Changing Places (27 page)

Anna nodded. ‘Yes, please.’

When the phone rang, Liam ignored it, concentrating instead on shaving without cutting himself to ribbons. His mother had been on twice already. Had he remembered to iron his
shirt? And then, a few minutes later, had he polished his shoes?

‘For God’s sake, Mum, will you please stop calling me? I’m not a child.’

‘Shoes say a lot about a person,’ his mother went on, undeterred. ‘Now don’t forget, call me as soon as you get out, won’t you? Better still, drop over and
I’ll make us a nice bit of dinner.’

‘I don’t know, Mum—’

‘Oh, do. Sure, where else have you to go?’

Liam had smiled at his mother’s tactlessness. ‘Okay, then. See you later.’

Now, as he splashed his face with water and patted it dry, his thoughts turned to the interview ahead. He was perfect for the job, he knew that, but what he didn’t know was what his
competition was like. How many other guys out there fancied themselves as the future Factory Manager of Elektrix Ireland? It was a wonderful position in a great company that had been expanding
steadily since it came to Ireland five years ago. Liam had done his homework and knew that this was a company that was going places. Unlike Patterson’s, it was more innovative and used the
latest technology, something that made the job even more attractive. For years, Liam had had to work with ancient computer systems and meagre budgets, and it would be refreshing to be able to
concentrate on the job at hand rather than worry about whether the payroll system would screw up the salary slips this month or the thirty-year-old forklift would break down.

He showered and dressed quickly, his fingers trembling slightly as he knotted his tie. ‘You’ll do,’ he said, eyeing his reflection and splashing on some of the Boss aftershave
Anna had bought him. For a moment, he thought about calling her but if he did that, they’d probably end up rowing and that was the last thing he needed right now. He felt a bit hurt that Anna
hadn’t called to wish him luck. Maybe she’d forgotten all about it. Maybe she didn’t give a damn one way or the other. Banishing her from his head, Liam shrugged into his jacket
and went downstairs to collect his briefcase. He was early but he wasn’t quite sure where the Elektrix premises were so he didn’t want to take any chances. He found his keys, locked up
the house and went out to Anna’s car.

It felt cold and damp inside and there was a faint smell of Anna’s perfume. Liam closed his eyes briefly and inhaled. When he opened them again, he looked around him, smiling at the
uncharacteristic tidiness. Since she occasionally had to ferry clients around, Anna had been forced to change her ways. Before she went to work for Mark, her car had been like a travelling
wardrobe, with make-up and hair products crammed in the glove compartment, and spare jackets and tights tossed on the back seat. Today, some lip balm and a hairbrush were the only personal items in
evidence. As Liam guided the car out of the estate, he sighed heavily, aware of an aching loneliness inside that had nothing to do with the fact that Anna was in Spain. He had been alone for a lot
longer than that.

He and Anna had really drifted apart and neither of them had made much effort to pull things together again. The episode with Tara had been the final straw; although Liam thought it had just
brought things to a head sooner rather than later. He wondered sometimes if Anna secretly despised him for losing his job. Perhaps she thought he was to blame and was disappointed in him . . . He
jumped as the car behind him blasted its horn because the traffic-light had changed. ‘Okay, okay, I’m going.’ He waved a hand at the irate driver and forced himself to take deep
breaths and focus all his concentration on the interview ahead. This was the first chance he’d had to put things right and he wasn’t going to screw it up.

‘Alex! I’m warning you. Pick up those toys or there’ll be no treats for you today.’

‘Don’t care, don’t want any treats.’

‘Don’t be so cheeky. What would your mum say?’

Alex shrugged. ‘Don’t care.’

Gary sighed and counted to ten. Volunteering to mind Alex during the summer holidays had been madness. Work was easy compared to keeping a five-year-old occupied and happy, twelve hours a day.
Of course, Alex was never like this with Rachel. She knew exactly what to say when he was acting up. Gary racked his brains. What would she do in this situation? An idea suddenly came to him.
‘Come on, if we clear this mess up we’ll be able to set up your racing track.’

Alex’s head whipped around, his eyes lighting up. ‘Really?’

‘Sure, but I warn you, I’m going to win.’

‘No chance,’ Alex told him, bending to pick up toys. ‘I’m Michael Schumacher!’

‘Are you indeed? Well, even he loses sometimes.’

‘Hardly ever,’ his son assured him.

The two of them tidied away the toys and Gary fetched the racing track down from the attic.

‘Daddy, when is Mummy coming home?’

‘Sunday, sweetheart – the day after tomorrow.’

Alex bent his head over his car, pushing it backwards and forwards on the ground next to his father’s knee.

Gary looked down at the small blond head. ‘Do you miss her, mate?’

Alex nodded.

Gary hugged him briefly. ‘She’ll be back before you know it. Now come on, get your car ready for defeat.’

Alex frowned. ‘What’s defeat mean?’

His father grinned. ‘It means I’m going to beat you.’

‘No way!’

Gary had managed, with great effort, to lose for the third time when the phone rang.

‘Hello?’

‘Hi, Gary.’

‘Rachel! How are you?’

‘Fine, thanks.’

‘That’s good. Weather nice?’

‘Lovely.’

‘Want to talk to your son and heir?’

‘Yes, please.’

‘Alex, it’s Mum.’ Gary held out the phone.

Alex, now absorbed in his racing, turned impatient eyes on his father. ‘I’m busy.’

‘Don’t be cheeky, say hello to your mum.’

Alex took the phone. ‘Hi, Mum,’ he mumbled.

‘Hello, darling. How are you?’

‘Okay.’

‘And what are you doing now?’

‘Playing with my racing track.’ Alex brightened. ‘I keep beating Daddy. I’m Michael Schumacher!’

‘Oh, really. That’s great, darling.’

‘Bye, Mum.’ Alex shoved the phone into his father’s hand and went back to his cars.

‘Alex? Alex?’

‘He’s gone,’ Gary told her. ‘Sorry about that but we are in the middle of a game.’

‘Oh!’

‘No need to sound so surprised,’ Gary muttered.

‘No, I’m not. Sorry, darling. Look, I’ll leave you to it.’

Gary immediately felt bad for snapping at her. ‘We’ll pick you up from the airport on Sunday.’

‘Oh, are you sure? It’s very early.’

‘Yeah, well our son doesn’t exactly sleep late, does he?’

Rachel laughed. ‘No, he doesn’t, does he? That would be great, thanks, Gary.’

‘No problem. See you then. Bye, sweetheart.’ Gary hung up and returned to Alex’s side but his mind was on his wife.

She didn’t sound quite as hostile as she usually did. Maybe this break had been exactly what she needed. Being at home with Alex all the time wasn’t as easy as he had thought it
would be. Though he’d enjoyed these few days with his son, there had been times when he’d been ready to throttle him, and as for the cleaning, dressing and feeding . . . the routine was
mind-numbingly boring.

Maybe he’d been unfair to Rachel, leaving her to do all the work around the house and disappearing to the golf course most weekends. His guilt grew as he thought of her swollen ankles and
the way he often woke in the night to find her sitting up reading or pacing the floor. She had been having a rough time and he had been so caught up in his own life that he hadn’t really
noticed. Alex’s delighted surprise this week when Gary had offered to play with him or take him somewhere had made him feel very small indeed. And as he’d listened to his son’s
excited chatter each day, he’d come to realize how little he knew about what went on in Alex’s life.

Now with a baby on the way, Alex would inevitably be side-lined while they came to grips with the new routine. He would have to talk to Rachel about that. They’d have to make a special
effort not to exclude their elder son, and make sure he knew that he was still loved.

‘Daddy, come on! It’s your turn.’

Gary laughed at his son’s impatience. ‘Okay, okay, I’m coming – and this time I’m going to beat you!’

‘What is going on with those two?’ Shay nodded his head towards his daughters as he followed his wife into the kitchen.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Oh, come on, Bridie, they’re always at each other. I thought we’d have some fun this week but all they do is mope around or snap at each other. It’s a good job
Jill’s here. Mind you, even she seems to be in a world of her own sometimes.’

Bridie’s smile was tolerant as she made the tea. ‘Don’t be so hard on them. Anna is worried about Liam and Rachel isn’t well and she’s probably missing
Alex.’

Shay shot her a knowing look. ‘There’s more to it than that.’

Bridie turned away to take the cups down. ‘I don’t know what you’re on about.’

‘All right, keep me in the dark – sure, I’m used to it. You girls never tell me anything.’

Bridie turned back to him and patted his cheek. ‘You concentrate on your diet and let me worry about the girls.’

‘They are okay though, aren’t they?’ He glanced up at her, his eyes filled with concern.

‘They are, love, they are.’

‘I’m going for a walk,’ Anna announced as they were sitting around the apartment later that afternoon.

Rachel got slowly to her feet. ‘I’ll come with you.’

‘Actually, I’d rather go alone, if you don’t mind.’

‘Anna!’ Bridie glared at her elder daughter.

Rachel shrugged. ‘It’s okay. She walks too fast for me anyway.’

‘I wouldn’t mind going for a paddle, Rache,’ Jill said.

‘Ooh, yes, good idea.’ Bridie clapped her hands.

‘Okay then.’ Rachel shook her head as the door banged after Anna. ‘What’s eating her?’

‘I think she wants to phone Liam,’ Jill confided. ‘He had an interview today.’

‘Oh, so he did.’ Bridie crossed herself. ‘Please God he’ll get it.’

‘I hope he does,’ Rachel said with feeling. ‘Maybe she’ll be easier to live with.’

Shay was settling down for a snooze as the three women finally left the apartment.

‘I can’t believe tomorrow’s our last day,’ Jill said as they made their way down to the golden beach.

‘We must do something special,’ Bridie announced. ‘We could take a run over to Granada if you like.’

‘Isn’t that very far?’ Rachel looked doubtful.

‘No, not at all and it’s very pretty.’

‘Oh, I don’t know, Mam. You know I get tired easily and the heat is bound to be worse inland.’ Rachel leaned on her mother for support as she bent to take off her sandals.

‘Okay then, why don’t we make a nice picnic and take it down to one of the lovely little beaches along the coast?’

Rachel wrinkled her nose. ‘I’m not that keen on eating outside, not with all the flies.’

‘I’d quite like a lazy day, hanging around the pool,’ Jill said, bending to scoop the cool seawater on to her arms and chest. ‘It’s going to be hectic in work next
week and I want to make the most of my last day and really relax.’

Bridie’s eyes lit up. ‘I know – we could book another session with Maria!’

Rachel finally looked enthusiastic. ‘Oh yes, I wouldn’t mind another go at that reflexology.’

‘I’ll treat you,’ Bridie told her.

‘Thanks, Mam.’

‘And what about you, Jill? What do you fancy?’

‘One of those wonderful head and neck massages. I nearly fell asleep the last time.’

‘That Swedish girl, Steffi, does a great massage,’ Bridie told her. ‘I’ll drop into Maria’s later and arrange it.’

‘What about Anna?’ Jill asked. ‘Should we book something for her?’

‘A facial to get rid of some of those frownlines,’ Rachel said bitchily.

Bridie gave her younger daughter a gentle push. ‘Don’t be horrible.’

‘Well, she deserves it,’ Rachel retorted. ‘She’s so caught up in her own little world. She has a face on her a mile long because Liam lost his job, but she’s not
worried about
him
. She’s just afraid that there won’t be enough money for socializing with all her fancy friends.’

‘That’s enough, Rachel.’ Bridie’s smile had disappeared.

‘Oh, that’s right, I’m not allowed to say anything about darling Anna. She can do no wrong in your eyes, can she, Mam?’

‘Ah, Rache.’ Jill put a hand on her cousin’s arm. ‘Leave it.’

Tears sprang to Rachel’s eyes. ‘Oh, I’m the villain, am I? Just because I say what you’re all thinking.’

‘I think you should go back to the apartment and have a lie-down,’ Bridie replied. ‘Maybe when you wake up you’ll be able to talk some sense.’

With an angry snort, Rachel turned awkwardly on her heel and lumbered away.

‘She doesn’t mean it.’ Jill linked an arm through her aunt’s.

‘I don’t know about that, love. Those two are always at each other’s throats when they used to be thick as thieves.’

‘People change and they are both stressed out at the moment.’

Bridie stopped and turned to face her niece. ‘You’ve been a good friend to them, Jill. I’m glad they have you.’

‘They’re good to me too.’

‘I’m not so sure about that,’ Bridie said as they continued their walk. ‘I never hear them asking you about what’s going on in your life at all.’

‘Oh, they do of course.’

‘So tell me.’

‘Sorry?’

‘What is going on in your life?’ Bridie prompted.

Jill smiled. ‘Not a lot.’

‘Oh, go away out of that! Anna tells me you’re a real career woman.’

Jill laughed. ‘I was, but I’m not so sure any more.’

Bridie frowned. ‘Why, love, what’s wrong?’

‘Oh, there’s a guy snapping at my heels at the moment and he’s doing a very good job of making me look bad.’

‘That’s terrible! But you’re such a clever girl, I’m sure you’ll see him off, no problem.’

‘You know, Aunty, I’m not sure I want to? I think I’m ready for a change.’