Behind Every Cloud (13 page)

“
I was enjoying it too much. And anyway you
’
re right
–
my mother can be very snooty indeed.
”

“
I
’
m so embarrassed,
”
Ellie said, putting her hands to her face which was now turning a bright red.

“
Don
’
t worry, I promise I won
’
t tell a soul,
”
he laughe
d, his eyes full of merriment
.

Of course! Sam Buckley – I should have guessed, Ellie thought.
Buckley Steadman
.
Why didn
’
t I put two and two together? She felt really stupid! But, in fairness to her, he had been referring to them as Frank and Judith.

Rachel bustled in looking as if she were going to a first
-
night theatre-opening. She was wearing a red silk suit and outrageously high heels and her hair and make-up were perfect. Ellie was relieved at the distraction.

“
Hi, I
’
m Rachel Dunne,
”
she introduced herself, shaking Sam
’
s hand and giving him a 100-mega-watt smile. She hadn
’
t b
een prepared for him to be this young or this attractive. He certainly didn
’
t look like a wine expert with his unkempt hair and casual denim shirt and jeans. She
’
d always thought that wine types were stuffy old men. What a nice surprise!

“
Welcome, Rachel
–
I
’
m Sam,
”
he replied, thinking that she looked even lovelier than her photos portrayed her. And what a figure!
“
And this is Ellie
.”

“
Hi,
”
Rachel
said, turning her attention to the young girl. Gosh
,
it was the beautiful young girl who
’
d come into the hair salon earlier that day.

“
Didn
’
t I see you in Rainbows hair salon in Sutton today?
”
she asked.

“
Why
,
yes,
”
Ellie replied, surprised that someone as well-known as Carl Dunne
’
s wife would have recognised her. Ellie had even voted for him in the election. He was divine!
“
Keisha is a friend of mine. I work in the beauty salon two doors down.
”

“
Really! That must be very interesting
.”
Rachel smiled at her.

Ellie didn
’
t have the heart to tell her that it wasn
’
t reall
y all that hot.

Sam showed them to their places and Ellie avoided his eyes, still embarrassed by his revelation.
She
was pleased to see she was sitting beside Rachel who was obviously very friendly. She sneaked another look at the older woman. God, she was perfect – so glamorous and not a hair out of place! Ellie felt scruffy beside her in her torn jeans and wearing no make-up except for mascara and lip gloss.
She had to wear a lot of it at work so she preferred to let her skin breathe when not working. Now she regretted she hadn
’
t made more of an effort.

There was a flurry at the door and Sam
’
s two young workers arrived along with the two girls from the supermarket chain.

Gosh, they
’
re all kids, Rachel thought with dismay. She was only thirty-six
but she was old enough to be their mother – and probably Ellie
’
s too for God
’
s sake!
Then, as Sam was showing the young ones to the other table, Zita arrived. Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God, she thought, someone my own age. She gave Zita a dazzling smile as the other woman sat down beside her. Rachel had a feeling that she knew her from somewhere but couldn
’
t quite place her. She sighed. She was normally very good at remembering names and faces but she met so many people these days that it was getting harder all the time.
She introduced herself to Zita.

What luck, Zita thought – I
’
m sitting beside Mrs Prim-and-Proper
Dunne. Let the assault begin!

Ellie thought Zita was very unusual
-
looking
.
She was wearing Doc Martens and a black leather biker jacket over a denim waistcoat and dungarees.
But it was her eyes that were scary and sent a shiver up Ellie
’
s spine.
They
were watchful, like a cat
’
s
,
and Ellie had the strangest feeling that this woman
could read her thoughts. Zita smiled at her as they shook hands but the smile never reached her eyes. Ellie was instinctively wary of her but Rachel didn
’
t seem to notice as she rattled on
.

Ronan was the last to arrive. The women admired the elegant quiet-spoken guy as he joined their table. Hmmm . . .
he
’
s good
-
looking, Rachel thought, smiling at him. She
’
d always gone for quiet shy guys like this – until she
’
d met
Carl, that is. No one could call Carl quiet or shy.
Extrove
rt and gregarious more like! It looked like they were all present as there were no more chairs in the room and Sam had closed the door.

The wine course was about to begin.

11

“
Hi everyone, and welcome,
”
Sam began.
“
Firstly, I
’
d like to tell you a little about myself. I fell in love with wine when I was fourteen years old and went on a student exchange to
France for a month where I stayed with a family in Bordeaux who owned a vineyard. I was fascinated by the whole business
,
not least because they allowed me a glass of wine every night with dinner which would ha
ve been enough for my parents to drag me home had they known about it.
”

Everybody laughed at this. They could very well imagin
e it.

“
Anyway, I went back every year after that,
”
Sam continued,
“
and before long knew that this was what I wanted to do with my life. To my parent
s
horror, I left school in fifth year – I wasn
’
t exactly academic – and headed back to Bordeaux to work in the wine business. Five years and a lot of knowledge and contacts later, I came back to Ireland and opened my first wine shop. I now have ten shops
,
with two more opening shortly along with an online business.
”

They all looked at him in amazement.

“
My goodness!
”
Rachel exclaimed.

“
How did you get into running courses?
”
Ronan asked him.

“
Well, when I got back here I studied for two years for my wine diploma which allows me to lecture for the British Wine & Spirit Education Trust – or the WSET as we call it.
”

“
I thought you said you weren
’
t academic,
”
Ellie joi
ned in.

“
Believe me I
’
m not
,
but when you
’
re studying someth
ing you love, it becomes more like a hobby than hard work.
”

“
Mmmm
. . .”
Ellie said, not convinced.

“
So about this course
:
it runs over eight weeks and at the end of it you should have a comprehensive knowledge of the world of wine and how it
’
s made. Each session consists of an hour of tuition followed by an hour of tasting. I hope that at the end of it you will all have a deeper understanding of this wonderful beverage we call wine. You all have a pack in front of you
.”
He picked up Ellie
’
s one to show them.
“
It contains a manual, which covers what we
’
ll be doing
,
as well as a tasting notebook and some other info. You
’
ll also receive a box of six tasting glasses which are yours to keep. You
’
ll take them home with you this evening and please don
’
t forget to bring them next week.
”
He smiled around the room at them all.

“
Now
,
before we start, could I ask each of you to write your name, phone number and email address on this sheet of paper and I
’
ll make copies for everyone.
”
He handed the paper to Ronan.
“
Now I
’
d like you to introduce yourselves and tell me what it was that persuaded you to join this course? Can we start with you, Rachel?
”

Rachel nodded at Sam and smiled at the others as she rose to her feet
. “
Yes, well, my name is Rachel Dunne and I have two children
:
Jacob who
’
s almost eight and Rebecca – we call her Becky
–
who
’
s six. My husband has recently been elected to the Dáil
.”
She looked around to see if the others had already recognised her. To her satisfaction it seemed they had.
“
I
’
m here because I now have a lot of functions to attend and also entertaining to do and I know absolutely nothing about wine, except that I love to drink it.
”

The others smiled as she sat down with the exception of Zita who thought she might puke.

Ronan was next.
“
My name is Ronan McIntyre and I
’
m a draughtsman with a small firm of architects. Like Rachel, I love wine but know nothing about it so I was thrilled when my brother gave me a gift of this course for my birthday. Mind you, I also love my pint of Guinness.
”

He sat down to the laughter of the group.

Zita was next.
“
Hi, I
’
m Zita Williams
and I work in television. I
’
m interested in learning more about wine.
”
She sat down. Nobody laughed. There was something intimidating about her which was felt by all
.

“
I take it you like drinking wine too, Zita
,”
Sam said.
“
Looks like I
’
m going to need more bottles than I
’
d bargained for tonight!
”

Everyone laughed again which lightened the atmospher
e somewhat.

Ellie was next.
“
Hi,
”
she began, beaming at Sam.
“
My n
ame is Ellie Moran. I work in a beauty salon and I recent
ly got engaged. My fiancé David is an accountant. We were at a dinner in his new boss
’
s house lately and I felt embarrassed not knowing anything about the wine. I met Sam there,
”
she said, smiling at him, her dimples making her even prettier
, “
and he told me about this course. So, voilá, here I am!
”
She lifted her arms up dramatically
. “
Oh, and yes, I love wine too except that it makes me very tipsy so it
’
s safer if I stick to beer and cider
!”

Everybody in the room laughed and smiled back at her, even Zita. She had that effect on people.

Sam
’
s two young employees from his Malahide shop introduced themselves as Dave and Keith
and it was obvious that they were enthusiastic and willing to learn.

Lastly, the two young women from Cash
Value Supermarkets spoke
.
They were called Karen and Hayley. Karen
spoke first.