Love, Rosie (124 page)

house
and
my
parents
thought
vice
versa.

I
don’t
know
if
Katie
would
have
gotten
on
that
plane
had
she
been

given
the
opportunity.
I
would
like
to
think
that
I’ve
done
a
good

enough
job
as
a
mother
for
her
to
know
that
running
away
isn’t
a

way
to
solve
anything.
You
can
run
and
run
as
fast
and
as
far
as
you

like
but
the
truth
is,
wherever
you
run,
there
you
are.
In
fact
she

tried
to
tell
me
today
that
she
loved
me
with
all
her
heart
and
that

she
could
never
leave
me.
I
thought
I
sensed
sincerity
in
her
eyes
and

voice
but
as
soon
as
I
reached
out
to
cuddle
her,
her
face
brightened

and
asked
if
that
meant
she
didn’t
have
to
be
grounded
anymore.

I’m
afraid
she’s
a
chancer
like
her
father.

Ever
run
away
from
home
when
you
were
a
child?

Ruby:

Rosie:

Ruby:

Rosie:

Ruby:

Rosie:

Ruby:

No.
But
my
ex-husband
ran
away
from
home
with
a
child
half
his

age
if
that’s
any
help
to
you.

Right
.
.
.
well
no
it’s
not
but
thanks
for
sharing
it
with
me
all
the

same.

No
problem.

So
what
are
you
doing
for
your
40th
Ruby?
It’s
coming
up
soon?!

I’m
going
to
break
up
with
Teddy.

No!
You
can’t!
You
and
Teddy
are
an
institution!

Ha!
That’s
my
point.
OK
I
mightn’t
then.
I
was
just
thinking
of

new
and
exciting
ways
to
change
my
life.
Funnily
enough
that
was

the
first
one
that
jumped
into
my
head.

192

Rosie:

Ruby:

Cecelia
Ahern

You
don’t
need
to
change
your
life
Ruby;
it’s
just
fine
as
it
is.

I’m
going
to
be
40
Rosie.
FORTY.
I’m
younger
than
Madonna

would
you
believe
and
I
look
like
her
mother.
Every
day
I
wake
up

in
a
messy
bedroom
beside
a
man
who
smells
and
snores,
I
trip
over

mounds
of
clothes
in
order
to
find
my
way
to
the
door,
I
stagger

down
to
the
kitchen
and
make
myself
a
coffee
and
eat
a
slice
of
left-

over
cake.
On
the
way
back
to
my
bedroom
I
pass
my
son
in
the

hallway.
Sometimes
he
acknowledges
me;
most
of
the
time
he

doesn’t.

I
fight
with
him
to
use
the
shower
and
I
don’t
mean
about
who’s
first

to
use
it,
I
actually
have
to
force
him
to
wash
himself.
I
fight
with

the
shower
in
order
to
be
neither
scalded
to
a
crisp
nor
frozen
to

death.
I
get
dressed
in
clothes
I
have
been
wearing
for
far
too
many