Changing Places

by Colette Caddle

  Chapter 36

  Anna asked the waiter for another glass and Jill flashed him a flirtatious smile as he poured her wine. ‘Merci.’

  ‘Would you like a menu, Mademoiselle?’ he asked.

  ‘No, I’m not really hungry.’

  ‘Oh no, you’re not on a starvation diet, I hope,’ Anna protested.

  ‘I’m not on any diet,’ Jill said firmly. ‘I’ve given all that up. And the funny thing is that I don’t seem to be as hungry any more. Anyway, what have you two been up to? What’s this “crisis” that made Anna forget all about me?’ Jill looked from one sister to the other.

  ‘We had to go to Holles Street,’ Rachel told her. ‘I thought there was something wrong with the baby but there isn’t. It’s absolutely fine, and it’s a boy!’

  ‘Oh, that’s wonderful!’ Jill hugged her cousin. ‘Are you thrilled?’

  ‘Over the moon.’

  ‘About the baby anyway,’ Anna added.

  ‘Yeah,’ Rachel agreed.

  ‘What does that mean?’ Jill asked.

  ‘I’ve told Anna everything, Jill.’

  ‘Oh?’ Jill’s expression was guarded.

  ‘And vice-versa,’ Anna chipped in.

  ‘I see.’

  Rachel and Anna looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  ‘What?’ Jill asked.

  ‘It’s safe to talk, Jill, honest,’ Anna told her.

  ‘Yeah, well, it’s hard to break the habit of a lifetime.’

  ‘We’ve behaved like idiots,’ Rachel said, ‘but we’re both very grateful to you. You’ve been a great friend.’

  ‘Amen to that.’ Anna nodded.

  ‘My pleasure,’ Jill said. ‘It’s nice to finally see you two like this. I look forward to a lot more threesomes. No going back to the old days,’ she warned.

  ‘No more secrets,’ Anna said, meeting her sister’s eyes.

  ‘No more secrets,’ Rachel echoed.

  ‘So, bring me up to date.’ Jill settled herself more comfortably.

  ‘No, not yet. I think it’s time you did the talking,’ Anna replied.

  ‘Yes, you’re right.’ Rachel nodded enthusiastically. ‘Tell us your news.’

  Jill looked from one to the other and took a long drink. ‘Right. Okay. Well, er . . .’

  ‘Come on, Jill. You know you can tell us anything. Good heavens, you know everything there is to know about us!’ Rachel smiled at her sister, but Anna was rummaging in her bag for a tissue.

  ‘Right, okay then. I’m going to live in Spain.’

  Rachel slopped her wine on to the tablecloth. ‘What!?’

  ‘Spain?’ Anna repeated.

  Jill nodded. ‘I pretty much decided when I was down in Benalmadena. I’m going to work for Kitty.’

  Anna held up her hands. ‘Hang on a minute. You only met Kitty a couple of weeks ago and you’re going to throw in a brilliant job to go and work behind her bar?’

  ‘Well, I’m going to manage the place, but yeah, that’s about the size of it.’

  Rachel looked bemused. ‘I don’t know what to say. I thought you loved your job.’

  Jill shrugged. ‘I used to, but the last few months I’ve been pretty miserable.’

  ‘I knew that Vinny character was getting to you but I didn’t realize it was that bad,’ Anna marvelled.

  ‘We were too caught up in our own lives to notice,’ Rachel murmured.

  ‘I can understand you wanting to leave your job, Jill, but why Spain?’ Anna asked.

  ‘Why not? I really like Kitty, I think her business has a lot of potential and it’s not like I have any ties to Ireland.’

  ‘What about your folks? What about us?’ Rachel cried.

  ‘Ma and Da have each other and you guys have your families and now,’ Jill took their hands and smiled, ‘you have each other. Maybe if I was in a relationship I’d stay but there’s been no one since Andy. I think I really messed up there, girls! But that’s history now. You know, I like the idea of making a fresh start.’

  ‘Then go for it,’ Anna told her. ‘It’s time you put yourself first. And think about it, Rache – we can go down and visit whenever we need to escape.’

  ‘The way my life’s going I might end up coming with you. How would you feel about sharing with a single mum and two kids?’

  Jill laughed. ‘Well, as I’m going to be living over the shop, it might be a bit cramped but you’re always welcome.’

  ‘Why are you going to live there?’ Anna looked horrified. ‘It will be noisy and smelly and—’

  ‘Free,’ Jill interjected. ‘I don’t want to buy a place until I’m certain that Benalmadena is the place for me. Kitty and I have agreed that we’ll review the situation in six months, but if I’m happy there and we’re getting on okay, then I’ll become a partner in the business.’

  ‘Wow!’ Rachel stared at her. ‘I can’t believe this. You’ve really thought this all through, haven’t you?’

  ‘Pretty much,’ Jill laughed. ‘But you know me. Once I make a decision, I don’t hang about.’

  ‘So when are you going to go?’ Rachel asked.

  ‘The week before Christmas, so I will still be here for the birth.’

  ‘Christmas?’ Anna gasped. ‘But you’ll be all alone out there on Christmas Day, surrounded by strangers.’

  ‘I’ll have Kitty and Pepe and Juan and anyway, I’ll be too busy to be lonely. Kitty says the restaurant is quite full at Christmas. And she’s open on Christmas Day itself, doing the full roast turkey, minced pies and pudding lark. I think it’ll be fun and it certainly beats sitting watching ancient sitcoms while Dad snores and Aunty Vi lashes through the sherry and quizzes me about my lovelife!’

  ‘We are going to have one hell of a party before you go,’ Anna announced.

  ‘But when?’ Rachel looked down at her bump.

  ‘After the baby, as soon as you feel up to it.’ Anna patted her hand.

  Rachel rolled her eyes. ‘It doesn’t really work like that, Sis. Babies eat every three hours. What should I do, strap him to my back while I jig around the dance floor?’

  Anna scowled. ‘Hey, this is Jill’s party we’re talking about. Baby can have bottles for one night and Gary can babysit.’

  ‘If he’s around.’

  ‘What’s happening?’ Jill asked her. ‘Have you talked?’

  Rachel shook her head. ‘I was all ready to have it out with him but . . . well, I won’t go into all the details. Suffice to say it didn’t happen.’

  Jill looked over at Anna. ‘And what about you? Have you talked to Liam?’

  Anna shook her head. ‘No. First Josie broke her ankle and he moved in with her, and then there was the attack . . .’

  ‘What attack? What are you talking about!’ Rachel exclaimed. ‘And how come we’ve been together for the last four hours and you never mentioned it?’

  ‘Calm down, Rache, it’s okay. It wasn’t really a proper attack. This guy tried to grope me, I gave him a knee in the balls and ran – end of story.’

  ‘But when did this happen?’

  ‘Last Monday,’ Jill told her.

  ‘You should have called, Anna,’ Rachel told her.

  ‘I didn’t call anyone, not Liam, not Jill, not you.’

  ‘Is that because you had Charlie to look after you?’

  ‘Charlie? Who’s Charlie?’ Rachel looked from her cousin to her sister.

  Jill sighed. ‘I thought you’d told her everything.’

  Anna glared at her cousin. ‘There’s nothing to tell.’

  Jill ignored her and turned to Rachel. ‘He’s a customer.’ Jill drew quotes in the air. ‘And he fancies the pants off Anna.’

  ‘Jill!’

  ‘And he came riding in on his white charger, or Kawasaki motorbike, to save her on Monday.’

  ‘It wasn’t like that.’ Anna protested. ‘I bumped into him in the filling station.’ And he was in his car, if you must know.

  ‘And then he took her out to di
nner.’ Jill couldn’t stop herself. She’d had a bad feeling from the moment she met Charlie Coleman. He’d come into Anna’s life at a time when she was feeling low and unloved, and she felt her cousin was dangerously close to walking out on Liam on the basis of a bit of extra-marital romance.

  ‘Pizza! We went for a bloody pizza!’ Anna grabbed the bottle of wine and filled up her glass. ‘And Liam knows all about it, for your information.’

  Jill held up her hands. ‘Hey, sorry I spoke.’

  Rachel looked at her sister’s angry expression. ‘We’re getting sidetracked here. This pervert who attacked you, Anna, did he hurt you?’

  ‘No, honestly. I got a fright, that’s all.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Anna.’ Jill reached out a hand to her cousin. ‘I’m not having a go at you. I just think you and Liam are perfect for each other and I’m terrified that Charlie will get in the way of you two sorting things out. It would be a terrible shame if you gave up on your marriage without a fight. You have to talk to Liam.’ Jill gave the table a decisive thump. ‘In fact, that goes for you too, Rache.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You need to talk to Gary.’

  ‘Yeah, I will.’

  ‘When?’ Jill demanded, looking from one to the other.

  ‘When Liam moves back in, I suppose.’ Anna felt cornered.

  Jill shook her head. ‘No, that’s not good enough. The two of you need to get your lives sorted once and for all. Tomorrow.’

  Rachel looked at her. ‘Tomorrow?’

  ‘Four o’clock tomorrow. You are both going to do it.’

  ‘Liam will be looking after his mother,’ Anna said.

  ‘Alex will be there,’ Rachel pointed out.

  ‘Someone could come and sit with Josie for a couple of hours and Alex can go to play with a friend. No more excuses, ladies. Get on your phones and set it up. Four o’clock tomorrow.’

  Anna and Rachel looked at each other.

  ‘She’s right,’ Anna said finally. ‘We’ve been running away from our problems for long enough. I don’t know about you, Rache, but I’m fed up having arguments with Liam in my head. At least if I have them with him face to face, he gets to answer and maybe we’ll actually get somewhere.’

  Rachel stared at her then nodded slowly. ‘You’re right. It’s time.’

  Jill looked from one sister to the other. ‘Halleluiah,’ she breathed.

  ‘There’s just one condition,’ Anna said suddenly.

  ‘What’s that?’ Jill asked, taking a sip of wine.

  Anna winked at her sister. ‘You call Andy.’

  Jill choked. ‘What? Why would I do that?’

  Rachel nodded furiously. ‘Great idea! You were obviously mad about him.’

  ‘What rubbish!’

  ‘Liar,’ Anna said calmly. ‘Well, that’s the deal. If you won’t call Andy, then we won’t call Liam and Gary.’

  Rachel nodded again.

  ‘But it’s not the same at all. I dumped him.’

  ‘So? Give him a call, ask him out for a drink and if he says no, so be it. All you’ve got to lose is your pride.’

  ‘But I’m going to Spain,’ Jill wailed. ‘I’ve made my decisions, I’m moving on.’

  Anna shrugged. ‘He can always come and visit you, and if he doesn’t want to know, you can go, knowing that you gave it your best shot.’

  ‘Take your own advice, Jill,’ Rachel urged. ‘Call him.’

  Jill stared at them for a moment and then nodded, resigned. ‘Okay.’

  ‘Yes!’ Anna grinned in triumph at Rachel.

  ‘So how do we do this?’ Rachel looked nervously at her mobile.

  ‘We’ll go outside one at a time and make the call,’ Jill told them. ‘You first, Anna.’

  ‘Oh, why me?’ Anna wailed, but she obediently pulled out her mobile and stood up. ‘Order another bottle of that wine. I’m going to need it.’

  ‘I’m going to the loo,’ Rachel said. ‘Order some tea as well, would you, Jill?’

  Jill ordered wine, tea and a large cappuccino for herself. If she was honest, she was excited at the idea of hearing Andy’s voice again and grateful that her cousins had pressed her to contact him. Her stupid pride wouldn’t have allowed it otherwise. And as she’d pushed them to the edge, it was only fair that she should be willing to take that jump herself. But what the hell would she say to him? Oh, why was she worried? She probably wouldn’t even get to talk to him – it was Saturday night, after all. He was sure to be in some noisy club or else having a cosy night in with someone, with his phone switched off. If she did get hold of him, he’d probably turn her down flat. The way she’d treated him it would hardly be surprising.

  Rachel returned from the loo and eased herself back into her chair. ‘I’m not so sure about this.’

  ‘Yeah, maybe we should just forget it,’ Jill agreed immediately.

  ‘I did it,’ Anna announced, flopping back into her chair and grabbing her glass. ‘Four o’clock tomorrow.’

  Jill and Rachel stared at each other in panic. ‘You next,’ Jill said.

  Rachel stood up, her mobile clutched in her hand. ‘Right.’

  ‘What did he say?’ Jill asked Anna as Rachel made her way through the crowded restaurant.

  ‘I didn’t really give him a chance to say anything. I just told him to meet me at the house at four and he said “okay”.’

  ‘Anna, I’m sorry about what I said earlier. You know, about Charlie.’

  ‘That’s okay.’

  ‘Have you two done . . . anything?’

  Anna shook her head but she couldn’t look Jill in the eye.

  Jill sighed. ‘You really like him, don’t you?’

  Anna nodded. ‘Oh Jill. Everything has become so complicated.’ She dragged her hair back off her face and turned sad eyes on her cousin. ‘I don’t know what I want any more.’

  ‘Or who?’

  Anna nodded dumbly.

  ‘Maybe tomorrow will help to clarify your feelings.’

  ‘I hope so—’ Anna broke off as Rachel returned to the table. ‘Well?’

  ‘I don’t know if he understood me,’ Rachel replied. ‘He’s in Cavan, fishing,’ she explained to Jill. ‘The line was terrible.’

  ‘Send him a text to confirm,’ Anna suggested. ‘Even if he doesn’t get it straight away, he’ll read it on his way back tomorrow.’

  ‘Good idea.’ Rachel began to punch in the message. ‘I called Alex’s friend’s mother and she’s going to take him for the whole afternoon.’

  ‘So that just leaves you, cuz.’ Anna raised an eyebrow at Jill.

  Jill stood up. ‘Wish me luck.’

  ‘Good luck,’ Anna and Rachel chorused.

  ‘How do you feel about this, Rache?’ Anna said as they watched her walk away.

  ‘I’m terrified of confronting Gary, but I know I have to. I’ll be no use to Alex or my baby until I do.’

  Anna squeezed her hand. ‘I think you’re very brave and I also think you’re wrong about Gary. I’m sure he still loves you.’

  Rachel stared into the distance. ‘Maybe he does but I also sense that there’s someone else, or was. I can’t explain it, I don’t have any real evidence, I just feel it. Do you know what I mean?’

  Anna nodded miserably. ‘Yes, but I wish I didn’t.’

  ‘We’ll be fine.’ Rachel forced a smile.

  ‘Yeah, you’re right. And we have so much to look forward to. This baby is going to have an aunt who’ll spoil him rotten.’ She sighed. ‘I was sort of hoping that he’d have a little baby cousin to play with and it would be just like it was for us when we were kids.’

  ‘I still can’t believe that you want a family,’ Rachel said. ‘I thought between your career and your social life that you would never have time for kids.’

  Anna laughed. ‘Well, I wasn’t planning on giving everything up and chaining myself to the kitchen sink!’

  ‘Neither was I, but that’s pretty much what happened. It’s like I didn
’t exist any more. The old Rachel was gone and I was just Alex’s mummy, Gary’s wife and the general dogsbody who did the cooking, the cleaning and the ironing.’

  ‘But why didn’t you go back to work?’ Anna asked simply.

  ‘Easier said than done. What would I do? I was never clever like you.’

  ‘That’s bullshit, Rache. You gave up work as soon as you got pregnant. You never gave yourself a chance to find out what you were good at. Look at me, for God’s sake. I’m thirty-one and on my sixth job. I’ve been working since I left school and this is the first time I ever felt really good at something.’

  ‘But you’ve always been so confident,’ Rachel protested.

  ‘No one is always confident,’ Anna assured her. ‘Certainly not me.’

  Rachel sipped her tea as she absorbed this piece of information. ‘If you had a choice, Anna, between the job and children, which would you pick?’

  ‘Children,’ Anna said without hesitation. ‘Mark could fire me tomorrow if he wanted and there’s not a lot I could do about it. But children? They’re for ever.’

  ‘Tell me about it,’ Rachel said with feeling. ‘But take it from me, Anna, it’s not as easy as it looks. Children can be really hard work.’

  ‘I do realize that.’ Anna rolled her eyes.

  ‘You don’t,’ Rachel assured her. ‘And you won’t until you’ve been there. But . . .’ She held up her hand as Anna went to interrupt. ‘It’s worth it. It’s worth every second of tiredness, every minute of pain, every hour of worry, every day of frustration. It’s worth it.’ Rachel pulled out a tissue and blew her nose. ‘And the sooner this child is born the better because I must be dehydrated on a permanent basis with the amount of crying I do.’

  ‘I never realized how you felt,’ Anna admitted. ‘I thought you were a terrible moan.’

  ‘Huh, thanks a bunch!’

  ‘Sorry, but I couldn’t understand what your problem was. You had Gary, you had Alex and you seemed to do nothing but have coffee mornings and PTA meetings. I couldn’t see what you had to complain about.’

  ‘Nothing on the front of it,’ Rachel agreed, ‘except that was all it was, a front. Gary and I have been growing steadily apart since Alex was born. I don’t know whether that’s because I became a boring housewife or whether he was just meeting too many other, more exciting girls. The reasons aren’t important any more. The fact is that the only thing we have in common now is Alex and, of course, the baby.’