Second Time Around (18 page)

Suzie grinned. ‘True.’

An hour later, her hair and makeup done, Suzie stood in front of the mirror to examine Nora’s choice. It was an old outfit from the back of her wardrobe that Suzie had
stopped wearing when she put on weight, but couldn’t bear to give it away. The top was deep-wine in colour and the matching skirt dropped almost to her ankles, but clung to every curve.

‘You look lovely.’ Nora gave her an affectionate smile. ‘And the heels really set it off.’

Suzie nodded. Those shoes had been at the bottom of her wardrobe for years too because she’d bought them in a sale and never had anything to wear them with. They were suede and the colour
of toffee and, though she didn’t have a matching handbag, Nora pointed out that her casual, canvas shoulder bag held both colours of her outfit in its bright cheery pattern. She
couldn’t stop staring at her own image. Whereas Mandy’s outfits made her look hip and sexy, this outfit made her look classy and elegant. She met Nora’s eyes and smiled.
‘Thanks. I love it.’

‘And I bet Douglas will too.’

Douglas stood on the doorstep, smiling. ‘You look smashing.’

Suzie was glad that Nora had diplomatically left, as, when he opened his arms to her, she almost fell into them, tears in her eyes as he held her close. ‘I can’t believe that
it’s really you. That all this time you’ve been Mandy’s boss and I never knew.’

‘It’s me, all right.’ He pulled back to smile down into her face. ‘Now, there
is
a photo exhibition but it will be open until ten. What do you
say we go have a bite to eat first and catch up? I want to hear everything about you.’

‘Likewise.’ She grinned at him before throwing her arms around him again. ‘It’s so bloody good to see you, Doug.’

‘And you, sweetheart.’

‘Tell me, when did Doug Hamilton become Douglas Thornton?’ she asked.

He chuckled. ‘Thornton is my mother’s maiden name and I thought it would look good on a book cover. When I returned to Ireland, I kept using it. I suppose I feel more like Douglas
Thornton now. Doug Hamilton is dead and buried.’

Suzie shivered. ‘Don’t say that.’

He smiled. ‘I don’t mean it in a negative way. I’m just not that man anymore.’

‘Can I still call you Doug?’

‘You’d better,’ he grinned.

They got into the cab he had waiting, and Douglas told the driver to take them into the city centre. His arm around her shoulders, he drew her down side streets and alleys,
finally stopping outside a small, plain doorway. ‘It doesn’t look like much but I promise you, the food is amazing.’

‘Ah, fuck the food, Doug. I doubt I can even eat. I never thought that I’d lay eyes on you again. I thought you’d gone for good.’

‘You don’t get rid of me that easily and, trust me, you will eat,’ he said and led her inside.

‘You see?’ Doug gestured at her empty plate.

Suzie laughed and licked her fingers for good measure. ‘This reminds me of us eating beans on toast in my flat.’

He smiled. ‘They were happy days. How long has it been?’

Suzie hesitated as she met his eyes. ‘Twenty-four years.’

‘Of course. Stupid of me.’ Pulling himself together, he gave her a rueful smile. ‘How on earth did you cope living over our garage?’

‘Are you kidding me? That place was a palace compared to our house. I’d so much space and privacy and I felt safe.’

He grimaced. ‘Is your dad still alive?’

‘No, he died years ago but was a bastard to the end. Happily my mother survived him by six years, so she had some peace.’

‘She stuck with him?’ His eyes widened in disbelief.

‘Of course, even though I asked her to move in with us. Marie, remember my other sister?’

He nodded.

‘She lives in Canada with her family and she wanted mam to go and live with her but she wouldn’t. Still, Da didn’t lay a finger on her in recent years. I warned him, if he did,
I’d have him in prison even if I had to lie through my teeth to put him there.’

‘You were so tough and feisty. I always admired that.’

Suzie threw back her head and laughed. ‘Feck off, Doug. When you first saw the state of me and heard I was pregnant you didn’t want to hire me.’

‘Admittedly, I may have had my doubts.’

‘Not as much as your wife,’ Suzie muttered, and then clapped a hand over her mouth. ‘Aw, shit, sorry, Doug. I didn’t mean that.’

He chuckled. ‘You did and you’re right. Pamela was a dreadful snob but you weren’t exactly friendly either. At the start you were so prickly and it was bloody impossible to get
a smile out of you. But once we saw how talented you were and that you weren’t afraid of hard work, we realised that Gina had found a gem.’

‘Ah, Gina.’ Suzie smiled, remembering her first boss who soon became a great friend.

‘Are you still in touch with her?’

‘No,’ she admitted with a guilty sigh. ‘My husband, John, was from Limerick and his work and family were there, so I moved when we married and lost touch with all of the CML
gang.’

‘Did you have more children?’

Suzie nodded, smiling. ‘Two, a girl, Sharon, and a boy, Noel.’

‘Were you happy?’ he asked.

She wasn’t sure how to answer that. Thanks to her brain injury there were some hazy bits about the problems in her marriage but she knew there were some. ‘Reasonably,’ she said
finally. ‘When Sharon and Noel came along with their pale skin and freckles and looking nothing like Jess, there were whispers. And, though John stood by her to the end, he wasn’t as
close to her as he was to his own children. Still, I’m sure I’m the only one who noticed.’

‘She was such a sweet child,’ Doug said with a sad smile. ‘How could anyone not love her?’

Suzie shrugged. ‘In fairness, at the beginning he was wonderful and I think he believed that he’d be able to treat her as his own but, I suppose, human nature kicked in.’

‘Did Jess ever ask about her real dad?’

Suzie looked at him with guilty eyes. ‘Jess thinks John
is
her dad, that’s the way he wanted it.’

‘But all your friends and family knew,’ he said, confused.

‘Mine did, yes. I explained what we had decided and then we moved to Limerick to start afresh. Given John hadn’t ever had another girlfriend and travelled a lot, it was easy to
convince his friends and family that Jess was his. We concocted a story that we’d dated a few months and then broke up and, when he came back to ask me to marry him, he discovered he was a
dad.’

‘And they swallowed that?’ He looked astounded.

She chuckled. ‘I’m sure some had their doubts but they didn’t dare say it to his face. Besides, as I said, he was great with Jess back then.’

‘That’s quite a story. You never thought of telling her over the years?’

‘I promised John I wouldn’t.’

‘But since his death . . .’

‘A promise is a promise, Doug.’ It struck her then that she didn’t owe John such loyalty but she wasn’t sure why not.

‘What about your obligation to Jess?’ Doug persisted.

Suzie bristled. ‘I’ve always done right by Jess,’ she snapped. ‘What would be the point in telling her now?’

‘She would understand why John treated her differently.’ Just like in the old days, he wasn’t remotely put out by her tone, fixing her with his calm gaze.

‘Leave it, Doug.’

He gave a resigned nod and topped up her glass. ‘How did John die?’

‘He was in charge of purchasing for a food-processing plant and he was visiting the farm of one of his suppliers and got caught between two pieces of machinery. He was only thirty-eight,
Noel was just nine.’

‘Dear God, that’s horrific, I’m so sorry.’

‘You have no idea,’ she assured him with a sigh. ‘But I had to keep going for the kids’ sake.’

‘Amanda told me that he was the love of your life and that you haven’t dated since.’

Susie smirked. ‘Did she, now?’

‘It’s not true?’

‘No, it is. I loved John but, I’ll be honest, marrying him meant not only security but a dad for Jess.’

‘That doesn’t sound very romantic,’ he said, looking disappointed.

Suzie chuckled. ‘I don’t suppose it does but, truly, we were happy and John was the perfect family man.’

Doug looked at her with sad eyes. ‘I’m sorry you lost him so young and I’m even sorrier that you’ve found no partner since.’

‘And neither have you?’ Suzie studied him.

He shook his head. ‘Pamela was irreplaceable.’

‘And yet you were still unfaithful.’ She sighed and put her hand over his. ‘I’m sorry. That was out of order.’

He shrugged. ‘It’s true.’

‘There were issues on both sides in your marriage and, in the end, Pamela was happy,’ she reminded him. ‘So very happy, Doug.’

‘I was, too, more than I’d ever been. Life is fucking cruel.’

‘Shite,’ Suzie agreed, remembering the dark days when they’d watched the cancer consume Pamela and how distraught Doug had been when she died. ‘When you disappeared like
that we were worried sick about you.’

‘Sorry. I should have let you know my plans but I didn’t really have any. I wasn’t thinking straight. I just knew that I had to get away. Everything reminded me of Pam.
Everywhere I looked, I saw her: at work, in a restaurant and at home. I’d wake up in the morning and smell her perfume and, for a moment, I’d think there’d been some mistake and
she was still there. I’d have gone out of my mind if I’d stayed. And I knew that Mal was well able to take over.’

‘And he was. He ran that company as if it was his own. Such a good man, a lovely guy.’

‘Is he still married to that witch?’ he asked.

Suzie laughed. ‘No idea. I exchange Christmas cards with Jack and Gina – they have three kids now – but I lost touch with Malcolm.’

‘I sent postcards to the office from whatever countries I travelled to, but, once CML closed, I lost touch with them.’

‘I was sad to hear CML had stopped trading.’

He gave a wry smile. ‘When times are hard, the first thing to go are the luxuries and, let’s face it, our clients knew how to throw the most lavish events.’

Suzie nodded, remembering the premier-class travel to exotic locations, the limos and the five-star hotels. ‘They were mad times.’

‘But fun, and’ – he touched his glass to hers, his eyes full of pride – ‘we were one hell of a team.’

‘Have you really been living like a hermit?’ she asked.

He chuckled. ‘Is that what Amanda said? I suppose it’s true but I have my writing.’

Suzie smiled but felt sad, too. Doug had been such a vibrant, larger than life character in his day, confident and fun-loving, but that man was gone.

He studied her and shook his head. ‘I still don’t understand why men haven’t been beating down your door. You’re gorgeous.’

She laughed. ‘That’s down to my accident. Over the years, thanks to lack of exercise, three pregnancies and my obsession with chocolate eclairs, I looked like a beached whale and I
took to living in sloppy sweatshirts and stretch trousers.’

‘You’re speaking in the past tense,’ he pointed out. ‘Has something changed? You know Amanda warned me not to get my hopes up about our “date”. She said that
you were rather unpredictable at the moment. I was flattered that she thought you might be attracted to an old man like me.’

Suzie laughed. ‘I am!’

He pulled a face. ‘As a surrogate dad, yeah, I know.’

She started to fold and unfold her napkin as she considered whether this was one of the times she should speak her mind or keep her mouth shut.

‘What’s on your mind, Suzie? When you start fidgeting, something’s up.’

‘You know me too bloody well,’ she complained. ‘Tell me to mind my own business if you want but, do you have feelings for Mandy?’

His eyes widened and then he burst out laughing. ‘Of course not. Why on earth would you think that? I’ll be seventy next year, for Christ’s sake, and she’s not even
forty.’

‘Age difference never bothered you in the past,’ Susie retorted.

He looked taken aback by her candour. ‘You don’t pull your punches, do you? That was different. I was a young man, I loved women, I had needs and I had marital problems. But why on
earth would you think Mandy is interested in me?’

‘She’s dissatisfied with her life. I think she always has been.’ Suzie frowned. ‘You know I have no idea why I’m saying that, it’s not as if I remember,
thanks to the knock on the head.’

He frowned. ‘I thought you’d made a complete recovery.’

‘Not complete,’ she admitted, and explained her symptoms and how her family were reacting.

‘I’m sorry, Suzie. That can’t be easy. The strange thing is, I haven’t noticed any difference in you.’

‘You knew me BC.’

‘BC?’ He frowned.

‘Before children. I had to change my vocabulary once Jess started to talk.’

‘Ah, I see. But do you feel all right?’

‘I feel fine,’ she assured him. ‘Now, to get back to Mandy.’

‘Must we?’

She ignored his frown. ‘All I’m saying is that time is marching on and I think she’s getting nervous. She wants to see the world and she hasn’t found a meal ticket
yet.’

He sank back in his chair and folded his arms, eyebrows raised. ‘And she has me in her sights?’

‘I think so but I could be wrong. She’s not a bad person but . . .’ Susie struggled to find a nice way to say that her sister was a gold-digging tart. ‘I
just don’t want you falling for one of her lines. She’d spend every penny you have if you let her, and that’s the embarrassing truth.’

Doug gave a short laugh as he reached for the wine and poured the last of it into their glasses. ‘Don’t worry, Suzie. I’m very definitely off the market.’

‘What is it with your sister?’ he asked after they had finished their meal and were strolling aimlessly through the city. ‘It’s not just about money.
She has an odd attitude towards men. They’re like buses, arriving one after the other, but she tires of them within weeks, sometimes less. Did someone break her heart in the past? Is that
what’s made her so cold and hard?’

‘She’s not
that
bad.’ Susie felt obliged to defend Mandy. ‘I told you, she’s just never satisfied. The grass is always greener, you
know?’