Divided Loyalties
Authors: Patricia Scanlan
Patricia Scanlan was born in Dublin, where she still lives. Her books have sold worldwide and have been translated into many languages. Patricia is the series editor and a
contributing author to the
Open Door
series. She also teaches creative writing to second-level students and is involved in Adult Literacy.
Find out more by visiting Patricia Scanlan on Facebook.
Also by Patricia Scanlan
Apartment 3B
Finishing Touches
Foreign Affairs
Promises, Promises
Mirror Mirror
Francesca’s Party
Two for Joy
Double Wedding
Divided Loyalties
Coming Home
Trilogies
City Girl
City Lives
City Woman
Forgive and Forget
Happy Ever After
Love and Marriage
With All My Love
A Time for Friends
First published by Bantam Press, a division of Transworld Publishers, 2006
This paperback edition published by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2015
A CBS COMPANY
Copyright © Patricia Scanlan 2006
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.
No reproduction without permission.
® and © 1997 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.
The right of Patricia Scanlan to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
PB ISBN: 978-1-47114-123-2
EBOOK ISBN: 978-1-47114-124-9
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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One of the most precious things a friend can give is time.
To dear Alil and Aidan who gave me so much of their time and help when I was moving house last summer.
This book is dedicated to both of you with much love and gratitude.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I myself do nothing. The Holy Spirit
accomplishes all through me.
Robert Blake
Dear Holy Spirit, thank you so much for
Divided Loyalties
and for all my other books.
With great gratitude I give thanks:
To Jesus, Our Lady, St Joseph, Mother Meera, St Anthony, St Michael, White Eagle and all my Angels, Saints and Guides. My most wonderful inspirations.
To my parents and family: we are so lucky. For all the love and cherishing: thank you. Without you it would all mean nothing.
To all my friends who are such a support, and I especially have to mention Sheila O’Flanagan, computer whizz and dear friend, who has dragged me screeching and protesting into updated
Macs, broadband, and all those computery bits that terrify me. Dear friends, you know who you are and you know how much I value you.
To Evelyn and Ruth Shern, who always get the first read and give me honest opinions. Dear Evelyn, I hope you enjoy this one.
To Sarah, Felicity, Susannah and Olivia, my champions as well as my agents. Thank you so much.
To Francesca Liversidge, my editor and protector in the hard world of publishing. Dear Francesca, you’re my rock and always have been.
To all in Transworld, and Gill Hess and Co – a great team to have behind you. Onwards and upwards!
To my colleagues in HHI who make work fun.
Thanks also to my colleagues at New Island – looking forward to Series Five. And then . . . To Fintan Ardagh and all at Ergonomics Ltd for The Chair of chairs! It’s mega! Thanks to
Kim, David and all at Witherspoon Associates. I really appreciate what you do on my behalf.
To Professor Ciaran Bolger, thank you. My life has changed completely.
To all in the Bon Secours Hospital, Glasnevin, for their consistent kindness. Not only to me, but also to my family.
To KC. My God! What are you trying to do to me? I saw you in your leathers and thought this is as good as it gets. Now I’ve seen you in your tux . . . What next!
To all in Powerscourt Springs Health Spa. You’re still the best, and it was a great anniversary party.
To John and Pat in Rathwood Homes and Garden who were very helpful.
To all who helped me move house but especially to: Brian Hennessy and all at Sherry Fitzgerald in Killester. Your kindness and patience were unbelievable. It was a joy to do business with
you.
To Fiona, Anne Marie and Jenny in Mason’s Estates who have always been so helpful and professional.
To Garrett Fitzpatrick and Dorothy in O’Reilly Doherty & Co, and to Frank Furlong in AIB Finglas. Always only a phone call away.
To Dave Stapleton, who painted my house as if it was his own and who gave me so much advice, as well as hanging up dozens of paintings.
To Keith Rooney, who is a fabulous carpenter.
To all, a big and heartfelt thanks.
And especially thanks to you, my dear readers, who consistently go and buy my books and send me lovely letters. May your lives be full of Love and Blessings. Enjoy!
CONTENTS
1
‘Let’s try for another baby?’ Shauna Cassidy fingered the flat, full pack of her contraceptive pill and scowled resentfully. Her husband, Greg, groaned from
his side of the bed.
‘Aw, Shauna, I don’t know. Chloe’s been such a handful since she was born, and besides, she’s only two.’
‘Don’t say that,’ Shauna flared indignantly, her heart sinking at his negativity. This wasn’t the first time that she’d broached the subject of trying for another
baby. For the last couple of months she’d become increasingly broody. She wanted Chloe to have a brother or sister close in age to her but, so far, Greg wasn’t having any of it.
‘Come on, Shauna.’ He yawned and nearly gave himself lockjaw. ‘She had colic for the first year. And that bloody reflux. Not to talk about the temperatures every time
she’s getting a tooth. She rarely sleeps a full night, we’ve only just started to have a social life again and we’re moving to the Emirates in January. Your timing is
lousy.’
As if on cue, a fretful squawk from the room across the landing turned into a heart-rending howl. ‘And you want another one?’ Greg muttered, turning on his side and pulling the duvet
up over his ears. Shauna glared down at him.
‘Come on, Greg! I don’t want to start another month on the Pill; we need to talk about this sooner rather than later.’
‘Not tonight. I’m knackered. For God’s sake go in to her or we’ll never get to sleep,’ he growled.
‘Ah you’re always knackered,’ she said exasperatedly as she threw back the duvet and hurried into the next room to comfort their little daughter.
Greg felt the tension begin to seep out of his body as he stretched his limbs and heard Chloe’s sobs peter out as his wife’s soft crooning soothed her. Was the
woman mad? he wondered drowsily. Imagine two babies in the house, screeching and yelling. He loved his daughter but she’d completely disrupted their lives. Even Shauna couldn’t deny
that. They rarely had a night out together. Everything had to be arranged around feeding times and nap times. It was a pain in the butt. There were times he even felt that Shauna was so completely
focused on Chloe and her needs that she’d hardly notice if he wasn’t around any more. He remembered how she’d always made a fuss of him and danced attendance on him before
she’d got pregnant. Those days were a distant memory.
Perhaps it would all change when they went back out to the Gulf. He was really looking forward to going to work in the Emirates, despite the instability in the region. He’d kept in contact
with people he’d known and they all assured him that life went on very much as normal in spite of the volatile political situation. Shauna felt a little jittery sometimes, especially when the
bombs had gone off in the residential compounds, but Greg had pointed out that Abu Dhabi was much more stable than Saudi and far more cosmopolitan. The war in Iraq wasn’t having such an
impact there. Look at all the people going out on holidays and buying property in Dubai, which was only a couple of hours’ drive down the highway, he’d pointed out reassuringly. If they
didn’t go now they’d never go, he urged. His wife had reluctantly agreed, knowing that he was right, at least about the timing.
They’d met at a party in Riyadh ten years ago. He was an architect in a big construction company. Shauna had worked in the personnel department. They were both in their early twenties,
making lots of money and having a ball. They’d clicked and started dating. Greg sighed, remembering those carefree days. They’d had a great, relatively stress-free couple of years and
then come home to get married.
The money they’d made in Saudi had bought them a four-bedroom house in Malahide; they hadn’t even needed a mortgage. They’d bought it in Shauna’s name so they
wouldn’t have to pay stamp duty as they were still paying off the mortgage on the place that Greg had bought when he was single. The apartment was now let, and the rent more than covered the
mortgage repayments.
Greg wanted to increase his property portfolio and get into the property business in a big way. He’d bought and renovated two small redbrick houses in Cabra and made a relatively good
profit on them. It had given him the taste for property speculation. Another stint in the Gulf would boost the bank balance enough to get him on the next rung of the property ladder.