Love, Rosie (265 page)

Halfway
through
it
I
was
just
angry
and
then
while
I
was
spooning

the
last
mouthful
into
my
mouth
I
began
to
think
rationally
(that’s

what
it
does
to
me
you
see).
So
I
devised
a
plan
whereby
I
was
going

to
invite
this
“other
woman”
into
my
home
for
dinner
so
that
I

could
poison
her
just
like
in
the
movie.

I
needed
to
find
out
who
she
was,
what
made
her
so
much
more

qualified
than
me,
and
why
on
earth
Gary
left
me
for
her.
As
it

turns
out
she’s
only
in
her
late
20s,
is
from
Spain,
teaches
Spanish
at

the
school
(that’s
where
Gary
met
her,
where
he
works
as
a
custo-

dial
engineer),
she’s
thin,
pretty,
and
a
very
beautiful
person.

Rosie:

Ruby:

Rosie:

Ruby:

She’s
everything
you
would
usually
hate,
right?

Usually
yes.
But
this
time
it’s
different
because
she
and
my
Gary

have
found
love.

Ooooh!

I
know!
Isn’t
it
great?
So
I
had
no
problem
stepping
aside
and
hang-

ing
up
my
dancing
shoes.
To
tell
the
truth
I
was
thinking
of
parting

with
Gary
soon
anyway.
I’m
not
far
off
50
now,
I
need
to
dance

with
someone
more
my
own
age
who
won’t
have
the
energy
to
be

flinging
me
across
the
other
side
of
the
room.
I’m
not
up
to
it
any-

more.
I’m
just
happy
Gary
has
finally
found
someone.
Maybe
Maria

will
make
him
move
out
of
my
house
and
in
with
her.

love,
rosie

389

Rosie:

Ruby:

Would
you
be
upset
by
that?

As
upset
as
I
would
be
if
I
found
a
million
euro
under
my
bed.
The

boy
needs
to
realize
he
is
a
grown
man
now
and
move
out.
I
can’t

cook
him
his
dinners
and
clean
his
clothes
forever.
Anyway
enough

about
me,
how’s
your
mum?

Rosie:

Ruby:

Rosie:

Not
great.

That’s
a
shame.

It
is.
It
just
seems
that
bit
by
bit
everything
is
failing
on
her.
Her

arthritis
has
gotten
so
bad
now
that
she’s
almost
crippled.
It
wasn’t

so
much
of
a
problem
when
she
and
Dad
were
traveling
because

then
they
had
the
hot
weather.
Now
though
I
don’t
think
hanging

off
a
cliff
in
cold
Connemara
is
really
the
best
place
for
her.
But
she

won’t
move
from
there.
I’m
worried
for
her.
She’s
in
and
out
of
hos-

pital
with
infections
and
problems
with
parts
of
her
body
that
I

didn’t
even
know
existed.
It’s
as
if
when
Dad
died,
her
body
just

gave
up.