First We Take Manhattan

by Colette Caddle

  Ellen looked at her in disbelief. ‘What do you mean, if?’

  ‘Yeah, well, exactly.’

  ‘When is the show?’

  Krystie turned terrified eyes on her. ‘Three weeks.’

  ‘Holy shit! Call her again, right now, and tell her it’s urgent.’

  ‘You’re right, I will.’ Krystie picked up her phone and called her boss. She looked at Ellen. ‘It’s gone straight to her voicemail.’

  ‘Leave a message.’

  She nodded. ‘Sinéad, it’s Krystie. I know you’re busy but I have something really important I need to talk to you about ASAP. Please call. Bye.’ She hung up and started to prowl the room like a caged animal. ‘We can’t miss this opportunity, Ellen, this is huge.’

  ‘Life changing, huh?’

  ‘Yes. Apart from a springboard to finding distribution in Manhattan, if Sheila is there and is following the fashion scene, she would be sure to hear about it.’

  ‘In that case, Krystie, you’re going to impersonate your boss.’

  Krystie stared at her. ‘I can’t do that!’

  Ellen crossed her arms. ‘Sinéad wants to find Sheila more than anything else in the world. If she were here what would she do?’

  ‘Call them,’ Krystie said, and reached for the phone.

  ‘That’s my girl. I’d better get back to work. Let me know how you get on.’

  After Krystie had talked to the receptionist from hell and been put on hold for twenty minutes she was finally put through to a coordinator, who gave her instructions that she scribbled down furiously.

  ‘Honey, I don’t know who you know or how you managed to pull this off but you better make the most of it,’ the guy said. ‘This is one hell of an opportunity.’

  ‘Believe me, I know. Is there any particular style you think we should go for? We have many designs but at the moment they’re aimed at the European market.’

  ‘Bring everything you’ve got and decide when you get here,’ he advised, ‘but I believe straw is big this year.’

  ‘Thank you so much,’ Krystie said excitedly and, after putting down the phone, she danced around the room. ‘Oh, my God, we’re going to New York Fashion Week!’ She sat down again at her laptop and went on Skype, whooping when she saw that Sandy was online. She put on her headphones and dialled.

  ‘Krystie, hey!’ Sandy smiled and waved at her. ‘I was just thinking about you. I can’t believe I’ll be in Ireland in six weeks. I’m so excited.’

  ‘I might see you before then,’ Krystie said, although she realised that Sinéad might well go alone. ‘But I need your help, and Phyllis’s, too.’

  ‘Phyllis? Are you looking for your job back?’

  ‘No way, I’m a milliner now, Sandy,’ she said, proud just saying that. ‘I need you guys to do a little research for me. Sinéad’s been invited to take part in New York Fashion Week.’ She pulled off her headphones as Sandy shrieked.

  ‘OMG! You’re kidding me, right?’

  Krystie grinned at her. ‘I’m not, and please don’t scream again or you’re going to deafen me.’

  ‘This is so exciting!’

  ‘It is, but do me a favour. Ask Phyllis if she has any contacts that can give us the lowdown on what to expect. I don’t want us going in there looking like novices.’

  ‘Oh, I wish I could be there,’ Sandy wailed.

  ‘Me too, but you know only buyers can get tickets. They’re like gold dust.’

  ‘I’ll talk to Phyllis as soon as I get to work. She’ll be thrilled. She always had a soft spot for you.’

  Krystie laughed. ‘Yeah, sure, that’s why she fired me. Look, I’d better go. I have a lot to do.’

  ‘Okay, Irish, get to it, and remember me when you’re famous.’ Sandy waved.

  Krystie blew her a kiss. ‘You bet!’

  Chapter Thirty-six

  ‘Max!’ Krystie could have cried with relief when she looked up from her sewing to see him standing there. She turned down the radio before standing to embrace him.

  ‘Ask me how my day’s been,’ he murmured into her hair.

  She stood back and took in his pale face and weary expression. ‘What’s happened now?’

  ‘Later,’ he muttered and, sitting down in her chair, he pulled her onto his lap.

  Much later, Krystie slipped downstairs and, when she returned with coffee, he was walking out of the bathroom straightening his tie. ‘Feeling better?’ she asked, putting down the cups.

  His arms encircled her waist. ‘Much,’ he said, and kissed her before settling down in Sinéad’s chair and reaching for the coffee.

  ‘I wish you weren’t going over to your dad’s tonight. You’ve all been through quite enough shocks today. And wouldn’t it be better to hold the press conference before you confront him? Afterwards, he may not agree to take part, and that will seem odd.’

  ‘I hadn’t thought of that,’ he admitted. ‘But Philip had it all organised. If he won’t attend we can always say he’s ill. It’s not like he’s going to tell anyone otherwise.’

  ‘You know, Max, I like your dad.’

  He gave a brief laugh, his eyes cold. ‘Yeah, most women do. Sinéad says it’s his big sad eyes – they want to mother him.’

  ‘Maybe, but he doesn’t behave like a womaniser. Even Beth jokes about him looking like a rabbit caught in headlights the first time she approached him.’

  ‘However he may “appear” to you or Beth, Krystie, I have it in writing from his wife and sister-in-law exactly what kind of man he was. Perhaps he has changed but it doesn’t absolve him of what he did to my mother.’

  ‘No, of course it doesn’t.’ She reached for his hand. ‘I’m sorry. I’m not trying to upset you.’

  ‘I’m sorry, too. I suppose I’m a bit on edge.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘I should be making tracks. I want to shower and change before I pick up Sinéad and Sheila.’

  ‘Oh, shit, Sinéad! I forgot to tell you.’

  ‘What?’

  She told him quickly about New York Fashion Week and he shook his head in disbelief before lifting her in his arms and swinging her round.

  ‘You are one bloody incredible woman, Krystie Kelliher, do you know that?’ He set her back on her feet and kissed her. ‘I love you.’

  She stared into his eyes, warmed by the tenderness she saw there. ‘And I love you, Max Fields, so very much.’

  ‘More than Jacob?’ He watched her steadily.

  ‘Who’s Jacob?’ she said and leaned in to kiss him.

  He held her at bay. ‘That doesn’t answer the question.’

  She sighed. ‘More than Jacob, Max. More than any man I have ever met. I love you, just you.’

  He kissed her again and groaned. ‘I wish I didn’t have to leave you.’

  ‘Could I come with you and stay at the apartment? I’d like to be there when you got home – if you don’t mind,’ she added uncertainly.

  He raised an eyebrow. ‘Mind? I’m the one who wants you to move in, remember?’

  She held his gaze. ‘Really?’

  ‘Really.’

  ‘Then I’ll tell Sharon tomorrow that I’m moving out at the weekend.’

  He kissed her long and hard. ‘You won’t regret it, Krystie.’

  On the way to the apartment, Max called Sinéad on the hands-free phone. ‘Tell her the news, Krystie. It’s exactly the lift that she needs before we confront Dad.’

  He was right of course, and Krystie grinned delightedly at him as Sinéad shrieked at the other end of the phone.

  ‘I don’t know what to say, Krystie,’ she said, her voice emotional. ‘This is amazing. How can I ever thank you?’

  ‘You know I’m not sure how any of it works yet, Sinéad,’ Krystie warned, panicking. ‘We may only get five minutes on the runway—’

  ‘On a Manhattan runway! Don’t worry, Krystie, I’ll take over now and I’ll talk to Sheila about it. You can concentrate on designing.’

  ‘I will,’ Krystie laughed, but after
they’d said goodbye she started to wonder where exactly she stood now that Sheila was back.

  ‘You’re very quiet,’ Max remarked.

  ‘I was just thinking about work.’

  ‘There’s no need to feel threatened by Sheila. She won’t be coming back to work with Sinéad.’

  Krystie stared at him. How did he always seem to know what she was thinking? And then his words sank in. ‘Sheila’s not coming back?’

  ‘No, it turns out she never wanted to be a milliner. She just did it for Sinéad. Now she’s doing what she loves most, painting, and she plans to make Manhattan her home.’

  ‘Oh, wow,’ Krystie said, surprised and relieved, too. ‘I never knew that she wanted to be an artist.’

  ‘No,’ he sighed, ‘neither did we.’

  ‘Are you sure you don’t mind me leaving you to look after Karl?’ Sheila asked Philip as he leaned against the door watching her get ready.

  ‘Of course not. It will be a pleasure. He’s a charming man. And it might do him good to get a break from you lot,’ he joked. ‘I can tell him the rest of the family secrets.’

  ‘That could take a while.’ She smiled. Any nervousness she had expected to feel with Philip had disappeared as soon as he’d opened the front door. There was no doubting that he was happy to see her, despite the fact that her reappearance could cause huge upheaval in his life.

  ‘So how did Max and Sinéad take the news about me?’ he asked, trying and failing to sound nonchalant.

  ‘It was a shock of course, but once they realised that I was okay with it and that we are still close friends they were happy.’

  ‘Your dad won’t be.’

  ‘Who cares what he thinks?’ she said, going to the walk-in wardrobe and putting on one of her favourite dresses. She came back out to him, smoothing it down over her hips. ‘Do me up?’

  He pulled up the zipper and gave a low whistle. ‘You look good enough to eat – but are you not a little overdressed for a family punch-up?’

  She grinned. ‘I don’t care. I am so fed up wearing drab dreary clothes and trainers.’

  ‘Trainers?’ Philip looked at her in horror.

  ‘I know.’ She padded over to the closet and smiled at the rows of beautiful shoes. ‘You have no idea how much I’ve missed these.’ She slipped on a pair of black suede stilettos, walked to the full-length mirror and studied her image, frowning. ‘Maybe it is a bit much.’

  ‘No. Red for battle and height for intimidation. Show your father that you mean business.’

  She sat down on the bed. ‘Philip, you need to be careful. You can’t let anyone know that you knew where I was all along. It could land you in really big trouble, and it would almost certainly end your career. I almost tripped myself up with Max but I got away with it. Although I know I could trust him, I think he would be very upset if he thought that you knew I was alive all the time and never said anything.’

  He sat down beside her. ‘I hated it, Sheila, every moment of it, and, to be honest, there were times when I hated you for putting me in that position.’

  She put her hand on his arm. ‘I’m sorry.’

  He shook his head. ‘Don’t apologise. I played my part, a big part, in tipping you over the edge and once you were gone I felt I owed it to you to support your decision. I’m just saying it was hard. Especially with Sinéad. You know I never really saw you as identical but after you were gone every time I looked at her . . .’ He trailed off.

  Sheila put her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. ‘I thought of you a lot. I worried about you.’

  ‘Yeah?’

  She lifted her head and smiled. ‘Yeah.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Sheila,’ he said, tears in his eyes. ‘I never wanted to hurt you.’

  ‘I know that but it would have hurt me more in the long run, if you’d tried to live a lie. And it wouldn’t have been a problem at all if I hadn’t discovered all the family secrets the same day.’

  ‘Families, eh?’ He sighed.

  She looked at him. ‘Have you told them?’

  ‘No way! Trust me, when I come out my folks will be the last ones to hear the news.’

  She looked into his eyes. ‘Are you sure that you’re ready to come out?’

  ‘No, but it is the perfect opportunity to make a fresh start.’

  ‘But it doesn’t have to be a public one,’ she argued. ‘If we get an official separation and people see that it is amicable and that we’re still good friends they will accept it and draw their own conclusions. It would be all more natural and low-key, wouldn’t that be better?’

  ‘It would certainly be easier but it doesn’t seem fair to Jonathan.’

  ‘If he loves you he will want what’s best for you.’ She held up her hands as he went to reply. ‘Sorry, it’s none of my business. You do what you think is best, Philip, and I will support you.’

  He smiled. ‘I’m so happy that you’ve met someone too, Sheila.’

  ‘It’s early days but, yes, I really like Zach; I think you will, too.’

  ‘I intend to spend dinner questioning Karl to make sure he’s good enough for my very best friend.’

  ‘I have missed you, Philip.’ She hugged him.

  ‘Me too, darling, especially your organisational and cooking skills.’

  ‘Typical.’ She stood up and straightened her skirt. ‘You must come and visit us in New York, both of you.’

  ‘We’ll come for your first exhibition,’ he said with a grin.

  ‘Ha! Don’t hold your breath. But I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoy it. Once I pick up a brush I completely lose track of time.’

  ‘Have you broken the news to Sinéad that you don’t plan to move home permanently?’

  She shook her head. ‘No, but I think she’s guessed.’

  The doorbell rang and she stiffened.

  He looked at her, his eyes full of sympathy. ‘Are you ready for this?’

  She straightened her shoulders and nodded. ‘Ready.’

  When they went downstairs Karl was in the hall with Max and she smiled at the similarities between the two men.

  ‘You look ready for combat,’ her brother said.

  ‘Believe me, I am.’

  ‘Give your dad my number, Sheila,’ Karl said. ‘I’d like to talk to him as soon as possible. He may be the only one who can shed any light on who my father was.’

  Sheila watched Max’s expression darken as he turned slowly to face Karl. ‘I haven’t told you everything that was in your mother’s letter. Let’s go and sit down.’

  Sheila stood, not sure what to do. ‘Will we wait here?’

  Karl put his arm around her. ‘No, sweetheart, no more secrets,’ and they all followed Max into the sitting room.

  They sat, but Max stood in front of the fireplace, with his hands behind his back and looking very uncomfortable. ‘I’m sorry, Karl, I really didn’t want to tell you this. I’d hoped that after all this time you wouldn’t care.’ He shook his head. ‘Stupid I know. But I couldn’t let you waste your time looking for a boyfriend that never existed.’

  ‘Don’t drag it out, Max,’ Sheila said, looking worriedly at Karl’s pallor.

  ‘No, please just tell me,’ Karl agreed quietly.

  ‘Your mother was raped, Karl. She was on her way home one evening and she was raped. And she never even told anyone. She was so embarrassed and ashamed she said nothing. It was only when she realised that she was pregnant she told her parents, our grandparents, and they packed her off to her uncle in Boston.’

  Sheila put an arm around Karl’s shoulders. ‘I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Thank you for telling me, Max. I can’t say that possibility hadn’t occurred to me. In a way it makes it easier for me to accept why she rejected me.’

  ‘She didn’t reject you,’ Sheila said, taking his hand. ‘She rejected what happened to her and tried to forget it. I’m sure that I would have done the same in her position. You know she was never able to show affection or
be comfortable in the company of men. Now I know why.’

  ‘But in more recent years she seemed content,’ Max told him, ‘and apparently did a lot of work in her community, particularly helping children who’d been bereaved or abused.’

  ‘And there was a huge turnout for her funeral,’ Philip added, ‘and people had nothing but good things to say.’

  ‘That’s nice to know. Thank you.’

  Max looked at his watch. ‘I’m sorry to drop this bombshell and run, Karl, but we really should be going.’

  He stood up. ‘Of course. Good luck to you both. I hope it’s not too difficult an evening.’

  Max put a hand on his shoulder. ‘I hope I haven’t ruined your evening.’

  ‘Not at all, Max. Just like Sheila, I came to Dublin for answers.’

  When they went into the hall, Sheila kissed Philip’s cheek. ‘Look after him for me,’ she murmured.

  ‘I will. Good luck, Sheila. You too, Max.’

  Max turned to his brother-in-law and Sheila looked on stunned as her brother gave her husband a quick hug. ‘Thanks, Philip, for everything.’

  ‘What now?’ Sinéad said from the back of the car, nervous now they were here. She’d chattered all the way here about the wonderful news from New York and the ideas she had for the collection. She owed Krystie so much, so very much. She couldn’t believe what was happening. It was a dream come true. But now they sat in Max’s car outside Dad’s house and the reality of what they were about to do blotted out everything else.

  ‘Maybe Sinéad, you and I should go in first and tell him what we’ve discovered and then come and get Sheila,’ Max said.

  ‘What do you think?’ Her sister turned to her, looking as nervous and uncertain as Sinéad felt.

  ‘I think that’s a good idea. The shock of seeing you might stop him from taking in anything we’re saying. Max can tell him what he discovered today and I can confirm it and then we can tell him that’s why you left and come and get you. Okay?’