Finishing Touches (56 page)

‘And if we have tea in any of the hostelries, our reputations will be ruined. You’ll just have to come back to my place, and when news of that gets out there’ll be wigs on the
green!’

‘I’ve got my bike with me,’ Cassie said.

‘No problem. I’ll dump it in the back of the station-wagon.’ He indicated a somewhat battered red Peugeot that was parked just down the road. ‘That’s if you want to
come, of course,’ David added.

‘That would be very nice, David, thanks,’ Cassie smiled. ‘Whenever I go anywhere in town, everybody wants to know about Mam. I know they mean well but it gets a bit
wearing.’

‘Well, that’s settled then. How would you fancy a few potato-cakes, I’ll get some from the bakery; they’re second to none.’

‘Mmm,’ grinned Cassie, who was beginning to feel more cheerful. After being stuck at home for the past few months, seeing just the same old faces, it was nice to meet someone new and
interesting.

‘Don’t expect too much of the cottage,’ David warned as they drove along the sea road with her bike in the back and a bag of fresh potato-cakes on her lap. ‘I’ve
done very little with it since I moved in, I’ve been too busy writing. One of these days I must get down to it.’

‘You could do so much with it,’ Cassie enthused as she looked around the small cottage. ‘I
love
Agas!’ she exclaimed, when she saw the gleaming stove in the
kitchen. Already she was working out designs and décor in her head. ‘This kitchen would be lovely done in pine and if you had terracotta tiles on the floor, it would look very rustic,
very Mediterranean.’

‘That sounds nice,’ David agreed as he cut some brown bread, heated up the potato-cakes and placed pickles, beetroot and a variety of cheeses on the table outside the back door.

‘Don’t go to any trouble!’ Cassie protested.

‘It’s no trouble. I always eat a bit of lunch at this hour of the day and the brown bread is fresh.’

‘It’s gorgeous!’ Cassie declared five minutes later, as she tucked in. David had poured her a glass of wine and, feeling utterly decadent and to hell with the worldish, she was
enjoying it. He was very easy to talk to and she could listen to his beautiful accent forever. As they ate the simple but delicious repast, they chatted freely, and Cassie found herself telling him
about her mother and how she had yelled at her, about Barbara and how angry she was with her. It was a relief to talk and he was a very good listener.

‘Lordy, I’m telling you all my secrets. It’s a good job you’re not writing fiction,’ Cassie said, a little embarrassed. Then she laughed when she realized that she
had repeated David’s own remark almost exactly.

David’s eyes crinkled up in a smile. ‘I might write your biography one day though, and your sister might not like it!’

‘Oh she doesn’t mean it. Barbara never stops to think!’ Cassie said hastily, afraid she had been too disloyal about her sister.

‘I don’t know how you keep sane at all,’ David remarked as he poured Cassie another glass of red wine. ‘If my father had gone like your mother I’m not sure that I
would have coped. Danielle, my ex-wife, took her father into our home a few weeks before he died and I spent a lot of time with him, but it was only for three weeks or so and I was quite wrecked
after it. I couldn’t write at all. You must make sure that the rest of your family take on their responsibilities too,’ he said gently. ‘You don’t want to get burnt
out.’

‘I know,’ she agreed, thinking to herself that it was easier said than done.

They sat under the shade of a glorious honeysuckle, eating their meal, sipping their wine and watching the sun sparkling on the sea. ‘I was going to go swimming!’ Cassie said,
patting her full stomach. ‘I feel like such a glutton. That bread was lovely and I’ve eaten half the loaf.’ She glanced at her watch and shot out of the chair. ‘Cripes,
it’s nearly three o’clock,’ she exclaimed. ‘Mrs Bishop will think I’m lost and you’ve missed a morning’s writing.’

‘Oh, but I’ve enjoyed myself.’ David stretched as he stood up. ‘I’ll spend the rest of the day writing.’

‘I think I’ll do a design for your kitchen. That would give me something to do. I love planning new rooms.’ She had told him about her experience in interior design.

‘Do that! I’ll frame it. It will be a Cassie original,’ David smiled as he got her bike out of the back of the car. ‘Are you capable of cycling, seeing as you’re
under the influence, or will I drive you home?’ he teased.

‘Not at all, I’ll freewheel down the hill. It’s only a pity Mrs Carter won’t be here to see it,’ Cassie laughed, getting on her bike. She held out her hand.
‘David, thank you for lunch, I enjoyed it. I hope I didn’t moan too much.’

‘You didn’t moan at all and I enjoyed it too. I’ll tell you what. If I set myself a goal of a chapter completed by this day next week and achieve it, would you come for lunch
again after the gym?’ he asked, as he shook her hand. ‘It would be a great help to me because I’d have something to look forward to, so I’d make myself work?’

Cassie’s eyes twinkled. ‘Only if you get your chapter finished by then!’

‘Right, and you’ve got to have your design done.’

‘OK,’ Cassie smiled as she got up on her bike and cycled towards the gate, with David’s cocker spaniel running beside her just like Spock in the old days.

‘You don’t look too unsteady from here. I’ll see you this week in the gym.’ David stood watching her as she cycled on to the road and took off down the hill.

She turned for a second and waved and he waved back and then she set her face against the breeze and cycled down towards the bungalow, feeling extraordinarily refreshed and energized. It had
been such an unexpected encounter. She was dying to get to work on the design of David’s kitchen, and she was looking forward to this day next week. Whatever happened at home, she’d
have that to look forward to. And Laura was coming over to spend a day with her next week as well, as she had some leave to take and wanted to visit her own mother in Port Mahon.

She must telephone Martin about getting the central heating installed before the winter, she decided, as she walked to the shed and put her bike in. She was afraid of Nora with the fire. God
knows what she might do with herself. It shouldn’t be too much of a job to convert from back-boiler to oil and Nora had more than enough money in the bank to cover the expense. As her
guardian, Cassie would have access to the money to pay for the conversion. It would be nice getting up to a warm house in the mornings and not having to light the fire to get the heat going.
She’d phone Martin this minute!

Nora was sitting under the oak tree watching the seagulls circle a trawler. She looked old and tired and Cassie felt a terrible guilt rise up in her for the way she had yelled at her that
morning.

‘I’m sorry, Mam, I really am. I love you very much!’ Cassie sat down beside her mother and hugged her tightly. Nora, content to be held within the circle of her
daughter’s arms, sat quietly gazing into the distance.

David cleared up the dishes after lunch and shook his head. He had really surprised himself today. Several times! Being miffed because Cassie had not noticed him, deliberately
catching up with her so he could say hello and then asking her up to the cottage for tea, a tea that had turned into a long, lazy lunch.

He wasn’t used to strange females bursting into tears in front of him and he thought he had handled the matter very well. Asking Cassie to have a cup of tea was the least he could do. It
was quite obvious that the poor girl was under enormous stress. And no wonder! Some of the things her mother got up to were incredible. The sister, Barbara, sounded like something else. He had read
a few of her columns in
The Irish Mail
, courtesy of Mrs Kelly, and thought they were hilarious. Mrs Kelly told him that Barbara was a celebrity now and wouldn’t give Port Mahon the
time of day. She didn’t have much time for her mother either, it seemed. And as for the one in America, although Cassie hadn’t said much about her, David sensed that she was even less
helpful than the so-called celebrity.

He liked Cassie, he had to admit. She was good company and he enjoyed her sense of humour. She’d got really animated about the cottage and it would be interesting to see what designs she
came up with. David didn’t invite many people to his home and he hadn’t enjoyed a meal so much in ages. Next week he’d cook one of his specialities, a pasta dish. He enjoyed
cooking for company and it would certainly give him the incentive to complete his chapter on time. Whistling to himself, he dried the last dish and strode into his study, sat down at his word
processor and began to write.

‘He’s a gorgeous cook!’ Cassie informed Laura a week and a day later, as they sunbathed together on the lawn, making the most of the magnificent Indian
summer.

‘Get to know him, girl, he sounds like a dream-boat!’ Laura laughed. Cassie needed something good in her life right now and this man sounded very nice. Laura didn’t know how
her friend was managing. She had been really shocked at Nora’s deterioration. Nora hadn’t a clue who Laura was and had asked her several times if she were Elsie’s daughter. To
Laura’s certain knowledge, Cassie’s Aunt Elsie had never been married, let alone had a daughter, but to soothe her friend’s mother, she agreed that she was who Nora said, and Nora
seemed content with that.

‘I wonder why his wife left him,’ Laura said, shifting to find a comfortable spot. She was three months pregnant and not having it too easy.

‘She couldn’t cope when he had to lock himself away and spend months writing. David says it’s the most antisocial of occupations. I felt very conscious that when he was
entertaining me yesterday he was away from his word processor. He assured me that he’d finished the chapter he had set himself and he was entitled to a little treat. It’s not like our
jobs where you’re finished when you leave the office; it’s a twenty-four-hour thing really. I always thought the life of a writer would be heaven, but this sounds like a bit of a drag
to me!’ Cassie observed.

‘Huh! I’m bringing home work all the time now,’ moaned Laura. ‘It’s the only way I can see to get on. Increase my workload, get it done efficiently and show up my
rivals. You know something, Cassie, I’d love to set up an all-female practice where we could all get promotion on merit. It really
is
a man’s world.’

‘I was lucky in the bank, I guess,’ Cassie said. ‘They were enlightened.’

It was lovely having Laura over for the afternoon. She’d been looking forward to it for ages. Nora was placid for a change. All she had done today was to get into the bath with her clothes
on. Now she was sitting peacefully under the tree and the girls were relaxing and having a good gossip, just like the old days. The longer the good weather lasted, the better, for both her and her
mother.

She had thoroughly enjoyed her lunch with David the day before. The week had seemed to crawl by, probably because she was looking forward so much to meeting him. She had met him in the gym, they
had worked out, and on the way home, he had suggested a swim in Cockleshell Bay. Cassie needed no second urging. She had popped in home, changed into her bikini and they had a lovely swim. Because
it was September and they had had a hot summer, the water was warm and it was bliss to stretch out and float, feeling the sun on her face. Both of them were good swimmers and they raced each other
to the point, with David winning by just a head. They arrived ravenous at the cottage, and while Cassie changed, David served the most scrumptious pasta and chicken dish. This time she had brought
the wine and they sat eating and chatting and enjoying themselves. David was enthusiastic about the design she had drawn up for the kitchen. For a few hours, she was able to forget completely about
her normal, stressful life.

She and Laura were sipping iced tea and eating some cake that Laura had brought when Cassie thought she heard the sound of a car on the front drive. A few minutes later, Barbara appeared and
surveyed the scene.

Cassie’s heart sank. Her one afternoon with Laura, and her sister, who rarely set foot in the place, had to arrive and spoil it.

‘Well, that’s what
I
call living,’ Barbara declared crossly. ‘I wish I could take things as easy.’

‘Change places with me then,’ Cassie said, not even trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Typical of Barbara to arrive when Nora was quiet and Cassie was able to relax for a
few hours. No fear of her arriving when Nora was being difficult, or covered in soot or standing in sugar and oatflakes at five in the morning.

‘Would you like some iced tea?’ Cassie asked, as politely as she could.

‘I’d prefer a cup of coffee,’ Barbara sniffed.

‘Sit down. I’ll go and make one. Go over and say hello to Mam.’

‘Sure, what’s the point? She won’t know who I am. The last time she kept calling me Nellie, whoever the hell
that
is,’ Barbara retorted. It really annoyed her
that her mother didn’t recognize her.

Cassie, cursing under her breath, made her sister’s coffee, located another deckchair and went back out into the garden.

‘Here you go, Barbara.’ She tried to keep her tone pleasant. ‘What are you doing in this neck of the woods?’

Barbara took the coffee and selected a slice of cake, the biggest on the plate, Cassie noted, disgusted with herself for her pettiness.

‘I was in Malahide looking at a site so I came on up. Ian and I are going to sell the apartment and build a house when his compensation comes through. Noreen was telling me about a site
near her, so I went to have a look at it.’

‘I never thought you’d come back to live on the northside, Barbara,’ Laura murmured.

‘North
County
Dublin actually,’ Barbara corrected. ‘The apartment was fine when there were just the two of us, but Britt needs somewhere to play and I don’t
think apartments are ideal for children.’

‘I’ll be in the same boat, I suppose,’ Laura confessed, patting her slightly rounded tummy. ‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.’