“Too right I don’t know what’s going on in your head. So come on then – why don’t you just get it all out in the open and tell me exactly what is going on, because I know I can’t carry on like this any more – all this fighting and silence and sleeping in separate rooms is driving me crazy.”
“Will you sit down – please?” She motioned towards the space beside her. “You mightn’t like what I’m going to say but please, don’t interrupt. If I don’t get this out now, I never will.”
“OK, shoot.”
She saw that he was still angry, but seemed to have calmed a little. “Right. When we got engaged and after we went to your mum’s house – I think it might have been a couple of weeks later – I had a conversation with Marie. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but the same topic seemed to come up time and time again afterwards.”
Shane looked at her, puzzled, but didn’t say anything.
“She was telling me how much they were all looking forward to another grandchild, how your mother had said she’d thought neither of her boys would ever settle down. We were holding off on the wedding until we got the house sorted, so I just laughed it off a little and told her that - first things first - a place to live was our priority.” She shrugged. “After that, it seemed like no time at all until Jack announced that he’d help us secure a mortgage. It just seemed to me as though your family weretrying to smooth things along so that we would hurry up and get married and then crack on with the grandchild.”
“But it wasn’t like that at all,” Shane gasped, unable to keep his promise not to interrupt. “Jack did us a huge favour …”
“Please, just let me speak.”
“Fine, go on,” he said wearily.
“Anyway, soon after we got settled in here, we seemed to see a lot more of your mother and extended family. She or Marie and the kids always seemed to be popping in and out for whatever reason. And to me, it felt like, ‘Well, you’ve got your house sorted – now get a move on with the rest’. Don’t look at me like that, Shane, I’m just telling you how I feel.”
She saw him slowly shake his head from side to side, but he didn’t speak.
“Then you kept talking about ‘setting a date and moving things along’ and I was thinking; I’m not about to give up my job just to keep the Quinns stocked with grandchildren, to say nothing of the fact that I think we’re way too young to be tied down like that. To me, getting married became suddenly equated to conceding a life that I love.”
“Sorry but I have to interrupt now,” Shane said sternly. “I know Marie can be a bit painful about the kids – but what made you think that I would expect you to drop everything and have babies once we were married? I’m working hard enough as it is, love. We couldn’t possibly manage to keep the roof over our heads if only one of uswas working. To say nothing of the fact that I’m nowhere near ready to be a parent either.” He moved closer to her and put an arm around Karen. “I wish you would have told me this before. I had no idea you were feeling that way. I assumed that you’d changed your mind about marrying me, and just didn’t have the guts to tell me yet.”
“Well, I suppose I had changed my mind about it – in a roundabout way,” she said, relief flooding through her, as she felt his arms around her.
“Karen, having a family isnotsomething that’s foremost in my mind, I can assure you. I just want to us to get hitched and enjoy life together. If or when we do decide to have kids, and assuming we can, it’ll beourdecision, nobody else’s.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, hardly daring to believe him.
“Definitely,” he said, planting a kiss on the top of her forehead. “Don’t mind them – they’re old-fashioned and have never known anything other than marriage and kids rolled into one. As you know Marie has never worked, apart from on the farm, and neither has Mam, or Barbara. You should never have let them get to you like that. Look, I’ll have a word – make sure my sisters lay off on the baby talk, OK?”
Karen nodded, relieved beyond belief.
Jenny was right. She shouldn’t have let this go on for so long and let it drive a wedge between them without first finding out how Shane actually felt.
He gathered her in his arms and embraced hertightly. “I love you and nothing or no one is going to change that. Do you believe me?”
She nodded into his shoulder. “Yes.”
“OK,” Shane grinned. “So, I’m asking again – for thethirdand final time, Karen Cassidy will you marry me?”
41
“Congratulations!” Jenny smiled at Mike as they clinked glasses. She had cooked him dinner at her place to celebrate his brand-new purchase.
She had gone with him to view another property and agreed that the four-bed bungalow in Blackrock fit the bill. The house had been recently renovated with an attic conversion; the owners had kept the original 1950s facade, but to Mike’s delight, had favoured a stylish and modern interior.
The house itself was situated not far from the pretty little seaside village. Mike had instantly fallen in love with it; so much so that he had engaged in a bidding war and paid well over the asking price. He was hoping to have everything finalised within a few weeks.
“I can’t wait to move in,” he said dreamily, sitting back on the couch and putting a hand behind his head, “I was sure that the other couple were going to bidhigher. Thank God they didn’t; I would have needed a second job to afford it.”
Jenny laughed. “Hey – cut the poor me crap. Remember where you hold your bank accounts.”
“Feck, I’d forgotten you know my net worth. Maybe I should move to a different bank.”
“Don’t you dare! I’m already getting weird vibes from Barry. I have a feeling he thinks my seeing you is some kind of conflict of interest.”
