Conor didn
’
t say more
,
knowing that Ronan would elaborate in his own good time.
Betty went off to dish up the dinner, calling for the children to wash their hands and come down to the table.
Betty was a good cook and the meal was delicious but it was the loving warmth around the table that pleased
Ronan the most
.
Amid the banter he could feel the love that enveloped them all. When they
’
d finished
,
the three kids asked to be excused and the adults were left alone.
“
That was wonderful, thanks
,
Betty,
”
Ronan said as she cleared his dessert plate away
.
When she went to fetch the coffee Conor couldn
’
t contain his curiosity any longer.
“
Well, do you want to tell me what
’
s wrong with Louise now?
”
he asked gently.
Ronan leaned back in his chair.
“
Same old problem – her shopping! She
’
s spending like there
’
s no tomorrow and if she doesn
’
t stop she
’
ll bankrupt me.
”
Betty came in with the coffee and caught the end of that remark.
“
Oh, dear! Is she still shopping as much as ever?
”
she asked. Then seeing Ronan
’
s expression, she blushed.
“
Sorry, but Conor did tell me last year about your problem.
”
“
Sorry, Ronan
,”
Conor said
, “
you know I can
’
t keep anything from Betty. We have no secrets. I told her in confidence and she would never have repeated it, so no one else knows.
”
“
It
’
s okay. I wanted to ask your advice anyway, Betty. Do you know if there
’
s a Shopaholics Anonymous anywhere here in Dublin. I tried to Google it but with no success.
”
He looked so downhearted that Betty wanted to take him in her arms. What a dreadful problem. That Louise was a silly thing. Betty had never had very much time for her.
“
I don
’
t know of any such thing myself but I
’
ll certainly make enquiries of my friends.
”
Then, seeing the look of panic on his face, she added,
“
Don
’
t worry. I won
’
t mention who it
’
s for.
”
“
Please don
’
t. I don
’
t want everyone in Raheny to know and be talking about it.
”
“
Don
’
t worry, dear, I
’
m the soul of discretion.
”
She patted his hand.
He relaxed, knowing that he could trust her to keep her word.
“
How bad is the problem? I
’
ve never come across it myself but I have read about it
,”
Betty said sympatheticall
y.
“
It
’
s an addiction, I think, a bit like gambling.
”
“
Yes, once she starts she can
’
t seem to stop. She buys things that she never even wears. It
’
s the act of buying that she craves.
”
Ronan ran his fingers through his hair.
“
I don
’
t understand it at all but then I don
’
t understand gamblers either. All I know is that it has to stop before she ruins us financially
.”
He shook his head in bewilderment.
“
Oh dear! How often does she go on a spree and how much does she spend at a time?
”
“
It
’
s been escalating. It can be as often as every week and can be as much as €500.
”
“
Holy God!
”
Betty exclaimed in a shocked voice, putting her hand to her chest.
“
That
’
s dreadful!
”
“
You can
’
t sustain that,
”
Conor chipped in angrily.
“
Don
’
t I know it! I
’
m really at the end of my tether.
”
“
Have you actually sat down and talked to her about it?
”
Betty asked
.
“
In the beginning
,
I did
,
and she promised she
’
d try and curb it but she can
’
t help herself. Now she won
’
t discuss it at all and we end up arguing all the time.
”
“
You poor thing,
”
Betty commiserated
. “
Leave it with me. I
’
ll try and find out if there
’
s any help out there. There must be.
”
“
I
’
d appreciate that. And please, not a word to Louise. She
’
d be mortified if she thought I
’
d told you.
”
Ronan smiled wanly.
“
Of course not.
”
Poor man, Betty thought, looking at him closely. He
’
s aged a lot in the past two years. I
’
m not surprised. She looked at her husband. They no longer looked like there was only a year between them. Conor now looked five or six years younger than Ronan
–
and he had three growing boys to contend with. She smiled fondly at him
,
thinking as she always did, how very lucky she was.
4
Ellie
’
s new fiancé had recently been head-hunted by the most important accountancy firm in Dublin and he was over the moon about it. But he was quite nervous when, after their engagement, he and Ellie were invited to dinner at his new boss
’
s house.
As she got ready for the dinner Ellie was excited but a
lso a little apprehensive. She didn
’
t want to let David down. She cast a critical eye over her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing her new hyacinth-blue Karen Millen lace dress which she had bought the previous Sunday, especially for the occasion, and she prayed that it would pass muster. It matched her blue eyes perfectly, making t
hem look almost violet
.
Ellie was a fashionista of the highest order but most of her clothes would have been too short, too revealing or just too trendy for the evening ahead. She did a last
-
minute check. Her teeth were a dazzling white thanks to the whitening treatment they
’
d undergone the previous Monday. She hoped her fake tan was not too much. Her friend and colleague, Chloe, had stayed back late last night to do it, and had been given dire warnings not to make it too bronze. Chloe was great and had understood exactly how important this night was for Ellie. She
’
d also applied fabulous gel nails with tiny diamond stars painted on them. They complemented her engagement ring which she now waved in front of her for the umpteenth time, admiring the way the large diamond caught the light. David had really chosen well. He had such good taste. The ring was perfection and she loved it.
Ready at last, she exited the messy room, her sleek
dark hair swinging behind her. It had been carefully blow-dried to look like silk, during her lunch-hour
,
by her friend Keisha who worked two doors up from the beauty salon. Keisha wasn
’
t her real name – it was Marian – but she
’
d decided that Keisha sounded so much more glamorous and Ellie agreed with her absolutely.
“
Do I look okay?
”
she asked her mother nervously as she came into the kitchen.
“
You look lovely, dear. That dress really suits you
.”
“
You don
’
t think it
’
s too short?
”
Ellie asked, tugging it down at the hem.
“
No, it
’
s fine,
”
her mother replied, thinking that it was longer than what her daughter usually wore.
Her father whistled in appreciation as he came into the kitchen to say that David had arrived to pick her up.
“
You look gorgeous, sweetheart. I
’
m sure you
’
ll be the prettiest girl there.
”
“
Thanks, Dad,
”
she said, giving him a hug and feeling a bit more confident.
“
Just relax and be yourself
,”
her mother advised as she kissed her goodnight.
“
I
’
ll try. Thanks, Mum,
”
she replied, throwing her cream leather jacket over her shoulders as she
sashayed out the door on her five-inch nude
-
patent platform pumps.
“
Hey, you look great
!”
were David
’
s confidence-boosting words as Ellie slid into the passenger seat of the BMW.
“
You look different.
”
Poor David! He hadn
’
t a clue how women ticked and she wasn
’
t about to enlighten him about all the effort she
’
d put into looking
‘
different
’
. She was even surprised that he
’
d noticed. Honestly, for a man of thirty-three he was very naïve about the female species.
“
Thank you,
”
she smiled, reaching over and pecking him on the cheek, as the luxurious car purred into action.
As they drove across the Liffey on their way to Killiney, David was warning her yet again that she had to be on her best behaviour tonight.
He
’
d already told her this about ten times. She wasn
’
t stupid!
“
What exactly are you trying to say, darling?
”
“
Just that this is a very important dinner for me,
”
he stressed yet again,
“
so please go easy on the wine.
”
She was about to make an angry retort but changed her mind. She could see from the way he was clenching the steering wheel, his knuckles white, that he was even more nervous than she was. He would be starting his new job the following Monday and this dinner party was being hosted by his new boss so that David could meet the other directors and some of his new colleagues. She reached over and patted his knee, feeling sorry for him all of a sudden.
“
I promise,
”
she relented.
She could see where he was coming from. She did get awfully tipsy on wine, although strangely she could drink beer and cider all night without falling down. However, she doubted there would be either of those on offer tonight as David had said it would be a very up-market do. More likely it would be fancy cocktails or champagne – both of which were lethal for her
–
and no doubt there would be fabulous wine on offer too. She liked wine but she normally slugged it back like it was orange juice which was why it made her so drunk. Yeah, she
’
d have to be very, very careful about what she drank tonight.
Her friends always said she was hilarious when she got drunk but somehow she didn
’
t think that David
’
s new boss and his wife would find her quite so funny
.
For starters, they lived on the south
side of Dublin and Ellie always felt intimidated as soon as she crossed the Liffey from her home ground on the north
side. She knew it was stupid but she couldn
’
t help it. It was well known that south
-
siders looked down on those who hailed from north of the river
.
Those awful jokes that were always going around didn
’
t help either.
The latest one doing the rounds was:
‘
Why do birds fly upside down when they fly over the north
side?
’ ‘
Because it
’
s not worth shitting on
.’
Ellie snorted. Was it any wonder that she was suspicious of south
-
siders when they coined cruel jokes like that?