‘Do you think Minnie and Daisy will be talking about us like this in thirty or forty years’ time?’ she said.
‘Oh totally,’ said Steve, ‘totally.’
And they both laughed at the very idea.
A text pinged in on Indy’s phone.
It was from Rory.
‘She wants to meet me and the girls outside the restaurant,’ she said, and shrugged. ‘Who knows what this is about.’
Eden was driving.
‘Darling, we’ll get a taxi or I’ll drive,’ said Ralphie as they left the house and got into the car.
‘No,’ said Eden, ‘it’s absolutely fine; I really don’t want to have a drink tonight, darling. I’d far too many glasses of wine at the hen night on Wednesday. And I couldn’t cope with tomorrow if I had a headache. A bit of sparkling water will be fine for me tonight,’ and she smiled at him.
‘Well, if you insist,’ he said, ‘I quite fancy a pint.’
Eden started up the car and they drove. She thought of the fourth letter that she’d found stuffed in the letter box this evening.I know what you did, Mrs Tallisker.She was absolutely fed up with it. Fed up and annoyed. No longer scared. No, she’d reached a point where the anger was growing. She’d spent weeks being terrified of this anonymous individual, who’d taken over her life, taunting her with her secret. And she had had enough. That’s why she wasn’t drinking tonight; she was afraid that if she had a couple of glasses of wine, the rage might encompass her and she might scream it out at the whole table. Which was not what she wanted to do. Tonight was a special night, a family night. They were all going to be there, even Rory, who’d been so notoriously absent from so many of the wedding events, apart from the hen night, of course. Eden felt quite annoyed with Rory. She wished she knew what was going on with her. When she’d rung the other day, Chantal had made some off-hand comment about Rory’s agent. And Eden had been utterly astonished. She hadn’t said agent, what agent, but she wanted to. Because it was clear that Chantal assumed she knew. So something was going on and Chantal assumed the whole family knew about it and Rory hadn’t told anyone. Typical Rory. Yes, thought Eden. It was just as well she wasn’t drinking tonight, because she would be a danger to everyone if she was.
Her phone pinged with a text: Rory.
She certainly wanted to talk to Rory, all right.
Meg looked around her family sitting at the huge table in the Fisherman’s Shack. Anything less like a shack, you’d be hard pushed to find. The Shack was a chichi restaurant on the outskirts of Dalkey, set on a bit of cliff where some marvellous cantilevering meant that a tiny part of the restaurant actually sat over the rocks, and there was a glass floor where you could see the surf dashing against them. Meg always found that quite scary. It was like the Grand Canyon: you didn’t want to get too close to the edge. Now, she believed, the Canyon had a glass platform where you could walk out and stare down. It hadn’t been like that years ago when she and Stu and the girls had done a three-week American road trip. She smiled; everyone said she was crazy, including her sister Sandra, for bringing four small children around America at Easter.
‘They’re little, they’ll never get a chance like this again,’ Meg had said. ‘Indy’s going into senior school in September and once she’s in the senior cycle you can’t take them out of school on holidays. But now, this is the perfect time and we can do all the things we’ve always wanted to do.’
‘Yes, but Rory’s only two; you’re going to schlep around America in a big car with four children and the littlest one is two, and you think that’s a holiday?’
‘It will be a holiday,’ said Meg.
She and her sister were very different. Sandra took offence easily. Although, Eden was right: Sandra did get over things quickly. But boy, when she got angry, she got very angry.
Sandra was there tonight and Meg was thrilled. Ann O’Reilly, their mother, was there too. Still strong and tall, despite being ninety. Sandra, Eden and Ann were sitting together chattering. Ralphie was beside Eden, one big hand on her shoulder as he leaned in listening, smiling. He was a gorgeous man, thought Meg fondly. Her daughter had chosen well. Calum and Savannah weren’t there yet. Indy and Steve were, both turned and talking to their neighbours, having highly animated conversations. Steve had been part of the Robicheaux family for so long – since the photos. That, Meg thought, cemented his being part of the family in her mind. Because before that, he’d been Indy’s first serious boyfriend and Meg had been a little unsure of the whole concept. Because Indy used to say, ‘I want to be with him for the rest of my life, Mum.’ And Meg would wince. Girls of Indy’s age shouldn’t settle for their first boyfriend. And yet – it had all worked out in the end. They were so happily married and Minnie and Daisy were the most adorable little girls.
Steve had coped with his dreams of being a photographer not being realised. And even though he still took pictures at the weekends and had taken the family photo up until last year – this year’s one was imminent – he didn’t appear to mind. He liked being a carpenter, he said, doing things with his hands. Indy and Steve had the most beautiful inlaid coffee table that Steve had made in his work room. It was a piece of complete beauty.
‘You are an artist,’ Meg had said when she’d seen it.
‘Wish I could do things like that, son,’ Stu had said. ‘It’s amazing.’
Down at the other end of the table was Stu. He looked wonderful, Meg thought. He was tanned and his hair was brushed back from his face. He had a strong face with strong planes, high cheekbones, a long nose and that mobile mouth. In his day he’d given all the rock and movie stars a run for their money. Which was probably why they liked coming to the Sorrento. Glamorous people liked to be around other glamorous people. Of course, she’d had a huge part to play in it, she knew. She’d made it beautiful. Having that beauty taken away had been definitely part of what had made her so angry with Stu all those years ago. But she was over it now.
Nick, who owned the Fisherman’s Shack, sidled up beside her.
‘I said it to Stu already, should we start taking the orders?’
Meg looked around. Still no sign of Savannah and Calum. Who knew what was delaying them?
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘let’s start.’
Marie-Denise had been anxious as Savannah and Calum were leaving.
‘Clary won’t settle,’ she whispered quietly to Savannah. ‘The thing that happened in school is still on her mind and she’s anxious. Anxious she’s in trouble.’
Savannah felt the familiar tightening in her chest, her breathing shallow. Where was the precious breathing pause now?
