Always You (31 page)

‘Okay,’ she said sheepishly and, when the guard walked off, she smiled at Cahal. ‘I couldn’t let you go without saying a proper goodbye, could I?’

He touched her hair. ‘I’m sorry we quarrelled this morning.’

‘Me too. Oh, but never mind that now.’ She placed a hand on his chest. ‘Cahal, I have the most wonderful news.’

‘Jody! Cahal!’ someone called from the front of the queue. ‘Time to check in.’

Cahal grabbed her hands. ‘What news, Sarah?’

‘You’ll never believe it. Ian’s going to move to Melbourne.’

‘Who’s Ian?’ said Jody.

He thrust his head forward, his eyes wide and startled. ‘You mean emigrate?’

Sarah nodded her head, unable to keep the big, foolish grin off her face. ‘Yes. He says that there’s nothing for him here now that Evelyn’s gone. And he knows the only reason I won’t take the kids to Australia is because of him.’

A slow, incredulous smile started at his mouth and spread upwards until the corners of his eyes were all crinkled up and his lips stretched in a wide grin. He had never looked so gorgeous. ‘Does this mean that you’ll move to Melbourne?’

Giddiness fizzed up inside her like the bubbles in a washing-up bowl. ‘Yes!’ she squealed, clapping her hands to her face and jumping up and down on the spot. ‘Yes!’

‘Oh sweetheart, that’s the best news I’ve ever heard.’ He hugged her tightly and when they parted said, ‘But why would he do that?’

‘He says he can’t make me happy but he knows you can.’

Cahal brushed a strand of hair off her forehead and smiled sadly. ‘Poor Ian. He must love you very much, Sarah. Possibly as much as I do. You always said he was a good guy, well, I don’t know many men who would do this.’

‘Cahal,’ said Jody, coldly. ‘Check-in’s closing. We’re going to miss our flight.’

‘You go, Jody,’ he said, without taking his eyes off Sarah. ‘I’m staying.’

Jody stomped off with a flick of her blonde hair, her pert bottom wiggling in a tight skirt, the wheels of her trolley bag clicking on the tiled floor.

‘Somebody’s not happy,’ said Sarah and giggled.

Cahal glanced at Jody and rolled his eyes.

She said, ‘But what about your boys?’

‘One more day won’t make any difference, will it?’ he said, nuzzling her neck. ‘You and I have a lot to talk about. We’ve got a future to plan.’

‘You’ve just missed them, mate,’ said Brady as soon as he opened the door to Cahal in baggy surfing shorts and flip-flops. ‘Adele’s taken them down to the mall. Tom’s just gone and grown out of all his shoes. Again!’ He laughed heartily and put a hand on his belly.

‘Actually, Brady, it was you I wanted to see, not the boys.’

‘Oh, right. You’d better come in then.’ He ambled down the hall into the kitchen cum family room, the hub of this home, and Cahal followed.

Brady opened the fridge and said, ‘Wanna beer?’

‘No thanks.’

Brady closed the fridge door, folded his beefy arms and said, ‘What can I do for you?’

Cahal shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. It had not been easy to come here today. He’d arrived home a month ago and he’d only just strummed up the courage to make this long-overdue visit to Brady. He cleared his throat. ‘I hardly know where to begin, Brady.’

Brady cocked his head and looked at him curiously. ‘The beginning’s usually as good a place as any,’ he said genially, leaned against the counter and waited.

Cahal smiled at this dose of homespun wisdom which he would normally have scoffed at but which, today, seemed wise and apt. ‘When Adele got together with you, I wasn’t in a good place. I resented you moving into my house.’ He paused to look round the room. ‘With my kids.’

Brady acknowledged this with a twitch of his big head. ‘Couldn’t have been easy.’

‘And the more the boys came to like you, the more jealous I became.’

Brady looked perplexed. ‘Jealous of what?’

‘Your relationship with them and the fact that you live with them and I don’t.’ He looked at his shoes. ‘Sometimes I think that they like you more than me.’

Brady snorted. ‘You’re their Dad. They love you.’

‘I know. But I think … what I’m trying to say is … I’m trying to apologise, Brady. For being a drongo. I know I haven’t always made things easy for you and Adele.’

Brady acknowledged this by puffing his cheeks up with air then blowing it out.

Cahal went on, ‘I just want to say that I’m glad Adele married you. You’ve made her happier than I ever did, I think. I want to thank you for that and for everything you do for my boys. I appreciate it.’

Brady blinked and poked the inside corner of his right eye with the tip of a big, stubby finger. ‘They’re good kids.’

Cahal looked at his feet. ‘We bring different things to the party, Brady, and I see now how much the boys benefit from having you as a stepdad.’

Brady sniffed and looked out the window. ‘You’re making me embarrassed now.’

‘I don’t mean to. We kinda got off on the wrong foot – you and me – and I was wondering if … if you’d be willing to give it, give us, another go. I don’t suppose we’ll ever be best buddies, but, you know, it’d be good if we got on.’

Brady looked at him for a few short moments. ‘Sure, mate. I’d like that. And so would the boys and Adele.’ He came over and slapped Cahal on the back so hard he stumbled forward.

Recovering, Cahal grinned. ‘How about that beer then?’

Brady grinned back. ‘Thought you’d never ask.’ He opened the fridge, lifted out two bottles of beer with one hand and expertly twisted the lids off with the other. He nodded at the big-screen TV on the other side of the room. ‘The footy’s just coming on. Geelong’s playing St Kilda in the semi-final. Why don’t you stay and watch it?’

Sarah picked the photograph up off the shelf and smiled. It had been taken on Chelsea Beach, Melbourne at Christmas. Molly and Lewis, standing between her and Cahal, were holding up huge ice creams as were Adele, Brady, her three kids and Brady’s grown-up daughter, Michelle. Everyone had big grins on their faces. An unconventional family, but a family none the less. It had been a happy, exciting visit, seeing the sights and looking at houses. She’d liked Adele and Brady from the off, both down-to-earth and genuinely pleased, it seemed to her, to see Cahal happy. And now, three months later, here she was, packing her life into cardboard boxes.

‘Do you think I should take this one on the plane, Mum?’ said Molly, coming into the room, wearing pink skinny jeans and holding up two fleeces, one white, one red. ‘Or this one?’

Sarah swathed the photograph in bubble wrap and tucked it inside the sturdy cardboard box along with the others. ‘It’s a long flight and things’ll get grubby. The red one won’t show the dirt so much.’

Lewis wandered in with a Nerf gun in his hand, took aim and fired a soft foam bullet at Molly’s bum. His hair was gelled into a ginger Mohican.

‘Stop that, Lewis,’ shouted Molly, chucking the fleeces on the floor. ‘Mum, look what I have to put up with! And you’ve been at my hair gel again, haven’t you, you little creep?’ She made a lunge for Lewis but he sidestepped out of the way.

‘Lewis, don’t do that to your sister,’ she said, suppressing a laugh and scooping the fleeces off the floor. ‘Molly, do try to be more tolerant.’

Lewis charged around the room, making noises like a siren. Molly let out a big, heartfelt sigh, placed her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. ‘But he’s so annoying, Mum. I don’t go into his room and use his hair gel.’

‘That’s because I haven’t got any,’ said Lewis, sticking out his tongue.

‘Enough!’ cried Sarah. ‘Come here, you two.’ Reluctantly both children approached, Lewis with a mischievous look on his face, Molly a thunderous one. She encircled both children with her arms and pulled them close. ‘Come on, hug it out.’ They embraced each other and she kissed the tops of their heads inhaling the scent of them. Their babyhoods were long gone but the smell of them was still as recognisable to her as their faces. ‘I’m not letting go until you do it properly.’

The arms around her tightened and Molly pulled away first. ‘All right, Mum. Enough,’ she said, trying to suppress a smile.

‘That’s better isn’t it?’ said Sarah. ‘Sure you love each other really, don’t you?’

Lewis giggled and Molly said, trying but not quite succeeding in sounding cross, ‘I suppose so.’

‘But not as much as I love you,’ said Sarah. ‘You two are the light of my life.’ Both children’s chins lifted and they smiled contentedly. ‘Are you excited about going to live in Melbourne?’ she said.

‘Yes!’ they both cried in unison.

‘We’ll have a lot to do when we get there.’

‘I’m going to swim in the pool all day!’ said Molly. They’d found a house to rent in upmarket Toorak. It was costing them an arm and a leg but it wouldn’t be forever. Once Cahal found a buyer for his apartment, and she sold her house, they would buy a place together.

‘I’m going to have a Nerf gun fight with Tom.’ The children had met Cahal’s three boys at Christmas and, so far, so good. Lewis had taken to them straight away, deciding Tom was his best mate and hero-worshipping cool Jed. Molly had been more circumspect but that was only to be expected in a girl her age.

‘Hmm,’ said Sarah. ‘School starts in two weeks. I was thinking more along the lines of school uniforms and registering us all with a doctor and a dentist.’ She frowned, thinking of something else to add to her already too-long ‘to do’ list. ‘Oh, and we’ll have to find out about the buses to school.’

Molly and Lewis exchanged glances and Sarah said, ‘But we’ll take time to do some fun stuff too. It’ll be a wee while before I start work.’

Cahal staggered into the room under the weight of the box in his arms, his shirt sleeves rolled up, sweat beading his brow. ‘That’s the last of the boxes from Molly’s room. Hey, what you got in this, Molly?’

‘Books.’

He set it down, rubbed the small of his back and gave Sarah a peck on the lips. ‘Right, I’m going to start on the garage.’

She ran her hand through her hair. ‘There’s loads of old toys and bikes out there. I think most of it’ll have to go out.’

Cahal turned to the kids, hands on slim, jean-clad hips. ‘Kids, you wanna tell me what to keep and what to throw out?’

‘I want to keep my dolls,’ said Molly.

‘I want my stunt scooter,’ said Lewis and raced Molly out the door. Cahal chuckled, scooped Sarah up in his arms and lifted her right off her feet in a bear hug. He twirled her round until her head was spinning and she begged for him to put her down. ‘Dad or Aunt Vi might come in,’ she giggled. ‘Or Becky.’ They were all working in different parts of the house. Tomorrow the removal company would come and, in the evening, they would fly to London on the first leg of the most exciting journey of her life.

He set her on her feet, and traced the curve of her T-shirt down and across her chest with his finger and his eyes. Then he cupped her face in his hands and looked deep into her eyes. ‘I love you, Sarah.’

‘And I love you too.’ She slipped her hands into the back pockets of his jeans and looked up into his face. ‘You know Cahal, I’ve never been so happy in my entire life. I’m sad to leave my family but I know that we’re going to be so happy together.’

He took her hands in his and they both looked down at the small gold ring that now resided on the ring finger of her left hand. When they married in a few months’ time, it would turn the other way, the point of the heart facing inwards. And then her happiness would be complete.

‘My grandmother would’ve loved you, Sarah. She was a good person, just like you.’

‘Just like you,’ she said and smiled and he rubbed the contours of the little ring with his thumb.

Molly’s voice carried in from the hall. ‘Are you coming or what, Cahal? We’ve been waiting ages.’

Cahal grinned and lightly smacked her bottom. ‘I’d better go.’ Sarah watched him walk out of the room, and a little bit of her went with him. It was as if they were not two separate people but joined by an invisible connection. Her life was so full and rich now, and she saw the world through a different lens. Everything was bright and clear, as if someone had switched on the lights, or cleaned a grubby window she had been looking out of all these years. And she wondered how she had survived without him.

Later, when Cahal had gone to the dump and the children were playing with old toys newly discovered in the garage, Aunt Vi called, ‘Tea-break!’ Sarah went straight into the kitchen to find all the cupboards open and the shelves bare. Five mugs and a plate of homemade, buttered gingerbread sat on the table. Dad, his glasses slipped down the tip of his nose and a pink sponge in his hand, peered inside the empty cutlery drawer.

Aunt Vi poured tea into a mug on the table. ‘Where’s Cahal?’ she said as soon as Sarah came in.

Sarah told her and she said, ‘Oh, I would’ve waited if I’d known.’

‘Sure, he can have a cuppa later,’ said Sarah, filled with admiration for her aunt, who not only had accepted the plan to move to Australia with resignation, but had been civil to Cahal ever since. She had even apologised to him for her outburst that day in this kitchen. The same day that Sarah had finally learned the meaning of duty and self-sacrifice.

‘Do you never clean out your kitchen drawers?’ said Dad, flicking crumbs out onto the floor. ‘You should see the muck in here.’

Sarah suppressed a smile. ‘Don’t be wasting your time on that, Dad,’ she said, taking her usual seat at the table. ‘It’s not going to make any difference to the selling price.’

He sighed and frowned. ‘I suppose not,’ he said, chucking the sponge in the sink. He came over, pinched the fabric of his trousers just above the knee and hoisted them up an inch, before sitting down at the table with a soft sigh. He placed one liver-spotted hand on his knee, the other on the table.

‘Well, love,’ he said, looking at Sarah with bleary eyes. ‘Tomorrow you start a whole new life. I hope it makes you happy.’ He paused and glanced at Aunt Vi who was topping up the teapot by the sink, her head turned so that Sarah could not see her face. ‘Me and your aunt, well, we’ll miss you and the children.’

A hard lump formed in Sarah’s throat. For she knew her happiness came at the expense of her father and her aunt. She would be forever grateful to them for their stoicism.

Aunt Vi set the teapot on the top of the cooker with a dull clang and sat down at the table opposite Dad. ‘I remember the day you and Ian got the keys for this place,’ she said and Dad nodded and smiled wistfully.

‘I’m sorry that things didn’t work out with Ian,’ went on Aunt Vi, looking at her hands. ‘I had such high hopes for you both. And I’m sorry that you’ve had to wait all these years to be with your one true love.’

Sarah put a hand out over her aunt’s and gently squeezed, painfully aware that Vi had lost the only love of her life. ‘You don’t have to apologise, Aunt Vi. If I had been you, I would have done exactly the same thing.’

Aunt Vi looked up and smiled. ‘Thank you for saying that, Sarah. It means a lot.’

‘And it means a lot to me that you’ve been so good about all this. Especially with me taking the children away.’

Everyone fell silent for a few long moments and Dad said, his voice all choked up, ‘We only ever wanted you to be happy, Sarah.’

Sarah’s throat burned and tears bound her eyelashes in clumps. ‘I know that, Dad.’

‘It’s what your mother would’ve wanted too.’

Sarah let go of Aunt Vi’s hand and grasped her father’s instead as he went on, ‘We just want you to know that … we …’

His voice tailed off and Aunt Vi finished the sentence, blinking rapidly behind thick glasses. ‘We want you to know that what you’re doing is the right thing.’ She looked at her brother. ‘The only thing. For all of us. If you stayed here … well, you know how your Dad and I feel about the Mulvennas.’

‘Yes,’ said Dad, who’d regained his composure. ‘It’s for the best, love.’

They all straightened up at the sound of Becky coming up the hall. Sarah let go of her Dad’s hand and deftly flicked the tears from her eyelashes.

‘What’s for the best?’ said Becky, coming in and flopping down on the seat opposite Sarah.

‘That Cahal makes an honest woman of her!’ said Aunt Vi cheerfully and drank some tea.

‘Course he will.’ Becky took a slice of gingerbread and crammed half of it into her mouth. ‘God, I’m starving,’ she said, chewing her food. ‘Can’t seem to get enough to eat these days.’

‘Watch yourself, girl. You’ll get fat,’ said Aunt Vi. Becky rolled her eyes, shoved another bit of gingerbread into her mouth, and Sarah smiled inwardly.