Three Women (30 page)

‘You will only be living the other side of the garden wall,’ he laughed as he wished them well with their move.

Nina had had a long, boozy, tearful girls’ lunch last week for her friends, her last in the kitchen, and they had had a family farewell dinner a few days before Jack went to Australia. She had been too upset to go to the airport, so Tom had brought him. He’d met Pixie’s mum and dad there, surprised to discover that they were farmers from Roscommon, upset too that their little Philomena was heading off to Sydney with Tom’s son.

‘They’re lovely people,’ Tom declared, ‘and it’s good to know that she’s a farmer’s daughter! I’m not half as worried as I was, because her dad told me that they’ll definitely be home next year.’

Nina couldn’t believe how much stuff there was in the van. Tom was checking everything and talking to the foreman. It
looked
like that was everything in their consignment almost; just Tom’s desk and lamp and filing cabinet to come. The two of them watched as two of the men lifted the heavy desk into the van and then pulled up the door.

‘That’s it,’ said the removal man, coming over to ask Tom to sign the form.

They both stood watching, overcome, as the van with all their possessions drove out of the driveway of Clifton and down the road. A part of their life here in this lovely old house was over. Nina was glad of Tom’s arm around her as she was overwhelmed with sadness.

Lizzie shoved a last box in her car, which was packed to the roof, and she took off for their mother’s place.

Vonnie had her little car packed out too. ‘I’ll put the stuff in my garage till you need it,’ she said, hugging them both.

‘Let’s go back inside,’ suggested Tom. ‘Have a last look around the place.’

The house seemed so empty, hollow, the low autumn sunshine creeping in at the windows and through the empty rooms. Tom wanted to check something upstairs.

‘Take your time,’ urged Nina as she walked from room to room, sensing the atmosphere, the spirits and ghosts of the old house around her.

‘Are you okay, Mum?’

Erin was standing in the family room, the toy press, bookshelves, the couches, everything, gone. She looked like she’d been crying.

‘Sad,’ admitted Nina, sniffing and reaching for a hanky. ‘Just very sad to be leaving this house … I really did love living here, you know.’

‘Me too,’ said Erin, falling into her arms and tearful again.

‘There are just so many memories here,’ continued Nina. ‘Your dad carrying me over the threshold and nearly doing his back in … you running around and learning to cycle your little pink tricycle there in the hall … and you and Jack putting on your puppet shows here in this room, entertaining us with “The Three Little Pigs”.’

‘Uncle Bill was the Big Bad Wolf!’ laughed Erin, remembering. ‘At Halloween we used to paint all the windows and make this place like a spooky castle.’

‘Remember Christmas dinner in the dining room and the massive Christmas tree in the bay window in the living room,’ reminisced Nina. ‘We won’t fit one like that in The Boat House!’

‘I know,’ said Erin gently.

‘So much is changing, I feel like I’m losing not just this house but a part of myself too. Your poor dad has lost the business, Jack’s taken off to Australia, and even you have found your mother – the person most in the world like you … Everything has changed.’

‘Mum, I know I’ve met Kate and my half-brothers and sister, and it’s great – but they are not my family! You and Dad and Jack and Uncle Bill and Granny and Lizzie are my family. You are where I belong,’ insisted Erin.

‘Oh, Erin.’ Nina didn’t know what to say.

‘Kate is nice and kind, and the more I get to know her the more I really like her – but she doesn’t feel like my mum. How could she? I’ve got a mum. I’ve got you. With Kate it’s more like we are friends, or like she is a much older big sister. Even though she gave birth to me, I don’t think it could ever be more. I have the best mum ever and nothing or no one can ever change that!’

Nina stood on the bare floorboards totally overcome as Erin clasped her shoulders and held her tight.

‘Mum, I’m never going to leave you … Don’t worry.’

Nina believed every word her daughter said. The little girl she and Tom had raised in this house had somehow turned into such a warm, caring, beautiful young woman … their daughter.

‘Are you two having a weepy session?’ interrupted Tom, coming into the room.

Nina nodded, but she could see Tom had shed a few tears alone upstairs himself.

‘Come on, let’s say goodbye to this lovely old place,’ he said huskily as they walked from room to room in silence. Then Tom closed the front door of Clifton firmly after them as they walked down the front door step and on to the gravelled driveway.

‘Come on!’ he said gently, taking her hand. ‘I told Lizzie that we wouldn’t be too long.’

‘I’ll see you there,’ said Erin as she got into her car and drove away.

Nina took a deep breath. It was finally time to say goodbye and let go. Looking back, she smiled. She could tell the old house was waiting, waiting for another story to begin …

ERIN AND MATT
drove out to dalkey. Erin experienced a pang of regret as she passed the gates of her old home. Clifton had been bought by a wealthy American couple. He worked in IT and they were putting on a huge extension to the back of the house and apparently doing lots of work on it, so it wouldn’t be ready to move into until the end of the year.

‘It’s up here.’ She pointed out to Matt the laneway that led to her parents’ new home, The Boat House.

Her mum and dad had only moved in a few days ago, but already were entertaining and inviting everyone to come along for drinks to celebrate new beginnings. The Boat House looked absolutely amazing and bore no resemblance to the rundown place where her dad stored his yacht and tools and junk. Her parents both loved the new place; they were like a young couple starting out again.

There was a small driveway and even from the front doorway you could see right the way through the house and its glass windows to the courtyard and back garden.

‘Wow, this is really something,’ said Matt as he grabbed the
wine
and side of oak-smoked salmon they had brought for the party.

Her dad opened the door and warmly welcomed them. A few days ago the hall had been full of boxes and packing crates, but now it had been transformed. Her dad looked more relaxed than she had seen him in years. He and Mum had spent practically all of the last three months down in the cottage in West Cork and it had done him a power of good.

‘Matt, come and let me give you a tour of the place,’ he offered. Erin smiled. Her dad was so proud of what they had done, and of the solar-heating system and solar panels they had installed which he was telling everyone about.

‘And wait till you see Nina’s study! It’s up in what would have been the old loft, but it’s a perfect place for her to work and paint in terms of light, and that window gives her a view of the sea.’

Erin joined her mum in the kitchen. Nina was looking elegant as ever in a simple black dress, her blue eyes shining as she moved around her new kitchen.

‘Can you believe me working in a modern kitchen like this, Erin? It does almost everything except cook! I just touch a press with my finger and it opens.’ Erin watched as she demonstrated.

‘Where’s Matt?’

‘He’s getting the tour with Dad.’

Erin was pleased that Matt got on so well with her mum and dad. They already considered him part of the family. She and Matt had moved in together at Christmas and were renting a tiny, red-brick two-up two-down in the heart of the Liberties, Dublin. It was a sweet little house, and they loved it and the fact that, even if they were working late on something, they could still be together under the same roof.

Nikki had gone to stay with her parents after Milly’s birth
and
was still living there. Her mum was great and Milly adored her granny. Nikki didn’t plan to move out until Milly started crèche when she was about one, and then she’d get a place of her own.

With Nikki’s moving out, Claire had asked if it was okay if Donal moved in to the apartment with them. Erin liked him and, before she moved out herself, she observed the two of them living together and could see how happy he made Claire. They were a great couple and Donal had confided in her that he was saving for ‘
the ring
’.

Music played in the background as Erin grabbed a glass of wine and went over to say hello to her granny and Auntie Lizzie and cousins. Uncle Bill was raving about the mews house and what a wonderful job Tom and that architect friend of his, Mike, had done.

‘I believe the two of them are beginning work on a number of conversion projects together, and Tom even has Charles and I considering installing one of his eco-friendly solar systems to heat up our place, which can be like Siberia at times.’

Erin laughed and went around saying hello to everyone, noticing that her mum’s friend Vonnie had a man in tow.

‘He’s our auctioneer!’ whispered Nina.

Her dad appeared and stood in the middle of the glass-surrounded room, and opened a bottle of champagne.

‘Thank you, everyone, for coming along today to a launch of sorts – the launch of The Boat House, a new home for Nina and me, and a place I hope where all of you will consider yourselves very welcome. This year has been a difficult year, as most of you will know, but, like a good ship, we have come through the storms to a peaceful spot here in The Boat House. I would like to thank those of you who helped: our daughter Erin, our son
Jack
who is in Australia, and, most of all, my ever-patient wife Nina. She is a truly wonderful woman and in the middle of the calamity managed to write a book and is having it published in the autumn! I thank her for guiding this old sailor home from the sea.’

Everyone gave a cheer. Erin was so proud of them – her mum and dad. She loved them so much. It had been a hell of a year for her, too: breaking up with Luke; finding Kate and getting to know and like her; and, best of all, meeting Matt.

Erin looked at him talking away to her granny. She was already madly in love with him and wanted him to be part of her life for ever.

Oh no, thought Erin, her granny had him deep in conversation. Now she was proudly showing him her rings. Poor Matt. She could guess what was coming next. She’d better rescue him.

‘When are you two getting married?’ asked her granny so loudly that half the room could hear.

Appalled, Erin wanted the ground to open and swallow her. If she and Matt broke up it would be a hundred per cent her granny’s fault!

‘May, I promise that you will definitely be one of the first to know when I put a ring on your beautiful granddaughter’s finger.’

Erin couldn’t believe what she was hearing, what he was saying. He was always so honest.

Matt grinned and slipped his arm around her.

‘I meant it,’ he said.

‘I know,’ she laughed, hugging him. ‘That’s why I love you.’

‘I love you too,’ said Matt, pulling her closer and kissing her as everyone around them cheered.

Marita Conlon-McKenna
is one of Ireland’s favourite authors. Her previous novels include
The Matchmaker
and the number one bestsellers
The Magdalen
and
Mother of the Bride
. She is the winner of the prestigious International Reading Association award and is a regular contributor on Radio and TV. She lives in Blackrock in Dublin with her husband and family.

Also by Marita Conlon-McKenna

THE MAGDALEN

PROMISED LAND

MIRACLE WOMAN

THE STONE HOUSE

THE HAT SHOP ON THE CORNER

THE MATCHMAKER

MOTHER OF THE BRIDE

A TASTE FOR LOVE

TRANSWORLD IRELAND
An imprint of The Random House Group Limited
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First published in 2012 by Transworld Ireland,
a division of Transworld Publishers

Copyright © Marita Conlon-McKenna 2012

Marita Conlon-McKenna has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998 to be identified as the author of this work.

This work is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact,
any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidential.

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ISBN 9781848271210

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