Beyond Grace's Rainbow: HarperImpulse Contemporary Romance

by Carmel Harrington

  ‘So juvenile!’ Gerry replied with a laugh himself. Grabbing a couple of bottles of water, they walked back to Abby’s stand. Gerry decided to hang around for a couple of hours to keep her company. It was always quiet until about 11, and then things usually got busy. Having thoroughly dissected Abby’s night out at least ten times over, Gerry decided he wanted a charcoal painting done of himself. Sitting down to pose, Abby started to draw her friend.

  ‘God you’re so handsome, Gerry. Tom’s a lucky man!’ Abby grinned.

  ‘I know. I tell him that every night darling,’ Gerry replied with a straight face.

  Abby spent about twenty minutes sketching Gerry and was totally absorbed in her work. Then a voice from behind her startled her.

  ‘That’s amazing Abby.’ It was Shay.

  Abby was shy again all of a sudden. ‘Hi Shay. How long have you been there?’

  ‘Just a couple of minutes. It was really awesome seeing you work. I’m sorry for disturbing you. Get back to your customer.’

  ‘Oh don’t mind me, darling,’ Gerry said, jumping up from his seat.

  Shay looked a bit worried at being called darling by a complete stranger, and then relaxed as all of a sudden he remembered Gerry: he had met him at that first speed-dating event. ‘Hi. I’m Shay. I think we met a couple of months ago.’ He walked over and shook Gerry’s hand.

  ‘That we did, handsome. I’m Gerry. I’m just keeping the beautiful Abby company for a while.’ Gerry noticed that they couldn’t stop looking at each other. They’d glance at each other then look away again quickly. It was so sweet.

  ‘Abby darling. Didn’t you say you needed a coffee? Why don’t you and Shay go get one, I’ll stay and mind the stall.’

  ‘That would be great,’ Shay said quickly.

  Abby gave Gerry a kiss on the cheek and promised him she wouldn’t be long.

  ‘I’ll call you on the mobile if you get a customer,’ Gerry promised.

  Abby and Shay walked side by side away from Gerry and he was thrilled when he noticed Shay grab her hand after a moment or two. They walked to a small coffee shop just a moment away from the stall and grabbed a table.

  ‘You must let me buy the coffees at least,’ Abby said to Shay. He hadn’t let her pay for a thing last night and even insisted on paying for the taxi home.

  ‘If you insist,’ Shay agreed.

  They both ordered lattes, then sat back to admire each other again.

  ‘I don’t think I’ve felt like this since I was a teenager!’ Shay confessed to Abby. ‘I couldn’t wait to see you again, I hope you don’t mind.’

  ‘Not at all, Shay. I feel the same way,’ Abby confessed. ‘I had a wonderful time last night. It was perfect.’

  ‘I know,’ Shay agreed. ‘Abby, your art is fantastic. I can’t believe that you did all those paintings. They’re so cool.’

  ‘Thanks.’ His compliments meant more to her than anything else right this minute. She searched his face and realised that he meant what he was saying. He really did like her work.

  ‘That charcoal you did of Gerry was great.’

  ‘It was just a sketch,’ Abby said modestly.

  ‘Are you and Gerry great friends? You seem really close,’ Shay commented.

  ‘Yes we are. In fact there is quite a big gang of us that are all best friends. I’m really lucky.’

  ‘Tell me about them,’ Shay said. He was really interested and wanted to know everything about Abby.

  ‘Well, Gerry you’ve met. He’s gay as I’m sure you’ve guessed, and his partner is Tom. You met him that same night.’

  ‘Yeah I remember. He was slightly older?’ Shay asked, squinting his nose up as he remembered the night a few months previously.

  ‘You’re cute when you concentrate,’ Abby said smiling. ‘Oh crap, did I say that out loud?’

  Laughing, Shay nodded in response to her question and she relaxed.

  ‘And yep, that was Tom. Good memory! They’ve been together for years and have one of the most solid relationships I know. They’re great together. They live around the corner from me in Clontarf so I see a lot of them.’

  ‘Gerry seems like fun,’ Shay added.

  ‘Yeah, he’s as mad as a hatter. I love him terribly!’ Their lattes arrived then and Abby paid the waitress. ‘Then there is Grace and Liam who have a three year old son, Jack.’

  ‘Is that the blonde or the dark one I met last week?’ Shay said, remembering the two girls that were with Abby when they bumped into each other.

  ‘Grace is the blonde one. She’s amazing. She’s just finished a six month course of chemotherapy and is in remission.’

  ‘God that’s tough. Is she okay?’ Shay said with what seemed like genuine concern.

  ‘Well, fingers crossed yes, for now anyhow. They’re getting married this Christmas and I’m bridesmaid!’

  ‘Big meringue dress?’ Shay said with a laugh.

  ‘Nah, Grace is so cool! She’s letting us pick our own dresses. She’s given us a colour and then after that the style will be our own. Tara is the dark girl you met last week, she’s the other bridesmaid and she’s married to Sean. That’s the gang!’

  ‘Are you all close?’ Shay asked.

  ‘Yep, we all meet once a week too for drinks. Usually on a Thursday night. Sometimes we go to Grace’s for dinner – she’s a great cook – or to Tom and Gerry’s. Other than that we usually go to Duffy’s in Malahide or the Cock Tavern in Swords.’

  ‘That’s great; Paddy and I have been mates since our first day of school. That’s over thirty years now! Friends are important.’

  ‘My dad always said that you could tell a lot about somebody by the friends they have,’ Abby told Shay.

  ‘How’d you mean?’ Shay asked.

  ‘Well, Dad reckons that if somebody doesn’t have any friends there’s usually a good reason. And you know what, over the years I’ve found that he’s right,’ Abby stated.

  ‘Sounds like your dad is pretty insightful,’ Shay commented. ‘Thank God for Paddy!’ He finished with a laugh.

  After a few minutes Abby got a text message from Gerry saying to come quickly. Finishing their drinks, Abby and Shay promptly walked back to the stall.

  ‘Here she is, the artist herself, Ms Abby Nolan. You are truly honoured that she is here today, as she often stays locked in her studio working for weeks!’ Gerry dramatically informed the couple who were standing with him. He must have done a big build-up of Abby because they practically curtsied when she walked over and shook their hands. Giving Gerry an amused look, Abby asked the couple if she could help them.

  ‘Well, we’ve just bought a house together,’ the lady said with pride.

  ‘Congratulations,’ Abby replied.

  ‘And we want to buy a piece of art for our bedroom,’ she continued.

  ‘This would be a wonderful investment, darling,’ Gerry butted in, pointing to the largest and most expensive piece Abby had displayed.

  ‘What do you have in mind?’ Abby asked the couple. ‘Is there something here that you like?’

  ‘Well we really like this piece here,’ the guy said, pointing to one of Abby’s larger pieces. ‘But I think it’s probably out of my price range.’

  ‘How much do you have to spend?’ Abby asked gently.

  ‘About three hundred?’ he replied quietly.

  The piece he had pointed to was priced similarly to the one she had sold the other day and couldn’t let it go for less than a thousand. She explained this to the couple, and then directed them to a smaller piece, that was priced at 400 euro.

  ‘It’s lovely,’ they both agreed. ‘But still out of our range.’

  Abby smiled at them and made a quick decision. ‘Look, I’m having a good day. I’ll let you guys have this piece for three hundred. Just don’t tell your friends the price!’

  The couple were thrilled and the deal was done. As soon as they had walked out of hearing distance, Abby, Shay and Gerry all started to jump up and down with deli
ght.

  ‘Right you guys, lunch is on me!’ she declared. She practically floated to the restaurant with Shay and Gerry. Could things get any better? A new man that had huge potential, her art was finally selling and Grace was really well.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  ‘So what’s up?’ Tom asked Liam. Gerry was over at Grace’s going through some wedding plans. When they had started talking about flower arrangements Liam knew he was in way over his head and had quickly legged it to Tom’s.

  ‘Nothing why?’ Liam responded.

  ‘Oh, I don’t know. Just thought that you looked a bit preoccupied. Is it the jar?’ Tom asked bluntly.

  Liam thought about it for a minute then replied, ‘Yes and no.’ Seeing Tom’s questioning face he continued. ‘I think about drinking at least once a week, sometimes once a day. It’s always there and I need to respect that.’

  ‘Anything I can do to help?’ Tom asked.

  ‘Nah. Nothing at all. Do you know, sometimes I wish I could go back in time, back to when I was in my late twenties and starting to knock them back a lot,’ Liam said regretfully.

  ‘What would you say to yourself if you could?’ Tom asked. He was genuinely interested.

  ‘Well I’d tell myself to slow down. Appreciate a drink for what it is and know when to walk away. I’d tell myself that if I didn’t slow down, I’d have to give up alcohol for the rest of my life one day, and that it can be a real pain in the arse!’

  ‘Do you think you’d listen to yourself?’ Tom asked.

  ‘Nah, I’d probably tell myself to fuck off then order another whiskey!’ he admitted ruefully. They both started to laugh.

  ‘Seriously though, Liam, I’m amazed you haven’t been tempted to have one over the last couple of months. It must have been really tough watching Grace go through everything.’

  ‘That’s an understatement, mate. It scared the shit out of me I can tell you. There were days when she was really sick that I just wanted to run to the nearest bar and order a bottle of whiskey. The responsibility of taking care of her was enormous and blotting everything out with alcohol seemed like a good option,’ Liam said truthfully.

  ‘What stopped you?’ Tom asked him.

  ‘Grace and Jack. I love them both more than I need drink. I don’t want to go back to the way I was a couple of years ago. It was shit. I barely lived really, just going through the motions with work, and then drinking myself silly each night. Sometimes I can’t believe that I actually managed to write at all and get articles published.’

  Tom shook his head in disbelief, ‘I don’t know how you did it either, Liam. I kept track of you when you disappeared in London. I bought any article that you had published and I have to tell you, they were all good.’

  ‘Thanks Tom. Ma has them all. Every article I’ve ever written. When I was going through treatment she brought them into me and you know what, I didn’t remember writing half of them,’ Liam said, shaking his head in disbelief.

  ‘How’s the job going now?’ Tom asked.

  ‘Great. I seem to be able to get assignments easily enough and the money’s good. It’s different now though.’

  ‘How so?’ Tom asked.

  ‘Well now I think about every job I take. I’m choosy about the kind of work I do. I want to write things that will make Jack proud of me in years to come. I’ve also started to think about money for the first time ever in my career,’ he answered.

  ‘It comes to us all eventually!’ Tom said with a wry grin.

  ‘I know. I was living a student’s life for too long. But I want to get some money saved, you know, just in case the shit hits the fan again,’ Liam looked sad again.

  ‘By that do I take it you mean Grace getting sick again?’ Tom said beginning to frown.

  ‘Yeah. She’s in remission now, but with AML there’s a strong chance the cancer will grow back. Grace’s back working again, but only part-time. Unfortunately she lost a lot of jobs in the last six months because she was sick, so it will take time to get back some of her clientele.’

  ‘Things tight?’ Tom asked with concern.

  ‘We’re getting by. We’re not about to lose the apartment or anything crazy, so don’t panic.’ Liam told Tom. ‘But with the wedding and everything we’re not saving any money.’

  ‘Welcome to Ireland in 2012.’ Tom said wryly. ‘I don’t know too many young couples who have any savings when they have a mortgage and kids!’

  ‘I know. I’m probably worrying unnecessarily, but if something were to happen to Grace again, I’d like to know I have the money to ensure she has the best possible care. Do you understand?’

  Tom could see this was important to Liam. He wanted to help out. ‘Look mate, I’ve some savings. How about a loan?’ Tom said.

  ‘Ah Tom, no. Thanks a million and all that, but hopefully we won’t need any savings for years to come. As I said earlier, I’m just being overcautious. We’ve made some good cutbacks on unnecessary luxuries so are saving a few euros from that. And the good thing about my job and Grace’s is that because our work’s flexible we’ve been able to cut down Jack’s crèche fees. He just goes a few afternoons a week now,’ Liam said.

  ‘Makes sense Liam. And sorry if this sounds patronising, but I’m proud of you mate. It makes me happy knowing that Grace and Jack are in such good hands. They’re lucky to have you. And always remember, you ever need any money, you only have to ask,’ Tom stated.

  Liam was chuffed with Tom’s words and gave him a quick hug of thanks. It was great being able to talk to Tom and share some of his fears. He knew that his conversations with Tom were never repeated to anyone, even Gerry. ‘What about you guys, how’s things with Gerry?’ Liam asked. It felt like the old days, Tom and him shooting the breeze. It felt good.

  ‘Ridiculous, hilarious, dramatic, romantic, you know what he’s like. I’ve never been happier,’ Tom declared with a big smile.

  ‘Do you guys ever fight?’ Liam asked Tom.

  ‘God yes, we wouldn’t be normal if we didn’t. We fight about his visa bill all the time. He thinks if he hides it, then it will go away. We fight about our joint account, because there are always laser transactions for the most ridiculous things. We fight about my waistline! Gerry wants me to cut down on the booze and the cigars and the fat!’

  ‘He has a point there, Tom,’ Liam said softly.

  ‘Don’t you start, or you’re out!’ Tom replied, pointing to the door. ‘It’s bad enough getting it from Gerry every day. The worst thing is I know he’s right. So starting from Monday I’ve promised I’d go on a diet. God help me!’

  ‘God help all of us you mean!’ Liam laughed. Tom’s diets were legendary and whenever he went on one, his temper got very short!

  ‘I’ll ignore that remark Liam. Everyone knows my temperament is as sweet as candy!’ Tom got up to refresh their coffees and came back a few minutes later with a piece of paper. ‘I’m glad you came over tonight. I’ve something that I need to show you. I was just waiting for the right time.’ He handed the document to Liam. It was a list of people.

  ‘What is it?’ Liam asked with a puzzled look.

  ‘Well, remember we thought that Garda Robert Hegarty was a possible lead on Grace’s paternity? Well we did a check on his blood type and like a good citizen he’s a regular donor. His blood type is O negative and that makes it impossible that he is Grace’s father.’

  ‘Damn it,’ Liam finished. He had planned on visiting Hegarty and demanding he get tested as a suitable donor if Grace got sick again. But these results put him in the clear.

  Tom continued, ‘Well, don’t ask me where I got this, but I have a list – off the record of course – of all donors from the Wexford area with the correct blood type. That’s it, narrowed down to all males aged forty plus. No point looking at any younger ones. And at first glance there are no names there that I recognised.’

  Liam looked through the list, nothing jumping out at him either.

  ‘As Grace has decided to l
et the issue of her father drop, I didn’t want to upset her with this without talking to you first. And I want to be clear; if Catherine got pregnant by one of the hotel guests Grace’s father could be just about anyone, and living anywhere in the world. He doesn’t necessarily have to be on this list. It’s just one possible avenue to explore,’ Tom said.

  ‘I know that Tom, but you obviously think there’s something here that I’m missing if you are bringing it up to me now. Although Grace has reconciled herself to the fact that she’ll probably never find her father right now, I haven’t. I need to find a donor match just in case.’

  ‘Well, I thought the same too Liam. And yesterday I got a break. I got a call from Mrs Doyle. She was the lady who lived next door to Catherine, remember?’

  Liam nodded confirming he did remember.

  ‘Well, when I visited her, I asked her did she know anyone by the name of Michael that Catherine used to hang around with,’ Tom told Liam.

  ‘Michael is the name Catherine said was Grace’s father,’ Liam murmured to himself.

  ‘Yep, that’s right. Well at the time I asked her, she had said no, she didn’t remember anyone with that name. But then Mrs Doyle rang yesterday and she said that something had been niggling her about the name Michael for months. Then it came to her. She figured it meant nothing, but as she’d promised to ring me, she did just that,’ Tom said.

  ‘Come on tell me!’ Liam said impatiently.

  ‘Catherine did know a Michael – Fr O’Hara’s real name is Michael. But he uses the name Joseph as a priest, as it’s his second name.’

  ‘Shit, Tom. That’s huge. You don’t think…’ Liam couldn’t finish the sentence.

  ‘I don’t know Liam, but it’s a possibility. I didn’t like the man when I met him. There was something about the way he spoke about Catherine that upset me, and Gerry too,’ Tom said quietly.

  ‘So what’s the story with this?’ Liam said, holding up the paper.

  ‘Well, following my discussion with Mrs Doyle, I took the listing out again. I can’t believe I didn’t catch it before. Look halfway down the list.’

  Liam scanned the names and then saw it, ‘Mr O’Hara.’