‘Yes! More than okay, why?’
‘I dunno, you just seem a bit...’ He stared at her hand, beating the eggs furiously as she gripped the bowl.
She stared at her son.
Dominic was right, she was a woman who could set the world alight if she so chose, and she did! She chose right there and then to step out of the shadows and go grab the bloody life she wanted, one where she was in control.
Chapter Twenty-Six
‘Greengate and Greengate, Enya speaking, how may I help you?’
She was certain that long after the firm of solicitors had closed its doors, she would still be saying this in her sleep. She’d only been settled behind her desk for a minute, Thermos mug of coffee in hand, mentally preparing for the day ahead. If calls started this early, it was usually an indicator that it was going to be a busy one.
‘Enya, hi, hope it’s okay to call, I got your work number from Aiden. I tried your mobile, but...’
‘Trish, hello!’
Her heart jumped at the unexpected contact, remembering the way Iris’s mother had pointed directly at her and slurred that she was going to be keeping an eye on her.
‘My phone’s probably hidden in my bag somewhere. And of course that’s fine, call any time, although not after September as I won’t be here anymore, none of us will.’
It was easy to trot out the words with a jolly undertone of relief, inviting comments about her becoming a lady of leisure and all other associated clichés. She’d had a plan to go into business with Jenny, invest, learn, and spend time with her best friend. It would have been perfect. The memory of Jenny leaving on Saturday night,spitting lava and hurt as she did so, still sat behind her eyelids. Her new stance to encourage strength and self-reliance made no allowance for the way her heart lurched.
The truth was, she would miss it here. All of it: the two sweet men who she had never grown close to on account of their position, hers, and the era they belonged to. She’d miss the generations of families who knew that if the Greengates were handling the matter, they were in safe hands. But mostly she’d miss the routine, the reason to leave the house, the walk to and from the High Street, even the sweet fatigue that came after a day of office work. It was therefore vital she found a new job and soon; whiling away her days in a melancholy state while she watered that infernal plant in the hallway wouldn’t do at all.
‘Yes, Aiden said retirement was on the cards.’
Retirement?It was one of those words that struck her as funny and entirely misused when it referred specifically to her. A word for old people, old people like widows.
‘Is everything okay, Trish?’
‘Everything’s fine – well, as fine as it can be when you’re running around like a headless chicken trying to organise a wedding in whistle-stop time and no one else on the planet seems to share your urgency.’
This Enya took personally; was it a dig, was she being accused ofnot sharing the urgency, let alone the workload? As per her new MO, she kept her voice steady, a woman in control!
‘Can I do anything? As I’ve already said, I’m more than happy to get involved.’
She tried to strike the balance between offering help and forcing herself on the woman or making her feel like she was hijacking part of the process, while making it clear she was not about to let Iris’s mother ladle guilt over her.
‘Oh, let me have a think, maybe, erm, we might need a hand with collecting a couple of bits from Bristol when they’re ready. I’m thinking the place-name holders that Iris has ordered and a board thing with pegs on for photos, that might be good.’
‘Great, just let me know where and when and I’ll go fetch them.’
‘That’d be brill.’
There was a moment of awkwardness where Enya wasn’t sure if she should fill the silence or whether Trish was about to speak.
‘Reason for the call,’ Trish swallowed, ‘I was wondering if you fancied meeting up for a coffee?’
‘Oh! I’dloveto.’
This wasn’t strictly true, she was about two parts trepidation and one part love at the prospect. Instantly, she wondered what Trish wanted to say and prayed it was not to discuss Dominic.
‘Great, don’t suppose you’re free later, after work? I’m out and about and I could nip by, is there somewhere to go for coffee where you are?’
Enya looked out over the High Street, which might not have all mod cons but could boast a decent coffee shop or two, a deli with a reasonable cheese counter and a rack of crisps whose price tags could rival those of any fancy store, Jenny’s florist’s, of course, and a lovely bookshop. What more did they need?
‘Yes, that sounds great. I wish I could say I have to cancel my many plans, but my diary is depressingly empty, as ever.’
