Finishing Touches (64 page)

‘Stay the night!’ David urged and she had been so tempted, but she knew if she stayed, he would write no more for the rest of the evening nor the next day.

‘When you’ve finished this book, I’m going to lock this bedroom door and we’re not leaving it for a month!’

‘Drat! If I were writing fiction, I could have a tidal wave to drown the whole lot of them or they could perish in an earthquake or a massive fire and I could finish the book
tonight!’ he said ruefully.

‘I don’t think Maggie Thatcher would allow a mere tidal wave or earthquake or massive fire to get in
her
way,’ Cassie teased. ‘I wonder if that’s what
happens in
The Fire and the Fury
? Fires and earthquakes!’

‘
That
I am dying to read!’ David chuckled. ‘With a title like that, Barbara can’t go wrong! It’s a pity she’s not talking to you; she’d have no
problem coming up with a name for the business!’ David Williams was soundly battered with a pillow, for being such a smarty.

Cassie smiled at the memory. David had phoned just an hour ago to tell her he had written twenty pages after she left him so he was feeling quite chuffed with himself.

She snuggled down into the bed. It was a high old-fashioned bed and had bolsters stuffed with feathers and masses of soft white pillows. Karen laughingly confessed that sometimes she engineered
a row with John just as an excuse to spend a night in her guestroom. She and John made her so welcome and she would miss them when she moved into her own house, even though she was really looking
forward to that.

Yawning, Cassie picked up her mother’s book. She’d just read a few pages before she went to sleep. It was such a positive book and written so simply. She opened it at random and read
the chapter heading, ‘Perfect Self Expression or The Divine Design,’ under which was written:

No wind can drive my bark astray

Nor change the tide of destiny.

What a lovely line, she thought, as she read on. A piece of paper fell out from between the pages and with a little stab of loneliness, Cassie saw it was covered with her mother’s
handwriting. ‘Things to be done before Cassie’s wedding.’ That was going back a good few years, when Cassie and Robbie announced their engagement and Nora said to make sure she
had plenty of time to prepare for the wedding, a wedding that was not to be.

Robbie
had
married, though, Cassie heard when she went back to work. He was currently working in the training centre in Ranelagh. Cassie had never seen him again after their meeting in
Liverpool, nor had she any desire to. She rarely even spared him a thought. David gave her everything she had ever wanted or needed in a relationship. There was no comparison between their love and
what she had endured with Robbie.

Mend the front gate, Nora had written. Buy a new shower curtain. Paper the hall. Get the chimneys cleaned. Put the finishing touches to the front porch. Cassie smiled. Her poor mother. What
finishing touches she had to put to the front porch, Cassie had never discovered. Probably add some plants or an ornament or two. As long as she could remember, her mother had been putting the
finishing touches to something or other. A dress she was making, a room she was papering, a cake she was icing . . . It hit Cassie like a bolt from the blue, Finishing Touches!
Finishing
Touches!
That was it! That was the name! Nora had provided the means for her to make her dream come true, and now she had provided her with the perfect name. Her mother hadn’t left her
at all; she was still looking after her. Cassie remembered the little poem she had learnt after Jack’s death:

That’s where her parents were, together in the next room, keeping an eye on her. This was the proof. Comforted beyond words, Cassie switched off her light and pulled the sheets up around
her. She knew without a doubt she was doing the right thing.

‘
Finishing Touches
it is, then! Good night, Mam, good night, Pops,’ she murmured as she fell asleep.

‘Are you right, Karen?’ John yelled upstairs to his wife. ‘Joan’s here to babysit!’

‘I’m coming. Hold on. I’ll be ready in a minute.’

John paced the hall. He liked to be early for things and Karen always left at the last possible moment.

He was showered and dressed and ready in twenty minutes, while his wife was still titivating herself after an hour! Karen ran down the stairs in her stockinged feet.

‘Did you see that new pair of shoes I bought the other day?’

‘We’re going to be late!’ exclaimed her husband in exasperation.

‘In the name of God! How could you be
late
for a party? Would you stop being a Hysterical Hilda and help me look for my shoes!’ Karen snapped, equally exasperated. It was
always the same when they were going anywhere. Even to Mass on a Sunday!

Mr and Mrs Jordan left the house in silence ten minutes later, waved off by Joan, who was used to the way they went on.

In silence they drove towards the main road. ‘I’m sorry!’ said John, who was feeling better now that they were actually on the way.

Karen sniffed. ‘You’re always the same! You never even noticed my new suit! I might as well be going in a sack for all the compliments I got from you.’

‘Well, it’s the nicest sack I ever saw!’ John grinned at his wife.

Karen couldn’t keep her face straight. It was so annoying the way he always got out of trouble by making her laugh. He pulled into the side of the road and stopped the car. ‘What are
you doing?’

‘Just going to show my approval of your new suit,’ John declared, putting his arms around her and drawing her close.

‘We’ll be late, John,’ Karen murmured ten minutes later.

‘How could you be late for a party?’ her husband replied, as he continued to show his approval.

Jean added a bit of extra mascara. Not that she was going anywhere special, she told herself. She and Barbara might go somewhere for a drink and when she was with Barbara she
always liked to look that extra bit glamorous. Her sister-in-law was such a glamorous person and so well-connected. Barbara knew everybody who counted in Dublin!

She pulled down the skirt of her Private Collection suit a little bit more, conscious that she was not as thin as she would like to be. She had caught a glimpse of Cassie in Malahide the other
day, dressed in a pair of shorts and a skimpy T-shirt. The tan of her! She looked very well, Jean had to admit sourly. Much better than during the court case, when she had been skin and bone. So
well she might, spending the money they should all have shared, and starting up her own business. And from what Jean had heard around, her business was taking off. It was becoming an
‘in’ thing to have your house done over by Cassie Jordan. Half of her north County Dublin acquaintances seemed to be considering taking the plunge.

Well, Cassie Jordan would never again set foot inside her door. Jean still had bitter memories of the day she had been told by her sister-in-law to get out of Nora’s house. Jean
couldn’t care less if Cassie had been on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Anyone with breeding did not behave like that with their family. Well, tonight, Cassie would rue her behaviour. The
only members of her family to share her shallow triumph would be John and Karen. Martin, Irene and Barbara wouldn’t be seen dead in
Finishing Touches
– and serves her
right! Jean sprayed herself with Chanel No 5, told the babysitter that Martin was working late so she should stay the night if she wished, and headed off to meet her sister-in law, or VBF, as
Barbara would say in her column!

Martin finished the job earlier than he had expected and headed back to the office to change. Jean wouldn’t be a bit happy if she realized what his intentions were, but
he knew what he had to do! It had been on his mind for ages and this was the perfect opportunity. Having made his decision, he whistled lightheartedly as he sped along the Dublin–Belfast road
in his van. Tonight he’d sleep better than he had done for years! It was a nice thought.

Irene came through the arrivals hall in Dublin airport feeling nervously excited. She had done it! All by herself. Made all her own arrangements. Flown Concorde across the
Atlantic, got a Dublin flight at Heathrow and here she was! It was a heady feeling. She wondered if Dean had got her note yet!

The Senator had been on a business trip to New York and hadn’t been sure when he was coming back to Washington, so she just left him a note to say she had to come home to deal with some
family matters! That might shake him up. Make him see that she could do things for herself without depending on him all the time. Show him that he wasn’t dealing with a bimbo here. Irene
conveniently forgot that it was the Senator’s money that had funded her credit-card purchase of her flight tickets.

Now that she was here, though, she had no plan. She couldn’t go home to Port Mahon; Cassie didn’t live there any longer. Should she go directly to Malahide?
Finishing
Touches
shouldn’t be hard to find. There was no point in going to Barbara’s! She wouldn’t be a bit happy that Irene had flown from America to go to Cassie’s
party!

A look of doubt crossed Irene’s perfectly made-up brow. Maybe she’d go to John and Karen’s. That might be the best idea.

‘I don’t believe it! Irene Jordan! What are you doing here?’ a familiar voice shrieked, and Irene turned around to find Aileen O’Shaughnessy grinning from ear to ear.
‘Have you come for Cassie’s party?’

Irene nodded, delighted to see a face she recognized.

‘Oh Irene, Cassie will be thrilled! I’ve just arrived from London myself. Where are you going? Will we share a taxi?’

‘Well, I’m not sure exactly where I’m going. I don’t know how to get to where Cassie lives now and I was thinking I might go to John and Karen.’

‘I’ll tell you what!’ Aileen’s eyes sparkled. ‘Why don’t you come home with me and we won’t let Cassie know you’re here and we’ll give her a
great surprise tonight!’

‘That’s a brilliant idea, Aileen,’ Irene smiled happily. She didn’t have to worry now about where to go or what to do; it was all arranged, thanks to Aileen.

‘Come on, let’s get a taxi!’ Aileen urged, making for the taxi-rank. Irene was quite happy to follow her lead.

‘You never told me you were bringing visitors!’ Angela O’Shaughnessy moaned after she had shown Irene to Judy’s old room.

‘Oh Mother! Irene’s not a
visitor
, she’s Cassie’s sister, and it’s just for a few hours before we go to the party! Look, if it’s too much trouble,
we’ll just go to Judy’s and stay there!’ Aileen retorted.

‘No, no, it’s all right,’ her mother backtracked hastily. She had been looking forward to her daughter’s arrival. The house was so quiet without the girls.

‘I’m just going to give Laura a call and tell her the news,’ Aileen said, breezily waving her left hand in the direction of the telephone.

‘Fine, call away. I’ll just make a pot of tea.’ Angela bustled out to the kitchen.

Aileen stared ruefully at the emerald adorning the third finger of her left hand. ‘And mothers are supposed to notice everything!’ she muttered. God knows it was big enough! And
Irene hadn’t noticed. But she was in such a tizzy about actually being here for Cassie’s party. Well, Aileen was going to say nothing to anyone. It would be interesting to see which of
her friends or family noticed her engagement ring first.

Aileen looked again at her ring. Even she found it hard to believe that after all these years, she was finally going to settle down with Pierre. He had given her an ultimatum. Marry me or we
never see each other again. Put like that, there was no dilemma. The man was crazy about her, and had been, from the first time they met in his aunt’s beauty salon in Mayfair. They had split
up and got together and split up and got together but this time Pierre had had enough. He had ordered her to make a decision, so Aileen had decided to stay.

It was about time she stopped gadding about anyway, she decided, grinning to herself. It was lovely being engaged. It gave her a little warm glow . . . even if no-one else had noticed. It was a
pity Pierre couldn’t have made it tonight. He was on business in France. Never mind, they’d be together soon.

Humming to herself, Aileen dialled Laura’s number.

‘Congratulations, Mr MacIntyre. You now own the River View Public House!’ Laura handed the keys to her client and shook hands with him and his solicitor. She sighed
with relief, tidied up her papers, grabbed her coat and briefcase and flew out the door of the other solicitor’s office. She was dead late. Things had got delayed, and her whole schedule was
awry.

She had to collect her daughter from the crèche, feed and bathe her and put her to bed. Then get herself ready for Cassie’s party and bring a change of clothes over to Doug’s
office, where she was collecting him because his car was being serviced.

The traffic was bumper to bumper and she cursed long and loudly as she inched her way along Leeson Street. This was the second time this week she would be late for the crèche and they
didn’t take too kindly to tardy mothers! Laura yawned, as fatigue flooded every muscle. She hadn’t had this on her first pregnancy, although she had been queasy, which was worse in a
way. She hadn’t had to rush around as much or work so hard on her first pregnancy.

Be careful what you ask for – you might get it, went the old saying. Laura smiled to herself. Now that she had her partnership, was it that important? Frankly there were times when
she’d give anything not to have to send her daughter to the crèche, so she could spend the whole day with her precious child. She was missing so much of her growing up. She’d
never thought she’d feel this way, but the feeling was getting stronger by the day. God knows how she’d feel after the new baby.

Wasn’t life strange all the same, she thought, as she swung left and headed along the canal. Look at the way things had worked out for Cassie, when everything had once seemed so bleak.
Tonight was going to be a terrific night. To hell with Barbara and the rest of them. Cassie was going to be surrounded by people who really loved her. Wasn’t it great about Irene coming home
for the party? Laura would never have thought she had it in her. And Aileen had sounded so bubbly on the phone. That one was up to something; Laura knew her friend too well not to know. She was
really looking forward to tonight, to seeing Aileen and Cassie and having a few laughs. There was nothing like meeting your best friends for perking a girl up! Nothing like it in the world!