Lou looked around now for Ned, but he appeared to be missing. Ned was a natural at parties: he was so easy-going that he could chat to anyone, and she missed his presence beside her. She spotted Emily with Simone, the tall and rather shy Evan, and a few other young people, and headed over there to see if Emily had noticed where her father was.
Ned was wedged into a corner of the bar with his brother, Tommy, who’d ordered a couple of Heart Starters for the pair of them ‘to get the night going’.
‘It’s a party, we might as well enjoy ourselves,’ said Tommy, a man who was only let out by his wife on very rare occasions. Given this fact, Tommy felt it was important to get maximum enjoyment in early before Siobhan, who ran a tight ship and had no truck with wasting the family’s money, caught sight of him and dragged him home for a lecture on being a bad influence on their children. With this in mind, he had found a corner of the bar where he and Ned were almost hidden from view by a decorative barrel with a silk flower arrangement on top of it.
‘Sheesh, this is strong,’ said Ned, taking a sip.
Tommy had reliably informed him that the Heart Starter was a combination of brandy and port and was guaranteed to reanimate the dead. The young barman had needed the explanation too, as he’d never made such a drink.
‘It’s an old classic,’ Tommy advised them both.
Old people were mad, the barman decided. Imagine mixing strong drinks like that so early in the evening.
‘Get it down you before Siobhan sees me,’ hissed Tommy to his brother.
‘Ah Tommy, this is lethal stuff. If we drink these, we won’t know which day of the week it is—’ began Ned.
‘Drink!’ said Tommy with urgency.
Ned gave up and drank, catching sight of Lou on the other side of the barn, which was now filling up fast. She looked beautiful: he was a lucky man. If Tommy had forgotten a gift for Siobhan’s significant birthday, he’d be recuperating in hospital with some vital organs missing. But Lou ... she was a treasure.
The Heart Starter wasn’t that bad, either, he decided, feeling a nice glow after he finished it. Normally he liked just a beer or two but still, it was a party after all. Tommy said port and brandy was almost medicinal, and ordered them another pair.
Through the happy haze of a second round of Heart Starters, the brothers admired the party. Their mother, Ruth, was at a table with her cronies, mineral water in their hands and eyes narrowed as they surveyed the guests, some of whom were swaying gently and tapping their feet as Hot Chocolate crooned ‘You Sexy Thing’. Ned knew from the looks on their faces that they didn’t approve of the liberality of the drinks, or the Barn as opposed to Whitehaven’s elegant Old Court Hotel. He could see that they were talking out of the side of their mouths, undoubtedly making horrified remarks about the scanty outfits and general behaviour of the rest of the guests.
Ned loved his mother, but he’d hate to have married a version of her, which was what poor Tommy had done. Siobhan and his mother were both devoted churchgoers, always doing novenas and worrying about what the neighbours would think. Which was more important: what God thought or what the neighbours thought? He knew they’d never work it out to their satisfaction.
He could see Lou and Emily near the door, Lou looking lovely in some sort of loose purple dress with her dark hair all neatly pretty because Emily had insisted she go to the hairdresser. Ned felt a twinge of guilt again.
What did you get for your wife when she was fifty? Nobody in the university was any help. His closest work friend wasn’t even married or dating anyone, so he was no help in the advice department. Earrings? Special gold ones with diamonds? Ned was at a loss as to what to buy, plus he’d left it too late because the whole party thing had slipped his mind in the first place and then today, well, it had been mad at work.
Lou hadn’t minded at all, anyway, as it turned out. She knew what he was like. Lou was both the social secretary and the purchaser in the family. She bought gifts for everyone, including his mother – Ned wouldn’t have known where to start – and never seemed to hold that against him. Gifts just weren’t his strength.
Two friends who’d come from Cork city arrived at the bar with himself and Tommy, who happily began ordering more Heart Starters all round. Siobhan would kill Tommy when she got hold of him, Ned decided, but he didn’t care. It wasn’t his problem. It was a party. They were allowed to enjoy themselves.
Gloria spotted her niece and grandniece welcoming guests, and there was that nice young man that Emily had just started dating. Evan. Tall, a bit shy, but a total gentleman. Gloria knew his grandparents. Decent people with a small farm, and his grandmother sang in the choir.
Gloria looked further into the fairy-light-spangled barn and spotted Lillian. Even across the room, it was clear to her that Lillian was not entirely on form. Gloria recognised the signs. Her sister-in-law’s eyes were narrowed and in between drinking liberally from a jam jar of clear liquid which Gloria suspected was neat alcohol, she was staring around at the party crowd as if planning a murder that even Poirot wouldn’t be able to solve.
‘Look, it’s Lillian,’ said Vera happily and started off towards her. ‘We should say thank you—’
‘I wouldn’t,’ cautioned Gloria. ‘Let me get you a drink instead.’
‘No!’ protested Alice.
‘Yes,’ Gloria insisted. ‘You can tell me about your grandchildren. How old is Solange now? Eleven?’
A Lillian who was not enjoying herself should be avoided at all costs. Lillian liked to be the centre of attention at all events. If she wasn’t, she might lash out at someone, and Alice and Vera were two gentle souls who could do without seeing Lillian buzzed up on booze and rage.
‘Aunt Gloria,’ said Emily, leaning in to whisper to her great-aunt. ‘Is Lillian OK? She was fine earlier but one of her Crazy Grey-Haired Ladies just came in and now she looks a bit grim.’
‘Really? Has she blown a kiss at you yet?’ said Gloria, who knew all her sister-in-law’s little foibles.
‘Well, no—’
‘I’m sure she’s grand,’ Gloria added.
Lillian did look a bit grim. She was wearing one of her cream silk shirts with a long tight skirt, and a necklace of red crystals that looked as if someone had just dug them up and not bothered polishing them. Lillian’s face was pale but there were two red patches on her cheeks, as red and angry as the rough crystal stones on her necklace.
