Love, Rosie (65 page)

Great
thanks.

So
you
don’t
hate
each
other
yet?

No
not
yet.

I’ll
give
you
one
month
.
.
.

And
once
again,
thank
you.

Just
doing
my
duty
as
a
friend.
Gary
has
a
girlfriend
now.

Gary?!
Your
baby
Gary?!

Well
he’s
20
now
but
I
can
see
how
you
could
be
confused,
he’s
yet

to
lose
all
that
baby
fat
.
.
.
like
his
mother.

love,
rosie

103

Rosie:

Ruby:

Rosie:

Ruby:

Rosie:

Ruby:

Oh
stop
it!
Who’s
the
girl?

Gemma
is
her
name.
To
be
honest
I
think
there’s
something
a
bit

wrong
with
her.

In
what
way?

In
the
way
that
she
has
deliberately
chosen
to
go
out
with
my
son.

Oh
Ruby
that’s
awful!
Gary
is
a
nice
boy.

Nice
my
bum!
I
don’t
know
what
she
sees
in
him;
all
he
does
is

occasionally
make
grunting
sounds
and
point
to
things.
Usually
at

food,
and
then
to
his
stomach.
Any
news
with
you?

Rosie:

Ruby:

Rosie:

Well
actually
I
have
a
bit,
I’ve
only
told
Alex
so
far
but
you’re
not

allowed
to
tell
anyone.

Ooh
lovely,
I
love
it!
The
most
magical
words
you’ll
ever
hear
in
a

sentence.
What
is
it?

Well
a
few
weeks
ago
when
I
came
home
from
work
Greg
had
a

beautiful
dinner
cooked,
the
table
was
set,
candles
were
lit,
and
the

music
was
playing
.
.
.

Ruby:

Rosie:

Ruby:

Rosie:

Ruby:

Rosie:

Ruby:

Rosie:

Ruby:

Rosie:

Ruby:

Rosie:

Ruby:

Go
on
.
.
.

Well
he
asked
me—

To
marry
you!

No
actually,
he
asked
me
if
I
was
interested
in
moving
in
with
him.

Interested?

Yeah.

Were
those
his
exact
words?

Eh,
yeah,
I
think
so
why?

You
think
that’s
romantic,
do
you?

Well
he
went
to
a
lot
of
trouble
to
cook
the
meal,
and
set
the
table

and—

Jesus
you
do
that
every
day
Rosie.
Do
you
not
think
it
sounds
a
bit

like
a
business
proposition?

A
business
proposition?
In
what
way?

If
I
wanted
to
open
a
joint
bank
account
with
Teddy
I
would
say,

“Teddy,
would
you
be
interested
in
opening
a
joint
bank
account?”

If
I
wanted
to
move
in
with
Teddy,
I
would
not
say,
“Teddy
would

you
be
interested
in
moving
in
together?”
Do
you
see
what
I
mean?

104

Rosie:

Ruby:

Well
I
suppose
I—

Cecelia
Ahern

That
is
not
the
way
to
broach
the
subject.
And
what
about
mar-

riage?
Did
he
say
anything
about
that?
Or
about
Katie?
If
you
and