The Seven Secrets of Happiness

by Sharon Owens

  Ruby glanced at herself in the hall mirror. She looked tired. She looked worn out, really.

  ‘I’d sooner go to bed now myself,’ she told her reflection. ‘I’m that wrecked.’

  But, still, it was nice to have someone special coming to visit. More than nice, to be honest. It was lovely. And with the snow lying, they might as well spend the evening in. Ruby had made one of her famous slow-cooker casseroles and judging by the aroma from the kitchen it was almost ready. She had two bottles of red wine in the rack and a small Christmas cake in the cupboard. There were some Christmas DVDs they could watch and there was bound to be something on the telly, a nice romantic movie maybe? And if the weather got even worse Tom could always sleep over…

  ‘Oh, help!’ Ruby laughed out loud. But she knew the time was coming when they’d have run out of excuses not to sleep together, and also the will power to say no.

  She’d have a warm shower now to soothe her aching feet. Maybe rub on some of that lovely peppermint foot balm. And even though she was utterly exhausted she’d make an effort to dress up for him. She’d wear her red silk skirt from Monsoon with black opaque tights, red pumps and a black fitted sweater.

  Her father was going to a dinner-dance in a hotel in Enniskillen tonight with some of his friends from the cookery course so that was all right. She wouldn’t have to worry about him being too lonely. Her mother was going to a party in her friend Dorothy’s house. Apparently Dorothy’s lazy son had finally found himself a job and had moved in with his pregnant girlfriend after being given an ultimatum by both women. So Dorothy was throwing a massive party for everyone at the art club and then after Christmas she was going to downsize to something more manageable. All in all, things were looking up.

  At seven o’clock on the dot Ruby heard Tom knocking gently on the front door, down below in the snow-filled street. She hoped he’d like the scarf and gloves she’d bought for him. She didn’t want to overdo the gift, not for their first Christmas together. And Tom spent so much time out of doors he was bound to need all the gloves and scarves he could get. Smiling to herself she quickly applied some pale bronze lipstick to her lips and a spray of light perfume to both wrists and then she went hurrying down the stairs to greet him.

  But when Ruby saw Tom standing there in a new coat with the collars turned up, sturdy black boots on his feet and fresh snowflakes in his hair, she almost forgot how tired she was.

  ‘You look absolutely gorgeous,’ she told him warmly.

  And Tom simply laughed out loud.

  32. Some Things Are Best Kept a Secret

  It was midway between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, and Ruby and Jasmine were having lunch in Ruby’s flat. They weren’t going to open the shop today, Ruby decided. They had hardly any stock left, for one thing. And, for another, the snow was frozen into great muddy ridges on most of the roads in Belfast. And nobody was venturing out of their home unless it was really necessary. Jasmine hadn’t bothered going to her party in the end, she said. She’d slept right through the alarm and only woke up when her mother phoned her on Christmas morning to ask what time she’d be round for dinner.

  Ruby and Tom, on the other hand, had spent a wonderful evening together on Christmas Eve. Magical, really… Ruby wondered if she ought to tell Jasmine about it now. The poor girl was worn out with curiosity. Though Ruby could tell that Jasmine was doing her best not to ask a thousand questions, all of them deeply personal.

  Should she tell Jasmine, for instance, that when she’d seen Tom standing in the snow on Christmas Eve, she’d been overcome with affection for him, and lust! His dark eyes looking so pleased when she complimented his new coat! Should she reveal that she’d practically pulled him in over the doorstep and kissed him passionately until the snow in his hair melted and trickled down both their faces? Would Jasmine like to know that they’d staggered up the steps together, still kissing, and went straight into Ruby’s pretty white bedroom? Where they proceeded to undress in less than thirty minutes flat! And that Tom had looked incredible naked. A gorgeous hairy chest on him, and the most amazing, muscular legs. And that he’d kissed Ruby all over before making love to her for more than two hours! And that when they’d finally reached that moment it was the most incredible sense of release and well-being Ruby had ever known… And that immediately afterwards Tom had told her he loved her, and that she’d said she was falling in love with him too. And now they were both counting the minutes until they could be together again.

  No, better not tell Jasmine any of that, Ruby decided.

  Some things were best kept a secret.

  ‘More wine, Jasmine?’ she said instead.

  Meanwhile Tom was sitting in his shed wondering if Ruby had liked the Christmas gift he’d given her. A small wooden box containing some rare lily bulbs. Yes, it was a bit obvious he’d give her something horticultural, but then again he didn’t want to give her jewellery or anything too personal like that, not just yet. Not until she felt ready to accept such intimate presents from him. And then she’d amazed him by kissing him hungrily and taking him to bed…

  The snow was still lying today and Tom wondered if they should make plans to cope with this sort of weather on a regular basis at Camberwell. The main lawns might even start to die back in the shadier areas if their summers didn’t improve very soon.

  He started to idly play with some loose strands of florist’s wire that were lying on the table and without really thinking about it he formed them into a large circle and twisted the ends together. He could make a wreath for Ruby, he decided suddenly. He could hang it on her door as a surprise, or would that be totally silly of him? Only since the manager at Camberwell had decided to hang wreaths on all the doors for Christmas, Tom had become rather adept at putting them together quickly. Well, it would pass a bit of time for him anyway. It was too cold and snowy to do anything else. He collected some stray evergreen branches and bits of holly and set to work, adding some small white roses as a finishing touch. Then he wrapped up in his warmest coat, put on the scarf and gloves Ruby had given him and drove to Ravenhill Road to hang the wreath on Ruby’s front door. There was no answer when he knocked so he assumed she was still asleep. The shops were all closed today and there was hardly any traffic.

  But as he was walking away he heard a tapping sound above him and he was delighted to see Ruby waving to him from her sitting-room window. Moments later she came outside, pulling on her winter coat and some bright blue and purple gloves.

  ‘I was just about to go for a walk,’ she said. ‘I was getting a touch of cabin fever in there. Just up the road a few minutes or until my feet go numb. Would you like to come with me?’

  ‘Surely,’ Tom replied.

  ‘Sorry I almost didn’t hear you knocking before,’ Ruby told him as they held hands and set off down the street, their feet crunching through almost six inches of fresh snow. ‘I was on the phone to my father.’

  ‘Oh, that’s okay. I thought you’d be sleeping anyway. We were awake all night, you know, the night we…’

  ‘I know and it was wonderful, Tom. I only wish you hadn’t offered to help out at Camberwell over Christmas. I’d have stayed in bed all week with you, if you’d been free.’

  ‘Oh, Ruby, thank you so much for saying that! How’s your dad?’

  ‘Surprisingly enough he’s not too bad. He’s having some people from his cookery course over for dinner today and, would you believe it, he’s cooking a fourteen-pound turkey with all the trimmings! And they’re all bringing side dishes and desserts.’

  ‘Sounds great,’ Tom said. ‘Sounds like he’s having a great time on that course!’

  ‘Yes, I know, doesn’t it? I nearly fainted when he told me he was having a dinner party. He’s such a recluse normally.’

  ‘Good for him then. And good for your mother too, I suppose…’

  ‘Oh yes, surely, of course. I only wish that he and my mother could have been this enterprising and resourceful years and years ago. It’s like the
y had to split up to get going again, you know? All the years they were together they did nothing but sit in that big fancy house imagining everyone in the village was jealous of their money.’

  ‘Maybe they were.’

  ‘Maybe, but I doubt it. It’s an easygoing sort of village.’

  ‘Ruby, there’s no such thing as an easygoing sort of village.’

  ‘I suppose not.’

  ‘Are you not going to see your dad today? I could drive you,’ Tom offered.

  ‘No, thanks a million but no. They’re all keen cooks so it’ll be all cookery chat and I think half of them are lonely hearts. Dad keeps mentioning this one woman. I don’t expect there’s anything to it, but you never know. He did ask me for some advice on what to wear tonight… God help him! They’ll have much more fun if I’m not there to spy on them,’ Ruby smiled. ‘And anyway it’d be no fun driving in this weather.’

  ‘And how’s your mother getting on?’

  ‘She’s amazing, she really is. She’s wearing combats and Converse sneakers now, she said. She rang me this morning. She said her New Best Friend Dorothy got her out of her old frumpy skirts and blouses and now she’s had her hair cut really short like Mia Farrow in the 1960s. So handy in the mornings, she told me. No more bother with getting her hair curled and set any more. And today they’re having dinner in a retro-style diner in Dorothy’s neighbourhood in Brooklyn.’

  ‘Well, as long as she’s happy,’ Tom said, holding Ruby’s hand a little tighter.

  ‘Yes. I never realized just how dull their lives had become. I suppose I’m glad for them both really. I just miss them so much, you know, as a couple. Christ, I hope my mother gets tired of this New York thing before she gets mugged or stabbed or worse.’

  ‘I know. It’s kind of weird, but as you said it’s hopefully just a phase. She’ll be home soon. And you know that any of us could get mugged right here in dear old Belfast. Every weekend almost there’s a pensioner burgled.’

  ‘True. Anyway, what are you doing for dinner today?’

  ‘Nothing special. I might pop round to Mrs Kenny’s later for a bite of supper. She always cooks far too much for her own family,’ Tom said fondly. ‘They’ve got Noah today, by the way. Her grandchildren love playing with him when they come to visit.’

  Ruby stopped walking then and turned to face Tom. She noticed he was wearing the scarf and gloves she’d bought him and she was very touched. Tom’s eyes were sparkling with interest in her and in her crazy parents and suddenly Ruby felt like kissing him again. Kissing him passionately right there on the street. They were standing beside the railings to the park and there were no other people about yet. She turned her face up towards his and looked at his lips with a twinkle in her eye. Tom’s expression was only quizzical for a moment before he held Ruby closer to him and kissed her tenderly. A long, lingering kiss that sent both their pulses racing. Ruby felt a familiar tingly feeling shooting up and down her body. Tom was such an expert kisser. They barely noticed a sprinkling of fresh snowflakes swirling around their shoulders.

  ‘You’re having dinner with me today, Tom Lavery,’ Ruby said, laughing, when they eventually came up for air. ‘Or maybe it’ll be supper by the time we get round to it.’

  ‘I thought you’d never ask,’ he replied in a low voice.

  As they were making their way back to the flat, a little robin redbreast watched them from the shelter of an ancient oak tree in the park. The robin had his head to one side almost as if he was approving of their heady romance. Then as Ruby and Tom reached the flat and went inside the robin puffed up his feathers and flew away.

  33. Camberwell Revisited

  By New Year’s Eve the snow had melted away, and the citizens of Belfast staggered up off their sofas and ventured out of doors again. Filled to the brim with turkey sandwiches and microwave plum pudding, rich chocolates and fine wines, they were eager to breathe some fresh air into their lungs and stretch their legs. And Ruby and Tom were no exception. Now officially relaxed in each other’s company, they were filled with a new energy and vitality, and a renewed sense of hope for the new year ahead. The season that had once smothered both of them with sheer dread had become a happy time once more.

  But as Ruby arrived at Camberwell to go for a long walk with Tom she was dismayed to find him sitting on the doorstep of his cottage with tears in his eyes.

  ‘What’s happened?’ she said, hurrying from her car to hug him.

  ‘It’s Noah.’

  ‘Is he ill?’

  Tom shook his head.

  ‘Worse than that.’

  ‘Oh, Tom, don’t tell me he’s died?’

  ‘Yes, I found him this morning in his basket. The vet said he must have been ill for a while, but not in any pain.’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Tom.’

  ‘Well, I just wish he’d have gone on for another while yet.’

  ‘I know.’

  Ruby urged Tom into the kitchen where she made tea for him. He refused to eat anything and just stared sadly into space.

  ‘I’m going to bury him,’ Tom said then.

  ‘Okay. Do you want to be alone?’ Ruby asked.

  ‘No, I’d like you to come with me, if that’s okay?’

  ‘Of course I will.’

  ‘He’s in his basket,’ Tom said, sighing heavily. ‘You won’t have to look at him.’

  ‘That’s all right, Tom,’ Ruby assured him. ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘Okay. Thanks, Ruby. I’m going to bury him beside that statue in the Christmas-tree plantation. I’ve already dug the –’

  ‘It’s okay. We’ll just go and do it whenever you’re ready. Don’t worry about me,’ Ruby said, starting to wash the dishes that had been left to soak in the sink.

  ‘There’s just you and me now,’ Tom said, half laughing with abject misery. He leaned forward on his chair, holding his head in his hands. Ruby thought he was crying, but she didn’t know whether to go to him or not. Jonathan had always liked a cuddle when he was unhappy, but maybe Tom was the strong, silent type.

  ‘Will you be all right?’ Ruby asked him after a few minutes.

  ‘Yes, I’ll be all right,’ Tom sighed. He sat up straight and dried his eyes. ‘Sorry for the dramatics, Ruby. I always knew I’d lose him one day. That’s the thing about pets: we know we’ll probably outlive them. Maybe that’s why we love them so much.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Ruby agreed.

  ‘And Noah was the last link I had to Kate, you see. You know what I mean?’

  ‘Yes, I understand.’

  ‘I mean there’s always her family… but Noah was her dog. She chose him.’

  ‘Shush, it’s okay, Tom, really. I do understand.’

  ‘Come on then,’ Tom said gently.

  ‘It’s all right if you need more time to say goodbye to him.’

  ‘No, I’ll do it now and then we’ll go for that walk. Is Murlough beach okay with you? I scattered Kate’s ashes there. I want to throw a flower into the sea for her and one for Noah too.’

  ‘That’s a lovely idea,’ Ruby said, nodding her head. Obviously Tom would want to mark the occasion in some way and she wasn’t surprised that it involved both flowers and walking. Two things she’d come to associate closely with Tom Lavery.

  After the burial, Tom laid a wreath of greenery and white roses on Noah’s grave and Ruby offered him her hand to hold as they walked back to his cottage. They had a light lunch before climbing sombrely into the Land Rover and heading for the beach.

  Tom was exceptionally quiet so Ruby filled the silence by telling him about her six secrets of happiness. And the little story that had led to each one.

  ‘I daresay you think it’s silly,’ she said, blushing slightly. ‘Or just common sense. But somehow it all seemed like a great revelation to me.’

  ‘I think that’s a lovely idea and very true,’ Tom said at last as they parked by the sand dunes and set off towards the beach. ‘Some people live their whole lives and never find happiness. Maybe
they just don’t know what to look for.’

  ‘Maybe.’

  As they walked, Ruby invited Tom to come back to her flat and spend the night there.

  ‘Just in case it’s too lonesome for you at the cottage without Noah,’ she said gently. ‘We don’t have to do anything, you know? Just be together; just be company for each other… I don’t think we should spend New Year’s Eve being lonely.’

  ‘Thanks, Ruby,’ he said, putting his arm round her shoulders. ‘I’d like that very much.’

  34. The Mystery Man Revealed

  ‘But don’t you remember?’ Mark Crawford said shyly. He was blushing all the way from his trendy trainers up to his natural blond hairline. ‘You said it on the very last day when we were taking down our best artwork from the classroom walls.’

  ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘You must remember! You were all excited to be leaving Rosetta Primary, but poor Megan Smith was crying her eyes out.’

  ‘I remember the artwork, and Megan crying, all of that, yes. But, no, I don’t remember saying anything about pink flowers. I don’t remember that at all,’ Jasmine said, half delighted and half furious with her old chum from primary school turning up like this.

  ‘You said you’d marry a really nice man if he sent you six bouquets of pink flowers.’

  ‘I never did.’

  ‘You did, honestly. I was standing right behind you when you said it to Megan. I was sweeping the floor.’

  ‘But I was eleven years old, Mark. I was only a silly kid, a child… All of those flowers that you sent me! Fucking hell, I thought I was about to be murdered by a stalker!’

  ‘Look, I’m really sorry, Jasmine. I’m really sorry if I’ve upset you,’ Mark said, scratching his head. ‘I was sure you’d remember me.’

  ‘What would I have done anyway if I had remembered? How would I have got in touch with you? The florist wouldn’t have given me your name and address, would they?’