Behind Every Cloud (33 page)

Ellie blushed
,
as she did every time he mentioned Mars. Was he never going to let her forget that comment?
“
Well, we timed it and it is only eight minutes forty exactly
,
from there to here.
”
She busied herself putting out her wine glasses, not wanting him to see her discomfiture.

Rachel looked from one to the other
,
not understanding t
his exchange
,
although it was obvious Ellie was embarrassed.

Luckily for Ellie, Ronan and Zita came in just then
,
followed immediately by the young ones
,
so she escaped Sam
’
s teasing
.

“
Ronan looks dreadful,
”
she whispered to Rachel
.

“
I hope nothing
’
s happened,
”
Rachel whispered back
,
concerned to see the grey look on his face.

She smiled at Ronan as he took his place beside her. He gave her a wan smile.

They were all a little more subdued than usual as the class began. Ellie was still smarting from Sam
’
s remark and Rachel was concerned about Ronan who could barely focus on what Sam was saying and had to make a huge effort to concentrate and take it all in. The tasting session went a little better as they all became engrossed
,
surprised at how good the Italian wines Sam gave them were
.

“
There are some stupendous wines coming out of Italy, as well as a lot of crap, of course,
”
he explained.

There was certainly no
crap on offer here as they tasted one delicious wine after another. They all agreed that the final wine, an Amarone from the Veneto
,
was the best wine they
’
d ever tasted.

“
I must order a case of this,
”
Rachel exclaimed, draining
her glass.

Ronan sighed. Rachel
’
s life was so trouble-free. Did she realise how lucky she was?

They headed for the Castle again after the class.

Sam had
noticed that Ronan wasn
’
t his usual self and fell into step beside him.

“
Is everything okay with you, Ronan? You seem very quiet tonight,
”
he enquired as they walked to the pub.

“
Had a bad weekend,
”
Ronan replied in a low voice.
“
I don
’
t want the others to know but my wife
’
s left me.
”

“
Oh God, man, I
’
m so sorry,
”
Sam said, putting his arm around Ronan
’
s shoulders
. “
That
’
s a shit thing to happen
.
”

“
Yeah
,
well, things haven
’
t been good for a while but now she
’
s met someone
else.
”

Sam didn
’
t know what to say. Anything he could say would sound like a platitude.
“
God, I
’
m sorry. You
’
re really having it all thrown at you at the moment,
”
was all he could manage.
“
Listen
,
if you want to take a couple of days off, we
’
ll manage in the shop somehow
.”

“
No, no,
”
Ronan was adamant.
“
I need to keep busy. Keep my mind off things. Thanks anyway, Sam.
”

When they reached the Castle, Zita and Rachel sat together making arrangements for the interview that Zita was planning to do with Rachel the following Wednesday. It meant her
‘
Pamper Rachel Day
’
would be cancelled but Rachel reckoned being interviewed for a TV show could be considered pampering of a sort. After the interview in the morning, they would have lunch in the canteen and then Zita would show her around the studios and let her see behind the scenes of some programmes in action.
It was all so exciting.

31

Dermot was in the shop when Ronan arrived on Tuesday morning.

“
Listen, Ronan
,
Sam told me you weren
’
t feeling too good last night so if you
’
d like to take the day off, that
’
s no problem. I can manage on my own. It won
’
t be a busy day
.”

“
No, I
’
ll be fine, thanks anyway, Dermot.
”

“
Well, if you do need a break, just tell me
.”

Ronan was very grateful but working was the only thing that would keep him sane.
He wondered what Louise would do next and whether she
’
d want him to sell the house. There would be no point as it was in negative equity anyway. Any money they
’
d get for it would all go to the building society, that
’
s presuming they could sell in this terrible economic climate.
She
’
d said she wanted nothing from him. He hoped she meant it. His main priority now was to keep paying the mortgage and to clear her debts. At least she couldn
’
t spend any
more of his hard-earned money. He wondered if this new guy knew just what he was letting himself in for.

A new delivery had arrived from Burgundy and Ronan was happy to be kept busy unloading it and placing it on the shelves.

Sam had lent him Hugh Johnson
’
s Wine Atlas and he often stayed reading it into the small hours of the morning. As a result his knowledge of wine was growing daily and he felt quite confident now advising customers. The regulars were getting to know him and found him very pleasant
.

Fiona came down as usual for tea that afternoon and knew instantly that things were wrong.

“
What is it,
”
she asked after Ronan had poured the tea.

“
Louise has left me.
”

“
What?
”
Her cup clattered back down in her saucer.

Ronan told her the whole story from start to finish and was surprised to see tears in her eyes when he
’
d finished.

“
Sorry, my hormones are all over the place at the momen
t,
”
she said
,
wiping her eyes.
“
How awful for you
–
but
,
you know
,
as the song says
–
Judy Garland, wasn
’
t it? –
when a cloud appears you must look for the silver lining. You weren
’
t very happy together, were you?
”

“
No, in fact
–
but I
’
m just thinking of something Judy Garland said once.
”
He gave a half-smile.
“
She said that behind every cloud was another cloud.
”

Fiona laughed.
“
Well, you
’
ve had your two clouds – first losing your job and now your marriage. It can only get better. There must be a silver lining coming up.
”

“
I hope you
’
re right,
”
he smiled, pouring another cup of tea for her
.

Ellie had bought two bottles of that lovely Amarone wine from Sam for the girls although it was more expensive than what she usually bought. Still, she had to show them that she was learning something on the wine course. Indeed
,
her taste in wine had changed. Jacob
’
s Creek no longer seemed like the best wine in the world to her. Yes, Italy was where it was at. She hoped her friends would be impressed by her choice. You never knew with Sandrine!

She prepared some olives which she dressed with olive oil and herbs and some Italian pecorino cheese and water biscuits. It all looked very elegant and she was very pleased with the result. It was a far cry from the Tayto and popcorn and usual plonk she served. Her mother was surprised and pleased with this new sophisticated streak her daughter was developing.

Sandrine was the first to arrive and was impressed with the nibbles Ellie had set out. Then she tasted the wine.
“
Wow, this wine is lovely. What is it?
”

“
It
’
s an Amarone, from Italy.
”

Sandrine raised one perfectly threaded eyebrow.
“
Amarone? I
’
ve never heard of that before
.”
She was quite put out. She had always been the sophisticated one in the family and here was her kid sister showing her up.

“
Ellie has some fantastic news, haven
’
t you
,
darling?
”
their mother said, turning to her youngest daughter.

“
Yes. David and I found the cutest house at the weekend
.”

She was smiling broadly
,
her dimples annoying her sister as they always did. How come Ellie got all the pretty genes from their mother?

“
Really,
”
she asked coolly, raising her arched eyebrows enquiringly.
“
And where
,
pray do tell me? Killester? Marino?
”
She
’
d mentioned the nearest areas to Clontarf possible.

“
No
,
actually. It
’
s in Sandymount.
”
Ellie was a little hurt by her sister
’
s sarcasm. She wished that just for once Sandrine would be happy for her.

“
Sandymount
?”
Sandrine practically screeched.
“
But that
’
s on the south
side
!”

“
I know but it only took us eight minutes forty seconds to get from there to here. We even timed it,
”
Ellie announced, unaware of the jealousy her sister was feeling.

“
Well, I must say you
’
re a dark horse. In my wildest dreams I never thought you
’
d go south of the Liffey,
”
Sandrine sniffed, greatly put out by this piece of news.
“
I daresay David finally got you to see sense.
”
She opened up her laptop
. “
I
’
ve been doing some research for your wedding.
”

“
Research?
”
Ellie looked at her enquiringly.

“
Yes, I
’
ve sussed out a beautiful dress for you and for us
bridesmaids, and also flowers. I
’
ve also made out a menu that I think would be perfect for the reception and
–”

“
Hang on just a minute,
”
Ellie cried
,
looking at the file Sandrine had just opened up. It was
titled
‘
ELLIE
’
S WEDDING
’.

She looked at her sister disbelievingly.
“
Sandrine, this is my wedding and I want to choose my own dress – in fact, I
’
ve already found it, haven
’
t I
,
Mum?
”
She turned to her mother for confirmation.