Behind Every Cloud (48 page)

It galled her to hear Ellie raving about Sam and her new job during lunch, which they took in the bar there. The fact that their mother was so proud of her younger sister rubbed salt into her wounds. How did Ellie do it? She could fall in the gutter and come up smelling of roses! Sandrine felt very bitter at how life was treating them both.

They invited her to go with them to the florist to check o
ut the flowers but she cried off, pleading a headache. She
’
d had enough of happy families and big weddings for one day!
Ellie and Marie-Noelle were secretly pleased. Somehow, Sandrine put a damper on everything. They headed to
Clontarf Florist
and a meeting with the owner, Bernie
,
who was exceptionally helpful. They looked through her brochure and the moment they saw the bouquet with the white and pale
-
yellow roses interspersed with pale
-
gold freesia, they knew this was the one. They ordered the full package
:
bouquets, corsages, flowers for the church and reception.

“
That
’
s a great day
’
s work done,
”
Marie-Noelle smiled at her daughter.
“
I think it
’
s all going to be beautiful.
”

Ellie felt the same. Everything was going beautifully. The following Saturday they would decide on the wedding cake. Ellie had been to a wedding the previous year where the cake had been absolutely fabulous. She
’
d discovered it had been made by Killinure Cakes, a small one-woman operation in Glasson outside Athlone
,
and she and her mother had arranged to go down there the following Saturday. She
’
d looked it up on the internet and loved the cakes displayed there
.

When they got home that evening they brought Ellie
’
s father Tom up to date on all the arrangements.

“
We
’
re going down to Athlone next Saturday to check out the wedding cake
,”
Ellie informed him.

“
Oh, can I come too?
”
he
asked.
“
It
’
s been years since I
’
ve been down that way.
”

“
Wonders will never cease!
”
Marie-Noelle laughed, rolling her eyes to heaven
.

“
Why not? It
’
s my daughter
’
s wedding. I want to be involved too.
”
He looked so forlorn that Ellie rushed to give him a hug.

“
Great! I
’
d love you to come, Dad, and I
’
ll treat you both to lunch there. I hear there are smashing restaurants in Glasson
!”
Ellie
said
,
clapping her hands.

“
It
’
s a date,
”
her father
replied, grinning and giving her a high-five.

She was thrilled that he wanted to help out and
,
blowing him a kiss,
she went up to dress for the evening.

She and David had been invited to Frank and Judith Buckley
’
s house again. Seemingly it would be the final dinner as Judith was off to Marbella for eight weeks. She remembered what Anna had said at the last dinner there
: “
The women decamp to Marbella and leave the men to have their little flings in Dublin.
”
Rumour had it that the Dublin matrons had quite a few flings of their own in the Spanish
sunshine. Ellie didn
’
t doubt it.

Ronan had Saturday off and played golf in the morning – his first Saturday playing in a long time. His friends were delighted to see him back and in such good form. He played extremely well and was thrilled to be the winner of the jackpot, amidst much teasing about secretly practising when they weren
’
t around.
He had lunch and a few beers with the lads in the clubhouse afterwards
.

He felt exhilarated as he made his way in to visit Fiona again that afternoon. This time he brought her chocolates and a little teddy bear for baby Oisín
.

“
Oh, you
’
re so sweet
,
Ronan,
”
Fiona said, tears coming to her eyes.
“
You don
’
t have to come in every day.
”

“
I want to. I wouldn
’
t be much of a
‘
partner
’
or godfather, if I didn
’
t
!”
He smiled at her, peeking into the crib at the peacefully sleeping baby.

Fiona was crying.
“
Sorry,
”
she said, wiping her eyes.
“
Hormones, I
’
m afraid. I
’
m so happy it makes me cry.
”

“
Well, that
’
s allowed. I was worried it was me making you cry.
”

“
Yes, well, your kindness does it too.
”
She smiled through her tears.
“
He
’
s such a good baby,
”
she told him.
“
He hardly ever cries.
”

“
Of course not – he
’
s my godchild after all.
”

This had her laughing.

“
When will they let you out?
”
he asked.

“
Monday, I think.
”

“
Oh, that
’
s very early. I
’
m off Monday. Would you like me to take you home?
”

“
Could you?
”
she asked hopefully.
“
Mam
’
s back is giving her hell and I hate asking her to drive all the way up from Blessington when she
’
s in such pain. It would be great if you could.
”

“
I
’
d be delighted.
”

It was all arranged.

48

Ellie felt much more confident going to the dinner that evening, knowing what was expected of her. She
’
d been so nervous the first time she
’
d visited but now she was well able for Judith – and Frank for that matter.

Frank greeted them
,
giving Ellie his usual lascivious glance which she ignored.

“
Hello . . . sorry, I
’
ve forgotten your name,
”
Judith said
bitchily
.

“
Ellie, and sorry, I
’
ve forgotten your name too,
”
Ellie replied, smiling sweetly.

Judith frowned. Behind her back, Frank made a down-stroke sign, meaning
:
round one to Ellie.

She grinned at him, pleased.

“
Yes, well
,
what would you like to drink?
”
Judith asked, ignoring the put-down.

“
Do you have any Alsace white wine?
”
Ellie asked.
“
Preferably Riesling, but Pinot Gris is okay too.
”
She smiled innocently at Judith, her dimples making her, as always, look like a teenager.

“
I
’
ll check,
”
Judith replied archly, furious with this young whipper-snapper. She went off to check with the waiters.

David was furious with his fiancée. What was she playing
at?

Ellie was pleased to see that some of the younger crowd fro
m Kitty
’
s were there this time and they greeted her warmly. Frank pulled David away to the side to discuss somethin
g with him
,
leaving Ellie chatting to the women
.

“
How are the wedding plans coming along
?”
Joanne asked her.

“
Just great, though you were right, maybe we should have eloped.
”

The others laughed
,
nodding their heads in agreement as Judith returned
.

“
I
’
m afraid we don
’
t have any Alsace wine but we do have some Italian Pinot Grigio or German Riesling
,”
she informed Ellie through tight lips
.

“
The Pinot Grigio will be fine
.”
Ellie smiled innocently at her as Frank and David rejoined them
.

“
You do know your wine, don
’
t you?
”
Joanne remarked.

“
Oh, I remember now Sam told us you were on his wine course.
”
Frank winked at Ellie.
“
Is he any good?
”

“
He
’
s brilliant
.”

“
I
’
ll never understand how my son has become so successful,
”
Judith sniffed.
“
He was useless at school.
”

“
He has a great business head and of course he
’
s passionate about wine,
”
Ellie told them.
“
I
’
m actually standing in as his PA at the moment and it
’
s a fascinating business.
”

“
Really? Pretty and bright,
”
Frank said, winking at her again.

Judith gave him a dirty look.

Ellie was relieved when another couple arrived and Judith and Frank had to go and greet them.

The evening passed pleasantly enough. The boring James was not in evidence this time and Ellie was sitting beside Anna
’
s husband Mike who was very interesting and had a great store of jokes. Yes, it was certainly a more successful evening than the previous time she
’
d been here
.

49

Rachel had had a real scare and felt very bad about having flung the wine at Carl. She hadn
’
t seen him since and guessed that he was avoiding her. She felt lonelier than ever and
was trying desperately to cut back on her drinking
,
but she was finding it terribly difficult.

Carl was playing golf on Sunday morning and then joining her and the kids for lunch at her parents
’
later.

Her father came to pick them up
.
He looked at her, a worried frown on his face. He noticed that she didn
’
t look as polished as usual.

“
Is everything okay, honey?
”
he asked.

“
Fine, Dad,
”
she lied. She didn
’
t want to say anything in front of the children. She was afraid she
’
d break down crying.

When they arrived at Kinsealy, after greeting Alison her mother,
she asked him for a brandy.

“
Rachel, it
’
s only midday
.”

“
I know, but I could do with a drink.
”

He poured it and handed it to her, disapproval showing
in his every movement. He
’
d been worried for some time about her drinking. He saw how her hands were shaking as she held the glass.