m taking you shopping into Glasgow in the afternoon to get you a new rig-out and then we’ll go for a nice steak dinner and on to the pictures. How does that sound?”
“Fantastic.”
He kissed her on the side of the head and then she slid out of the car.
Eileen had the youngest child already in bed and little Beth had been bathed and was sitting up at the table in her pyjamas with a colouring book and crayons. Eileen was dressed up for her hospital visit in a matching pink dress and coat that was more suited to a wedding, and she had back-combed her short hair and put a tortoiseshell slide above each ear. The dress was fitted and emphasised how thin her figure was – it came just above the knee and had a fussy satin bow under the bustline.
“Your outfit is gorgeous,” Ava told her. “It really suits you.”
“Do you think so?” Eileen said, delighted with the compliment. “I got it for a First Communion and I thought I might as well get a wear out of it. I wasn’t sure if it was a bit too much.” She went over to the table to get her long cream clutch-bag. She opened it and took out her lipstick and compact. She powdered her face again and then reapplied her pale-pink lipstick.
