5 Peppermint Grove (13 page)

“They do have soap and towels in
Perth from what I hear!” Julia said with a giggle.

“Oh Julia, I don’t know what to be taking!”

“I’ll be out in three weeks so if there’s anything that you feel you need I’ll bring it out to you.”

Between them they put three suitcases into the car boot.

“Maybe I’ll come to the airport after all,” Angela said.

“It’s okay, Mum, we can say goodbye here – it’s probably best.”

“Your father is going to do himself an injury up there – maybe you’re right – I’ll go up to him.”

Ruth had already said goodbye to her father. He was upstairs in the bedroom, desperately trying to fix a shelf that had been needing attention for at least two years.

It was no more than a twenty minutes’ drive to
Dublin airport.

The two were chatting about the practicalities of the journey ahead when Ruth suddenly said, “You know, I’m really intrigued about that airmail letter and Peppermint Grove. I’m almost sorry I didn’t have a look at the diaries!” 

“Oh, Ruth, you couldn’t look at your mother’s diaries!”

“I know, I know! I didn’t. But wouldn’t you love to know who that man Charles Walters was and why Mum was writing to him?”

“You’d wonder alright,” Julia agreed. “Hey, maybe we’ll check it out when I come over.”

“I’m sure that whoever lived there doesn’t any more. I suppose it could have been work-related but, if that was the case, then why hide the correspondence? Mum writes a diary but she’s not a hoarder and I see her chucking out statements and documents all of the time. Same applies if the letter is something trivial – like, I don’t know, a thank-you letter or something.”

“Yes, the fact she kept it at all seems to mean it’s something significant and special.”

Ruth turned and looked at her friend’s profile as she drove along the M1. “You know, this is what I’ll miss more than anything – having someone to speculate with and talk about anything, no matter how silly.”

“Skype me when you get to Dubai, won’t you?” Julia asked sadly.

“Yes, I’ll do my best.”

Ruth hadn’t mentioned Ian once, Julia noticed – but
she
certainly wasn’t going to bring him up.

Julia drove up to the car park at Terminal Two.

“Where are you going?” Ruth asked.

“I’m coming in with you to Departures.”

Ruth shook her head. “No, Julia, please just drop me off. We don’t even have time for a cup of coffee and anyway I want to get some duty-free.”

“Oh!” Julia was disappointed but would do as her friend wished.

She parked at the set-down bay and got a trolley while Ruth unloaded the bags.

So this was it – Ruth was actually leaving and Julia had a knot in her stomach. She couldn’t break down in front of her friend. Instead she hugged her tightly and kissed her on the cheek.

“It’s 28° in Perth today and there’s talk of a heat wave so enjoy all that sunshine and keep some for my stay. It won’t be long before you’re picking me up at Perth airport.”

Ruth nodded. She was feeling incredibly cool or maybe it was numbness. She watched Julia drive away and pushed her trolley into the airport.

Ian had promised that he would meet her in the duty-free.

Julia had to fight back the tears as she drove along the M1 on her way in to work. Ruth had had no idea how upset she was and Julia didn’t want her friend to be any the wiser. She had to concentrate on her work. The tears filled her eyes but she kept focused. She had a business to keep going and people who needed her here. She was doing what was best for those around her but she felt sad and lonely as she had just sent her best friend off to the other side of the world and it was a very long way away.

She parked in the city centre and touched up her make-up before going into the office.

“Good morning, Julia,” Gillian said.

Julia grunted and went into her office, shutting the door tightly. She sat down and put her head into the palms of her hands. She had to pull herself together and get on with her work.

A message came through on Skype from her brother and she was relieved to take his call.

“Hey there, Michael – how are things in
Singapore?”

“I’m miserable, Julia, and I’ve had only one enigmatic email from
Lydia – I swear I haven’t a clue what she means.”

“Send it to me – I’ll try and decipher it!”

Michael sighed. “I really thought that she opened up when we met – I was totally honest with her and she was completely into me.”

Julia worried for her brother. He could be slightly delusional at times and, even though he had an irresistible attractiveness with most women that he met, sometimes his confidence was askew.

“I’ve just taken Ruth to the airport, Michael, so I’m feeling a bit fragile myself.”

“Ah, she’s gone, is she – that’s good. When are you going to see her?”

“In February.”

“Great, so I guess you’ll be calling in to me on the way?”

“No, sorry – I forgot to tell you that I’m flying Emirates through Dubai – it’s much quicker – saves flying through London.”

Michael put on a sad face. “Not fair. You have to come and see me. I’m hurting bad over
Lydia.”

“You’ll be fine,” Julia assured him. “I’m surprised you haven’t found some Asian beauty by now to cheer you up.”

“I’m a reformed character, Julia – I keep trying to explain – I’m holding out for Lydia. Hey, what about if I come down to Perth for a couple of days while you’re there?”

It sounded like a good idea to Julia. “I don’t see a problem with that – I’m sure Ruth will have room.”

“Cool – maybe you can ask when you speak to her?”

“I’ll give her a chance – she’s probably only at Duty Free in
Dublin airport by now!”

“Okay, I have to get a few bits done here before I finish up for the day – I’ll look forward to that little trip.”

“Okay, Michael – I’ll let you know what I think of that email – give me a day or two though, won’t you?”

“Will do.”

And then he was gone.

Julia felt very alone again.

Michael’s email came through and she braced herself before reading it.

Dear Michael

It was good to meet you at Christmas and I hope that you had a safe trip back to
Singapore. Things are extremely busy in work since I’ve returned with more redundancies on the cards. I’m hoping that things will pick up when we have pared our expenses down.

I’m looking to buy somewhere nearer the city and although I’ll lose a bit on my own apartment there is great value at the moment and you know how I’ve always wanted a place in Sandymount.

I’ve taken up horse-riding too which I know is a strange departure for me but I really enjoy it. I may be going to New York with work in February which will be a lot of fun and no doubt I’ll do some shopping.

As you can see my life is very busy. I hope that things are going well for you.

Thinking of you

Lydia
 

Julia read it a second time just to make sure that she hadn’t missed anything. It seemed like an email that Lydia would have sent to a stranger. She worried about what Michael had been expecting from his ex. It was perfectly clear to Julia as someone from the outside that Lydia was not interested in rekindling the relationship. She did wonder what Michael was confused about. The last three words ‘thinking of you’ could just be taken as ‘take care’ but Julia knew her brother well enough to realise that these were the three words that he had focused on and possibly read and re-read to himself, wanting to believe there was more to the email than it was saying. She didn’t want to give him any false hope. Yes, Lydia had agreed to meet him and got emotional on seeing him, but from this email Julia deduced that she had fallen back into her comfortable lifestyle with Peter and didn’t want to pursue anything more than a friendship from afar with her ex. She would have to consider her reply to Michael carefully.

Ruth put her feet up on the comfortable lounger on the Emirates Airbus. She was finally on her way to her new home. It was kind of Steve to book a business-class seat for her journey. Ruth was thrilled by the upgrade and comforts that accompanied travelling in style. It compensated for Ian’s ‘no-show’ at Duty Free. Instead she’d got a text saying that he had to report for a meeting in Ops and that he would Skype her later. Ruth felt incredibly proud of herself for not getting upset and it seemed to her a clear indication that leaving Ireland and Ian behind was the right move.

She took the glass of champagne handed to her by the beautifully attired air steward. With fresh flowers in a metal bowl hanging from the wall in front of her, Ruth felt like a star. She sipped from her glass and settled down to watch the first new movie on her individual entertainment system. She had read the novel
One Day
and was keen to see the movie.

After three glasses of champagne and several damp tissues the film ended. She imagined Ian and her as the characters Emma and Dexter and was truly miserable until she spotted
Downtown Abbey
– she’d watched the full series before but it would take her mind off Ian.

The air steward was a charming Aussie – he told her that he was from
Western Australia.

“Are you stopping off in
Dubai?” he asked her.

“No, I’m travelling on to
Perth.”

He giggled, showing gleaming white teeth. “You won’t have to worry about missing your connection then.”

“Why not?”

“The
Perth flight is full of Irish people emigrating – it’s been known to wait for the connecting passengers if this flight is ever delayed.”

“Oh, I’m not emigrating. I’m only staying for two years.”

“You’re gonna love it – might want to stay a bit longer!”

“Oh, I’m not sure about that but I’m looking forward to spending time there – my mother lived in
Australia in the seventies.”

“Whereabouts?”

“South Perth – are you from Perth?”

He nodded again. “It’s a great city if you like the outdoors life. I grew up in Cottesloe which is a really nice part of the city beside the beach.”

“Is that near Peppermint Grove?”

He nodded. “Peppy Grove – yeah, it’s only a couple of blocks away. Fancy part of town, Peppy Grove – they have their own shire for a handful of houses – it’s the smallest shire in the entire country.”

She knew that ‘shire’ was the word they used for a local government area.

“Mansions, really,” he added. “Worth seeing. You should go and check them out.”

“I intend to – my mother knew someone who lived there.”

“What street?”

“Eh, I’m not sure.”

“Well, good luck with that. Now, would you like some more champagne?”

Chapter Sixteen

Julia was feeling truly bereft. On a Friday evening normally she would have called Ruth and made arrangements to hit one of the nicer bars in the
Grafton Street area. Now it looked like she would have to settle for a depressing evening in.

Her sister had invited her to a fund-raising quiz in the yacht club the next night and she had quickly declined but Odette had assured her that there would be an eligible bachelor friend of Craig’s at it. Dear sweet Odette! Could she not figure out by now that Julia liked the single life and didn’t need to be fixed up with one of the sailors from the yacht club? Mind you, if Ruth was here she would probably go along and try and introduce her to new company – the company of anyone that wasn’t Ian Hawkins.

Gillian came into the office and disturbed Julia’s musings.

“Is there anything else you need me to do?”

“Oh, is it that time already, Gillian?” Julia looked at her watch. “You probably have somewhere to go – it being Friday.”

Gillian shook her head. “I’m off home to watch a DVD – nothing exciting lined up for me unfortunately.”

Julia didn’t know Gillian very well – she had worked for her for seven months and was a reliable and efficient member of staff but Julia had been too busy to pay much attention to her. She didn’t even know if Gillian had a boyfriend or had much of a social life.

Julia was desperate to go out and blurted the invitation before she thought about it. “Would you like to go for a drink – if you aren’t rushing home, that is?”

Gillian’s green eyes widened – she was astonished at the proposal. Julia was somehow out of her league – not just because she was her boss but because of the way she carried herself with such confidence and panache. Gillian was at least eight years younger than Julia but not a sharp dresser.

“Eh, I’d love to but I’m not dressed for going out,” she said, shaking her mousy brown hair.