Foreign Affairs (47 page)

Kit thought Kathy and Kenny were ridiculously young to marry. Not of course that she’d been much older herself, but neither she nor her husband had ever had the opportunities that were
available to today’s young people. Kathy’s mother was ecstatic to have a daughter getting married. She’d given Kit a sly dig about things not working out between Brenda and
Eddie.

‘You must have been looking forward to a wedding yourself,’ she’d said with an air of smug superiority. As if to say my daughter’s made it. Yours hasn’t!

Kit had wanted to tell her not to be so bloody stupid. Marriage wasn’t the be-all or end-all these days. For God’s sake, Lizzie Cleary was in even worse circumstances than Kit, with
sons and daughters and a grandmother and an illegitimate grandchild and a husband who was as lazy as sin, all living in the same house. And this she considered better than being single.

If I’d had my time over again I might have done it all differently. If I’d known what was in store for me, Kit thought a trifle glumly. There’s worse things than being free and
single.

‘That was a nice wedding,’ Jim murmured. ‘Do you remember ours?’ Kit’s eyes softened as she looked at her husband. His hair was quite grey now, the lean trim figure
of his youth had gone soft and a bit paunchy. He looked very middle-aged. She sighed and slipped her hand in his. It wasn’t a bed of roses for him either. No doubt marriage wasn’t the
idyll he’d anticipated either. He couldn’t have foretold that his father would end up living with them.

The last year or so hadn’t been as bad as before, Kit conceded. Grandpa Myles was a bit more in awe of her since she’d drowned him with milk several years ago. And then she’d
gone out and made herself join clubs and the like in an effort to have some interests outside the home. She had trained herself to ignore her father-in-law’s diatribes. Most of the time now
it went in one ear and out the other. And she didn’t lose her temper or get hot under the collar as much as she had before. Kit had learned that the only person she was really upsetting when
she did that was herself. It was a pointless exercise.

She felt Jim give her hand a squeeze. Compared to many, the marriages of her dead mother-in-law and Lizzie Cleary being the two examples that sprang readily to mind, Kit supposed she and Jim
weren’t doing too badly.

‘Of course I remember.’ She smiled. ‘And just look at us now.’

‘You’re a fine-looking woman, Kit. I was a lucky man.’ Jim smiled down at her and for a brief moment all the sorrows and disappointments disappeared and it was as if they were
young again. Her spirits lifted. Today was a rare day out for herself and Jim. No Grandpa Myles for an entire day. She was looking forward immensely to sitting down to a dinner she didn’t
have to prepare or wash up after.

‘I didn’t do too badly myself,’ she said fondly, much to Jim’s pleasure. Was it a lie, or did she really mean it? Kit wasn’t too sure. She pushed the thought to the
back of her head, unwilling to confront it, and concentrated on keeping her spirits high. She was going to enjoy the day. And if her daughter had any sense she’d do likewise.

‘Would you fix this blasted flower thing, it’s wilted?’ Eddie grinned at Brenda as they stood outside the church waiting for the photographs to be taken.
Silently, Brenda repinned her ex-boyfriend’s carnation on his lapel. She could smell his aftershave and the clean familiar scent of him. She had to fight the urge to put her arms around him
and rest her head on his shoulder.

‘There you go,’ she murmured. ‘It’s fine now.’

‘Great stuff; Now the fun starts and we can enjoy ourselves. How is it going anyway?’

‘Great, great,’ she said airily. Not for anything would she let him know how she felt. As they walked down the aisle, she vowed to herself that if anyone was going to do the running
it was going to be him. Pride was all she had left now that he had this new woman. Pride would have to get her through the day. He had deliberately not looked at her during the exchange of rings
and that hurt. Well to hell with him. He’d had his chance. If he thought she was going to dance attendance on him all day he had another think coming. Fix his wilted flower indeed, she
thought indignantly.

‘You look very well, your hair suits you like that,’ he remarked chattily.

Is that right? she was tempted to drawl sarcastically. She just couldn’t understand how he could stand there chatting as if she was just some close
acquaintance
. She’d been
to bed with him, for God’s sake.

‘Thanks, I got it done for the wedding,’ Brenda said. Not wanting Eddie to get the impression that she’d got it done to impress
him
. ‘Look, excuse me for a
minute, Eddie, I just want to go over and talk to Shay for a minute. He doesn’t know anyone here.’

‘Oh, yeah, yeah, sure,’ he shrugged. ‘I’ll just go and have a chat with Anna, she’s in the same boat.’

Brenda knew she was being petty but she was glad she’d got Shay’s name in first. Let Mister Eddie Fagan see that he wasn’t the only one who could go and get a new partner.

‘Hi Shay.’ She slipped her hand into his and hoped Eddie was looking. ‘Once the meal is over I’ll be able to come and join you.’

‘Don’t worry about me, everybody is being very nice,’ he assured her. ‘Your ma and da are lovely.’

‘I know.’ Brenda smiled. ‘I just wanted to see if you were OK, it can be a bit of a drag when you don’t know people.’

‘I’m fine.’ He smiled at her, his brown eyes warm and friendly. ‘Did I tell you, you look gorgeous in that dress. And I like what you’ve done to your hair.
I’ll be lucky to get a dance, I suppose.’

‘Go on with you, Shay Hanley,
I’ll
probably have to drag
you
onto the dance floor.’ Brenda snorted.

‘You’d better go, the photographer looks as if he’s about to have a nervous breakdown,’ Shay remarked. ‘It’s tough being a bridesmaid.’

‘You can say that again.’ Brenda laughed as she turned away and began walking towards Kathy and Kenny. Out of the corner of her eye, she was aware of Eddie looking in her direction.
Let him look, she thought triumphantly, gazing straight ahead of her. I hope he’s eaten alive with jealousy. Was there a chance of that, she wondered, or was it all just one-sided? He
obviously knew about Shay, no doubt Kenny had told him that she was bringing someone to the wedding. She was dying to have a good look at the girl he’d been talking to. But she didn’t
want to be caught in the act, so to speak. She’d have to choose her moment.

She got her chance while Kenny and Eddie and Kenny’s brothers were being photographed. The girl was making jokey comments to Eddie about his monkey suit. Brenda, who was standing to the
side out of Eddie’s line of vision, was able to have a good look without being noticed.

Her first reaction was one of slight shock. This Anna wasn’t much to look at. Brenda had been expecting someone stunning, for some reason. But this fair-haired girl with the pear-shaped
figure was rather ordinary-looking. Brenda felt somewhat miffed. What did this creature possess that she didn’t? Brenda was taller, and in spite of her recently acquired half-stone, thinner.
She had better hair. She didn’t have freckles either, which Anna possessed in abundance.

What did Eddie see in her? A heart-stopping thought struck her. Maybe Anna was better in bed.

Would you just stop it, Brenda Myles! she ordered crossly. She was her own worst enemy.

‘Everything OK?’ Kathy slipped an arm through hers.

‘Of course.’ Brenda smiled.

‘What do you think of her?’ Kathy inclined her head in Anna’s direction.

‘I thought she’d be a bit more glamorous, to be honest,’ Brenda confided.

‘Hmm . . . Farrah Fawcett she ain’t.’ Kathy grinned. ‘And you look great today. Did Eddie say anything?’

‘He said he liked my hair,’ Brenda said glumly.

‘Cheer up, wait until you’re dancing around the floor with him. You never know what might happen,’ the bride declared as her husband came over and announced that he was posing
for no more photographs.

‘But we’ve got to get the ones of the in-laws together,’ Kathy protested.

‘Sorry, I’ve had it,’ Kenny growled. ‘“Right foot pointed, elbows tucked in, eyes on me.” We’ll be here all day listening to that crap. People are
getting hungry. And I could do with a pint.’

‘Kenny Lyons, don’t you dare spoil my wedding day.’ Kathy glowered. Brenda discreetly moved away and left the newly-weds to their first marital row.

Several hours later, having been wined and dined, everybody was in great humour again. The meal was delicious, the speeches funny, but now it was time for the dancing and Brenda could feel her
insides knotting up. She watched Kenny take Kathy in his arms and, as the band played the old Nat King Cole hit
When I Fall in Love
, she got a lump in her throat that nearly choked her.
Her best friend looked radiantly happy as they waltzed around the floor.

Will it ever be me, waltzing around the dance floor with my new husband, Brenda wondered forlornly.

‘Come on, Brenda, we’re next. Let’s show them how to do it.’ Eddie took her by the arm as the band started to play
Shake Rattle and Roll
. She was laughing and
breathless when they finished jiving and when the band started to play
It’s Now or Never
and Eddie’s arms were around her like in the old days. As they waltzed around the
floor, now crowded with other dancers, Brenda rested her cheek against Eddie’s and savoured their closeness.

‘It’s like old times,’ he murmured.

‘Yeah,’ she agreed wistfully and then, before she could help it, the words popped out. ‘I miss you like crazy, Eddie,’

His arms tightened around her. ‘I miss you too, Bren, we had good times. But we can’t go back.’

She finished the dance with him and excused herself. She headed towards the ladies’ toilet and, having made sure she was quite alone in the safety of the cubicle, Brenda sat on the lid of
the loo and cried her eyes out. She was just beginning to compose herself when she heard the outer doors open. Brenda heard a voice she recognized. It was Denise Boyle, a girl she and Kathy had
been to secondary school with.

‘Kathy looks terrific, doesn’t she?’ Brenda heard her say.

‘Gorgeous, the dress is out of this world.’ The other voice was that of Jilly Clarke, also an ex-classmate.

‘Brenda’s put on a bit of weight though, hasn’t she?’ Brenda nearly fell off the loo seat in horror when she heard this. She could hear the sound of hair being brushed
and perfume being sprayed. Jilly’s voice drifted into the cubicle.

‘You know I think she still fancies Eddie. Did you see the way she was looking at him when they were dancing? Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve.’

‘But sure she’s going with that other bloke and Eddie’s going with Anna Saunders,’ Denise retorted.

‘That doesn’t mean anything,’ Jilly scoffed. ‘Eddie dumped her. I bet she’d have him back at the drop of a hat.’

‘I always thought Brenda and Eddie would be the first of the gang to marry. You could have knocked me down with a feather when I heard they’d split,’ Jilly declared.

‘Hmm . . . I bet you could have knocked poor old Brenda down with a feather too, and to think Kathy and Kenny, of all people, made it first.’

‘Wouldn’t really fancy Kenny Lyons myself, to be honest.’ Denise giggled. ‘I wouldn’t like him all over me in bed.’

‘Well you won’t have to worry about that, will you? He’ll be all over Kathy tonight. Come on, let’s see if there’s any talent out there. If Brenda and Kathy can get
fellas so can we!’ Tittering raucously they exited the ladies leaving Brenda shocked and outraged.

‘Fucking bitches,’ she swore, her cheeks burning against the palms of her hands. She took a couple of deep breaths. Had she been so obvious? What had Jilly said –
‘wearing her heart on her sleeve?’ Brenda sank her head in her hands. Why in the name of God had she blurted out to Eddie that she missed him like crazy? Talk about making a doormat of
herself. Where was her pride? She would have gone home there and then except she knew that Kathy would never forgive her. Brenda took another deep breath. She was going to make that catty pair eat
their words, she thought grimly. And she was going to salvage something of the disaster with Eddie. She marched out the door of the cubicle and splashed cold water onto her blotched face. Then she
took out her make-up bag. Thank God she’d had the presence of mind to bring it in to the loo with her.

Slowly, and with great care, Brenda redid her make-up. No-one must know that she was having anything but a ball. The first people she encountered when she walked back to the reception were
Jennifer and Paula.

‘You look brilliant.’ Jennifer smiled.

‘Very nice,’ added the blonde bombshell, who was dressed in a figure-hugging black dress that clung in all the right places. Although she was the same age as Jenny, Paula was light
years ahead in terms of sophistication, Brenda thought sourly, unimpressed by the lukewarm ‘very nice.’ Well at least Jenny hadn’t noticed anything so she must look OK, she
thought with relief. Now to go and put on the act of her life. ‘I’m just going to dance with Shay, I haven’t had a chance to be with him all day. See you later. Have fun,’
she told the younger girls.

With her head up and her shoulders back, Brenda walked over to where Shay was sitting. ‘Come on, Shay Hanley,’ she said briskly. ‘You’ve been getting away with murder . .
. now you’re going to dance.’

For the next three hours Brenda danced, sang, and gave the impression that she was having the night of her life. Even Kathy was fooled. When they went upstairs so that Kathy could change into
her going-away outfit, she said warmly, ‘I’m so glad you enjoyed my wedding, Bren. I was very worried you wouldn’t, with Eddie and everything.’

‘I’d a lovely day, Kathy,’ she assured her. Not for a minute would she spoil her friend’s illusion. Kathy’s mother arrived with Beth and the rest of her sisters and
they had no more time to talk. It was only when she tossed her bouquet at Brenda and left the hotel in a flurry of hugs and kisses that Brenda’s composure started to slip.