Two Days in Biarritz (29 page)

“I would definitely say so,” Kate smiled at the innocence of her son’s question. “Three days is plenty of time to get there.”

“Will we see her again when we die?” David asked.

“Yes, darling but that won’t be for a very long time.”

“When are we going to see Shane again?” Ciaran asked inadvertently.

“I don’t think we’ll be seeing him for a long time either boys. He’s married to a lady and has to live with her.”

“Why won’t he come and live with us instead. I mean Stefan’s gone to live with a different woman?” David plied.

“It’s not that simple, boys. Adults have certain things they can and can’t do,” she paused. “I’ll explain it all some day where you’re older.”

The boys groaned together and she realised that she hadn’t put up a very good argument. Her reasons for her actions weren’t yet visible but would be soon enough.

“Sleep tight, boys,” she whispered as they snuggled into cosy positions in silence.

Kate felt a sharp cramp shoot through her stomach as she brushed her teeth. Every part of her daily routine was tedious and laborious. Nothing was at it seemed anymore after reading Betty’s letters. For the first time since leaving
Biarritz she felt that she had been harsh in her judgement of Annabel and her father. She could never admit it to them of course but her opinion on the matter had definitely mellowed.

Kate put on her pyjamas and curled up in the bed in the foetal position. She used to always sleep on her stomach stretched out until she filled every corner of the bed. She was unable to do that anymore as her stomach ached if she tried. She took comfort in making herself smaller. She missed Shane greater than a limb. She had no idea that she would feel so bad. He hadn’t tried to call her but she hadn’t expected him too either – it was after all the second time she had rejected him.

The grim realisation that she was going to be on her own bringing up this baby scared her. She wasn’t a young woman anymore and she recalled the physical exhaustion she felt after the twins were born. However Tony had assured that there was only one baby inside her. His mini scan equipment was state-of-the-art and she felt a strong maternal pull inside as the image of her unborn child flashed up on the screen. Yet again there was no father there to share the experience with her. She felt so alone. She couldn’t hold back the salty tears that started to trickle down the side of her face. It could all have been so different. If only she hadn’t gone to Biarritz with Annabel. Then she wouldn’t have met Brett and she wouldn’t have met Shane again. She’d be happy in her ignorance painting the beautiful mountains on her own. She longed for the life she had. It wasn’t easy being forty.

* * *

“I have no intention of making any kind of settlement with you now or anytime in the future, Annabel,” Colin shouted as he slammed his briefcase on the marble counter top. “Do you think every marriage ends after a meaningless fling?”

“Be quiet, the kids have only just gone to bed.”

“I won’t be told to be quiet in my own home,” he scowled, “especially not after receiving a phone-call like I did from that deplorable Dunne woman.”

“I explained to you days ago that I wanted to separate,” Annabel stood with her back to the kitchen sink and tried to remain calm.

“A separation is one thing but carving up the family home and my estate is quite another,” he grunted.

“Colin I’ve been unhappy for sometime but I just didn’t realise it. Seeing you with
Rosa made it perfectly clear that you mustn’t have been happy either and it is the best thing for the children that we separate before we start getting nasty with each other.”

“Don’t start using my own children against me, woman.”

Annabel started to shake. He had called her woman a couple of times during their marriage and it left her incensed. This time however she felt strong enough to answer him back.

“You were caught with your trousers down Colin and unless you want to be the total laughing stock of the Golf Club, more than you already are, I strongly advise you to heed the directions of Ms Moira Dunne.” Annabel thought she was going to collapse. She didn’t think she had it in her to address Colin so articulately but the outburst had given her a new strength.

Colin stood gob-smacked.

“Now,” she went on, “you can decide whether you wish to move out tonight or over the weekend, because as far as I am concerned this marriage is over.” She picked up her handbag off the countertop and stormed out of the kitchen. She couldn’t wipe off the wide smile that had suddenly appeared on her face. She climbed the stairs with a vigour that she had never felt before.

Colin had been sleeping in the spare bedroom since she had found him in Rosa’s bed but now was Annabel’s chance to remove his clothing from her bedroom. She took out the two biggest suitcases from the back of her closet and started filling them with his suits and shirts. With great relish she tossed his underwear and shoes along with most of his causal clothes into a black plastic bag. The whole experience was liberating. She had no idea where Colin would go and frankly she didn’t give a damn.

* * *

Natasha leaned forward to get her Marlboro lights from her tiny Sonia Reykiel handbag and lit one. She took a drag and blew the smoke out of her mouth as she turned around to face a mellow Josh who was splayed out on the couch.

“You know I hate you smoking up here.”

“Don’t give me any grief Josh, I’ve had it up to here all day,” she said taking her free hand and gesturing to the top of her head. “Shane moved all of his clothes and valuables out earlier today.”

Josh tried to hide the smile that was breaking through on his face. “Poor Baby,” he said stroking her neck compassionately. “So he’s gone for good then?”

“I don’t know,” she said – shaking her head. “I feel like I never really knew him. Three years of marriage and I know him less now than the first day I walked onto his flight.”

She took another drag from her cigarette and this time blew the smoke in Josh’s face.

“You must have really loved him,” Josh was trying to figure out what was going on inside Natasha’s head.

“I thought I did, but he is weak. I did everything right,” she insisted. “You should see our house – I made his life very comfortable. I always employed the best staff to iron his shirts and tend to the garden.”

“He was a lucky guy.”

“What do you mean Josh? You’ve a smug grin on your face.”

He shook his head. He felt ill equipped to tackle her on this issue. He had only ever lived with one woman in his life and that was a dismal failure lasting three weeks.

“Well now you are free and I’m here,” he said with a roguish smile.

Natasha threw her head back and laughed out loud.

“What’s so funny?” Josh was genuinely thrown by her reaction.

“You’re not serious about you and me –.”

“Why not?” he asked with a frown.

“Because my dear sweet Josh, you haven’t got a proper job and you couldn’t possibly afford to be with a woman like me,” she said giggling some more.

“I’m good enough to shag when you want.”

“Yes but I couldn’t honestly say that I’d be seen walking down the aisles of Supervalu with you.”

“Did you walk down the aisles of Supervalu with Shane.”

“Maybe once or twice but it’s a litmus test I use with men. You my dear Josh are a pleasure model. I thought we understood each other perfectly.”

Josh was disgusted with Natasha and himself. He had felt this way about several women before but now that the table was turned around he didn’t like it one bit. He secretly had been delighted with the news of her separation and saw it as an opportunity to develop their relationship. But now that he knew her true feelings he felt like a fool.

“You’d better go now,” he said abruptly. “I’ve to get back to work.”

Natasha realised that she had hurt his feelings but didn’t want any more hassle. “Okay, see you during the week?” she said fluttering her eyelids.

Josh nodded but was so disgusted by their conversation he wasn’t sure how he felt about her anymore.

* * *

The next morning Damien was surprised to find his daughter more subdued than usual over a cup of tea in the kitchen.

“Do you need a hand with anything?” Damien asked cautiously. He wasn’t sure what reaction he was going to get from Kate. She had been on a knife edge since the funeral.

“Maybe you could take the boys out for a few hours so I could get through the rest of Mum’s stuff a bit quicker.”

“Of course. It can’t be an easy job.”

“I’ve had better,” Kate admitted.

“I’m sorry if I upset you by meeting Annabel. My motives were genuine.”

“It’s okay, Dad,” Kate nodded. “We’ve all had a rough time.”

Damien hadn’t expected such a change of heart over night but this was typical of Kate’s unstable behaviour.

“What time is your flight tomorrow?”

“Eleven-thirty. Will you drop us out?”

“Of course,” Damien replied. Hurt that she even needed to ask.

Damien piled the boys into the car and drove them to the local adventure centre to burn up their energies. When Kate was sure that they were well out of sight she dashed to the kitchen and trembled as she dialled her Auntie Dee’s phone number. Kate was depending on her to come up with the information she needed to join the pieces of her mother’s jigsaw puzzle together.

“Hello?”

“Dee, it’s Kate.”

“Kate, love how are you doing Pet?” Dee put the pen she was holding in her hand down on the kitchen table.

“Not too bad considering,” Kate replied honestly. “Look
Dee I need to speak to you privately about some stuff belonging to Mum that I found when I was cleaning out her personal things.”

“That must be very difficult for you, love,”
Dee said sympathetically, pushing her crossword puzzle away in disgust at its frivolousness. “What do you want me to do?”

“Could you drop over for an hour, as soon as possible, I’m going back to
France tomorrow.”

Dee
scratched her head. She wore it in a much more modern style than Betty had and although there was only eighteen months between the two sisters Dee looked a decade younger.

“Well, I was going to bring my mother-in-law to get her hair done, the old boot,” she added. “I suppose I could always say something urgent has cropped up. She’s never happy no matter how much I do for her.”

“Thanks so much Dee,” Kate said with relief. She could picture her aunt in a smart but casual pair of trousers and crossover top setting off to sort out the world around her. She had the figure of a woman twenty years younger too. “I’ll see you soon then.”

“About twenty minutes, love.”
Dee hung up – intrigued at what Kate wanted.

Kate ran upstairs and opened the drawers of the tallboy again. She pulled out the box filled with the letters and started to put them into some sort of order.

Chapter 17

Annabel piled the last of the humus into the cartons. At this rate she would have plenty of time to set up her stall after dropping the girls off in Meave’s house. She was such a good friend and one of the few women in Howth that still seemed to want anything to do with her since Colin had left the house. Melissa and her motley crew turned their heads so they wouldn’t have to talk to her when they saw her. It went to prove how shallow most of her acquaintances were and how much she missed having Kate at a time like this. If she had been told before going to Biarritz that so much in her life would have changed in such a short time she would never have believed it. She felt a certain pride that she had muddled through it all without Kate’s help or advice.

She was surprised at how much she missed Colin and it had only been two days. She missed the familiarity of his golf clubs strewn around the hall and the rows of neatly creased shirts in the bedroom cupboards. She had taken Flora out of the fridge– he was the only one who ate it.

With the last of the humus packed she ran upstairs and grabbed her sports bag and filled it frantically with her workout gear and swimsuit. She then went into to her son’s bedroom.

“Sam honey, I’m off to the market.”

Sam didn’t look up from his Play station. He had taken to ignoring his mother since his father had left home.

“I said I’m off honey will you be alright?” she repeated herself. “I told Granny you were here on your own and she’ll be over in a bit.”

The young boy’s face was hidden under a mop of shaggy hair. Bringing Sam to the barbers was one of Colin’s tasks and a job that had been forgotten about in the upset of the past few weeks. It was just another thing that Annabel would have to do, now that she was on her own, and the thought left her feeling even more swamped.

“Another woman. I’m sick of being surrounded by women.”

“Sam, please,” Annabel pleaded. “This isn’t easy for any of us. I miss your father too.”