Foreign Affairs (71 page)

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Relief, that was what she felt most, Brenda decided, as Shay slid the wedding ring on to the third finger of her left hand. Not happiness, not excitement, just a deep, deep
sense of relief that she was finally married. Rescued from the lonely isolation of her spinster’s shelf. Even if Shay were to drop down dead beside her she’d have the comfort of being a
Mrs now that the ring was finally on her finger. Now she was just like Kathy, and all her married friends. She was part of that special club. A married woman and not some waif peering longingly
through the windows, like the beggar at the banquet. Brenda rejoiced. Now she no longer felt threatened by Jenny’s engagement. Another thought struck her as she knelt for the priest’s
blessing. She was a Mrs, and Paula Matthews, for all her sophisticated glamour, was still only a Miss. Brenda felt exhilarated, invincible. She could face anything. Her fear of being left on the
shelf could never haunt her now. She had achieved her greatest ambition.

Brenda could live with the fact that Shay was only second best. It was far preferable to be married to Shay than never to be married at all. When Eddie had got married her dreams had crumbled
into dust. Wallowing in heartbreak was not what she wanted to spend her life doing. Brenda was nothing if not pragmatic. Eddie was her past, Shay was her future. He loved her. He wanted to provide
for her. She was perfectly happy to let him do so. Shay was a nice man. She was lucky.

Brenda smiled at her new husband. He looked very nice in his suit. And the new moustache he sported made him look a little like Tom Selleck. It was a pity he didn’t possess Tom
Selleck’s build. Shay barely topped her. He didn’t tower over her like Eddie had.

Stop that! she ordered herself crossly. Here she was only minutes married and she was making comparisons. She was not going to live her life like that. She was very grateful to Shay for
proposing. He had no idea of the huge favour he’d done her by saving her from spinsterhood. From now on, she would never allow the memory of Eddie to enter her mind again. If she did,
she’d only be unhappy. Brenda had no intention of being unhappy. She intended to savour every moment of this new life. Shay and herself had agreed that she would leave her job whenever she
got pregnant. She’d be getting a nice big gratuity.

There’d been a marriage bar when she’d started working. Married women had to leave work. That was all changed and women no longer had to resign on marriage. Brenda had the option of
forgoing her gratuity and staying on at work. An option she hadn’t considered for a second. She couldn’t wait to escape. The idea of not having to suffer Bugs Bunny’s sarcastic
barbs for much longer was another great source of joy. Brenda looked down at her wedding ring. She’d picked a wide one. She didn’t like those wishy-washy thin ones that were all the
rage now. A good wide wedding band made her feel nice and married. A warm contented glow enfolded her. Brenda knelt for the remainder of her wedding ceremony, admiring her wedding ring, and feeling
utterly contented.

Shay surreptitiously loosened the knot in his tie, as he sat in his chair watching the rest of the guests receive Holy Communion. It was hard to believe he was a married man.
He felt slightly dazed by it all. Everything had happened so fast in the last few months. The engagement, buying the house, planning the wedding. It was all a blur. To tell the truth he felt a bit
of an onlooker in all of it. Brenda had done most of the organizing and he had merely followed instructions. She was a great organizer, was his Bren, Shay thought admiringly. From the minute
he’d impulsively asked her to marry him, Brenda had arranged everything.

He’d had a few pints on him the night he proposed, he thought wryly. He’d surprised himself as much as Brenda. And now here he was, sitting beside his wife at their wedding. It was a
nice feeling. He was looking forward to their honeymoon and then to coming home to live in their own house. It was going to be very pleasant to come home to a wife after work. Much nicer than going
home to an empty flat with fish and chips for his dinner. Brenda was a good cook. She was good at everything. She was very outgoing and loved socializing. What she saw in an old stick-in-the-mud
like him, he didn’t know. But she’d been delighted when he’d asked her to marry him and had hugged him ecstatically. Shay had felt very proud at that moment.

The day after he’d proposed she’d booked the church and hotel and made him take the day off work to go and buy an engagement ring. The speed of it all took him by surprise, and he
hadn’t time to draw breath since. He was certainly going to flop on his honeymoon, he decided. Brenda could wind down and relax, now that all the fuss was over. And then they could come home
to their new house and start enjoying married life. He rubbed his thumb against his wedding ring. It felt strange. Slightly irritating actually, Shay mused. No doubt he would get used to it.

Kit slipped her left foot out of her shoe. Her bunion was killing her and the shoes she’d got to match her outfit, although very decorative and fashionable, were much too
narrow for her. Still, it was all in a good cause. As mother of the bride she had to look her best.

Kit smiled fondly at the sight of her two daughters up at the altar. One engaged, one married. People often said that when one went the rest would soon follow. To say she’d been surprised
when Brenda had arrived in that evening last July to announce that she was engaged, was an understatement. You could have knocked her down with a feather. When she declared that she was getting
married the following February, there was a stunned silence. Although they hadn’t named the exact date, it was generally understood that Jenny and Ronan were getting married that year. It had
been a bit hard on Jenny, who felt she had to postpone her wedding so that Kit and Jim wouldn’t have the expense of two weddings in the one year.

Still, Kit hadn’t seen Brenda as excited and full of anticipation in a long time. It was a joy to watch her making plans and decorating her house. Kit was very happy for her daughter. It
was a great relief to know that Brenda had got what she had so long desired. And Shay was a very nice lad. As was Ronan. She was a lucky woman to be getting two fine sons-in-law.

Jennifer tried to quell the surge of resentment she felt as she followed Brenda and Shay down the aisle. It wasn’t that she wasn’t glad for her sister. She was, of
course. But because of Brenda’s surprise naming of the wedding day, she and Ronan, who’d planned to marry in May, felt they had to put it off. Even though they were going to pay for
their own reception, Jennifer didn’t think it was fair on her mother to have to plan two weddings so soon after each other. Kit had suggested a double wedding but Jennifer and Ronan decided
against it. Brenda would want her own way too much and they could foresee mighty rows. Besides, they wanted their own day to be very special and personal.

Brenda had apologized for upsetting her plans, but had made no suggestion of rearranging her own. She was intent on getting down the aisle as fast as she could and nothing and no-one was going
to stand in her way.

Jennifer caught sight of Ronan as she passed his pew. He looked rightly pissed off, she thought glumly. She couldn’t blame him. She felt exactly the same. Forcing herself to smile,
Jennifer followed her sister out the door of the church to where the photographer was waiting to record the happy day.

Brenda stood in front of the mirror in the hotel bedroom and delayed the moment when she would have to take off her bridal gown to change into her going-away outfit. It was
such a beautiful dress. White taffeta, that rustled every time she moved, was fashioned into a full-skirted creation that would have graced any princess. Her white veil fell in pristine folds over
her recently body-waved hair. Brenda knew, looking at her radiant image in the mirror, that she had never looked so well. She hated to take off the dress that meant so much to her. She hated to
leave her reception, which was great fun. She would have liked for the day never to end.

It had been a wonderful success. Even Grandpa Myles had enjoyed himself and sung his party-piece,
Red Sails in the Sunset
. Then, for an encore, he sang
The Red River Valley
.
She’d been a bit worried that he wouldn’t shut up, but Jim bought him a double brandy and he was quite happy to sit in at the table for the rest of the evening commenting on everything.
He’d given them a hideous barometer with a clock in it as a wedding present. Brenda was certainly not going to put it anywhere it could be seen. You’d think it was the eighth wonder of
the world, he was so proud of it. It had cost a tidy sum but it was still hideous and Brenda would have far preferred money.

Kit and she had been very worried about what would happen if Ellen, his estranged daughter, accepted her invitation to the wedding. Kit had agonized over whether to invite the family or not but
Brenda wanted her cousins there. Tough luck if Grandpa Myles was uncomfortable about it. Ellen decided not to go. She would not let bygones be bygones even at this stage of her life. Pamela, her
husband and Susan came, but kept well out of their grandfather’s way and the occasion passed off without incident. It was a wonderful wedding. It was an awful shame that it was almost
over.

‘Come on, you’d better get out of your dress and into your going-away outfit before the band decide to finish up. Everybody wants to do an arch for you.’ Jennifer interrupted
her reverie.

‘I hate taking the dress off,’ Brenda said, smoothing the lovely shiny material.

‘I know, it’s a lovely dress.’ Jennifer eased the veil off Brenda’s hair.

‘I know you’re probably a bit upset that I got in before you, Jenny,’ Brenda said hesitantly. ‘I didn’t do it on purpose or out of malice. It was just . . . it was
because I didn’t want any delays in case anything went wrong. I’d have died if Shay had changed his mind and got cold feet. You probably think I’m mad, but I really wanted to be
married more than anything else. It’s all right for you, you’re four years younger than me. I’ll be twenty-seven this August. Practically thirty you might as well say, I
couldn’t delay things . . .’ Her tone was supplicating. Brenda felt she owed her sister some sort of explanation. Jenny and Ronan didn’t exactly dance up and down when they heard
her wedding plans. She saw Jennifer take a deep breath. Then, to Brenda’s delight and relief, her sister put her arms around her and hugged her warmly.

‘I hope you’ll be very happy, Bren. I’m glad you’ve got what you wanted. Shay’s a lovely fella.’

‘I know,’ Brenda felt a lump in her throat as she hugged her younger sister back. Jenny was a real old softie and always had been. ‘Thanks for everything, Jenny. This has been
the best day of my life.’

‘Come on. Don’t get maudlin!’ Jenny said crisply. ‘If you don’t get a move on the band will be gone and so will the guests.’

‘Right,’ Brenda agreed, stepping out of her beloved dress. She was wearing a silken white slip, and her skin gleamed golden in contrast. ‘The sunbeds did a good job,
didn’t they?’ She admired her colour approvingly.

‘Yeah,’ Jennifer sighed enviously. ‘I wish I was off to the Canaries for two weeks.’

‘I can’t wait,’ Brenda said excitedly. ‘Two weeks in the sun is just what I need. Life can only get better.’ She gave a happy laugh and slipped into her posh new
suit. She caught sight of her suitcase, packed with summer clothes. What bliss it would be to leave February’s wet cold dreary weather behind. Her glance alighted on the neatly handwritten
labels. Mrs Brenda Hanley . . . She smiled. Brenda Myles no longer existed. She was not sorry to see the back of her.

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Brenda gloried in the warmth of the sun as she lay on a lounger beside a glittering pool, under skies so blue and bright she had to wear sunglasses. She could see Shay sitting
in the shade of the building on the balcony of their whitewashed apartment across the terrace. He wore a big hat on his head and socks on his feet. He was reading a thriller. Shay was not one for
the sun or the heat, Brenda thought regretfully. She
loved
it. Jennifer, Kathy and Beth had given them the honeymoon as a wedding present. Two glorious weeks in Tenerife. Jennifer arranged
it all and got it at a good price with TransCon. A huge basket of fruit and a bottle of champagne were waiting for them when they arrived. And the couriers were making a terrific fuss of them. It
was great having a contact in the travel world, Brenda thought happily, stretching out like a cat.

It was late in the afternoon, her favourite time for sunbathing. They were into the second week of their honeymoon and her tan was coming along nicely. Today, she decided, she would risk using
oil. She’d been extremely careful, and used high protection factors at the beginning. But the end of the holiday was in sight and she wanted to go home with a fantastic tan. If she started to
use oil instead of sun milk, that would really bring it up. She sat up and rooted into her beach bag and pulled out a bottle of Ambre Solaire. Brenda uncapped it and inhaled its scent
appreciatively. She adored the smell of suntan oil, it was so evocative of sunny climes. It always reminded her of that first exciting holiday abroad and her
almost
foreign affair with the
sexy Raul. That first holiday had been special. She’d been on holidays since, of course. Holidays arranged by Jennifer. After all, it was a bit daft to cut off her nose to spite her face just
because of Paula Matthews.

Brenda scowled as she slathered oil on her limbs. That was another reason she wanted a super-duper tan. It got up her nose that Paula always sported a tan. She invariably had an aura of glowing
vitality that was immensely attractive. Brenda wanted to emulate her for as long as the tan lasted. She might even treat herself to a few sunbeds when she got home.

She hadn’t invited Paula to the wedding. After all, she was Jenny’s friend, not hers. Kit wanted to invite her. She considered her a friend of the family and was quite happy for her
to come to the main event. Brenda said an emphatic no. There were other people she’d much prefer to invite. She’d sent her an invitation to the afters. After all, she did want Paula to
see her in all her finery, looking her very best. She wanted to feel smug and superior in her married state. Brenda felt she was one up on her old adversary. She wanted to rub it in. Paula left it
to the last minute to say she wouldn’t be making an appearance at the evening do. She had some trade reception to attend. Brenda was quite miffed at her non-appearance. Paula, as usual, had
done her out of her small victory.