Second Time Around Read online

  ‘I suppose I could redecorate,’ Suzie mused, glancing around. ‘The place is looking a bit tired.’

  ‘Don’t even think about it!’ Just the thought of her mother up a ladder made Jess’s head ache. She sighed. ‘Fine. I’ll go to one dance class with you but, if it’s full of desperate women and perverts, I’m out of there.’

  Her mother gave a triumphant grin. ‘Great. It’s on Friday nights at eight. I’ll check when it starts.’

  ‘Oh.’ Jess’s heart sank. That was the one evening of the week that Louis usually spent at her flat. After he’d signed off on the paper, he would pick up a takeaway and a bottle of wine and come over.

  ‘Is there a problem?’ Suzie’s eyes narrowed.

  Jess shook her head. Louis would understand. ‘No. Friday’s fine.’

  There was a commotion in the hall and Sharon’s wheedling voice. ‘No, Bobby, I told you, it’s too late for sweets, it’s almost bedtime. Maybe Granny will give you a breadstick.’

  Suzie rolled her eyes. ‘What on earth are they doing here at this hour?’

  The door opened and Sharon walked in, her son trailing behind her.

  ‘Hi, Shaz, hi, Bobby, it’s good to see you.’ Jess tousled the child’s hair but he jerked his head away. Okay. ‘Everything all right, Shaz?’ she asked. Sharon was wearing that tense, pinched look that so often marred her pretty face these days.

  ‘Fine,’ she said, sounding stressed. ‘We were in town and just dropped in on the way home because we bought Granny a present, didn’t we, Bobby?’

  The child said nothing and Sharon set down a large bag from an expensive shop on Grafton Street.

  Suzie eyed it, frowning. ‘You shouldn’t be spending your money on me.’

  ‘Why not? You deserve a treat after all you’ve been through. Go on, open it!’ Sharon looked at her expectantly.

  Jess clamped a hand firmly over her mouth as her mother pulled out a heavy woollen dress and stared at it in horror.

  ‘What do you think?’ Sharon prompted, searching her mother’s face.

  ‘It looks . . . warm,’ Jess said, smiling, praying her mother would be nice. It was a dreadful dress. What had Sharon been thinking?

  ‘Try it on and let’s see how it looks,’ Sharon urged.

  ‘Aw, Shaz, are you kidding me?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘It’s like something my mother would have worn. No, actually, it’s more like something she’d have taken to the charity shop.’

  Jess winced. So much for prayers.

  ‘I told you she’d hate it,’ Bobby said.

  Suzie looked at him in surprise. ‘You were right.’

  ‘Mum, there’s no need to be rude,’ Jess protested, embarrassed by her mother’s candour.

  ‘It’s fine,’ Sharon said with a grim smile. ‘I’d offer to exchange it but obviously I have terrible taste. I’ll give you the receipt and you can change it yourself.’

  ‘Sharon, she doesn’t mean it,’ Jess murmured.

  ‘I told her to get blue,’ Bobby said. ‘That colour is yuck.’

  ‘It is,’ Suzie agreed, examining the shapeless moss-green garment.

  ‘I need the loo.’ Sharon left the room, slamming the door behind her.

  ‘Oh, Mum. Could you not have just said it was lovely?’

  Bobby raised his head, frowning. ‘But that’s a lie.’

  ‘Quite right,’ Suzie agreed.

  ‘Not really, just a little fib.’ Jess smiled at the child. ‘Sometimes it’s okay to tell fibs to make someone feel good.’

  ‘It’s still a lie. Mum says we should never tell lies.’

  ‘Well, I don’t know many who keep to that rule,’ Suzie muttered.

  ‘But wasn’t it kind of them to get you a present, Mum?’ Jess said, with a pointed nod at her nephew.

  ‘I suppose.’

  ‘I told her to get the blue one,’ Bobby repeated.

  ‘Right.’ Jess gave him a bright smile. ‘How about a biscuit?’

  When Sharon returned, Suzie mumbled a lame apology but her daughter waved it away, her eyes narrowing as they homed in on her son. ‘Bobby, what are you eating?’

  Mum rolled her eyes at Jess. ‘I gave him a biscuit.’

  ‘But it’s chocolate. You know that he’s lactose-intolerant. Spit it out, Bobby, and go and rinse your mouth.’

  ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, Sharon, will you lighten up and let the child eat?’

  ‘And will you stop swearing in front of my son?’

  Jess looked from one angry face to the other and put her hands up. ‘Can you both calm down? There was only a tiny bit of chocolate on the biscuit, Shaz, and he’s almost finished it now.’

  ‘Huh. You won’t be the one holding his head over the loo in the middle of the night. Come on, Bobby, we’re going.’

  ‘God, give me patience,’ Suzie muttered.

  ‘Don’t go, Shaz. Have a cuppa,’ Jess said, but Sharon was already marching down the hall, dragging her son behind her.

  Jess looked over at her mother and sighed. What were they going to do with her?

  ‘What?’ Suzie scowled, her mouth set in a stubborn line.

  ‘Sharon never did have great taste,’ Mandy smirked when Suzie told her the story. She glanced around the gloomy lounge. ‘Why on earth are we here, Suzie? I thought you said there was going to be some craic.’

  ‘It’s supposed to be karaoke night.’ Suzie took a sip of chilled wine. She was limited to two glasses for the moment, so she relished every drop and made it last. ‘Maybe it’s in a different room. I’ll go to Reception and find out.’ She left the lounge and walked up to the desk, tapping on the counter, waiting for the girl to finish a call. After being ignored for a few seconds, Suzie realised it was a personal call and, leaning on the desk, said, ‘Excuse me,’ loudly.

  The receptionist gave an exaggerated sigh. ‘I’m on a call, madam.’

  ‘A personal one. So, unless you want me to complain to your manager, you’ll end it and help the customer. I believe that’s your job.’

  ‘I’ve got to go, Shelly.’ She hung up and scowled at Suzie. ‘Yes?’

  ‘Where is the karaoke on?’ Suzie snapped.

  ‘In the lounge.’

  Suzie checked her watch. ‘But it was supposed to start at eight and it’s almost half past now.’

  ‘On Fridays,’ the girl added with a smug smile.

  Bitch, Suzie thought and turning on her heel went back in to her sister. ‘Sorry, I got it wrong. It’s on Fridays, not Thursdays.’

  ‘Thank God for that.’ Mandy smiled at the businessmen sitting at the bar and crossed her legs, giving them a flash of thigh.

  ‘You’re such a slut, Mandy,’ Suzie said in disgust. ‘Is sex all you ever think of? What about love? Someone must have made your heart race at least once.’ As the words left her mouth, Suzie had a moment of déjà vu and shivered.

  Mandy watched her curiously. ‘What?’

  ‘Nothing.’ She shook off the uneasy feeling. ‘Seriously, though, wouldn’t you like to share your life with one special person? You must get lonely.’

  ‘At least I have a sex life. What about you?’ Mandy retorted. ‘You’ve been a widow for eleven years now and you’ve lived like a nun. Aren’t you frustrated?’

  ‘No.’ John had died at thirty-eight, got caught between two pieces of farm machinery on a visit to one of his suppliers. With three devastated children to look after, Suzie hadn’t had time to dwell on her own shock and pain. She’d taken her family back to Dublin, the place that was still home to her, and away from reminders of how they had lost their dad. Noel had just turned nine and went through months of nightmares and bedwetting. Even if Suzie had been interested in dating and met someone, she would never have introduced a strange man into their lives. As time went on and the sad memories faded, Suzie had felt quite content with her life. But her family were grown now and Suzie’s brush with death was making her re-evaluate her life. Time was flying by while she sat on the sid
elines, watching. It wasn’t too late to travel or take up new hobbies, but, as far as men were concerned, she figured she’d missed the boat.

  ‘What man would be interested in a middle-aged granny with stretch marks, flabby arms and wrinkles?’ she said to her sister.

  ‘Have you looked in the mirror lately?’ Mandy said, eyebrows raised.

  Suzie pulled self-consciously on her ponytail, liberally sprinkled with grey. ‘I try not to.’

  ‘Granted, your hair is a disgrace and you dress like a granny—’

  ‘Feck off! I do not,’ Suzie scowled at her.

  Mandy carried on regardless. ‘But you’ve lost a lot of weight since the accident and you could look years younger if you wanted to. I bet I could have you set up with a guy in six months, maybe less.’

  Suzie roared laughing at the idea. Although, now that Mandy mentioned it, she realised that she’d had to wear a belt on her jeans since she came home and her old dresses were like tents.

  ‘I’ll take you shopping and, trust me, you won’t recognise yourself.’

  ‘I suppose a couple of new outfits would be nice,’ Suzie admitted.

  ‘You need a lot more than a couple.’

  ‘I’m not spending a fortune on designer clothes,’ Suzie warned her sister, ‘not with Bobby around. They’d be destroyed in no time.’

  Mandy raised her eyebrows in surprise. ‘Your little angel?’

  ‘Little devil, more like. Although, I think the problem is the mother, not the child. Sharon’s blind to his faults and doesn’t discipline him, and Keith doesn’t seem to have the guts to stand up to her. I think I’ll have to step in and sort them out.’

  ‘Good luck with that.’ Mandy smirked, raising her hand to attract the waiter’s attention.

  ‘What would you say to a parachute jump?’ Suzie’s mind had wandered, as it tended to these days.

  ‘I’d say no, thank you. Have you lost your mind? Can’t you stick to boring stuff like going to strip clubs and seeing the world?’

  ‘We can do that too.’ Suzie laughed.

  ‘Are you interested in travelling?’ Mandy’s eyes lit up.

  ‘Absolutely.’ Suzie hadn’t actually given it much thought but now that Mandy mentioned it, there were so many places she’d love to visit. And why not? She was a free agent. What was to stop her going where she wanted, whenever the mood took her? A rebellious thrill ran through her. Yes, travel was definitely going on her to-do list.

  Chapter Four

  The following evening, Suzie dragged Mandy along to the karaoke night. She wasn’t keen but, as soon as Suzie mentioned she was seriously considering a holiday, her sister had changed her tune. Suzie chuckled. Mandy would do anything if it meant a free trip.

  Because John had died in an accident at work, Suzie had been awarded a handsome settlement and had no money worries. There was more than enough to see her to her grave and leave the children a small inheritance. It drove Mandy nuts that her sister still lived in the same little estate, and bought her clothes from chain stores, but Suzie remembered all too well what it was like growing up in the Clarke household, even if Mandy didn’t. It had made her naturally cautious and careful with money and people, while her sister had grown up greedy and exploitative.

  Suzie was reminded of something Aileen had said one night shortly after she came out of hospital. She’d nipped in with a couple of bottles of wine to celebrate Suzie’s homecoming and they’d got talking about families. Aileen and Mandy never got along and, after her neighbour had a few drinks, her tongue was well and truly loosened.

  ‘I wouldn’t trust that one as far as I’d throw her,’ she’d said.

  ‘She’s family, and, besides,’ Suzie had laughed, ‘haven’t you heard the saying: keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?’

  ‘You see her as the enemy?’ Aileen had said, her eyes round.

  ‘It’s just an expression,’ Suzie had replied, but wondered at her own words, which she’d said without thinking.

  Her family didn’t seem that fond of their aunt, either, but, when Suzie wanted a companion, she could rely on Mandy to come running. She didn’t feel remotely guilty for using her sister. She always footed the bill and she wasn’t sure why, but she felt Mandy owed her.

  The karaoke proved a good laugh and, after a few drinks, even Mandy was up on stage, singing her heart out if slightly off-key. When Suzie went out to the loo she left Mandy and another woman, arm in arm and belting out ‘I Will Survive’. She was hurrying back to her seat, not wishing to miss the fun, when she saw a couple waiting for the lift. The man looked vaguely familiar and Suzie suppressed a snort when she saw him fondle his companion’s arse. Oh shit, it was Louis Healy and the pretty girl with him definitely wasn’t his wife. She looked young enough to be his daughter. Dirty old bastard! The girl turned her head to smile up at him and Suzie nearly had a heart attack. ‘Jess?’

  Her daughter swung round, her eyes wide in shocked surprise. ‘Mum, hi.’

  ‘Hi? Hi? Is that all you’ve got to say?’

  ‘Fuck,’ the man muttered.

  Suzie glowered at him. ‘I’m guessing that was the plan.’

  ‘Mum!’ Jess’s face burned with embarrassment at the attention they were attracting.

  Suzie ignored her and as the door to the lift opened she kept her eyes on Healy. ‘I suggest you go on up to your room,’ she said, ‘and that way I won’t have to tell your wife what I thought you were about to do to my daughter.’

  ‘Mum, stop it, please. You’ve got it all wrong.’

  ‘Have I? This man is Louis Healy, right?’

  ‘Yes, but—’

  ‘The same Louis Healy who’s happily married with three children?’

  Louis looked from Suzie to her daughter and, with a grim smile, stepped into the lift, jabbing the button for his floor.

  Sick to her stomach, Suzie turned to go back into the bar. ‘Wait for me in Reception,’ she muttered over her shoulder, trembling with rage.

  ‘Mum, it’s not what you think—’

  ‘Reception!’ Suzie barked, clenching her hands by her side, alarmed by how much she wanted to slap her daughter.

  Mandy glanced from mother to daughter as they went home in a taxi. She squeezed Jess’s hand and the girl gave a small nod. She could almost feel the fury coming off her sister.

  ‘Calm down, Suzie, it’s not the end of the world,’ she murmured once they were inside the house.

  Suzie shot her a scathing look. ‘Well, you would say that.’

  ‘Hey, don’t start on me,’ Mandy retorted.

  Suzie closed her eyes. ‘Sorry. I’m just upset to find that my daughter’s a tart.’

  ‘He said they were separated.’ An ashen-faced Jess repeated, tearfully, from the sofa.

  Rather than winning her sympathy, the tears seemed to infuriate Suzie. ‘Let’s get this straight. Louis Healy is the editor of the Gazette. You’ve worked with him since a few weeks before my accident – that’s over four months ago now – and it never came up in conversation that he was married with kids?’

  ‘Of course it did, but I told you, he said they were separated.’

  ‘They didn’t look separated when I saw them having lunch in Howth the other day. In fact, they looked very cosy. You know his wife, don’t you? Maeve, the woman who did the flowers for Sharon’s wedding?’

  Mandy saw the shock on Jess’s face. This was obviously news to her.

  ‘You will stop seeing him now,’ Suzie said.

  ‘I can’t stop seeing him, Mum. I write for him.’

  ‘And since when did that involve hotel rooms?’

  Her daughter hung her head and said nothing.

  Suzie glowered at her. ‘So, you are sleeping with him. Where is your self-respect? Why would you give yourself to a man like that? He’s not giving you work because you’re talented. All he wants is your body and the rampant sex that he doesn’t get at home.’

  ‘Christ. Don’t hold back, Suzie,’ Mandy sai
d as Jess shrank further into the sofa.

  ‘It’s true.’ Suzie stood over her daughter, anger radiating from her. ‘How many other women journalists do you think he’s fucked in hotel rooms? Do you really want to debase yourself by being another notch on his belt? You’re a fool and I’m ashamed of you.’

  ‘I told you, I didn’t know.’

  ‘Stop lying to me. You’re not a child, Jess. You’re a smart twenty-seven-year-old woman and you knew exactly what you were doing. I swear to God, if you keep seeing him I will tell his wife myself.’

  Jess’s eyes widened. ‘You wouldn’t, you can’t.’

  ‘Try me. Now, get the hell out of here. I can’t stand the sight of you.’

  Jess stood, staring at her for a moment and then ran from the room. They heard the front door close moments later.

  Mandy went through to the kitchen and brought back two glasses of wine. ‘You were a bit hard on her.’

  ‘She deserved it. All that education and she honestly believes Louis when he says that he’s footloose and fancy-free? She could have destroyed not only his marriage but his relationship with his children, too.’

  ‘It takes two to tango.’

  Suzie sank into a chair, frowning.

  ‘What is it?’ Mandy studied her sister’s expression.

  But Suzie just shook her head. ‘Nothing. I’m just upset.’

  ‘You’re not really going to shop her, are you?’

  ‘I wish I had the guts to carry out my threats, but I can’t do that to her.’

  ‘No, not if you want your relationship to survive this.’

  ‘I don’t know why she can’t find a nice lad and settle down. I mean, she’s so beautiful.’

  ‘Guys often feel threatened by beautiful women and don’t have the courage to approach them,’ Mandy assured her, speaking from experience. ‘It takes the brazen ones to try it on and, let’s face it, Jess has always been a bit needy.’

  ‘What do you mean by that?’ Suzie looked at her.

  ‘She’s old-fashioned and naive, looking for her prince, the perfect man who’ll love her and look after her.’

  ‘And she thought that man was Louis Healy? Then she’s not as smart as I thought.’ Suzie shook her head in disbelief, sighing. ‘At least we’ll be starting salsa classes on Friday nights soon. Perhaps she’ll get lucky.’