The Oyster Catcher (22 page)

‘You carry on, I’ll just get a feel for things’ Dan stands up after me and walks towards the podium.

Sean’s still standing at the back of the room. His face brightens a little when he sees me and the butterflies do the pogo in my stomach again.

‘Hey,’ he says.

‘Hey,’ is all I can reply.

‘Sean, you came!’ Margaret appears from nowhere and throws an arm around him. He keeps his hands in his pockets but smiles affectionately.

‘I see he’s making himself at home,’ Sean nods towards Dan who’s adjusting the microphone to the right height. I stifle a smile but should really defend Dan. He’s the one that’s pulling in all the punters.

‘He’s doing a great job.’

‘You would say that, now that you and he are …’ Margaret does that head shaking thing with her head again.

My mouth drops.

‘What? Margaret!’

‘Sorry, I know it’s meant to be a secret but you can trust Sean. And I think it’s so sweet!’ She claps her hands together. ‘Rather wish I’d bagged him for myself now.’

‘No, it’s just …’ I’m lost for words. I look back at Sean’s face which looks as if the dark cloud has just rolled in again and is threatening a storm.

I can’t say anything. I can’t say that it was Sean, not Dan, in front of Margaret. But saying nothing means he believes I’m now actually with Dan. Oh bugger it!

He turns to leave.

‘Not going already, are you, Sean?’ Margaret looks gutted.

‘Just came in to see you had everything you need. And I see you have.’ He looks straight at me. I am bursting with indignation. I have to say something.

‘It’s not like I was in a relationship or anything. I’m a free woman. I’m not hurting anyone,’ while trying to point out his situation I’m digging myself a deeper hole.

He turns to leave running straight into Nancy who arrives on a cloud of Coco Chanel.

‘Oh, I thought I’d find you here.’

My bravado disappears.

‘I never hid anything,’ he whispers under his breath to me.

My heart is banging so loudly I think everyone else can hear it. Margaret is glaring daggers at Nancy.

‘Good evening everybody,’ Dan booms across the room, stopping everyone’s conversations.

‘I’m just leaving,’ Sean says to Nancy.

‘Oh no, not yet. All the press are here. Besides I have a surprise later,’ she smiles naughtily. Sean doesn’t react.

‘Any more entrants before we begin?’ Dan continues, ‘This is, as you all know, for the title of Pearl Queen and her Princess for the Dooleybridge Oyster Festival in just a week’s time.’

‘You can stay, I’m off,’ says Sean.

‘You can’t go,’ Nancy suddenly looks unusually flustered.

‘Why not? You don’t need me here. All you need is my oysters,’ he says through gritted teeth.

‘But I’d like you to stay,’ she pouts. ‘Besides without me those oysters won’t have homes to go to,’ she smiles sweetly. I can’t believe she just said that.

Sean takes a deep breath.

‘Of course,’ he says.

‘Besides, I think I’d look rather good on the front page of the
Galway Gazette
as the Pearl Queen.’ She throws off her coat and Sean catches it over his arm as she sashays her way towards Freda to give in her name. Margaret glowers. This looks like war.

The contestants gather on stage and then one by one Dan will talk to them. Once they’ve answered his questions they walk off the stage and down through the audience to the back waiting area. There is a wall of ice between Sean and myself as we stand at the back of the room watching Dan approaches his first contestant and we all clap politely. Nancy is Contestant Number 7.

‘So Nancy, as festival organiser, what does bringing back the Dooleybridge oyster festival mean to you?’ Dan asks.

‘Well, I think the business opportunities are obvious. It will open more doors when we take the oysters produced here overseas, it will help people recognise the name and make it a brand. That can only be good for local suppliers.’ We all clap and Freda and John Joe nod their heads in agreement.

Sean leans over and whispers in my ear. ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything.’

I wonder if I’ve heard him right. What does he mean? Sorry it’s worked out like this or sorry it ever happened? My mind is buzzing.

Margaret is Contestant Number 8. She doesn’t wait for Dan to ask the question. She grabs the mike out of his hand.

‘This festival will put Dooleybridge back on the map. People will come here and see what a fab town it is. It’ll make us famous worldwide and everyone will want to visit. The festival will remind people what a great town this is and can be again. Dooleybridge is gonna rock!’ she shouts and Mad Frank, Seamus and Padraig, Freda and John Joe are up on their feet. Grandad is rolling backwards and forwards in his chair with glee.

There’s a short interval where the rest of the sausage rolls and pasties are devoured and half the audience go outside for a fag break.

‘You were great,’ I tell Margaret. Sean hands Nancy her coat and says nothing.

‘And our Pearl Queen is …’ Everyone is back in their seats and the contestants are biting their nails on stage. Dan has obviously been watching X-factor USA and is keeping the audience waiting for ever.

I’ve got everything crossed for Margaret. She wants this so much and she deserves it. None of this would be happening if it wasn’t for her.

I hold my breath.

‘Nancy Dubois!’ Dan announces with a fake drum roll.

Some of the room claps, others mutter the word ‘fixed’ and a few just get up to leave.

Nancy steps forward to accept her diamanté crown, the one Margaret hand-picked and has been practicing wearing for weeks. Margaret looks like she’s been kicked in the guts.

‘And the runner up is … Margaret!’ And the whole place erupts with cheers and clapping. Those who had been leaving stop and turn and cheer. Margaret straightens herself and steps forward to where Dan is waiting to greet her. He gives her a small bouquet, much smaller than the Queen’s, and then goes to kiss her on both cheeks. Margaret, all of a dither, goes the wrong way and they end up meeting in the middle, on the lips, while the photographer from the Galway Gazette clicks away.

Back at the pub, it’s busier than it has been in ages.

‘I need you to help,’ Patsy calls to Margaret who puts down her clutch bag and totters behind the bar. I sit on the stool at the end of the bar.

‘I really hope you don’t think I did that on purpose,’ Margaret is still fretting about the kiss and is apologising to me. At least it’s taking her mind off the many acts of violence she wants to commit on Nancy.

‘Of course not,’ I laugh and wave a hand, wishing I could tell her that there’s no reason for her to feel bad. ‘Honestly it’s fine.’

Nancy arrives holding onto her tiara and carrying her bouquet. There are large daisies in the bouquet, Margaret’s favourites. Her posy is in a pint pot at the end of the bar. It’s mostly chrysanthemums.

Margaret is serving drinks. Sean comes in behind Nancy who is chatting with the
Gazette
owner and Dan.

‘Let me get some drinks,’ she says smiling all the way to the bar.

‘Prosecco please, a few bottles, and hand them round,’ she instructs Margaret who turns away and bites her bottom lip in fury. Sean stands beside me but says nothing. I can smell his aftershave, soft yet spicy. I feel like he’s waiting for me to say something. I can’t think what to say. I feel like we’re back to where we started in the pub. Only this time there is so much unsaid stuff that I want to say. Like how I can’t bear standing this close to him and not being able to touch him. Like how I love the way his hair is too long and falls round his face and drives him nuts. Like how I love how passionate he is about his oysters and how I loved the night we looked up at the stars together. There are many things about Sean Thornton that I have come to really love, I realise as I stand there.

‘Now then, if we’ve all got a glass,’ Nancy says. ‘I’d like to thank everyone for coming, for making this a very special night. And to make this even more special,’ she looks to me and then to Sean. ‘I’d like to announce my engagement to my partner Sean Thornton!’ She raises her glass and the photographer clicks away as she kisses his surprised face. My hand flips over sending my Prosecco all over the bar and me at the same time.

‘You’re engaged!’ I blurt out and Nancy looks at me and smiles. 

Chapter Forty

I thought they were breaking up, not getting married! This must be what he meant when he said he was sorry.

‘Hey, congratulations,’ Dan comes over and kisses Nancy on the cheek and shakes Sean by the reluctant hand.

‘Thank you,’ Nancy poses for another picture.

‘Hope you don’t mind me taking your fiancée out for dinner as part of her prize,’ Dan jokes. Sean doesn’t move.

‘It was the perfect time to do it, what with all the press here,’ Nancy says under her breath. ‘Great publicity. The Pearl Queen and her oystercatcher, did you get that?’ she says loudly to the journalist.

‘We should’ve discussed it,’ he says under his breath, but I just overhear.

‘Sorry. I just saw the opportunity and went for it. It’s great for business. Now, pose for a picture. Sorry, my shy fiancé,’ she flirts with the journalist. ‘And think how happy Maman and Papa will be.’ Sean looks at her then excuses himself and goes for a cigarette.

‘Congratulations,’ I’m quick to say to Nancy, to show I’m not at all distressed.

‘Thank you,’ she says smugly and sips her drink. ‘And once we’re married, what’s his is mine, right?’ She arches an eyebrow at me. ʻIt’s our business. So whatever you think you might have overheard, or whatever plans you might have had for you and Sean, he and I are engaged now. It’s our business.’

The oysters. Of course, why else would she want to do this? She thinks I’m going to tell him about her plan. She thinks I’m going to get in between her and the native oysters.

I take the tea towel from Margaret and mop the spilt drink from my dress.

‘They’re getting married.’ Margaret looks like she’s had all the fight knocked out of her. She picks up a glass of Prosecco from the bar and knocks it back in one. Her night couldn’t get any worse.

I knock back another Prosecco too.

‘I thought it was a casual thing, that it was just a relationship of convenience,’ I say without thinking. Too late, Margaret is staring at me in horror.

‘It wasn’t Dan was it? It was Sean!’

Margaret bursts into tears and runs out of the bar. Nancy looks like a peacock showing off its colours, surrounded by the press. I feel like a bigger fool than I ever did when I first arrived here. It’s happening all over again. I grab my waterproof and half run, half stumble all the way back to the cottage. In my room I pull out the letter that arrived at the farm. It’s from Brian. But I can’t read it. My eyes are full of tears. I put my face into Grace’s fur and she keeps me company until dawn finally comes.

Sean drove back to the farm just before dawn and went straight out on the boat. What a fucking mess! He held his face to the wind and shut his eyes. His body ached from sleeping on Nancy’s settee; They’d had an almighty row when they got back after the engagement announcement and he’d refused to join her in bed. He knew there was no way he could come home last night. Not until he’d worked this mess out.

He didn’t love Nancy. They’d never talked about marriage. She’d never wanted anything like that. It was a relationship that had worked for them. And then he’d met Fi. Funny, sweet, kind, trustworthy, brave Fi. She was a lioness, protecting what she cared about. And he thought she had come to care about him. There was no mistaking the chemistry between them that day on the boat. He gave a little shiver of excitement at the memory.

The heron’s wings beat rhythmically beside him.

He didn’t want to marry Nancy but  without Nancy and the restaurant he wouldn’t be able to pay the loan back. He’d lose the farm but most worrying of all, he’d lose Fi – if he couldn’t offer her a job she’d leave and he’d never see her again.

He let out the ropes, urged the boat to go faster. He stood up feeling the full force of the wind against his body, shutting his eyes.

Nancy had organised an engagement party for the night before the oyster festival in The Pearl. All her friends and family were coming over from France and she hoped it would swell numbers even more and start the festival weekend with a bang.

There was nothing else for it. He had to go ahead with Nancy’s plan or he’d lose Fi for good.

The final few days before the festival drag. The weather matches my mood. Dark, grey, and miserable. Margaret hasn’t been anywhere near the farm and Sean has been staying in Galway, coming back early in the morning to harvest the oysters. He’s out on the boat, dredging them, and I’m in the shed, washing, purifying, and bagging them ready for festival day. We work silently from sun up to sun down. When the tide is too far out to get the boat close to shore we float the oysters in on a raft, and then load them onto the tractor and I drive them to the shed. I am more alone than I have ever felt before, and not in the physical sense. I’ve quite enjoyed being here with Grace, Freddie and Mercury, Brenda, and the hens. But I have lost Sean for good. And I have lost my best friend. I take a break and sit down on a rock, on the banks of the bay, and hug my knees to my chest. Oh God! I cringe, putting my head on my knees. I’ve ruined everything.

The day before the festival, I’m up early but we’ve run out of tea. I grab my bag and call Grace and walk into town, swatting away midges as I wander towards Rose’s in the early morning mist.

Outside the B&B there are lots of cars. I frown. One in particular I recognise. A black BMW. Nancy’s BMW. The front door suddenly opens and there’s Nancy. Her long dark hair is falling through the fingers of another as she kisses him farewell. She and Sean have obviously made up and decided not to stay at the farm. I scuttle on past, my head down.

‘Au revoir, à tout à l’heure,’ I hear her say. It’s unusual to hear her speaking French. Then he replies, in French. Only it’s not Sean I realise as I glance quickly round. Just in time for Nancy to see me and for me to see Nancy sneaking out of another man’s room at dawn. I need to find Sean and tell him exactly what’s going on.

I march back to the farm and go straight to the sheds. Where is he? He’s not back. I grab a broom and start sweeping while I work out what I’m going to say I switch the radio on as I pass it. The odd tiny crab scuttles out at me and I scoop them up and plop them into a bucket. I try and run through a mental list while working out what to say to Sean. The marquee is up. The chef from Galway has been emailing his requirements constantly. The B&Bs are ready for their guests, the Galway bands are booked, and the bar is stocked. The oysters have finally been harvested, cleaned, and bagged.

I hear the tyres on the gravel and run out.

‘Sean!’ I shout.

But it’s not Sean. Nancy is standing in there wearing high black patent leather boots and her hands are in the pockets of her black coat, like an iron fist in a velvet glove. She smiles at me but I don’t attempt to smile back. I turn back to the shed. She follows me.

‘So, we all ready?’ she asks.

‘The oysters are ready, yes.’ I carry on sweeping furiously.

‘Good. Our guests have started arriving and everything’s ready for our engagement party tonight.’

I give an ironic laugh.

She looks around the shed, her boots clip, clip on the stone floor. ‘I’d invite you, but I know you have a lot on,’ she says pointedly.

‘Well … Actually, everything is ready. All I have to do is tell Sean about your cosy set up with Henri.’ I lean on the broom.

‘Like I say, you’ll be busy … packing for one thing,’ Nancy glares at me. The smile is gone and her lip is curled. Her eyes are as dark as the sky outside.

‘Oh, I’m not leaving …certainly not until I’ve told Sean what you’re up to and who with.’

‘Oh yes you are. I want you out of here. Those oysters are finally about to make me and I don’t want you … distracting Sean. We’re engaged now. Those oysters are half mine and I don’t want anything or anyone coming between us.’ She’s pointing a black gloved finger at me. If I am going, I’m not going quietly, I decide there and then.

‘You don’t love Sean. You’re tucking him up. You’re not even letting him in on the deal. You’re going to pay him a flat fee for the oysters and sell the ones you don’t need on to lover boy, I presume. I heard it all.’ I grip my broom.

‘Like I say, I don’t want you around causing trouble. I want you gone by time those oysters leave here for the kitchen. By the time they’re served up to the guests and the shucking competition you will be on a plane out of here. I take it you heard that too?’

I lift my chin.

‘Where to?’

‘Anywhere!’ she spits.

I have to ask and I do it with a shrug,

‘And if I don’t?’

‘Without me and our contract Sean won’t have a buyer. You’ll put yourself out of a job and you’ll ruin him. Johnny Power will call in his debt and Sean will have to sell. That’s not what you want is it? Someone else taking over the farm? There’s already been interest,’ she says patronisingly. Fury bubbles up inside me.

‘Sean has to know! He’ll find another buyer. You’re not the only oyster broker or restaurateur who wants those oysters. In fact, the place will be heaving with new customers as the festival tomorrow. You’ve done him a favour!’

‘Those oysters are staying with me. There will also be a lot of press coming tomorrow. I can think of a couple of tabloid magazines who would love to know the story of the woman jilted by her gay groom, who left her at the altar for the best man. And him, a minor celebrity! Ex-rugby player, turned radio presenter. That sounds like just the sort of  story they’ll love.’ She’s holding my envelope, the one from Brian. She’s been in my bedroom!

‘Give me that!’ I shout and snatch the letter from her hand but it’s too late; she knows more about what’s written in it than I do.

‘Go and visit your mother in Malta,’ she says confirming more details of the letter. I hold it to my tightening chest.

‘I want you gone,’ she says turning on her heel. ‘Or else everyone will know about your wedding day fiasco and how you ended up an oyster farmer’s assistant in the middle of nowhere. You’ll turn this farm into a tabloid tourist destination. They’ll be strangers crawling all over the place wanting to get a glimpse of the runaway bride.’

‘And what about Sean, what about what he wants?’

‘Sean doesn’t want unwanted visitors! You’ve seen what happens when members of the public come up here. He wants his farm and the quiet life. He’ll do anything to keep it. We both get what we want from this,’ she shouts over her shoulder. ‘Sean pays his licence, I get my oysters. We’re both happy. Sean would never pick you over his farm,’ she laughs hollowly and goes to get into her car.

Just at that moment Sean’s van comes down the lane. He pulls up next to Nancy and gets out quickly.

‘What’s going on?’ he asks looking concerned from Nancy to me. I don’t know what to do. Should I tell him? Or is she right? Would I ruin him if I say anything? Will I ruin him if I stay?

‘Fi and I were just going over the arrangements for weekend. Making sure we understand exactly what needs to happen.’ She pulls down her dark glasses and starts her engine. Humiliation returns to hit me round the face like a wet fish. This time it’s worse than before, with Brian. This time I had my eyes wide open. I knew he was taken. Only this time I actually fell in love. But he chose Nancy not me. He chose his business, not me. I feel used, stupid and ashamed.

I look at the pair of them. ‘You know what, you two deserve each other.’ I throw down the broom with a clatter and walk towards them. I don’t have anything to lose any more. ‘I would rather have spent one day with someone I love and who loved me back than a lifetime married to someone because it “worked” for me. I thank God my fiancé Brian didn’t have the balls to go through with it. At least I’ve finally managed to find out what it means to really love someone. And if I never feel that again, at least I will have known what it was like.’ I take a deep breath to stop any tears falling and then turn and run off down the lane towards town.

‘Fi, wait!’ I hear Sean shout but I just keep running, well, until I’m out of sight of the farm. My heart is pumping and so are my veins. I put my hands to my knees and take huge dragging breaths. Then slowly I stand up and walk the rest of the way into town. I am going to leave, like Nancy said, because I don’t want to stay and watch Sean and Nancy get married. I can’t see him with someone else, someone he doesn’t love. But I won’t go to my Mum’s. I’m not going back to that. I need to keep moving forwards, who knows, maybe one day I’ll be able to stop running.