He duly stood up and grabbed his leather jacket. “Don’t mind me. I’ve had enough drama for one day. See you later.”
Jenny watched wordlessly as he disappeared out the door and then she turned back to Tessa, trying to forget her own problems for the moment.
Karen had caught Shane with Aidan’s dreadful sister? She knew that they were on frosty terms but this was awful.
“She said nothing to me, honestly. Just came in,stayed a while in her room and then told me she was going out again.”
“Where to, I wonder?”
“To be fair, some alone time might be the best thing for her, a chance to get some headspace,” Jenny posited. “There’s no point in us running around trying to find her.”
“Are you sure? What if she does something rash?” Tessa wasn’t convinced. “Like throttling Lydia or something? We need to calm her down.”
“Nah, this is her way. Karen’s never been the type to sit around thrashing things out. She’ll deal with this only when she’s good and ready.” Jenny filled the kettle. “Now, will you sit down and take your coat off?” she urged. “Tell me exactly what happened. You’ve spoken to Shane?”
Tessa sat on one of the high stools at the countertop and propped her head up with her elbows. “He arrived at our place in an awful state looking for Gerry. Luckily Aidan wasn’t around – he normally has dinner with us after he and Gerry finish football training and I don’t know who he’d murder first, Shane or Lydia. He’s very protective of his little sister.”
“But why was Shane so upset? Obviously, he knew what he was doing – was it just because he got caught?”
“Lydia was probably hanging around like a bad smell and seeing Shane moping, she likely leapt on him.”
Jenny was dubious. “Well, it takes two to tango.”
“True and as far as he was concerned, he and Karen were finished. The problem is thatIconvinced herearlier to make up with him. She just happened to call at the wrong time – thanks.” Tessa took one of the biscuits Jenny laid out and bit into it. “So I feel like it’s partly my fault now. But Icertainlydidn’t think he’d ...” She shook her head forlornly.
“Don’t blame yourself. It’s just a shame that they couldn’t have sorted things out sooner.”
“Amen to that. And since Karen is gone AWOL and Shane is leaving soon, that seems unlikely in the long run.”
“It’s such a pity,” Jenny said. “I know she always pretended she wasn’t that serious about him, but I thought they were a great match.”
“Oh I know. But he’s messed up big-time now.”
“Actually, I feel a little bit bad for Shane,” Jenny admitted. “Karen was the one who finished withhim. Sod’s Law that when she finally came to her senses, it was too late.”
15
“Mmm,” Tessa declared, polishing off a slice of banoffi. “This was a brainwave, I can’t remember the last time I was on a girls’ night out.”
It was the following weekend and the three friends had commanded a table at one of the city’s most beloved Italian restaurants.
Karen nodded. “Yeah, I know you two are trying to cheer me up and believe me,”’ she grinned, clinking wine glasses, “it’s working.”
Going out with the girls tonight had really perked her up. It was exactly what she needed. She’d had enough of Shane Quinn. He and Lydia were welcome to one another and now there was nothing to stop Karen from having some fun of her own. “Will we head for a drink somewhere else?”
“Of course,” Jenny signalled for the bill. “The town won’t know what’s hit it.”
They moved on to a trendy cocktail bar and Karensmiled as Jenny flirted unashamedly with the barman while she ordered another round of drinks. She also seemed to be enjoying herself - back to her bubbly self - and it was a nice change to see her out without Roan.
Although lately he’d been behaving like the perfect gentleman and he and Karen had actually held what amounted to a decent conversation. And whisking Jenny away for a romantic trip to Venice? She couldn’t fault that.
Since discovering that her own relationship may have been one giant fiasco, Karen was willing to forget about her earlier distrust of the guy and for Jenny’s sake, try to be a bit nicer to him.
Speaking of nice …Right then Karen spied a cute guy smiling at her from across the room. She smiled back, and within seconds he’d made his way through the crowds.
“Hey,” he said, eyeing her appreciatively.
“Hey, yourself,” she grinned, while Jenny and Tessa looked on with interest.
