5 Peppermint Grove (31 page)

Chapter Forty-one

Michael was frustrated in
Singapore. Even a proposed party later couldn’t distract him from the anguish he felt. He was concerned about his sister and his entire family. He was angry with Craig for doing what he had done. He couldn’t see any other point of view. And he was angry at himself for being so far displaced from his family. He had been away for too long but it would be foolish just to walk out – he had earned shares in his company and he wanted to go home with a nest-egg. However at times like this money wasn’t very important. His family needed him and he needed them. It was the Catch 22 situation of the emigrant and his home.

He decided to call Julia – the funeral would be in motion now and he wanted to be connected in some way.

Julia was outside on the balcony of the yacht club. She had avoided her mother and her new friend but realised that it would only be a few moments before they would be introduced and she dreaded the thought of speaking to the man who had replaced her father. When her phone rang she felt relieved.

“Julia, it’s me.”

“Michael, it’s so good to hear you. It’s been the most awful day. I don’t know how Odette has managed to keep it all together so well. Dylan has been wonderful.”

“I told you he was alright, Ju. I wish I could be there.”

“Don’t worry – really you are better off there. Nothing can make this situation any easier.”

“Well, I’m more determined than ever to come home now. Especially for the kids.”

“It would be nice for Jamie to have you around – and
Charlotte too – they are going to miss out so much not having a daddy.” And then Julia’s eyes welled up again like they had done so often during the day.

“Has anyone any idea why he did it?”

“We just don’t know. He had been acting very strangely but Odette thought that it was work pressure and Dylan thought that he was having an affair. There really is no glaringly obvious reason – the police said that people can be depressed and those that live with them don’t realise it until something like this happens. It turns out that he was doing a huge amount of extra work and there was a terrible atmosphere in his office. But there must be people living with that every day up and down the country.”

“I don’t suppose we’ll ever know.”

Julia sighed. “Well, we can’t ask him now and that is going to be the difficulty for Odette. And in time we’ll have to tell the children the truth too.”

“It really is a mess. How’s Mum?”

“Well, it looks like Granddad was right – a man has just arrived and swept her off – she never mentioned him to me. I guess I’ll meet him in a few minutes.”

“Go easy on him, Ju – you know how harsh you can be on some men!”

“Hey, that was the old Julia Perrin – so much has happened these last few weeks I don’t know who or what I am any more!”

“Call me later if you need to – I can’t sleep here at the moment – it’s so damn hot and all the stuff going through my head is really getting to me!”

“Hurry home, Michael!”

Suddenly
Lydia arrived on the balcony and walked in Julia’s direction.

“I have to go here – bye.” Julia hung up, aware she was leaving Michael confused at the other end of the line. “
Lydia, you are so good to come!”

They hugged warmly.

“I’m so sorry that I couldn’t make the church. I couldn’t get out of today’s meeting but I wanted to see how you were.”

“It hasn’t been easy. It’s all a bit of a haze at the moment. Come inside and have a drink. Tell me all about your happy life – I need to hear good news!”

Lydia followed her into the lounge and they took a seat by themselves.

“I’ve been looking at houses in Sandymount,”
Lydia said. “I think I told you that – oh, and how was Australia, I forgot to ask?”

“It was really lovely – cut short by six days of course – but Michael came down to us for the weekend and we had a really lovely time.”

“And how does Ruth like it?”

“She’s enjoying it – not too homesick so far.”

Lydia took one of the cups of tea that were being passed around by the waiters.

“Before I forget, you must thank Peter for us,” said Julia. “He was really wonderful about Craig. It helped hugely to know that someone we knew, even indirectly, was handling the case. He has been so comforting with Odette and made all the questioning so easy. He even brought out a lovely Ban Garda who was wonderful with the kids.”

“He has his good points,” Lydia smiled proudly. “Howth wouldn’t normally be in his jurisdiction but there are so many suicides at the moment that there is a fear it is becoming endemic – the guards are trying to keep them all as quiet as possible and, knowing that you were a friend of mine, he jumped in to get involved immediately. It won’t make the papers, he assured me before I came out. I know it’s not much but I hope that that’s some help.”

“You’ve no idea how much that helps. I could never in my wildest nightmares have imagined how awful something like this is for a family.”

Lydia recognised the start of tears in her friend’s eyes and gave her a warm hug.

“Thanks,
Lydia,” Julia said as she pulled away. “And what about you – how are things?”

“Well, no rings yet if that’s what you mean! And Peter doesn’t seem that keen to go house-hunting with me. He says he loves where he is. Sometimes I think all men are the same!”

This was the first time Julia had heard a cool word said about Peter. She wondered if his halo had slipped for some reason. As far as the Perrin and Fagan family were concerned, however, Peter was some sort of superman.

“Are you still considering asking him to marry you on the 29
th
?”

“Well, when I emailed you it was a bit of a joke because I honestly thought that he had the ring bought and all – it was something his sister had said at Christmas – but now I’m beginning to think that I may well have to do it myself. Men change when you move in with them, don’t they?”

“Well, I wouldn’t know – I’ve never lived with anyone else except Ruth! And that was only for a summer!”

Lydia
backtracked. “Don’t get me wrong – he’s really good to live with – and now that I’m in his apartment I thought that he would be territorial but he’s not at all – I can do what I want with the place. But I’m the one selling my apartment and he isn’t interested in finding a dream house like I am.”

“Is his apartment nice?”

“It’s lovely – you must come over some night – actually, we must do that next week. I’m sorry that I’ve been so caught up in my relationship with Peter – I’ve been a terrible friend.”

“You have not! You’re a wonderful friend and I can always rely on you at any time!”

Lydia smiled. Then she noticed something unusual over Julia’s shoulder. “Who is that with your mother?”

Gerry had walked into the lounge holding Carol by the arm. Now he was shaking hands with Horatio and sitting down beside him.

“Oh, that’s her new fella that she hasn’t told me about – I can’t believe that he has showed up!”

“Where did she meet him?”

“Playing bridge online.”

Lydia
laughed out loud.

“I know, it’s hilarious, isn’t it?” said Julia. “Even my mother can meet a man – I’m beginning to think that there’s something wrong with me.”

“Julia, you were never looking for one – all the men around are looking at you and you could have your pick of any of them – don’t you realise that?”

Julia was amazed by
Lydia’s remark. What was she saying? That to the rest of the world she was some sort of Ice Queen? That made her feel bad.

“So what do you think of my mum having a new man?”

Lydia shrugged. “It’s great – everyone has a right to happiness. I can see that it must be hard for you when you miss your dad so much – but you have to ask yourself: would your dad have minded?”

Julia shook her head.

“So, if he wouldn’t mind, then why should you?”

That was very true. Her father hadn’t a jealous bone in his body – it was his ‘live and let live’ nature that she had admired but she hadn’t followed his lead. Instead she had tried to control everything and everyone around her. But there was time to change and maybe she shouldn’t be so offensive with her opinions. Her mother was upset and it was sad that she couldn’t confide in her daughter that she had met someone. She suddenly vowed she would make this man welcome – because if he made her mother happy then that was all that mattered.

“Thanks for coming, Lydia – you have helped more than you will ever know! And please thank Peter again – from all of us.”

Lydia
smiled at her friend as they got up to go over and meet Gerry.

Carol was on her own in the kitchen when Julia came down to get a glass of water.

“Thanks so much for today, Julia – you’ve been so nice to Gerry. I didn’t know how you would react.”

“Oh, Mum!” Julia could have cried. “Have I been that awful to live with?”

“Well, you do have your opinion on things and I know how you felt about your father. I didn’t want to upset you.”

Julia felt terrible. “I’m so sorry if I am a pain at times. My whole world – our whole world has been shook up. This thing that has happened to Odette is awful – I really can’t make any sense of it.”

Carol nodded. “Peter tried to explain to me after he had spoken with Odette the other day – it is a fine line between sanity and insanity. People are in a state of despair all over the country with debt and worries . . . but taking your life is so final – so unjust.”

Julia sat down at the table beside her mother and put her hand on top of hers.

“We’ll get through this, all of us,” she assured her. “Gerry is a lovely man and I’m glad that you have someone nice like him to help you at this time.”

“I told him not to come down for the funeral but he wouldn’t stay away and I have to say, when I saw him coming in through the bar in the yacht club, my heart lifted with relief. I may look like I am busy in my own world since your father died but, you see, when he was alive he was my entire world. I loved him so much but maybe too much if it is possible to do such a thing. Playing bridge and driving and all the other things that I do since he passed away are the new me – they are all things I need to do in order to cope. I realise now that nobody should love anyone too much. Odette will be fine – she can’t see it now, I know, but there will come a time when she will realise that this is how it is meant to be.”

Julia had never known her mother to be so philosophical or profound. She was so proud of her that she just wrapped her arms spontaneously around her neck and cried. The two women stayed in an embrace for what must have been only a couple of minutes but felt like an hour. The comfort and love they were receiving from each other brought a peace between them that hadn’t existed since before Julia’s father died and, for the first time since hearing the news of Craig’s untimely death, she felt as if something good had come out of it all.

Chapter Forty-two

It was seven days since Julia had left and Ruth was feeling very lonely. She was not long in the door from work and the street was quiet outside. She couldn’t bring herself to watch the American programmes on TV so she picked up a book and turned on her iPod in the dock. Pink Floyd’s
‘Wish You Were Here’
came on and she wanted to cry. Who did she want to be here? Ian? She would love his familiar loving arms around her now but his silence over the last few weeks made her realise what a small part of his life she must have been. And she didn’t miss the guilt. So being apart from him brought relief and this was the first time she realised it.

Then there was Steve. Did she miss Steve’s attentions? Probably not. She missed his company, though, and she didn’t blame him for stopping all form of contact outside of work hours since her little performance the week before.

Julia? Definitely she would love to sit and have a laugh and share a bottle of wine with her best friend. And, yes, she would even like to be by her side as she consoled Odette.

She opened the pages of her novel and tried to concentrate on the words but it was difficult. Suddenly she heard a ring at the door. Nobody really called to the door in
Australia – it wasn’t like Sutton or Clontarf where there was often a plethora of school kids looking for sponsorship for this or that – or window cleaners asking if you needed their services. People generally didn’t arrive unannounced – well, not to a single girl in Subiaco anyway. She got up and went into the hall.

The silhouette of a man stood at the other side of the door. He was tall and at first she thought it might be Steve. As she got closer the outline became more familiar and she was surprised when she opened the door to see that it was Brian.

“How are you going, Ruth – I hope I haven’t called at a bad time?”

He stood tall and handsome. He had changed out of his work clothes and looked like he had recently washed his hair.