Tara Road

by Maeve Binchy

  'This I can believe,' Marilyn murmured politely.

  'I see you've got Barney McCarthy in with a crowd,' Colm observed.

  A shadow crossed Brenda's face. 'Yes, indeed we have,' she said. Colm raised his eyebrow as if to ask what was the problem. 'I'll let you study the menu,' Brenda Brennan said, and moved way.

  'Does she not like those people?' Marilyn had picked up a vibe.

  'No, it's not that. I think she may have had the same problem as I've had.'

  'Which is?'

  'A very big cheque returned from the bank.'

  'Really!' Marilyn put on her glasses and studied the party by the window. 'They look very substantial people, not the kind that would bounce a cheque.'

  'No, they never did before. And the problem is they're important. They know everyone; you wouldn't want to insult them, and also to be fair they have brought in big business in the past. So it's all a bit tricky.' He looked over at the large man who was being expansive as a host to nine other people. A smart, much younger woman was laughing.

  Ts that his wife?'

  'No, that's Polly. His wife's at home in a mansion.'

  'Will you sue him?'

  'No. I'll be full next time he books, I'll just kiss one big bill goodbye. No point in going to court over one dinner.'

  Marilyn looked at him admiringly. 'You're so right. In the States we are much too litigation-conscious. You're sensible to think of it as one big dinner and not to worry too much about it.'

  'But I do worry about it. Barney McCarthy more or less owns Danny Lynch. If he goes down so will Danny, and what will happen to Ria then?'

  Rosemary was legendary for the speed of her weekly business meetings. They were held early in the morning, a large dish of fresh fruit, a lot of strong coffee and a rapid agenda. Accountant, office manager, marketing manager, and her own personal assistant, all trained to present speedily their reports and follow-ups. They went rapidly through Accounts, New Business, Overtime and What the Rivals Are Up To. Then it came to Problems.

  'A really big cheque returned from the bank, I'm afraid,' the accountant said.

  'How much? Who?'

  'Eleven thousand, Barney McCarthy.'

  'That's an error, that's a bank oversight,' Rosemary said, about to go on to the next item.

  'I see Polly's Dress Hire is for sale in this morning's paper.' The accountant was laconic.

  'Thanks. Then it's not an oversight. I'll call the bank.'

  'They won't tell you anything.'

  'They'll tell me,' said Rosemary.

  When the meeting was over she dialled Danny Lynch's mobile phone. It was not picking up. 'You're not doing this to me, Danny, you little bastard. You've done enough to everyone, and I can tell you straight out you're not doing this to me, not after all we've been through.' But she was speaking to herself not to Danny, since he was on the Shannon without a care in the world.

  Hilary said that she was going to invite Marilyn to come for a swim out in the Forty Foot. They could go out on the DART.

  'That's an unusual idea,' her mother said.

  'Martin suggested it. He said it would save the cost of buying her a meal.'

  'True,' said Nora Johnson.

  'And still be entertaining her.'

  'It would.'

  Nora Johnson sighed a deep sigh. How had she raised a daughter who thought only in terms of saving money? Hilary hadn't been like that as a child, surely she hadn't. They never had much when she worked in the dry cleaners and the mother and two daughters were all slightly wistful about what they would buy had they the money, but it had not been obsessive. Martin had changed her, dragged her down. Still, at least he hadn't abandoned her for a teenage waif. Nora sighed again. Sometimes she felt it was all very hard.

  Hilary looked at her in concern. She didn't like all this sighing. 'Mam, don't you think it's about time you moved into Ria's house?'

  'What?'

  'Well, not when Marilyn's there, of course, but as soon as she goes.'

  'What would I do that for?'

  'To have company for you and to pay Ria some rent.'

  'I don't need company.'

  'Of course you do, Mam. But whether you do or not Ria will definitely need someone to pay her something when Danny's grand plans are all sorted out.'

  'You can't be serious.'

  'I am. Get in there, Mam, before she asks someone else.'

  'Hilary, have you a brain in your head? Poor Ria will be out of that house by Christmas.'

  'What!'

  'Barney McCarthy's on his uppers. I saw in today's paper that Polly Callaghan's business is for sale. If he's selling the floozy's dress-hire outfit he must be down to looking in kiddies' money boxes. And when he goes for the high jump then so will Danny Boy. Your brother-in-law will have one of his boards up outside that house before Ria gets back.'

  They all took turns at steering the boat. It was simple while you were still in the river, but when it broadened into a lake there were real rules. You had to keep the black buoys on one side and the red on the other. They waved to Germans and Dutch people they had met already, more expert at mooring and casting off than they were. They bought ice creams when they drew in and tied up at the small villages, or went to pubs where they played darts.

  'Wouldn't Mam love this!' Brian said once as a flight of birds came out of the reeds and soared above them. The silence was worse than any number of people telling him to shut up.

  'Sorry,' he said.

  Bernadette spoke dreamily. 'Brian, of course you must mention your mother, she's not dead or anything. And maybe one day you'll take her on a trip like this.'

  Annie and Brian saw Danny reach out and stroke Bernadette's face in gratitude. He sort of traced it with his fingers and pushed her hair back. There was such love and tenderness in the gesture it was almost embarrassing to watch.

  The boy Hubie who taught the course 'Don't Fear the Internet' looked about sixteen. In fact he was not much older. This was his first venture into business, he said, and he wanted to make sure all the customers were satisfied so if there were any areas they didn't understand then he wasn't doing his job right.

  Ria found to her surprise that she seemed to understand it. It wasn't a world that only people like Rosemary understood, it was quite ordinary. A way of getting in touch. She saw how easy it would be to get sucked in and to spend all day browsing, looking up amazing facts and talking to strangers on the screen.

  She had lunch with Heidi afterwards and they went over what they had learned and what they should practise before meeting Hubie again on Friday. He had asked them to send him messages which he would answer. It was easy for Heidi, she had all the computers and word processors in the Alumni Office. But where would Ria go?

  'Marilyn has a laptop that she didn't take away with her. You could use that.'

  'Oh, I'd be afraid I might break it.'

  'No, of course not. Tell her on the phone you want to use it and I'll set it up for you.'

  'Do you think it wouldn't be intrusive?'

  'No, it's only machinery. But Ria… I don't think you should mention that Hubie is our teacher.’

  'Why ever not?'

  'Well, he was a friend of Dale's, you see.'

  'Well, what's so bad about that?'

  'You know…'

  'I don't know. All I know is that Dale's in Hawaii…'

  'What?'

  'Well, with his father. Isn't he?'

  Heidi was silent.

  'Heidi, where else is he? He's not here, he's not in Ireland. His room is there waiting for him.'

  'Dale's dead,' Heidi said.

  'No, he can't be dead. You should see his room, that's not the room of someone dead.'

  'Dale's dead, that's what it's all about. Marilyn won't accept it.'

  Ria was more shocked than she had been for a very long time. 'Why didn't she tell me?'

  'She won't speak about it. Not to anyone. Not even to Greg. That's why he's in Hawaii.'

&nb
sp; 'He left her?'

  'No, he thought she'd come with him but apparently not, they had been there once with Dale.'

  'How old was Dale?'

  'Not quite sixteen.'

  Oh God, thought Ria, Annie's age. 'How did he die?'

  'A motorcycle accident.'

  'But surely he was too young to ride a… ?'

  'Exactly.'

  'Why on earth didn't she tell me?' Ria shook her head. 'I was coming to live in her home after all. She'd know I'd see his room. I even dust it, for heaven's sake.'

  Heidi was gentle. 'She doesn't have the words to tell people.'

  'When did it happen?'

  'March of last year. They turned off the machine in August.'

  'The machine?'

  'Life-support machine.'

  'Poor Marilyn. What a decision to have to make.'

  'She thinks they made the wrong one, that's why she has no peace.'

  'Well, if she has no peace, I sure as hell wonder whether she'll find it in Tara Road,' said Ria.

  Marilyn lay in her bath and Clement sat on the bathroom chair as if he were somehow guarding her. Gertie had told her that Clement didn't normally go upstairs.

  'Well, he does now,' Marilyn had said.

  'It's just that when Ria comes back, he might you know, being only a cat, still think he's welcome up here.' Gertie had tried to be tactful, but wasn't making a good fist of it.

  'I'm sure Ria's doing things in my house that I don't approve of either but we agreed that we would put up with that for the summer.' Marilyn sounded brisk and firm.

  'But are there any living things in your house?' Gertie wanted to know.

  'No living things,' Marilyn had said.

  As Marilyn added more hot water to her bath Clement yawned a great yawn.

  'I fought for you, Clement. Don't yawn at me like that,' she said.

  Clement closed his mouth and went back to sleep. Marilyn wondered at all the living things that Ria had left behind her.

  Andy arrived with a cold-bag full of food. He had also brought a bottle of wine. 'You look very nice,' he said appreciatively. 'Very nice indeed.'

  'Thank you.' It had been so long since anyone had paid her a compliment. You look fine, sweetheart was the most Danny had said to her for ages. And in the last years Annie had said little except You look absolutely terrible in that colour. Rosemary had said she looked well when she dressed up but the implication was that it was not often enough. Hilary had remarked that fine feathers make fine birds. Her mother had said there was nothing to beat a good navy costume and a white blouse and that it was a pity when people with as much class and opportunity as Ria wore streelish-looking things that you wouldn't see on a halting site. True, Colm sometimes said she looked well. But it was more a compliment to the house or the garden, or Ria as part of the scene, than to herself.

  So it was unusual to be admired openly by a man.

  Then the cooking began by rubbing the garlic around the bowl for the Caesar salad. There was a lot of gesture, flourish and fuss but it tasted very good. And then they began on the potato cakes.

  'Oh, they're latkes,' Andy said, a little disappointed. He had thought it was something totally unknown.

  'Are they?' Ria was disappointed too.

  'But I actually like them a lot. And these are Irish latkes so that makes them special,' he said.

  So they laughed over that and over a lot of things. He told her about the conference and the madwoman organising it who was at such a level of stress she was almost ready to ignite. Arranging the seating plan for the conference dinner, a matter of no importance whatsoever, had her on heavy sedation.

  'How did it go, the dinner, in the end?' Ria asked.

  'No idea, it's tonight.'

  'And you didn't wait for it?'

  'I thought this would be more fun, and I was right,' he said.

  Ria had made a strawberry shortcake which they had with coffee.

  'You mean you didn't buy this at the gourmet shop?'

  'No, my own two hands,' she laughed and stretched out her newly manicured hands.

  'But you bought the pastry surely?'

  'No way. I make pastry quick as looking at you.' Andy was very impressed. She was enjoying this in a childish way. She told him about the Internet lessons and asked did he think Marilyn would mind her using the laptop.

  'Not a bit, I'll set it up for you.'

  'I should ask first.'

  'Look, it's like using someone's telephone, or the vacuum… it's not like a finely tuned piano or anything.'

  'But suppose…?'

  'Come on, where does she keep it?'

  'It's in the study.'

  They went into the pleasant book-lined room and Andy opened the machine. 'I'll show you how to boot it up then you'll be able to do it for yourself.' As he spoke the telephone rang and because they were not in the room with the answering machine Ria answered it automatically.

  'Hallo?' she said as if she were back in Dublin and this was her phone.

  'Ria? It's Greg Vine.'

  'Oh Greg. How are you?' Her eyes met Andy's across the desk. The natural thing, the normal thing would have been to say 'You won't believe it but your brother is here.' That's what people would say if it were an ordinary situation surely. But then it might need a lot more explanation than was necessary. And might imply things which didn't need to be implied. So she said nothing about Andy Vine being four feet away from her with a half-smile on his face as he watched her.

  Ria listened to Greg's apologetic request that she find a file for him. It was in the study. 'I'm in the study as we speak,' Ria said.

  'Oh good.' He sounded pleased. 'Very technical books I'm afraid and lots of student papers. That's what I want you to get for me, can I direct you?'

  'Sure.'

  From Hawaii Greg Vine directed her to the wall with Student Notes on it and gave her a year, then a name, then a subject. Each time she repeated them Andy moved and found the document.

  'It's just the first page and title of the publications this kid has done, and we need it today.'

  'Today?'

  'I was going to ask Heidi and Henry as a huge favour to call round and pick it up and e-mail it to me.'

  'Heidi and Henry to come round here to pick it up and e-mail it to you tonight?' She repeated every word as if she were a halfwit but she wanted Andy to get the other end of the conversation. He understood immediately. He pointed to the piece of paper, and to the laptop and to his own chest. 'I could send it to you by e-mail myself if you let me use Marilyn's laptop.'

  'You know how to e-mail?' He was surprised and pleased.

  'Well yes, by chance I do, I went to a lesson this morning with Heidi.'

  'Well, well, what amazing luck. I don't need to get Heidi and Henry out at all.' He was overjoyed at the good timing.

  Andy had written down 'Get the password and his e-mail address'. And in moments the information was put in, and the message sent.

  'It's on my screen now, I can't thank you enough. Who is giving this course anyway? You learned pretty quick.'

  Ria remembered that Hubie had been a friend of the dead Dale. 'Oh some man… I didn't get his name.'

  'Never mind. He saved us all tonight whoever he was.'

  When she hung up they looked at each other. One bridge had been crossed almost accidentally.

  'Well now, since they think in Hawaii that you're an expert at this, let's make you one,' he said.

  Was he sitting a little too close to her? she wondered. 'Let me get my notes.' She jumped up and went for the sheet of paper that Hubie had given them all at the class.

  Andy looked at them. 'My God, Hubie Green, he was one of the kids with Dale on the night of the accident.'

  Ria looked at him levelly. 'Why didn't you tell me Dale was dead?'

  He was shocked. 'But you knew, surely?'

  'No, I didn't. I had to wait until Heidi told me.'

  'But you mentioned his room, the way it was all laid ou
t.'

  'I thought he was in Hawaii. I asked you when was he coming back, you said in the fall.'

  'Oh my God, I thought you meant Greg.'

  There was a silence while they each realised how the misunderstanding had happened.

  'You see they're so very cut up they can't even bring themselves to talk about it. To mention that you knew Hubie Green would bring it all back.'

  'I know,' said Ria. 'That's why I pretended I didn't know his name.'

  'You did it very well.' Andy was admiring.

  'You know a funny thing? At home I am always so honest and undevious, and since I came out here I haven't stopped pretending and covering up things for no reason at all.'

  'Oh, there's always a reason,' he smiled.

  'Pure misguided niceness, I think,' she said ruefully.

  'Okay, so we have to pretend one more thing, which is that you understood this whole getting-on-the-Net thing by yourself and then we can stop pretending, okay?'

  'Okay,' she said a little anxiously.

  He was definitely sitting too close for friendship. 'Who do we know with e-mail?' he asked.

  'Hubie! He said we could send messages any time.'

  'Hubie. Yeah.'

  'What's wrong? He's a nice kid.'

  'Sure.'

  'Tell me. I know nothing about what happened, nothing at all. Well, I get the feeling that Marilyn's so private. I felt she wouldn't want me to go round asking questions, that she'd tell me what she wanted me to know, and it's not very much.'

  'Do you resent that?'

  'I think she should have told me her son was dead. I don't want half of Dublin telling her about poor Ria, poor old Ria whose husband took off with a teenager. So since I get the feeling she's not going to be demanding information from my friends I shouldn't from hers… it's just… it's just…'

  'It's just what, Maria?' He had never got the shortened version of her name and somehow she quite liked him calling her something different. It made whatever there was or might be between them something that was out of time.

  'It's just that there's a mystery here. There's no mystery in my case, it's as old as time. Man marries wife, man sees newer younger fresher model, man says goodbye to wife. The only mystery is that there's not more of it.'

  'Maria, please, you sound so bitter.'

  'What, should I be overjoyed about it? At least it's plain to see what happened. Here it's different, quite different. There's like a conspiracy of silence about it all. That room is like a shrine to him. The fact that nobody mentions the accident.'