Behind Every Cloud (53 page)

Ronan and Sam arrived in Blessington at noon on Sunday to find a wonderful lunch awaiting them. Sam had met
Doris before when she came to visit Fiona in the apartment but this was the first time he had visited her home
.

“
Congratulations, sweetie! You look marvellous,
”
he said as he hugged Fiona
“
Where
’
s this little fellow of yours then?
”

She pointed to the pram where Oisín was sleeping peacefully.

Sam looked in at him and was amazed to see how tiny
he was.
“
Gosh, were we all that small once?
”
he asked, his v
oice full of awe.

“
I guess so,
”
Ronan said, laughing as he hugged Fiona and Doris.

Sam had brought Oisín a silver money-box into which he
’
d placed a large euro note. Ronan
’
s gift was a silver frame which he
’
d had engraved with Oisín
’
s name, date of birth and birth weight. Also, thanks to his redundancy money, he
could now afford to give Fiona a substantial cheque for Oisín, to buy whatever she wanted
with it. He k
new that supplying a small baby with everything it needed c
ould be very expensive and Fiona had limited means now and no support from the father.

“
Thank you, Sam,
”
she said, kissing him as she saw the money-box with the €100 note sticking up out of it.
“
I
’
ll be able to borrow off him now.
”

They all laughed. She read his card and put it on the mantelpiece with all the other cards.

Then she opened Ronan
’
s present.
“
Oh, that
’
s lovely
,
Ronan
!
How sweet of you to have it engraved.
”
She showed it to her mother who added her appreciation. She then opened his card and gasped in shock at the cheque for €500.
“
Oh, Ronan, I couldn
’
t possibly accept this,
”
she cried.
“
It
’
s far too much.
”

“
Of course you can. As his godfather I would like to have bought his bedroom furniture or pram or something but I wouldn
’
t have a clue what to get, so I
’
ll leave it up to you to get whatever you need for him.
”

Fiona reached up and kissed him on the cheek.
“
You
’
re far too good.
”

“
Come along, boys,
”
called Doris, seeing that her daughter was getting emotional.
“
Lunch is ready.
”

They sat down and surveyed the wonderful spread.

“
You shouldn
’
t have gone to so much trouble,
”
Ronan protested.

“
Nonsense! It could be well nigh on five before we get to eat this afternoon and I know how hungry young men can get,
”
Doris proclaimed.

“
It
’
s been a while since anyone called me a young man,
”
Ronan laughed and Sam and Fiona joined in.

“
It
’
s all relative,
”
Doris declared, cutting some of her delicious homemade soda bread for them. They devoured everything with gusto.

When lunch was over Fiona lifted the baby for a feed before dressing him up for the grand occasion.

“
Can I hold him?
”
Sam asked to Fiona
’
s surprise. He took him very gently from her and rocked him in his arms a
s he talked to him.
Oi
sín stared up at him, eyes
unblinking.

“
You
’
ll make some girl a great husband someday,
”
Ronan teased him.

“
Not on your life!
”
Sam answered with a snort as he handed the baby to Fiona
. “
I
’
m not the marrying kind.
”

The christening went off without a hitch. Oisín never made a sound, not even when the water was poured on his head
.
Ronan was very proud of him
,
as was Fiona.

After the church ceremony they moved on to Tulfarris House, a lovely hotel overlooking the lakes where they gathered for a wonderful meal and a fun evening.

They took numerous photographs outside and when Ronan held Oisín in his arms he felt a lump come into his throat. His biggest regret in life was that he and Louise had never had a child. He guessed there wasn
’
t much chance of it happening for him now. He couldn
’
t ever see himself getting married again. Once bitten, twice shy, he figured
.

Fiona searched Sam out and drew him into a quiet corner.

“
I
’
m a little tiddly,
”
Fiona laughed.
“
After nine months without alcohol, even one glass now goes to my head. I w
anted to talk to you, Sam
.”
She was looking very seriou
s.
“
Having Oisín has changed my
life completely.
”

“
I can imagine,
”
he remarked
. “
In more ways than one.
”

“
That
’
s it. Nothing prepared me for how I would feel about him. I can
’
t bear to be away from him for two seconds.
”

“
I have a feeling you
’
re trying to tell me something.
”
He raised his eyebrows enquiringly.

“
I hope you don
’
t mind, but I
’
ve decided I won
’
t be returning to work, not in the foreseeable future anyway. He
’
s too little to leave him in a crèche with strangers and I wouldn
’
t expect you to keep the job open for me. I hope you understand.
”
She looked at him worriedly.

“
Don
’
t worry,
”
he patted her hand.
“
Having met Oisín I can understand how you feel
.”

“
If you didn
’
t have Ronan, I wouldn
’
t let you down, you know.
”

“
I know that,
”
he smiled at her.
“
He is working out really well. I
’
m actually doing an overhaul of the shops at the moment so I
’
m glad you told me now rather than later when I
’
d have to maybe change things again. But if you ever do feel like coming back
,
you know I
’
ll always find a place for you somewhere.
”

“
I
’
m so glad you understand. Thank you, Sam. You and Ronan are two fantastic guys.
”

“
You enjoy that little man,
”
Sam said, giving her a hug before returning to the party.

Ronan returned to Dublin with Sam that evening having decided that
,
as he had a lift, he didn
’
t need to stay overnight. It had been a fabulous day.

“
Fiona is so happy with the baby. She
’
ll make a wonderful mother,
”
Sam observed.

“
Yes, indeed,
”
Ronan agreed.
“
I realise now what I
’
m missing.
”
He sighed.

“
I
’
m thinking of renting out my house and looking for something smaller
.
It holds too many memories for me. It
’
s hard to move on when Louise has been such a large part of my life there.
”

“
Good idea,
”
his friend advised.

That night Sam sat deep in thought as he considered how Fiona
’
s decision would affect his own. He had some serious thinking to do. Mmmm . . . things might work out well for everybody. Behind every cloud . . .

56

The second night that Rachel and Carl were in Cannes, they went out for dinner alone together. She chose a bottle of Burgundy Meurseult white wine to go with the starter of scallops and the main course of bass they
’
d ordered
.
It was delicious and he had to admit that she certainly had learnt a lot about wine since she
’
d started that course.

They walked along the promenade
,
La Croisette
,
afterwards and Carl suggested that they go into the Carlton Hotel for a drink.

“
A Perrier, please,
”
Rachel ordered from the handsome young waiter.

“
A Perrier,
”
Carl asked her, shocked.
“
Wouldn
’
t you like a glass of champagne?
”

“
No
,
thanks.
”
She looked at him levelly.
“
A Perrier is fine.
”

For some reason it made him uncomfortable. He
’
d intended tackling her about her drinking while they were here in France but it looked like he
’
d nothing to criticise any more.

“
I think it
’
s time you and I had a serious talk,
”
Rachel began.

“
About what?
”
he asked, sipping the Jack Daniels that he
’
d ordered.

“
About us, our marriage, where it
’
s going,
”
she replied coolly.

“
I think we
’
re fine.
”

“
Well, no
,
actually, we
’
re not.
”

He watched her sipping her Perrier, cool as a cucumber,
and felt a fear grip his insides
.

“
I strongly suspect that you
’
re having an affair back home. If you are, then I think you should at least be honourable enough to admit it.
”

Carl saw his whole world crumble before his eyes. What did she know? How should he proceed? He did as he always did when cornered – he acted like the wronged one.

“
How can you even think that?
”
he cried.
“
It
’
s not worthy of you – of us
!”

“
Are you denying it?
”

“
Of course!
I love you. You
’
re my life. I couldn
’
t do it without you.
”
He looked at her in anguish.

“
Oh
,
really? It doesn
’
t look like that from where I
’
m standing. Politics is your life. You love you. Being admired and worshipped by people who don
’
t really know you and who don
’
t care a shit about you, that
’
s your life, but it
’
s not mine.
”
She paused, then continued, her voice calm and collected,
“
I
’
ve supported you in everything you
’
ve done because I love you,
but if I
’
d known that it was going to change you so much then I
’
d never have gone along with it.
”