The Heartbreak Cafe (28 page)

Ella
began folding a tea towel. ‘I suppose your dad had certain
qualities that appealed to your mother. Compared to the most of the
men in this town he was mature and intelligent, quiet and restful,
and from what I can remember treated her like a princess. Not to
mention that he was quite handsome back in the day.’

Nina
decided to bite the bullet. It had of course been bothering her
since the day of the argument and she’d been waiting for the
opportunity to ask. Now seemed as good a time as any. ‘Was it a
shotgun wedding Ella?’ she asked bluntly.

The older
woman looked flustered. ‘Nina, such a question!’

‘
Hey, it doesn’t bother me one way or the other – they’re not
together now so why should it make a difference?
Seriously.’

‘
Well,’ Ella sighed, ‘I believe there was some effort to make
things… legitimate, but truthfully I think they would have married
regardless. She was like a queen to him, he loved her very much and
she loved him too. Don’t ever let anyone convince you
otherwise.’

Nina felt
guilty for being so harsh to her father. ‘So why did they split up
then?’

‘
Lookit, I really don’t think it’s my place to talk to you
about this stuff, it is private after all. Maybe you should ask
your mum?’ Ella looked hopeful that Nina wouldn’t press
her.

She
sighed. ‘I’ve asked her, but she never gets into specifics. I just
feel I have a right to know – they are my parents after
all.’

‘
I suppose sometimes people just can’t work things out. Anyway,
what does it matter, they both love you very much, don’t
they?’

If you
could call Patrick’s behaviour ‘love’, Nina thought
uncharitably.

‘
I suppose so, but it still doesn’t explain why they split up
and –’ but before she could continue the door opened and their
first customer of the day arrived.

‘
Ah hello there, good morning!’ Ella called out in
greeting.

A blush
automatically rose on Nina’s face.

It was
Dave.

‘
Hey there,’ he said grinning flirtatiously at her, as Ella
went out back to get something. ‘Told you I’d call in for a
doughnut one day.’

‘
Well, you’ve definitely come to the right place,’ Nina said
smiling right back.

‘
So we’re renting a huge villa with its own pool, and plan to
have barbecues every night….’ Jess smiled as on the other end of
the phone Deirdre was explaining about the family’s upcoming
holiday in Tenerife. ‘Oh I really can’t wait Jess, it’ll be great
fun and of course we won’t have to worry about babysitters because
all the kids will be together and – ’

‘
What you mean ‘all the kids’?’ Jess asked, puzzled.
‘

‘
Oh didn’t I mention that Emer and Dave are coming too? And
little Amy of course. We have it all planned out and it’ll be
great. As I said, barbecues and wine every night – it’ll be
bliss.’

‘
Oh.’ Jess’s heart sank, imagining the two couples sharing wine
and food al fresco and enjoying each other’s company while the kids
were in bed.

It would
be just like old times, the way the six of them used to get
together here in Dublin back in the days before the others had
families. ‘That sounds lovely.’

‘
It does, doesn’t it? Of course Amy is still a bit young for
flying, but I’m sure she’ll be fine and if all goes well we’ll
probably do it every year, it’ll be great for the kids and of
course no better than Emer and Dave for the craic …’

And Jess
was faced once again with the prospect of her and Brian being left
out of all this ‘craic’.

‘
I mean, we’d have asked you and Brian, but I know he’s always
off to fancy places so he probably wouldn’t be interested in boring
old Tenerife …’ It was as if Deirdre had suddenly become conscious
of the fact that Jess might be feeling left out.

‘
No, no, it’s fine, and actually we’ve already booked something
for later this year, remember I was telling you we were thinking
about Borneo?’

They
hadn’t actually done anything other than talk about it, but Jess
didn’t want Deirdre to feel obliged to invite them. Best to let her
think they wouldn’t be interested anyway.

‘
Exactly, that’s what I thought. And I’m sure you’d much rather
see real orangutans that have to put up with Amy’s carry-on!
Seriously though, did you notice how brazen she is these days?’ she
went on, her voice low and conspiratorial. ‘Always looking for
attention and Emer never disciplines her, but I’ll tell you one
thing, if she starts throwing those tantrums in our villa then I’ll
be sure to say something.’ Again, there was that competitive streak
– as in my child is developing faster or is better behaved, and
Jess wondered if the holiday in Tenerife would in reality be as
heavenly as she was imagining.

‘
I can’t say I have, although I’m sure it must be a struggle to
keep up with her now that she’s started crawling,’ she replied
diplomatically.

‘
Yes,’ Deirdre sounded disappointed that Jess hadn’t taken the
bait for a bit of mummy-bashing. ‘Anyway, I’d better go, Kevin will
be home soon and the place is in a state and he hates that.
Honestly, you’d swear I had nothing better to do all day than dust
and clean, but I suppose I’d better make the effort,’ she groaned.
‘Men have it easy I reckon.’

Jess
smiled. ‘They sure do. Anyway, thanks for phoning and I’ll see you
soon.’

‘
Yes, come down and meet us for coffee next week if you can?
Would be great to have a proper catch-up to see how things are with
you – find out if anything’s stirring,’ she giggled, and Jess
rolled her eyes, now beginning to regret she’d ever said anything
to Deirdre about trying for a baby.

Hanging
up the phone she checked her watch. It was six-thirty on a Friday
evening. Might as well have a glass of wine while waiting for Brian
to get home from work. While these days she and her husband were
getting on reasonably well, there was still this unspoken rift
between them, and the subject of children hadn’t been touched on
since their last discussion.

If only
he could understand that this ‘sudden obsession’ as he called it
wasn’t about the girls but more about Jess holding up a mirror to
her life, to their lives and finding something wanting. While she
was prepared to admit, as she had to Nina recently, that the girls’
opinion did have something to do it, it wasn’t all about that. It
was more about Jess and Brian and where their lives were headed,
and she really felt that if Brian could see how fun and wonderful
family life could be he would understand exactly where she was
coming from.

Pouring
herself a glass of merlot, Jess went outside to her small patio,
thinking about her recent encounter with Nina. She’d enjoyed their
little chat over coffee last week; Nina was a nice girl, very
approachable and as soon as Jess had spotted her in M&S the
penny had dropped. Granted finding her in the maternity wear
department was probably a bit of a giveaway, but in truth there was
no mistaking the burgeoning tummy, and slightly puffy face, not to
mention her immense embarrassment at being recognised.

Seeing
Nina’s obvious discomfort, Jess wasn’t going to say anything until
she’d mentioned something about not being able to drink, which
suggested the pregnancy wasn’t a secret. Perhaps she shouldn’t have
been so forthright, but for some reason Jess really wanted to find
out if her suspicions were correct.

And there
it was; a woman with no partner, and no desire to have children was
pregnant, while she, who had a loving husband and the ideal life in
which to raise a child, wasn’t. Although perhaps the loving husband
part was possibly stretching that a bit these days.

Jess
looked around at her and Brian’s beautifully manicured garden
thinking that it would be ideal for children to run around in. As
it was they rarely used it, except on the odd sunny day like today,
and even then they only used the patio for drinks or barbecues and
whenever Brian felt like making his ‘world famous pina
coladas’.

She
thought about Emer and Deirdre and the fun the families would all
have together at the villa in Tenerife. Just like they’d all had
fun at Emer’s house that time on her birthday. She recalled the way
the couples used to get together for big barbecues in summers gone
by; it had been ages since she and Brian had done something like
that that wasn’t work related.

Then
suddenly the thought struck her. Why shouldn’t they hold a barbecue
or a garden party and invite all their friends, including or
perhaps especially those with kids?

She could
invite Deirdre and Kevin, and Emer and Dave along with their
children here for a party, and then Brian would be able to see
firsthand all the fun and joy that the kids brought to their
parent’s lives. He would realise how proud Kevin was of his boys
and how much enjoyment they had together, and you only had to take
one look at Dave with Amy to realise that she was a daddy’s girl
through and through.

Yes,
that’s what she would do, Jess thought, feeling almost light-headed
at this truly inspired idea. She was convinced that once Brian saw
things the way she’d been seeing them that he would change his
mind, and begin thinking seriously about starting a family.
Especially given the fact that Brian wasn’t sold on the idea
because he could so far only think about the negatives.

Feeling
energised, she stood up and went back into the kitchen to grab her
BlackBerry. She scrolled through her calendar, wondering what would
be the perfect date. She’d have to consult with Brian and the
others, but she was sure a couple of Saturdays from now would be
good. She smiled to herself and started to go through her address
book, trying to find enough people to invite to the party; the only
prerequisite for receiving an invitation was to have a child to
bring along, Jess decided.

Now she
couldn’t wait for Brian to get home from work. She topped up her
wine and took another glass out of the cupboard, ready for her
husband upon his return.

She was
sure Brian would agree it was about time they took control of their
social life and made more of an effort with their
friendships.

A garden
party – how perfect? Jess couldn’t wait to fill him in on all the
details.

Weeks
passed in the blink of an eye for Ruth, and she seemed to be
falling into step with the routine she had established in Lakeview.
After finding out about her pregnancy, she had eventually managed
to pull herself out of her self-imposed isolation at her parent’s
and started getting out of the house and occasionally meeting up
for a chat with Nina at the cafe, or going power-walking with her
mother.

‘
It’s good to see you coming out of yourself a bit,’ Breda
commented and Ruth knew her parents had been very worried about her
in the aftermath of the media scrum that accompanied her
arrival.

‘
Good to see you putting on a few pounds too,’ her dad said,
which was somewhat more worrying as it meant that there was little
chance of her pregnancy remaining unnoticed for too much longer.
‘You were nothing but skin and bone when you came here first.
Lollipop heads – isn’t that what they call them in heat?’ he said
to her mother and Ruth had to laugh at the idea of Ollie reading
celebrity magazines.

Then
again, her parents had always tried to keep on eye on her; even it
was just through the glossy pages. Goodness knows she hadn’t really
given them the opportunity to do so in person. She was enjoying
spending quality time with them too, reading quietly in the garden
with her father, or going shopping and watching TV with her mother.
It was a peaceful existence and a massive contrast to the life
she’d lived in LA up to now.

Ruth had
been keeping that life at arm’s length too. The cruel treatment
she’d experienced from the paparazzi upon her return had stopped
when they discovered her going about her days and quietly leading a
suburban existence, and in the meantime they’d lost all interest in
her and left to chase the antics of Paris Hilton in the Med. What
surprised Ruth the most about this was she was certain she’d be
somewhat peeved about their lack of interest, but instead she was
appreciating the peace and quiet. There had been a couple of polite
emails from Erik asking how she was, and a few brief and
unimportant messages from Chloe, but other than that nothing. And
more to the point, nothing at all from Troy.

She
hadn’t yet mentioned a thing to anyone other than Charlie about the
baby. She had accidentally come close to it once or twice with Nina
but had checked herself just in time.

As far as
Charlie went, well, she had seen him a few times around town and
while something in his eyes changed when he looked at her, he
generally kept his distance. She wasn’t sure if she should be hurt
by this – in that he had obviously thought about her situation and
chosen not to get close to her – or if she should be relieved by
the fact that she wouldn’t have to complicate her life
further.

As far as
the father of her child went, she couldn’t help but laugh with
distaste. Barely a week after she’d told Troy she was pregnant, he
was photographed sucking face in public with some new starlet who
was being called the next Scarlett Johannsen. All Ruth could do was
shake her head at the absurdity of it all and again she was
surprised by how distanced she felt from LA and her old crazy
lifestyle.