“And is it?”
“Nah.” She refilled her glass with Moet. “As far as I know, there’s nothing in my contract that says I can’t date rich and powerful clients. Anyway,” she added with a wicked grin, “never stopped me before.” She ducked just in time to miss the cushion he threw at her.
“Are you doing anything this weekend?”
Jenny shook her head. “Why – were you thinking of whisking me away somewhere romantic?”
“Not exactly,” he said, the expression on his face becoming serious, “it’s just …” He hesitated. “Well, Rebecca’s in town and I’ve told her about us and she’d really like to meet you.”
“Oh.” For all her curiosity, the last thing Jenny wanted was to meet his ex-wife face-to-face. What on earth would they have to say to one another? And why was Rebecca so keen to meet her? To check her out maybe?
Since that time in Wexford, she and Mike had hardly spent a night apart. At first, Jenny had been a little takenaback by his openness and unbridled enthusiasm compared to second-guessing Roan’s moods.
This felt more like a proper grown-up relationship. It was wonderful not to have to worry about whether he was interested, or if he was going to get bored and drop her at any moment. With Mike, everything, including his feelings, was totally transparent.
And now, he wanted her to meet his ex-wife. How very civilised.
“So what do you think?” he asked, bringing her back to the present. “Graham is Welsh and they’re over for the rugby. Rebecca thought it would be a perfect opportunity for us all to meet up.”
“At a rugby match? Wouldn’t it be a little noisy?”
Mike laughed. “No, we’d meet them somewhere after.”
“OK, great.” Jenny thought she’d better agree before he picked up on her hesitancy.
“Brilliant. Becky’s very easygoing. I reckon the two of you will get on like a house on fire..”
42
Tessa squealed down the phone at Karen. “So you’ve got it all booked?”
“Everything except the dress,” she replied proudly. She was starting to look forward to the wedding now that everything had been arranged.
“June 15th– put it in your diary. And it’s not at the church by the way, but the registry office.”
“Oh,” Tessa seemed taken aback. “But what about the flowers and white dress and bridesmaids and everything? Won’t you miss having all that?”
Karen laughed. “We can still have all that; we’re not getting married in The Temple of Doom.”
“Really?” Tessa considered this. “It’s just I’ve never been to a registry office wedding. I haven’t a clue what to expect.”
“Don’t worry, you can still dress up to the nines in some slinky figure-hugging thing if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Tessa gave a little giggle. “At that stage, I won’t get an ordinary dress to fit me, let alone a slinky one.”
“Ah you’re not telling me what I think you’re telling me, are you?”
“Yup. I’m nearly five months gone.”
“Five months? But you must have known that time you and Gerry were here after the honeymoon – why didn’t you tell us?”
She could sense her friend shrug on the other end of the line. “You were on an anti-kids rant at the time about all the babytalk you were getting from the Quinns. You might have exploded if I landed that on you, so I told Gerry to keep his mouth shut too.”
“Ah stop, you shouldn’t have had to do that on my account, though I did spot that you weren’t inclined to drink much that day. OfcourseI’m thrilled for you, and Shane will be too. Pass on our congrats to Gerry, won’t you?”
“Will do and likewise. I can’t wait for the big day!”
They said their goodbyes and Karen had just hung up when the phone rang again.
