“No, it’s not Peter,” said Carey. The back of her throat was dry. “Look, I don’t want you to blow a fuse or anything, but it’s just that — there is someone else. Someone wonderful. I met him on the way to New York.” She swallowed. “I married him.”
The kettle boiled and clicked itself off. Maude tipped some tea into a china pot and poured boiling water over it. Then she turned to Carey.
“Are you out of your mind?” she asked conversationally.
“God Almighty!” cried Carey. “Just for once can’t someone say anything other than ask me if I’m out of my mind? No, I’m not. I met someone. I love him. I married him.”
“But, Carey.” Maude’s eyes were wide as she looked at her daughter. “Only two weeks ago you were in floods of tears at this very table over the married man.”
“I know I was,” said Carey hotly. “You should be glad that I found someone else.”
“I’d be glad if I thought you’d found someone and were starting a nice new relationship,” said Maud. “But getting married…How? Why? Where?”
“In Vegas,” said Carey mutinously.
“Oh, Carey!”
“I love him.” She felt hot tears pricking at the back of her eyes and blinked a couple of times so that they wouldn’t fall.
Maude sat down at the table and rubbed her forehead. “What am I going to do with you?” she asked.
“Don’t talk to me like that,” snapped Carey. “As though I’m a child.”
“You don’t think that what you’ve done is very, very childish?” asked her mother.
“No, I don’t,” retorted Carey. “I think I’ve done exactly what I wanted to do most in the world. Marry a man I love and who loves me too.”
“I’m not going to talk to you as though you were a child,” said Maude, “but can I remind you that you fall in love at least twice every year and that if that other man had said he was leaving his wife and toddler and getting a divorce you would’ve married him?”
“No, I wouldn’t,” said Carey.
“You waltzed in here before Christmas and told me that you’d met the most wonderful man in the world,” Maude reminded her. “You said that he was the best thing that had ever happened to you. You told us that you thought this was it. Remember?”
“Yes, but —”
“So what’s different this time?”
“Ben wasn’t married and he is now,” said Carey.
“Oh, God.” Maude sighed. “Is this a valid wedding?”
“Yes.”
“So you can’t just get an easy divorce?”
“I don’t want an easy divorce!” cried Carey. “And I came here to share my happiness with you, not to be lectured.”
“I don’t mean to lecture you,” said Maude. “Honestly I don’t. But — oh, Carey, I want you to be happy. And I’m terribly afraid that you’re going to be hurt all over again.”
“I won’t be hurt,” said Carey. She leaned down and picked up her bag. “I brought photographs to show you.”
Maude looked at the shining gold ring on Carey’s left hand as she took the photographs from her. She studied them carefully.
“He’s very attractive,” she said finally.
“I know,” said Carey.
“Tell me about him.”
So Carey told her about the plane journey and about the party — although she clearly didn’t go into details about the wonderful sex that she’d shared with Ben. And she told Maude about his health food stores and the house in Portobello and his experience with the Internet company. While she spoke Maude watched her, noticing the flush in her cheeks and the defiant sparkle in her eyes.
“And you think that marrying him was the only thing you could do?” she asked finally.
“It was so right,” said Carey. “I know it’s not really how you’d like things to have happened, but it was how I wanted it and how he wanted it. And I wouldn’t change a thing.”
“There isn’t anything else I can say.” Maude got up and put her arms round her daughter’s shoulders. “I really and truly hope you’ll be very happy. And I hope you’ll bring him over very soon. I can’t believe that I have another son-in-law.”
“Of course I’ll bring him to visit soon,” said Carey.
“You haven’t met his family yet either?”
“Well, as I told you, there’s only his sister. I spoke to her on the phone this morning.”
“And what did she sound like?”
Carey grinned at her mother. “Much as I guess you’d sound like if Ben rang you up out of the blue.”
“That friendly, huh?”
“A few degrees above icy,” admitted Carey.
“You’ve made it very difficult for yourselves,” said Maude. “You know, you could’ve come home and got married.”
“I know, I know.” Carey sighed. “But you’ve got to understand how we felt.”
“I understand it,” said Maude. “I just don’t know whether or not giving in to it was your brightest ever idea.”
“It was,” Carey promised her. “It absolutely was.”
“Your dad’ll have a fit.”
“Oh well, you know Dad, he has fits about everything,” said Carey easily.
“As for Sylvia!”
“She won’t want to believe that her baby sister finally took the plunge.” Carey grinned. “You do know, don’t you, that it was Sylvia’s wedding that put me off the idea for so long?”
Maude laughed. “It was a lovely wedding,” she said. “And it was twenty years ago, for heaven’s sake!”
“I know,” said Carey darkly. “But you can get very scarred at thirteen.”
Maude laughed again. “Don’t say that in front of Sylvia.”
“She knows.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Maude picked up the photographs again. “He is very attractive,” she repeated.
“I know.” Carey’s eyes twinkled. “You don’t think I’d pick on an unattractive one, do you?”
“I guess not.”
“Everything will be fine, I promise you,” Carey said gently. “And when you meet him you’ll understand.”
“I hope so,” said Maude.
“I know so,” said Carey.
She felt light-hearted as she drove back to Portobello. She’d hoped that her mother would be supportive yet had been nervous about telling her. But Maude, as always, had taken things in her stride — even though her crack about a divorce wasn’t very nice. Carey offered a brief prayer of thanks for having an understanding parent. She also knew that Maude would break the news to her father in such a way as to make it all seem perfectly reasonable. Arthur was much less able to deal with family crises than Maude. Not that this was a crisis, of course, thought Carey. But her dad was perfectly capable of seeing it like that.
Her phone began to chirp and she answered it on her handsfree set. “Hello,” she said brightly.
“It’s me. I need to talk to you. I need to meet you.”
She felt her throat go dry and she gripped the steering wheel tightly. “That’s not really possible,” she said.
“Oh, come on, Carey.” Peter Furness spoke determinedly. “I know I did things to hurt you, and I’m sorry about that, I truly am. I didn’t realize how much you meant to me.”
“It’s irrelevant,” said Carey. “It’s in the past.”
“Not to me.”
“Look —”
“No, listen,” said Peter quickly. “We do need to talk. Things have changed. Changed a lot. I need to see you.”
“I told you the last time we met,” she said firmly, “we’ve nothing to talk about. I don’t want to see you, Peter. I can’t.”
“Things have changed,” he said again. “Think about it. I’ll call you.”
“No, don’t!” she cried. “Things have changed for me too.”
But he’d already broken the connection.
Chapter Six
LINDEN BLOSSOM ABSOLUTE
This is a luxurious oil
with an unusual scent which helps relaxation
At six o’clock on the Friday of the week they came home, Ben propped his legs on the desk in his tiny office and leaned backwards in his chair, his eyes closed. He supposed it was partly still jet-lag that had him so tired, but he knew that the sense of weariness also came from adapting himself to having someone else living in his house. He hadn’t quite accustomed himself to the times Carey was there and the times she wasn’t. Today’s shift didn’t start until ten o’clock in the evening and he wanted to get home before she left for the airport, even though he normally went for a drink after work on Fridays with Freya to discuss the week’s business. He still wanted to chat to Freya — his sister had been aloof since the news of his marriage and Ben understood that she was hurt by the unexpectedness of it all and the fact that he hadn’t confided in her before coming home. She still had to meet Carey too. The timing of both Carey’s shifts and Freya’s own schedule had made it difficult so far. Ben wanted the two women to meet properly so that they could get to know and like each other in a relaxed situation, not on an evening when one of them was more focused on work than on finding common ground.
Ben was hoping that they might get to meet at the weekend. Unusually, as Carey had pointed out to him, she had both Saturday and Sunday off, and although Ben had originally dreamed of them having two blissful days alone together, he now thought that it might be a good idea to invite Freya to dinner so that his sister and his wife could spend some time together.
Of course, that would mean tidying up a bit first. He’d never been the tidiest of people himself, but since Carey had moved in, almost every available space was taken up with clutter. God, he thought, but she had an immense number of jumpers and trousers, most of which appeared identical. And as for the shoes! He’d counted forty boxes in addition to the ten she’d brought the first night and yet, as far as he could tell, she’d worn the same pair of boots into work every day that week. He yawned widely and then opened his eyes. Freya was standing in front of the desk looking at him.
“I didn’t hear you come in,” he said as he took his feet down from the desk.
“I thought you were asleep,” she told him. “Married life exhausting, is it?”
He rubbed his eyes. “This week has been exhausting. Irish Tatler were on about doing a piece on the Drumcondra store and I thought their reporter was dropping by yesterday afternoon, which is why I went over there. But we’d got our wires crossed and they weren’t due till today — only, of course, I already had meetings set up…nothing disastrous, but you know how it is when you’re rushing round. I had to do some crazy re-jigging and the last person to call this afternoon was Stephen Fuller. I hate him being last, it’s so hard to get rid of him!”
Freya smiled sympathetically. “Never mind,” she said. “You can go home, put your feet up, and Carey will mop your fevered brow.”
He laughed. “As if! Well, she might for a while, I guess, but she’s due in work at ten.” He looked apologetically at Freya. “Which is why I’d better skip our drink this evening.”
“Fine by me,” said Freya airily. “I wasn’t expecting you to come with me. I’m meeting someone anyway.”
“Oh.”
“But I really have to meet Carey too. It’s nearly a week and she must be due some time off by now.”
“This weekend,” confirmed Ben. “I thought perhaps you might like to come to dinner tomorrow night.” As he issued the invitation he hoped that Carey wouldn’t mind. He hadn’t discussed it with her yet, but he knew that she expected to see Freya soon and Saturday was as good a day as any.
“I’m going to the trade fair in Galway tomorrow,” said Freya dryly. “She’s not the only one to work all hours.”
He made a face. “I’d forgotten all about that.”
“I know. Your mind is clearly on other things”
“I’m jet-lagged,” he told her. “I’ll have my brain in gear by next week, I promise. Maybe you’d like to call round on Sunday instead?”
“You’d better talk it over with her first, don’t you think?”
“I’ll check with her and call you,” said Ben. “I know she wants to meet you as much as you want to meet her.”
Freya looked at him in silence for a moment and then she smiled.“Actually I was thinking,” she said, “that it might be a good idea if you had an event.”
“What sort of event?” he asked tiredly. “We did a lot of that sort of thing last year, didn’t we, when we were promoting that herbal boost stuff. I know it was very successful, but I think you need to have a product to hang it on and —”
“Not that sort of an event, you dope,” she interrupted him. “You and Carey.”
He frowned. “What d’you mean?”
“You are so dense!” She sighed. “A party, a drinks reception — something to mark the fact that you’re married.” She shrugged. “It just seems like a good idea. So many of your friends don’t even know that you’re married yet.”
Ben nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe. Carey and I haven’t talked about it really.”
“It’d be a way that we could all get to meet her,” said Freya.
“Well, with luck you’ll meet her at the weekend.”
“Sure. But other people want to meet her too. The staff, and Brian. And I’m sure your friends would like to see her.”
Ben didn’t tell her that Carey was — as she’d told him herself with a hint of surprise in her voice — more nervous than she’d expected about meeting his friends. And that she was actually very nervous about meeting Freya.
Holding a party might be a good idea, he conceded as he mulled over the thought a little more. He still hadn’t told any of his mates at the football club where he played in a local league, nor had he phoned Phil, his closest friend, with the news yet or even spoken of it to any of the reps who had called in to see him during the week. The only person he’d told was Leah and, of course, she’d blown a gasket. But then he should have expected that. His ex-girlfriend’s mood-swings were wild and her temper explosive. But it rarely lasted. And despite what she’d said to him in her flash of anger, Ben was certain that she had never seriously expected them to get married. It wasn’t a topic they’d even discussed.
Watching him, Freya noticed the changes in his expressions as the different thoughts ran through his head.
“So what d’you think?” she asked.
“It’s a good idea,” he decided. “But I’ll have to talk to Carey about it.”
“Of course,” said Freya. “And I want to do it for you.”
“What d’you mean?”
“My wedding present,” explained Freya. “I’d like to organize the party for you.”
Ben stared at her. “Why?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Whenever we have events for the shop you do everything. I thought it’d be nice if I did this for you.”
“It’s a lovely idea,” he said warmly. “Thanks.”
“So you just leave it all to me,” she said. “I’ll do up a guest list, you can check it over, but don’t even attempt to get involved.”
“OK.” He grinned at her. “Who are you meeting?”
“What?”
“Who are you meeting tonight? You said ‘someone’. Not Brian?”
“You think just because you’ve rushed off and met someone new I’m likely to do the same thing?” Freya smiled as she sat on the wooden chair in front of his desk. “Brian and I have a good relationship. I’m not going to wreck it by doing something as crazy as you.”
“You still think I’m crazy?”
She sighed. “I don’t know. How can I tell until I’ve met her?”
“I’m lucky,” he said fiercely. “I never wanted to be married before. Never.”
“Not even to Leah?”
“Especially not to Leah,” said Ben. “Strange as it may seem to you, Freya, because I know you’re good friends with her — marrying her was the last thing on my mind.”
“That’s
not what she thought,” commented Freya.
“Maybe not.” The memory of his last meeting with Leah was still fresh in Ben’s mind. “But she’ll understand, given a bit of time. And I honestly don’t think she really wanted to marry me. She was just put out that someone else did.”
“Are you sure?”
“Who can ever be sure about Leah,” he said irritably.
“All right, all right.” Freya shrugged. “I’m not trying to fight her corner, you know. It’s a bit late for that anyway.”
“Yes, it is.”
“So perhaps I’ll finally get to meet Carey on Sunday?” said Freya.
Ben nodded.
“Call me and let me know.”
He nodded again.
“Goodnight,” said Freya.
“Goodnight.” He picked up his battered briefcase and walked out of the office.
Carey was curled up in one of the armchairs when he came in, her eyes tightly closed. She opened them and smiled as he leaned down to kiss her hard on her luscious, pouting lips.
“How was your day?” she murmured as he nuzzled against the base of her throat.
“Awful,” he told her. “Busy, boring, complicated…I couldn’t wait to get home to you.”
“And I couldn’t wait for you to get here.” She pulled him closer to her and slid her hand beneath his shirt.
“Here or upstairs?” he asked.
“Here,” she whispered fiercely. “I can’t wait for upstairs.”
Lying on the floor, she grasped the legs of the uncomfortable armchair as he entered her, glad that it was good for something, for giving her the leverage to push herself towards him so that he was deeper inside her than ever before. She cried out as his movements became ever more urgent, and then she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him fiercely to her. He gasped and thrust again, and then the two of them lay motionless beside each other on the floor.
“I never believed it could be like this,” he said eventually as he kissed her gently on the cheek. “I never knew that it could be so mind-blowingly wonderful. I’ve had some good lays in my life, but you’re the best.”
“A good lay!” Her eyes glittered as she looked at him. “I was rather hoping I was more than that.”
Too Good to Be True Page 9
