A Time for Friends (32 page)

‘Oh Mam, I’ll treasure it forever. It’s the most precious gift I’ve ever been given.’ He enfolded her in a hug.

‘And you and your sisters were the most precious gifts
I
was ever given and you make me proud and contented. And I know the good Lord is proud of you and never forget that,
Jonathan,’ Nancy said steadfastly, if somewhat muffled against his chest.

‘I won’t,’ he whispered. ‘I won’t. And I’ll always try to make you, my sisters and the Lord proud of me.’

‘I know you will and I have no fears for you. You are a WONDERFUL and decent person and let no one tell you otherwise.’ Nancy’s arms tightened around him and they held each
other in a loving embrace as the robin and blackbirds sang their song from the branches of the heavenly scented purple Daphne that bloomed so magnificently in the sundrenched garden.

‘Oooh I was like an Antichrist, Jonathan. They didn’t know what to make of me. I would have put my own mother to shame. In fact I parroted some of the things she
said to Dee and me.’ Hilary grinned as they cruised along the N11 in Jonathan’s Beemer. ‘I stayed in bed the
entire
day with my book. It was
bliss
. Niall was
running around like a headless chicken. He couldn’t get his head round it at all. I got up and threw on a tracksuit when the girls came back from the pictures, organized the pizzas, had
something to eat myself, accompanied by a large glass of wine, and then tootled off upstairs again and finished my book. I must give it to you, it was a terrific read.’ Hilary stretched her
legs and enjoyed the comfort of the soft cream-leather seat, the luxury of not having to drive, and time to natter to Jonathan in comfort.

‘Way to go, m’dear!’ Jonathan approved. ‘We all need to have our diva days now and again. And to have a diva day
and
a duvet day. Double whammy. No wonder they
didn’t know what hit them.’

‘And I was a right diva, I can tell you. You should have seen Sophie giving me the wary eye every so often when I was dishing up the pizza and salads. I don’t know what she thought I
was going to do but she couldn’t have been more helpful, making sure everyone had enough and tidying up afterwards. The group she hangs around with are grand kids so they all mucked in
anyway. And then I disappeared and left them to it.’

‘And what did Niall have to say?’ Jonathan indicated and overtook a juggernaut, enjoying the turbo dart of speed for the manoeuvre.

‘He’s annoyed with me. Who wants to be nagged on their weekend off? But shag it, Jonathan, I need more help than I’m getting. I’m struggling,’ she sighed. ‘I
need to get another cleaner because the house is on the slide and I don’t have the time to do it. I’ve booked to get the minis in later this week to blitz the place.’

‘Good thinking. I do that every so often. It’s a gift.’

‘It’s Niall’s attitude that really bugs me,’ Hilary grumbled. ‘He actually asked why didn’t I give up work.’

‘You’re
joking!
’ Jonathan looked across at her, shocked.

‘I’m not. He said there was no need for me to work, and fine, there isn’t. He’s got a great job and salary and we could well manage on it, but I know he just wants me to
be there minding the house, bringing his mother to her clinics – and don’t get me wrong, I’m very fond of her, you know that – because it would all be so
convenient
for him. And this all because I blew my top.’

‘I can understand why you’re finding the juggling hard. It would be beyond me. When you add elderly parents into the mix it’s such an increased pressure. I just have Mam to
think about, and my sisters are great for keeping an eye on her, but you have your own mam and dad
and
your mother-in-law. That’s not easy. Did he ring Smokin’ Sue?’

‘He left a message!’

‘And did she get back to him?’

‘What do you think?’ Hilary said drily. ‘She won’t get back. I know her. And knowing him he won’t ring again unless I nag him. It’s doing my head in,’
she groaned.

‘Umm . . . that’s not very proactive. I don’t know if you think this is good news or not so.’ He glanced across at her, an eyebrow raised.

‘What?’ she asked warily.

‘Gina Grant’s secretary phoned me. Gina and Shaun would like to meet us with a view to having a bespoke spa installed in their house, or rather mansion . . .’ he corrected
himself.

‘The Grants? The Grant Insurance Grants? Gina Grant the Charity Queen?’

‘The very ones,’ Jonathan said smugly.

‘He’s a multi-multimillionaire. He has his own helicopter.’

‘He is and he has . . .
and . . .
he want us to design his own personal spa!’

‘Imagine being rich enough to have your own spa! I couldn’t think of anything nicer than being able to have a facial or a massage whenever you wanted.’ She sighed
wistfully.

‘Me neither. The luxury of it. So are you up for it? It will just be something on a smaller scale than what we’ve done with the hotels.’

‘Of
course
I’m up for it. Niall will just have to get over himself,’ Hilary declared. ‘This is
too
good an opportunity to miss. I wonder where did Gina
hear about us?’

‘I think she’s related by marriage to Cecily Porter, who owns Horizon House. So we must have got a good report. You can’t beat word of mouth.’

‘It’s great, isn’t it? And all because we did a random lighting design course together. Imagine that was ten years ago!’

‘I have the grey hairs to prove it,’ Jonathan teased. ‘Now you know we’ll have to charge them an arm and a leg.’

‘Why? We haven’t even been on site yet. We don’t know what it’s going to cost.’ She looked at him, surprised.

‘That’s immaterial. If we don’t go high they won’t feel they’ve got something special. The more they spend, the more they can boast about it. That’s the way
it works in that clique. Don’t let the Joneses keep up with you, whatever you do. Now they’ll have their own inhouse spa
and
a helicopter and a fleet of expensive cars and,
and, and . . .’ Jonathan explained patiently.

‘It’s all a bit mad really, isn’t it? I wouldn’t like that type of lifestyle and all that goes with it. I’m happy enough with my attic conversion,’ Hilary
chuckled.

‘Not just any old attic conversion . . .
A Harpur
-designed attic conversion,’ Jonathan reminded her as they drove across the bridge over the Avoca River at Ferrybank and
into Arklow Town. ‘The river looks choppy and high,’ he observed, watching the waves whack angrily against the quays, the morning sun casting prisms of light that turned the water into
a dazzling, silver, undulating sheath.

‘Bad place for flooding here; I hope the tide hasn’t risen before we come back. I wonder will we ever be able to afford our own helicopter?’ Hilary bantered.

‘Never say never. Ready for coffee?’

‘I sure am,’ Hilary replied. Jonathan had picked her up en route from Rosslara and she had just eaten a banana, knowing that they were stopping for refreshments before they got to
Gorey.

Joanne’s Hot Bread Shop was comfortingly warm and the scent of freshly baked bread wafted around them enticingly as they walked past the mouthwatering displays of cakes and breads. They
tucked themselves into a little alcove at a table for two and scanned the menu.

‘Scrambled eggs and a slice of bacon for me,’ Hilary decided briskly.

‘And a croissant and a scone and jam for me, please, and a pot of coffee for two,’ Jonathan said to the waitress who had arrived to take their order.

‘Do you think I’m neglecting family? Am I being selfish, Jonathan?’ Hilary asked when the waitress had delivered their breakfast to them and Hilary had poured their coffee.

‘
No
! Not at all!’ he exclaimed. ‘You’re a very giving mother and wife, Hilary. Too giving sometimes, that’s your problem. So I’m glad you had your
day of protest. It does them no harm to get a reminder sometimes that you aren’t Superwoman. Do you
want
to give up work?’ He smothered his croissant in butter and jam and bit
into it.

‘No, I really enjoy it. It’s just the juggling that I find hard-going and the fact that Niall is keeping his head in the sand about Margaret, and is allowing Sue to get away with
doing feck all! My time is as precious as hers, or his, and neither of them gets that and it makes me furious,’ she seethed. ‘They seem to have the impression that I’m just
dabbling in work, that it’s some sort of friggin’
hobby
!’ Her voice rose indignantly.

‘We don’t want to scare the natives, dear,’ Jonathan said soothingly, noticing two middle-aged women at another table looking in their direction.

Hilary giggled. Her friend was so good at injecting humour when she got a bit fraught. ‘But you know what I’m saying!’ She bit into a slice of buttery toast.

‘I do. I see exactly where you’re coming from and if you want my advice, I would set my boundaries. Tell Niall, Sue and the girls that you have a career that’s important to you
and you need them to respect that. Tell them that they all have to pull their weight because you’re not doing it all by yourself any more.’

‘I know you’re right and I
do
say things and they muck in for a while and then they forget and we all slip back into our old ways. I’ll just have to keep
nagging,’ she grimaced. ‘Anyway enough of me, tell me about
your
weekend. How’s your mam? And any update on the new romance?’

‘Well now that you ask,’ Jonathan grinned, bursting to tell her his news. ‘There
has
been a development and you’ll be proud of me and so will Hannah.’

‘Tell me all,’ demanded Hilary eagerly, replenishing their coffee cups.

‘He phoned me and for
once
in my life I played it cool,’ Jonathan laughed, before telling her all about the events of his weekend.

‘Isn’t it great that we can tell each other
everything
,’ Hilary said an hour later, tucking her arm into her best friend’s as they walked up the hill at the side
of the coffee shop to the car park. ‘I never feel I’m being disloyal to Niall if I say something about him, and you’re the only one I’d say things about him to.’

‘Real friendship is such a gift, isn’t it?’ Jonathan smiled down at her. ‘You know everything about me and I know everything about you and we can say what we like to each
other.’

‘I know. I say things to you I wouldn’t dream of saying to Niall or anyone else. Even though I love him dearly.’

‘Well of course you’re not going to talk to him about your boobs and ass going south, and having to cross your legs when you sneeze! He doesn’t need to know about your leaky
bladder,’ Jonathan teased.

‘Give over, that was only once when I had the flu and I got a simultaneous coughing and sneezing fit,’ she protested, getting into the car.

‘Just keep doing the exercises,’ he cautioned, clipping his seat belt on.

Less than half an hour later they were on site and Hilary was fit to be tied. The electrician had ignored her plans and had taken short cuts wiring the spa area that were totally
unacceptable.

‘Peter, this isn’t on,’ she said to the builder who was standing with his arms folded frowning at her. She turned to the electrician who was standing beside him glowering at
her.

‘Rory, I told you where I wanted the spots. And those dimmer switches for the floor lights were to be separate from the wall lamps. You can’t have them all running off the one
switch.’

‘Ah now you’re only complicating things. I’ve been doing electrics for years. I know what needs to be done and how to do it – don’t get your knickers in a
twist,’ the florid, thickset electrician said patronizingly.

‘He does have a point,’ the builder remarked. ‘This is all a bit complicated and time-consuming.’

‘Is that right?’ Hilary gave him a withering stare. ‘Well I’m the lighting designer on this project, and I’m doing what the owner has asked me to do, so it’s
like this, Peter, I’m getting my client on the phone right now and you can discuss it with her. It’s her money that’s being spent here and as far as I’m concerned, you,
Rory, are not doing what you’ve been asked to do, or paid to do.’

‘Now wait a minute—’

Hilary ignored him and dialled Norah Clancy’s number and gave her a brief rundown of the situation.

‘Put that little toad on to me,’ Norah commanded. Hilary handed Rory the phone and had to turn away and hide a smile as she heard the blistering tirade he had to endure.

‘Here, she wants to talk to you.’ The electrician handed her the phone back with bad grace and stomped off.

‘Yes, Norah?’ Hilary said.

‘I gave him what for and told him if he wasn’t able to do the job I’d get someone who was. Whatever expenses you’ve incurred coming down today invoice me for them.
He’ll be paying. And if he hasn’t done what you want the next time you’re down, he’s off the project. I’ll tell Peter Ryan I want someone new on the job. OK?’
Norah said briskly.

‘Fine. Otherwise it’s all starting to take shape. Talk soon.’ Hilary hung up. Her client was a woman who took no crap, and Rory Tobin had made a big mistake thinking he could
get away with ignoring both her and Hilary’s design.

‘Peter, tell your electrician to follow the plan we all agreed on or there’ll be financial consequences. Norah’s going to be talking to you herself,’ Hilary said coolly.
‘I’ll be getting on to the architect as well. He needs to know what’s going on here as does the quantity surveyor.’

‘God help me with the lot of ye,’ the builder muttered. ‘Right, I’ll get it sorted.’

‘I’ll see you in a week then.’ She marched out of the building and left her hard hat in the prefab. Jonathan was standing on top of the grassy bank watching the sun glistening
on the sea.

‘Sorted?’

‘Yep,’ she scowled. ‘Thank God Norah’s a strong woman and knows what she wants. Tweedledum and Tweedledee aren’t too happy though.’

‘Oh I think the filthy look you gave them and the ear-bashing from Norah will keep them in their boxes for a while. The place is going to be fabulous though. I can’t wait to
decorate. That floor-to-ceiling wall of glass where the relaxation room is going to be will be stunning. What a view! We’ll come down for an overnighter when it’s up and
running.’