Finishing Touches (43 page)

Laura’s husband had just asked Aileen to dance.

‘Poor Doug!’ smirked Aileen. ‘He really got the rough end of the stick having to do these duty dances with his wife’s poor spinster friends. He’s a real
gentleman!’

Doug guffawed. ‘Some spinsters, and every man in the room drooling over the pair of you. Get out there, O’Shaughnessy, and let’s show these people how to dance.’

Aileen sashayed on to the dance-floor and began to boogie.

Laura burst out laughing. ‘Would you look at that one! She hasn’t changed one bit from when we were in Saint Imelda’s.’

‘Thank God,’ laughed Cassie. ‘We need someone like Aileen around. Speaking of Saint Imelda’s I met Sister Eileen the other day. She’s still the same as ever. She
was a dote, wasn’t she?’

Laura nodded. ‘We had great fun there. It was a good old school all the same, in spite of Mother Perpetua. We gave her an awful time, didn’t we?’

Cassie laughed. ‘Yeah, we sure did. We were little horrors and we thought we knew it all. Remember that priest who had the misfortune to give us a retreat?’

‘An experience the poor man never forgot, I’d say,’ smiled Laura as Aileen danced her way over to the table.

‘Come on! Stop sitting there like two ould wans having a natter and get up and dance. Doug says he’s man enough for three of us!’

‘Is he, now?’ grinned Cassie. ‘Come on, Laura, let’s get out there and strut our stuff!’

‘I’ve never danced so much in my life,’ she confessed about two hours later, as she and Aileen went out on the balcony to get some air.

‘So I noticed!’ grinned the redhead. ‘You’re getting on very well with Anthony Wilson,’ she added slyly. ‘Are we going to have another detective in the
family?’

Anthony Wilson was a detective friend of Ian’s, and Cassie and he had hit it off.

‘Don’t be daft! And besides, you can’t talk.
You’re
getting on very well indeed with Detective Hammond, if I’m not mistaken.’

‘Hmm,’ agreed Aileen, ‘he’s a bit of a dish, isn’t he? Six foot two, eyes of blue and gorgeous chestnut hair and you know how I like manly men? And Cassie, you know
something else? He’s got a hairy chest! What more could a girl want?’ Aileen giggled. She was ever so slightly tipsy.

‘How do you know that?’ Cassie laughed.

‘Well, he took off his tie and opened his top two shirt buttons and I could see a gorgeous dark shadow of brown hair. Oooh, I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Who would have thought
that Ian Murray would have such good-looking friends? Come on, let’s get back, in case Noreen Varling and her band of admirers snaffle them.’

‘There you are!’ a familiar voice said above Cassie’s left ear and she looked up to see Andrew Lawson, Judy’s boyfriend, smiling down at her. ‘Would you care to
dance?’

‘Sure,’ smiled Cassie. ‘Where’s Judy?’

‘She wasn’t feeling too good – a stomach bug – so I got a taxi for her and sent her home.’

‘I would have brought her,’ Cassie said in dismay. Judy had been awfully quiet in herself today and a bit pale-looking.

‘She didn’t want to make a fuss and spoil the wedding. She’ll be fine, honestly. It’s probably a twenty-four-hour flu.’

‘She should have told me all the same,’ Cassie frowned.

‘She’ll be fine,’ Andrew assured her as he put his arms around her and started to dance. ‘You look terrific today. Living in London obviously suits you.’ He smiled
down at her.

‘Thank you,’ Cassie said lightly. There was no doubt about it, Andrew Lawson was a very charming man. He had all the social graces and was very successful to boot. Judy was crazy
about him.

He guided her skilfully around the floor. ‘Judy tells me you’ve taken up interior decorating in your spare time.’

‘That’s right. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, so I’ve been making the most of my time in London by studying for a diploma,’ Cassie smiled.

‘Maybe you could do something with the penthouse some time you’re home,’ Andrew suggested. ‘It’s about time I had it redecorated.’

‘Well, I could come and have a look at it certainly,’ Cassie agreed. She’d been in the penthouse a couple of times and thought it was perfectly fine. The music turned into a
slow set and to her surprise, Judy’s boyfriend drew her closer. She hadn’t really expected this. He was holding her very tightly, intimately, and to her dismay Cassie realized that he
was having an erection.

‘Andrew, if you don’t mind, I’d like to sit this one out,’ she said coolly. He wasn’t drunk or anything like it – not that that would have been an excuse.
Anyway, she was damned if she was going to stay dancing with him.

‘This is nice. Aren’t you enjoying it?’ he murmured, nuzzling her ear, his hands sliding down over her hips. ‘I thought maybe when the wedding was over you and I could
get together. You’re a very desirable woman, Cassie. I’ve been watching you all day and I really like what I see. I think we should get to know each other. You like me too, I can
tell.’

Cassie couldn’t believe her ears. ‘Let go of me, Andrew Lawson!’ she snapped. ‘That is the most despicable thing I’ve heard in a long time. I hope Judy finishes
with you because you certainly don’t deserve her. Any man who could make a pass at a friend of his girlfriend is a creep!’

Andrew gave a short laugh. ‘What a remarkably old-fashioned way of looking at things. You surprise me! You’re living in the nineteen-eighties now, you know, not the
eighteen-eighties. Judy and I don’t feel we have to be imprisoned in our relationship. Both of us are free to do our own thing.’

‘How convenient for you, Andrew,’ Cassie said drily. ‘But if it’s all the same to you, I don’t want you doing “your own thing” with me.’ She
turned on her heel and walked away in disgust, leaving him alone on the dance-floor.

What a rat, she thought indignantly. It was quite obvious Andrew Lawson had not the slightest intention of being faithful to Judy and she would be mad to stay with him. Although she was tempted,
she decided not to tell Aileen and Laura of what had just occurred. There was no point in ruining their enjoyment of the reception. Besides, Aileen might go for Andrew baldheaded. She had a very
hot temper when roused.

The incident spoiled what was left of the evening for her as she argued with herself about whether or not she should tell Judy. It was a difficult one, really Judy would be devastated by
Andrew’s behaviour, as indeed would Cassie if she were in Judy’s shoes. If she didn’t tell her, she was letting a cad deceive a dear friend. Cassie wondered if Judy had any idea
that Andrew chatted up other women. Maybe she did; maybe she just turned a blind eye. It left her in a dilemma. Why did these things always happen to her? She had been minding her own business,
enjoying her sister’s wedding. Well, blast Andrew Lawson anyway!

‘Everything OK? You look as if you’d like to do somebody an injury,’ Aileen remarked, as Cassie sat down at the table.

‘Oh . . . everything’s fine,’ she lied. ‘I was just wondering what time Barbara’s going to leave. I think Mam and Ian’s parents are beginning to wilt.
It’s after midnight.’

‘Knowing Barbara, she’ll hang on as long as possible,’ Aileen retorted. She was dying to get the dishy Detective Hammond to herself for a while but she couldn’t be
ill-mannered and leave before Barbara. Not that she cared a whit about Barbara’s feelings but she wouldn’t be rude to Mrs Jordan.

‘Oh . . . hold on, I think she’s making a move,’ Cassie noted with satisfaction. By the time Barbara had changed into her going-away outfit and said her goodbyes, Cassie was
dead tired, and in the end it was a relief to wave the pair off on their honeymoon to New York. Having accompanied her mother and Aunt Elsie home and made tea for them, it was bliss to go and
snuggle down in her childhood bed and forget about Judy and Andrew and everything else and just fall asleep.

Irene lay in bed, wide-eyed, going over all the events of the day. Once the church bit was over, she had enjoyed being a bridesmaid. She had never had so many compliments in
her life and her feet were aching from dancing. She had liked some of Ian’s detective friends, especially the one Aileen had been with. She liked older men, she decided; they made her feel
protected.

What Irene craved more than anything else in the world was security. The thought of being alone and fending for herself filled her with dread and always had. When she left school and went into
that dreadful job in the County Council she realized immediately that she was trapped, owned body and soul by the system, from nine until five every single day, five days a week.

It had been a dreadful shock to her, having to sign in at nine each morning and sit under the gimlet eye of her supervisor, typing boring old letters until lunchtime, to have only an hour of
freedom and be held at the desk again until five.

When that horrible man in personnel, Timmy O’Dwyer, called her up to his office and told her that her sick-leave record was unsatisfactory and that they were going to stop her increment
and postpone making her a permanent and pensionable officer in the Council, she had been almost relieved. Timmy O’Dwyer would have made a great Nazi, with his crew-cut and hard, sneering
face. A rude, arrogant bully with absolutely no tact, he was hated by the entire department. Personnel officer, how are you! He hadn’t a clue. She was only sorry she hadn’t puked there
and then, just to show him that she was really sick. Sick of him and the job and terrified even at the prospect of having to work until it was time to collect a pension.

Irene sighed. She couldn’t understand the attitude of her friends and colleagues, who looked upon their careers as a challenge. She felt a bit out of it, really. Did anybody else feel as
she did? What Irene wanted was to marry a nice rich man who would look after her and protect her from the big bad world.

How she dreaded getting up for work in the mornings, knowing that if someone didn’t marry her she was going to be stuck in her job until she was sixty-five. Just thinking about it made her
heart beat faster and her stomach clench with tension. If only she weren’t such a scaredy-cat. More than anyone, she admired her sister Cassie, living on her own in London, doing all kinds of
courses and not worrying about whether she ever got married. Cassie didn’t mind the idea of working at all.

It wasn’t exactly that she didn’t like
working.
She had enjoyed her part-time job in the boutique in Port Mahon. It was the fact that from nine to five she had no control
over her life that depressed her. Her bosses told her what to do and how to do it. Even going to the loo was a big deal. It was this type of control that Irene found so stressful. At least, if she
were married, she could stay at home and look after her children and do her work how and when she wanted. She would be her own boss!

She wondered if Barbara and Ian were making love in the honeymoon suite of the International Airport Hotel where they were staying. She had a suspicion that Barbara was not a virgin. Once, when
her sister was home for the weekend, she noticed a packet of little white tablets sticking out of her toilet-bag. It had the days of the week marked on it, and Irene surmised that it was a
month’s supply of the contraceptive pill. She wished she had taken the giant step herself. At least when you had done it once, you would know what to expect and not have to worry about it.
After all, she was nineteen, probably the oldest virgin in Port Mahon.

Turning on her side, Irene hugged her old brown teddy. At least she didn’t have to go to work the next day. It was such a sweet thought. One of these days, her knight in shining armour
would come along and rescue her from her job in the County Council and that little weasel Timmy O’Dwyer. Irene fell asleep composing her letter of resignation.

Martin handed his girlfriend a cup of coffee and sat down beside her on the couch. He was staying the night in her parents’ house and he knew he’d be lucky even to
get a kiss. When they were in her home, Jean was very circumspect.

‘Barbara knows quite a few well-known people, doesn’t she?’ Jean remarked as she sipped her coffee.

‘She meets them through her job, I suppose,’ Martin yawned. Frankly he thought Barbara’s cronies were a pain in the neck but Jean seemed to enjoy their tittle-tattle and
gossiping.

‘It was a really nice wedding,’ Jean said wistfully, cuddling up against her boyfriend. Warning bells rang in Martin’s ears. Jean had been going on a lot lately about weddings
and houses and settling down, and Martin was beginning to get just a bit panicky. He really liked Jean; she was a young lady with a lot of class. He had known that from that first date when he had
been trying it on and she told him she was not that sort of girl and to keep his hands to himself. Martin, who was a popular guy with the girls, had not got that type of reaction before and it
piqued his interest. And his interest continued to be piqued as Jean stayed very cool in the face of his growing ardour. This woman was getting under his skin and he was quite enjoying it. But now
she had started going on about weddings and how she looked forward to settling down some time.

‘What’s the rush? You’re only twenty,’ he said lightly. He was just a few months older, and he had no intention of settling down for years.

‘I want to be young to enjoy my children. I want to create a lovely home. I like the idea of marriage very much,’ Jean told him in her breathy whispery voice, as she smiled into his
eyes. Martin had the strangest feeling that somehow he figured strongly in these plans. Barbara’s wedding had not helped one bit.

Jean tucked her arm in his and gazed wide-eyed at him with her big Bambi eyes. ‘If you were getting married, what kind of wedding would you like?’

‘I think I’d like to elope,’ Martin said hastily, as he planted a kiss on his girlfriend’s cheek and extricated himself. ‘I’m really whacked, Jeannie. I think
I’ll head on up to bed. See you in the morning.’ He practically took flight up the stairs, leaving the petite blonde sitting alone on the sofa, a pout of dismay on her face.

Upstairs in the guest-bedroom Martin loosened his tie. He put his hand in his breast pocket and took out a letter. It was from a company in Baghdad saying that his application for a job as an
electrician had been successful and wondering when it would be convenient for him to start work.