Oliver’s world meant he was insulated from the reality of life and how money lenders really worked. If he got beaten up, it might make headlines, but he’d still be in hospital. The truth would come out too.
She couldn’t live like that – watching over her shoulder all the time.
Tough love, she thought, from her reading of the gambling websites. Oliver had to face his own truths. She could not do it for him, she could not enable him.
‘You need to move out,’ she said shakily, ‘Oliver, I can’t be a part of this. I’m coming home on Monday, please don’t be there when I do. I’m going to have to let accountants look at our affairs—’
‘Please don’t,’ he begged.
‘Because you defrauded me?’ she asked quietly. ‘Forged my signature?’
There was a long, long silence after this. In the quiet space, she could hear him let out a shuddering breath. Then Oliver hung up.
Toni closed her eyes. Lou was right: she was fed up with things that weren’t destroying her but were supposed to make her stronger. To hell with that. Why couldn’t life be easy?
Her phone pinged suddenly with an email.
She opened it and smiled. Another email confirming what she knew: that Gerry Lanigan was a bully. But there was more information about sexual harassment cases in his company. This was coming from several sources. Bullying of one sort or another was all part of his business. Women were tired of it, it seemed.
Toni felt the thrill of finding a good story. Only this one could save her career.
Trinity walked along beside Lou through the ancient streets, the sun hot on their skin.
‘I was worried when you left to come back,’ said Lou gently. ‘Is everything all right?’
‘Fine,’ said Trinity quickly.Too quickly, Lou thought.
‘I’d love some ice cream,’ Trinity said. ‘I’m yearning for something really sweet.’
‘No problem,’ said Lou.
There were little shops selling ice cream everywhere and they queued up at one with Trinity looking at the pistachio flavour which she adored.
They were next in line when she grabbed Lou and gasped. ‘Lou. Look. In English – it says the gelato is unpasteurised. I can’t eat it.’
‘Why?’ said Lou, without thinking.
Trinity’s beautiful Celtic eyes were huge as she stared at Lou.
‘Because I’m pregnant, Lou! You can’t have unpasteurised food when you’re pregnant. Has it all been unpasteurised?’
Lou’s mouth fell open. Suddenly, it all made sense.
Trinity didn’t drink. She didn’t touch coffee. She hadn’t had any shellfish at dinner even though she said she loved scallops. She’d avoided any of the beautiful soft cheeses that Toni had bought for the fridge in the apartment. Lou had begun to suspect some kind of eating disorder. The truth was much simpler.
‘I’m such an idiot! I never thought of that,’ Lou said finally, and she put her arms around the young woman. ‘Oh, my darling, Trinity, that’s ... you’re happy, aren’t you?’ She paused. Not all twenty-three-year-olds were delighted to be pregnant, but Trinity had been doing all the things women did when they were continuing with a pregnancy, hadn’t she?
‘It was a shock,’ Trinity admitted. ‘We hadn’t planned it. Pete and I hadn’t ever talked about kids, like ever.’
‘You’re young – people don’t tend to talk about that stuff at first,’ Lou pointed out.
‘Also, I knew I was pregnant at my aunt Dara’s wedding and I couldn’t tell her. She’d been unhappy when I took a gap year out after college so I could live with Pete in Boyle.’
‘Your aunt Dara?’
‘She brought me up,’ said Trinity. ‘I’m sorry. I haven’t told you and Toni anything. It’s not fair because I know all about you and you know nothing about me but it’s all so crazy. I was mulling it over in my head and I didn’t want to tell anyone because saying it out loud would make it real.’
‘I understand that,’ said Lou. ‘You don’t owe us your life story.’
