The Gift of Friends

by Emma Hannigan

  ‘It’s ten o’clock now,’ she said. ‘I’m going to make us a coffee and let’s go to the shop then and take everything out and into my car. I’ll drive it all to this place tomorrow. I’ve sent them an email already. I’ll bring some dresses to throw over the boxes and it’ll look like my dry cleaning. So that’s you booked, and if we can empty the shop tonight before anyone realises what’s happening, then we just keep the shutters down. Actually,’ she said, thinking again, ‘it might be better to leave the cheaper stuff out on display, so it looks like business as usual. That’d be better.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Freddie said, ‘definitely. We don’t want to sound any alarm bells for anyone.’

  ‘Right, then we’ll empty the safes and take all documents, get it all out of there. I’ve emailed Sean as well, so we’ll get that transfer done as quickly as possible. Now, what else?’

  Freddie came round the table and pulled her up into his arms. ‘You’re like a whirlwind,’ he said, kissing her cheek. ‘I can’t believe what you’re doing here, and what you’re willing to sacrifice. You’re incredible, Maia.’

  Maia melted into his arms and kissed him. For the first time in months, she felt like her husband, the man she loved, was right there with her.

  ‘Anything for you,’ she said. ‘We’ll sort this, Freddie. We just have to stay a step ahead and then go to ground for a while. We can do it.’

  ‘You’re some woman,’ Freddie said. ‘Here I was, hiding everything from you, and you’re the one with the balls to actually solve it. I’m a bleedin’ idiot.’

  Maia grinned at him. ‘Like I said, we’re a team. You have to let me play my part. We’re stronger together, Freddie. And I’m just so glad you’ve finally let me in. It’s been absolutely wrecking my head knowing something was going on and you not telling me anything.’

  ‘It just seemed too big a thing to get away from,’ Freddie said. ‘And I was terrified of it coming to land on you or the kids. I never thought I’d be dying to see my kids leave, but I’ve been counting down the days until they’re gone from here and out of harm’s way.’

  Maia could suddenly see his behaviour over the past while clicking into place, now that she understood what was lying beneath it all. He might have been a bit foolish, but his heart was in the right place and he’d wanted to do right by his family at all times. That’s what was important. The rest of it could be sorted. She’d grown up around thugs like the ones that were terrorising Freddie, and she knew how their minds worked. They wanted things to come easy and if they didn’t, they went off to find the next easy thing. Freddie was a target right now, but if they took that out of the equation, time would take care of it. She felt sure her plan would work.

  ‘Can I make it up to my beautiful wife by taking her upstairs?’ Freddie said, nuzzling her neck.

  ‘You certainly can,’ Maia said. ‘But once the kids are home, we’re heading over to the shop, okay?’

  Freddie saluted her. ‘Yes, commander.’

  She took his hand and led him from the room. She just wanted to be alone with her husband, to be in his arms, to feel his love again. Once they were honest and there for each other, everything else would fall into place.

  Chapter 31

  ‘I’VE INVITED DREW TO COME AND PLAY WITH Arnie today,’ Betsy said to Noel as she poured him a coffee. ‘He loves Arnie, and babies have a good effect on everyone, don’t they?’

  ‘They do,’ Noel said, smiling. ‘And if Arnie can help Drew to feel good, then tell him to come over every day. That poor child needs some support to help him over what happened.’

  Betsy nodded. ‘I’d do anything for them,’ she said. ‘It’s just so sad that Pearl lived with that man for so long.’

  ‘Well he was horribly controlling,’ Noel said. ‘I thought it was just the army temperament, but obviously he has a screw loose somewhere. Let’s hope he stays away now.’

  Betsy grimaced. ‘Well he’ll be getting the blunt end of four saucepans if he shows his face around here again,’ she said, ‘because I know Danielle, Maia and Nancy would join me in giving him a good thumping.’

  Noel chuckled. ‘Vigilante Betsy,’ he said. ‘I love it.’

  Graham came into the kitchen with Arnie in his arms.

  ‘Morning,’ he said, strapping Arnie into his high-chair. ‘I think this little man is very hungry today, aren’t you, mate?’ Arnie grinned and gurgled at him. ‘And your dad needs strength for his big day today. First day in the new job.’

  ‘You two sit down and I’ll feed you up until you’re full to the brim,’ Betsy said, bustling around the kitchen. ‘Do you feel nervous about today, Graham?’

  Graham shrugged. ‘Not really. It’s always a bit hard going into a new place, but the work sounds interesting and Michael, Dad’s golfing buddy, seems like a real gentleman, so I reckon it’ll be fine. I just can’t wait to have an actual salary again, so I can take care of Arnie properly. And of course I owe you two more than I can ever repay.’

  ‘You never owe your parents,’ Noel said, buttering his toast. ‘Everything you get from us is out of love, with no interest.’

  Graham smiled. ‘I hope I can be that magnanimous to this little dude when he’s bleeding me dry.’

  ‘You will,’ Noel said. ‘It’s just part of being a father.’

  The doorbell rang and Betsy looked up in surprise. ‘Drew must be early,’ she said. ‘Oh well, he can have something to eat as well.’ She went down the hallway and opened the front door. In front of her stood a man with tangled hair to his shoulders, an unkempt beard and clothes that were giving off a distinct pong of body odour. He looked like a tramp. Betsy instinctively shut the door over, leaving a small gap to talk to him.

  ‘What do you want?’ she said.

  ‘Sorry to bother you, ma’am,’ he said pleasantly, ‘but Tasha sent me.’

  Betsy nearly fell to the floor in fright. Had Tasha sent this person to rob them blind as well? To murder them in their beds?

  ‘I want nothing to do with Tasha,’ she said, sounding braver than she felt. ‘She has no place in this house.’

  The man held up his hands. ‘No please, missus, I don’t mean to upset you or anything. It’s just that Tasha left a bag behind here and it has some stuff in it she needs. It’s got her passport in there. Couldn’t believe she’d forget that, but anyway, she wants to leave Dublin and go back to Australia, so she needs it.’

  ‘I thought she’d gone already,’ Betsy said.

  ‘She came to stay in our place,’ he said, ‘but she’s tired of the weather now, so she wants to go home.’

  ‘Did she tell you to come here asking for money?’ Betsy asked.

  ‘I’m to ask her husband for that,’ he said, smiling at her. ‘If he says no, that’s grand. I’m just the messenger.’

  Betsy looked up and down and although he looked a fright, he seemed gentle enough. She didn’t think he was going to turn killer on them.

  ‘Alright,’ she said, ‘please stand in while I find the bag. Graham might know where it is.’

  He stepped into the hallway, looking around with great interest.

  ‘This is a beautiful house,’ he said. ‘My mam always wanted to live on this road. It was her dream.’

  ‘It was mine too,’ Betsy said. ‘I was lucky enough to have it come true. Where does your mother live?’

  ‘In Kenilworth Square,’ he said.

  ‘Oh,’ said Betsy, impressed. ‘Well those houses are absolutely gorgeous. And so big. Did you grow up there?’

  He nodded. ‘Yeah, that’s my area. I only drop in and out now, just to see her, you know.’

  They walked on through to the kitchen, where Noel and Graham looked at the man with shocked expressions.

  ‘Em, this is a friend of Tasha’s,’ Betsy said. ‘Sorry, what’s your name?’

  ‘Alan,’ he said. ‘Nice to meet you all.’

  ‘What do you mean, a friend?’ Graham said, frowning. ‘Why the hell are you here?’

  A
lan smiled and ducked his head. ‘I’m really sorry to intrude, but she asked me to pick up a bag she left behind. I wasn’t keen to do it, but it has her passport so she’s really stuck without it.’

  ‘Are you her boyfriend?’ Graham asked coldly.

  Alan shook his head. ‘No, nothing like that. She’s been living in our squat in the city. She’s nice enough, and she kept saying she needed to go home, but no one was willing to come out here, so I said I’d do it. Are you . . . Gray?’ he asked.

  Graham nodded. ‘Yeah, the abandoned husband, that’s me. And that’s the abandoned child over there.’

  The man looked at Arnie and his face broke into a huge grin. ‘Ah, he’s a gorgeous fellow. Hello there, little man.’

  Arnie smiled at him and banged his spoon on the tray. Betsy remembered her manners.

  ‘Would you like a coffee?’ she asked.

  ‘Thank you so much,’ the young man said as Noel poured him a coffee. ‘This is really kind of you.’ He sipped his coffee. ‘Delicious. Thanks. It’s mad, because Tasha told me you were absolute horrors. She made it out like you were the worst in-laws in the world, but you’re really lovely people.’

  Betsy smiled. ‘Tasha wouldn’t have a high opinion of us,’ she said. ‘But then, I wouldn’t have a very high opinion of her, so I suppose that’s fair enough.’

  ‘About the bag,’ Graham said, ‘did she give any clues as to its whereabouts?’

  ‘Yeah, she said there’s a drawer at the bottom of the wardrobe and it might be in the bottom of that, she thinks.’

  ‘Alright,’ Graham said, standing up. ‘I’ll go check for it.’ He headed off and Betsy smiled at Alan, feeling awkward.

  Thankfully, Graham came back into the room a few minutes later, carrying a battered red camera bag. ‘I think this is it,’ he said, handing it to Alan.

  ‘That’s very decent of you when she’s left you in the lurch,’ Alan said.

  ‘I didn’t fit in with her lifestyle,’ Graham said. ‘Nor did Arnie.’

  Alan looked over at Arnie. ‘That’s a real shame,’ he said sincerely. ‘She obviously has a lovely set-up here with good people, but for whatever reason she just can’t see it.’ He stood up and brought his mug over to the counter. ‘I’ll head off then. Thanks for the coffee.’

  Betsy walked him out the door and then watched him walk down the driveway, then off down Kingfisher Road.

  She returned to the kitchen, where Graham was finishing his coffee.

  ‘Well that should be the last we hear of Tasha,’ he said, and she couldn’t tell what he was thinking when he said it.

  ‘You never know,’ Noel said. ‘Life has a funny way of proving us wrong.’

  Graham shrugged. ‘I have to focus on Arnie now, he’s what matters.’

  ‘Speaking of which,’ Noel said, glancing at Betsy, ‘there’s something we wanted to put to you. Your mother and I would like to offer you the money to build on to the side of the house.’

  Graham listened as they explained that they had planning permission to build a townhouse-type dwelling beside the main house. They’d intended doing it as a retirement project. They’d originally thought they’d let it out or use it as an Airbnb. Either way, they planned on starting building in February next year.

  ‘We’d like to offer the townhouse to you and Arnie,’ Noel said. ‘We were only letting it as something to do.’

  ‘Yes, it’s the project and the decorating and all that that we want to get stuck into,’ said Betsy. ‘But if we thought we could offer you two a home, it would be even better.’

  ‘Is there enough space to do it?’ Graham asked.

  ‘There’s enough to do two townhouses, in fact,’ said Noel. ‘The trees and shrubs take up a lot of space. Once they’re cleared, the garden will be much larger. So we’d like you to take one and we’d let out the other. You’d have a separate entrance and everything. And then we’d always be on hand to help with Arnie.’

  Graham looked from Betsy to Noel and back again. To Betsy’s astonishment, he teared up.

  ‘I don’t know what to say,’ he said at last. ‘I don’t want to take your retirement fund and your possible income. It wouldn’t be right.’

  ‘Yes, it would,’ Betsy said firmly. ‘We didn’t say anything when Tasha was here because we wanted to let the two of you make your own decisions. But now that she’s shown her true colours, we have no doubt that this is what we want for you. What do you think? There’s no pressure. We wouldn’t be offended if you don’t want to live next door to us.’

  ‘Offended? Are you crazy?’ said Graham. ‘I’m so delighted. I can’t believe it’s happening. I’ve been looking at the price of rental accommodation and I can’t possibly afford anything within twenty kilometres of here.’

  ‘So are you saying yes?’ Noel asked.

  ‘You bet I am,’ said Graham as he stood up and hugged them both. ‘Thank you so much. This is just the perfect solution, for me and for Arnie. I can’t thank you enough.’

  ‘Well that’s settled then,’ Betsy said, feeling a bit teary-eyed herself. She couldn’t believe her luck that her son and grandson would be right next door. She could mother the pair of them to her heart’s content, plus it left Graham some freedom to maybe pick up the pieces of his life and meet someone new. ‘When you get home from work later we can show you the plans. I’m sure you’ll have your own ideas and input as well. You’ll need to think in terms of Arnie’s needs as he gets older, in case you stay there for a number of years.’

  Graham shook his head. ‘If only Tasha could see me now,’ he said. ‘She’d be so disappointed in me, joining the establishment.’

  ‘There’s lots of ways to live a life,’ Noel said. ‘But when you have a young child, you do have to make sacrifices. It’s the hard part of being a parent.’

  ‘It is,’ Graham said, nodding, ‘but I still wouldn’t change it. It’ll mean a safe and stable home for Arnie, and having you two there to run to whenever he likes will be awesome.’

  ‘It’s for as long as you like,’ Noel said. ‘We’re thrilled to have you home, son.’

  Betsy looked at the clock. ‘Right, enough of all this chatter, you can’t be late on your first day. You get yourself out the door.’

  Graham pulled on a warm jacket and woolly hat.

  ‘I’ll give you a lift,’ Noel said. ‘I need to visit the hardware shop and there’s a good one not far from your place.’

  ‘Thanks, Dad,’ Graham said. ‘Wish me luck, Mum.’

  ‘You’ll be fantastic,’ Betsy said, kissing his cheek. ‘I hope it’s a nice place and you like the people. That’ll make all the difference.’

  Betsy and Arnie were just waving at them as they pulled out of the driveway when she saw Tommy and Drew walking towards the house.

  ‘Ah, here’s your favourite playmate, Arnie,’ she said.

  It had been Tommy’s idea to let Drew play with Arnie, and he’d been spot-on about it. Arnie brought out the generous side of Drew and he acted like a big brother to the baby. Tommy had brought him twice before, just for fifteen minutes each time to see how they’d get on. But it was clear Drew loved visiting, and he was always very careful with Arnie, although Tommy never left them unsupervised.

  ‘Good morning Drew,’ Betsy called out. ‘Come on in out of the cold. It’s good to see you. Arnie couldn’t wait to have his friend over again.’

  ‘Hi Arnie!’ Drew shouted. ‘Do you want to play cars?’

  ‘Morning Tommy,’ Betsy said as he stepped into the house behind Drew. ‘Thanks so much for bringing him again. Arnie loves it as much as Drew does.’

  ‘It’s great,’ Tommy said, smiling. ‘It’s very good for Drew to feel like the bigger, in control person. I think he really loves that feeling.’

  They went into the kitchen and Drew took out his box of cars. Betsy laid down the playmat so Arnie could sit safely, then she put a car into his hand.

  ‘Coffee, Tommy?’ she asked.

  ‘Lovely, than
k you,’ Tommy said, watching the boys like a hawk. There was no need to worry, though. Drew zoomed the cars around and Arnie watched in wide-eyed fascination.

  Tommy and Betsy sat at the table to drink their coffees.

  ‘How’s he doing?’ Betsy asked, nodding at Drew. ‘Do you think he’s gotten over what happened?’

  ‘I wouldn’t say he’s over it,’ Tommy said, ‘because it will probably always be with him, but I think he’s happier in himself alright. He’s learning to trust that the house is a safe space now, but it’ll take time.’

  Betsy shook her head. ‘I still can’t believe it was going on, Tommy, and I never guessed it. Did you know?’

  ‘I felt there were things Pearl wasn’t telling me, but it’s very awkward when you’re living with people the way I do. You’re trying to be the perfect guest all the time, even though it’s meant to be your home. I thought the marriage wasn’t happy, but I didn’t realise that Seth actually hit Pearl.’

  ‘That man doesn’t deserve either of them,’ Betsy said. ‘I hope he never comes near here again.’

  ‘He won’t,’ Tommy said. ‘He sent Pearl a message saying he didn’t want to lay eyes on them again, and that was music to her ears. And he knows she’ll tell the police if he does try to make contact.’

  ‘She must be so relieved,’ Betsy said. ‘I hope the three of you will be really happy together now, a happy little family unit.’

  Tommy took a gulp of coffee and said nothing. He looked over at the two boys.

  ‘I’d say Drew is so happy that it’s just the three of you now,’ she said. ‘That’ll really help him to get over the past.’

  ‘I’m there for Drew as his minder,’ Tommy said. ‘I’m still just an employee. I wouldn’t be calling us a family now or anything like that.’ He got up and went over to play cars with the boys, running the cars along the tiled floor and letting them skid away. Arnie loved it and clapped his hands.

  ‘Again, Tommy, again,’ Drew shouted.

  It was wonderful to see Drew laughing and relaxed again, but Betsy was a bit taken aback by Tommy’s reaction. He really hadn’t liked her talking about him as part of Drew’s family, and she kicked herself for being so persistent. Of course, it was none of her business what set-up Pearl and Tommy had, and she’d clearly made him uncomfortable by talking about it so openly. But Pearl had given the impression that they were a couple, so she’d presumed he’d move in now and they’d be together as a family. Did I get the wrong end of the stick, Betsy worried, or did Pearl?