Oh God, this was totally fair, she’d really let Mam down around the wedding.
‘Eric has gone for a hike with a priest friend of his, so I was wondering if you could drop out this morning and we could go looking for a dress. I thought we could’ve all done it together with Maxine but it’s not turning out like that.’
She sounded crestfallen, and Cassie’s heart went out to her.
‘Of course, Mam, just give me a chance for a quick shower. I’ll meet you in Marian Gale in an hour.’
‘Good girl. There’s no point in looking online, sure we’d be quicker taking the plane to China ourselves.’
Bloody hell, she thought, the only time she ever felt there was nothing to worry about was when she’d forgotten about something. Thank God for the luxurious rain shower. She pulled on a dark-green flowy midi dress teamed with last year’s leather sandals and the sunglasses, which elevated every outfit. A wipe of lip gloss and she was out the door.
Mam was already prowling the bridal racks when she arrived.
‘I thought you’d never get here.’
‘What, I’m bang on time—’
‘Hi, how can I help?’ A very beautiful girl, who would have looked stunning in any of the dresses, beamed at them. ‘Sooo, we have bride and mother of the bride?’ she cooed.
Cassie felt Mam bristle. ‘No, actually, we have bride and bridesmaid.’
There was just the faintest hesitation as the girl processed this, then she lit up.
‘Fantastic, this is so beautiful, daughter is helping mama. What had you in mind?’
Somewhat mollified, Mam stepped forward. ‘Well, I was thinking of something light .?.?. it’s for July.’
‘Next July?’
‘God no, we could all be dead by then. This July.’
The beautiful girl blinked. Cassie could see her bracing herself for the next demand.
‘Perfect. And what colour?’
‘White.’
Cassie gave just the faintest hint of a shrug. Mam did Mam and nobody was going to persuade her otherwise. They gazed in trepidation at the racks of backless, frontless, strapless, see-through bridal gowns. Surely in all of that there’d have to be something suitable that’d only need a bit of a hem?
In the end the assistant proved to be worth her weight in gold. She found Mam a long white satin sheath dress teamed with a stunning embroidered organza wrap. Matching shoes and a floral headpiece were chosen next. Mam stood gazing at herself in the mirror, entranced by the image. Cassie could feel tears welling up.
‘You look beautiful, Mam.’
‘I do, don’t I?’
‘Eric will be stunned when he sees you.’ She felt a small ache in her heart as she said the words.
‘Ah thanks, love. I’ll have a little word with your daddy later on, let him know what he’s missing.’ She gave Cassie a gentle elbow in the ribs, before regaining her composure. ‘Will you, for the love of God, try phoning Maxine again? I know you tried once. You’re dodging it, I know you.’ Mam was back on top form.
They hugged outside the shop and Cassie agreed to bring the dress home with her to hide it from Eric. For feck’s sake, she thought, it was like hiding the Santa presents.
* * *
By eight thirty that evening, she couldn’t make any more excuses – she was going to have to make that call. Oh well, get it over with .?.?. She pressed call and waited five rings, six .?.?. She’d already lowered the phone from her ear when she heard, ‘Hello?’
Cassie’s heart sank.
Maxine’s voice sounded familiar but different, older. Of course it was, what was she thinking? Maxine was a forty-three-year-old woman. For some irrational reason she’d expected her to remain exactly the same as when they’d last spoken.
