Things We Never Say (41 page)

‘Not now,’ agreed Claudia. ‘But Pete’s right. Before, you always seemed defensive. Now you’re way more assertive. It suits you.’

Abbey knew that she wasn’t half as assertive as Claudia appeared to think. She was still getting grief from both Solí and Vanessa over Cobey; she hadn’t been able to convince them that she knew what she was doing with him and that she wouldn’t have her heart broken again. When she was with Cobey – who she’d met with a few times since the cocktail night in Cantina – she’d let him set the agenda in deciding what to do and where to go, and she suddenly felt as though other people had more control over her than she did. Nevertheless, it was good to have someone in her life again, even if he was still at its periphery, no matter what Solí and Vanessa thought.

‘Any new information on the will?’ asked Pete when they were seated at the dining table and he was sharpening the carving knife.

‘Ryan Gilligan rings me every week with an update,’ said Abbey. ‘But so far there’s nothing to update me on.’

‘I liked him,’ said Pete. ‘He’s a good man.’

‘Yes,’ agreed Abbey. She smiled as she thought of Ryan. Their weekly conversations were always fun. He continued to call her his American cailín, while she’d taken to referring to him as her Irish buchaill. (She’d had problems with the pronunciation of the word, which he’d told her meant ‘boy’ in Irish, until he’d sent her an email with the phonetic spelling of boo-kill. But for some reason he still laughed – although kindly – at her accent.) ‘What?’ she added, realising that Pete was looking at her speculatively.

‘Anything going on between you two?’ asked Pete.

‘Don’t be silly,’ she replied. ‘He lives on the other side of the Atlantic.’

‘Abbey’s got a boyfriend!’ cried Joely.

‘Abbey doesn’t have time for a boyfriend,’ she told the little girl.

‘Everyone has time for a boyfriend,’ said Claudia. ‘Just because you’re doing well in the nail business doesn’t mean you should cut men out of your life.’

‘And just because you had a bad experience with one man doesn’t mean you should tar us all with the same brush,’ Pete told her.

‘I’m over that,’ said Abbey, still not mentioning that she was, if not officially dating, certainly seeing Cobey again.

‘Good,’ Pete said.

‘That guy didn’t deserve our Abbey,’ Claudia declared. ‘But he was a fool to let her go.’

The last time they’d met, Cobey had said the same thing to her, but she hadn’t been able to believe him. And if he’d been a fool to let her go, would she be a fool to take him back? Even though he’d apologised. Even though he was contrite. Even though she’d very nearly forgiven him.

Later that evening, as Claudia and Pete dozed in front of the movie they’d selected to watch on TV, and Grady and Joely both played video games, Abbey’s phone rang.

‘Hello,’ said Ryan Gilligan when she answered it. ‘How are things with you?’

‘Good,’ she said. ‘I’m good, things are good – why are you calling? Is there anything new from the family?’

‘Nothing worthwhile,’ said Ryan. ‘We’ve had a few letters from their solicitors but no offers from them, no signs that they’re willing to negotiate.’

‘Is it wrong of me to think that in saying we’d give them half we’ve been generous enough already?’ asked Abbey. ‘I mean – are they right? Are we being selfish? Should we give up everything?’

‘Has your mom suggested you should?’

‘No, it’s not that. I haven’t spoken to her since I visited her,’ replied Abbey. ‘But, you know, I can’t help thinking that money for nothing is wrong.’

‘You’ve definitely had a Catholic upbringing.’ Ryan chuckled. ‘Carrying all that guilt around because something nice has happened to you.’

‘I’m not carrying guilt. Well, I guess maybe I am. Something nice happened to me but it came out of something awful, and the rest of the family are so upset.’ She ran her fingers through her hair in distraction. ‘I don’t know what to think!’

‘Think that Fred wanted to do right by his daughter,’ suggested Ryan. ‘That should make you feel OK.’

‘Hmm. Maybe. So if you’re not calling about the will – why are you?’

‘Does there have to be a reason?’ asked Ryan.

‘Um, usually.’

‘In that case, I’m ringing to wish you a happy Thanksgiving,’ he told her.

‘Thank you.’

‘I know it’s a big deal over there and that you give it the kind of attention we tend to give Christmas here. So I wanted to send the good wishes of everyone at Celtic Legal.’

‘Thanks,’ she said again.

‘We’re all thinking of you here in Dublin and hoping that things go well for you.’

‘I wouldn’t say all of you in Dublin are hoping that,’ she said. ‘I guess the Fitzpatricks are hoping quite the op-posite.’

‘Don’t worry about the Fitzpatricks,’ Ryan said. ‘We’re going to leave them for dust.’

‘We are?’

‘Absolutely,’ he assured her.

‘There’s a part of me that wants to see Donald’s face if that happens,’ Abbey said. ‘Although at the pace these things move – well, heaven knows when that will actually be.’

‘True,’ said Ryan. ‘If we don’t get an early hearing, I’ll have to come up with another reason to bring you over to Ireland.’

‘Why?’

‘I miss you,’ he said lightly

‘Are you flirting with me?’ she asked suddenly, realising that the tone of his voice was more playful than usual.

‘Maybe a little,’ he confessed.

‘You’re full of charm,’ she told him. ‘And I’m glad you’re on my side. Because I’m sure you could be tough if you wanted.’

‘Oh, and ruthless,’ he assured her. ‘As savagely ruthless as you needed me to be.’

‘Maybe I won’t need to see that part of you,’ she said. ‘Maybe we’ll manage to settle all this before it gets that far.’

‘Fingers crossed,’ said Ryan. ‘That’s what we want too.’

‘It was nice of you to call,’ Abbey told him.

‘You’re welcome,’ said Ryan. ‘And don’t forget, any time you need us – need me – we’re here.’

‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ she said, and wished him a good night.

She was still smiling to herself when her phone buzzed again. This time it was Cobey.

‘I’m at Cantina,’ he told her. ‘You want to join me?’

‘You know I’m with Pete and Claudia,’ she said.

‘Sure, but there’s a great party going on and I’d love you to be here.’

‘I can’t,’ she said.

‘I was thinking that we could share a pitcher of margaritas.’ He was persuasive. ‘And then afterwards … perhaps back at your apartment … well, there were plenty of other things we liked to share.’

She hadn’t invited him to the Torreblanca apartment yet. It was her place. Her refuge.

‘Not tonight,’ she said again.

‘We’re good together,’ said Cobey softly. ‘Remember how good?’

Of course she remembered. They’d clicked in the bedroom just as much as they’d clicked the first time their eyes had met. And she missed that closeness. But she was here with Pete and Claudia and their children. And she was part of their family. At least for this moment.

‘Another time,’ she promised. ‘I’ll call you.’

She slid her cell phone back into her bag.

Across the room, Pete opened one eye and looked at her. But she didn’t notice. She was staring unseeingly at the television screen.

After another meeting with Tierney and Gibson, the solicitors he’d engaged, Donald called a family conference, although the only family concerned were himself, Zoey, Gareth and Lisette. When Gareth told his wife that his brother wanted them all to get together, she suggested they drop round for dinner. She would cook for them, she said. It would be less expensive than eating out.

Gareth was taken aback at her suggestion – both because he hadn’t been at all sure that she’d want to participate in any conversation about the will, and more especially because Lisette wasn’t currently speaking to him. The row which had resulted in her freezing him out had happened when she discovered that he’d been in touch with the French agent about putting Papillon on the market. He tried to explain that it had been an exploratory move on his part to check out the process and the price that their holiday house might fetch, but Lisette had gone totally ballistic.

‘I thought we agreed not to sell Papillon,’ she yelled at him. ‘I thought we’d agreed that it was also our home.’

‘That’s not what we decided at all,’ Gareth told her. ‘Be realistic, Lisette. The market in La Rochelle is good right now. No matter what happens with Dad’s will, we need to offload property. If we get a good offer for Papillon, it makes perfect sense to sell.’

‘We wouldn’t have to if you’d accepted the offer made by Abbey Andersen.’

‘Yes we would,’ said Gareth. ‘Even if we win the case, we’ll have to sell something. Which has to be the house that people want to buy.’

‘This is insane! I thought the whole idea of you supporting Donald in taking the case was so that we could keep Papillon. Now you’re saying we’ll sell it anyway!’

‘But we won’t be under pressure. Besides, Donald says—’

‘Oh, if Donald says something, it must be right!’ cried Lisette. ‘Well that’s not so. He’s being stupid and so are you.’

‘No he’s not,’ said Gareth. ‘He’s right. Dad shouldn’t have done what he did. He undermined Donald and insulted the family.’

‘And you are supporting him in this insane venture because he feels undermined!’

‘I’m supporting him because he’s right and because our solicitors think they can make a good case.’

‘But you’re talking about selling our home,’ she wailed. ‘You know how much I love it.’

‘Look, if everything works out, we can buy another home in France. A bigger one. A better one.’

‘You don’t buy a ’ome. You buy a ’ouse.’ Once again, Lisette’s English was breaking down under pressure. ‘Papillon is a ’ome. You should know that, Gareth. What you should be doing is telling Donald to get over ’is problems and settle with the Americans.’

‘Why should they get anything?’ asked Gareth. ‘Why?’

‘We ’ave gone over and over this,’ said Lisette.

‘Look, we’re not doing as badly as we were before,’ said Gareth. ‘The extra money you’ve brought in from the grinds has made quite a difference. If we can hang on in for a bit longer, we might not have to sell Papillon. But if we do, it’ll only be because we have a shot at something much bigger.’

Lisette stared at him wordlessly. She knew now why their foray into property speculation had gone so spectacularly wrong. Her husband hadn’t a clue about finance. He still hadn’t twigged that she couldn’t possibly have earned all that money from giving grinds. He hadn’t a clue about anything. She’d married a complete idiot who wanted to rob her of the one thing she really loved. Her home in La Rochelle.

‘You will
not
do this,’ she said tightly. ‘I will stop you. I will go to Papillon myself and take the children with me.’

‘What?’ Gareth could hardly believe what she was saying.

‘You ’eard me.’ Her voice was trembling. ‘I cannot let you sell Papillon.’

She’d stormed out of the room then, slamming the door behind her. And although later he’d told her that he wasn’t going to do anything about Papillon yet, she’d turned away from him without speaking. Which was, more or less, how things had been ever since.

Donald and Zoey arrived within five minutes of the allotted time (Lisette was a stickler for punctuality, and the more cavalier attitude of the Irish towards timekeeping often infuriated her). Gareth poured them all a glass of red wine, while Donald sniffed appreciatively at the aromas coming from the kitchen.

‘Coq au vin,’ said Lisette.

‘Smells delicious.’ A nostalgic expression crossed Donald’s face. ‘My mum used to do casseroles when we were younger. No wine in them, of course, but they were full of flavour.’

‘Good stewing meat is great for flavour.’ Lisette spoke politely but without warmth. ‘Unfortunately, not many people bother to learn how to cook properly.’

Donald shot a glance at Zoey. ‘Like my wife.’

‘Can’t cook, won’t cook,’ said Zoey. ‘That’s what restaurants and pizza delivery are for.’

‘But I told you before,’ Lisette said to her. ‘Good cooking is simple. Cheaper than eating out and a whole lot better for you than dial-a-pizza.’

‘Lisette does lovely pizza,’ said Gareth, relieved that his wife was prepared to be sociable but terrified that she’d lose her head again and start arguing with him in front of his brother and sister-in-law. Or have a stand-up row with Donald.

‘I’ll teach you if you like,’ offered Lisette.

‘Great idea,’ said Donald.

‘Perhaps,’ said Zoey. She smiled at Lisette. ‘Maybe not pizza. Maybe something tastier.’

‘It would be my pleasure,’ Lisette told her. ‘Honestly.’

‘It’s nice to see you two getting on,’ Donald remarked.

‘We’ve found we have more in common than we thought,’ Zoey said, and then winked at Lisette, who got up quickly and went into the kitchen to check on the food.

They didn’t start talking about the will until after they’d finished the main course, which was when Donald told them that the solicitors were confident of getting a date to hear the case in the spring – much sooner than they’d originally expected.

‘Which is excellent news,’ he said. ‘Because it means that we’ll soon have what’s rightfully ours. It’s a disgrace that we can’t even take keepsakes from the house.’

Lisette didn’t dare look at Zoey, who was sitting directly opposite her.

‘Paul Tierney is top-notch,’ Donald continued. ‘I’m extremely confident he’ll get the judge to see the merit of our case.’

‘I thought judges hated hearing cases,’ said Zoey. ‘I thought they wanted everyone to settle first.’

‘There’ll be no settlement.’ Donald was firm. ‘We want to rub the noses of Abbey Andersen and her mother right in it.’

‘Why?’ asked Lisette. Gareth shot her a worried glance.

‘Because they’ve no right to be involved in anything to do with this family.’

‘That’s your opinion,’ said Lisette.

‘It’s fact,’ said Donald.

‘You’re wrong,’ said Lisette. ‘They have a right, no matter how much we disagree with it. But because you think your opinion is the most important of all, you are willing to put everything at risk.’