The Matchmaker (26 page)

‘Well, you sound in good form.’ She recognized the voice immediately. It was Mick’s cousin Ronan calling from London. It was a few weeks since they’d met. He was returning to Dublin next weekend and wondered if she would be interested in joining him and a group of friends for supper. ‘We’re going to that nice place in Sandymount village: Mario’s. The table’s booked for eight thirty.’

‘That sounds great!’

‘What about meeting there?’

‘Perfect,’ she agreed.

‘I enjoyed our chat in Karen and Mick’s,’ he admitted. ‘I was on an early flight to Heathrow the next morning so I slept at their place. I’ve invited them along on Saturday too.’

Great, thought Sarah, at least I’ll definitely know someone else. Putting down the phone a few minutes later she couldn’t believe that he had got in touch with her and asked her to dinner. OK, so it wasn’t a proper romantic dinner date, but he had phoned and asked her out. She had tried blind dates and speed dating before – with zero success, seeming to attract only oddballs and weirdos – and lately had even toyed with the idea of internet dating, but was rather nervous about it. Having Ronan ask her out definitely sounded like much more fun. All she had to do was to organize a babysitter!

Sarah couldn’t believe it, her mother was busy, going to the Abbey Theatre with her friends Fran and Rhona on Saturday night.

‘I could cancel if you’re stuck,’ she offered. ‘Who is it you are going out to dinner with anyway? Is it a man?’

‘No, Mum, it’s just a thing with Karen and Mick and a few others. Don’t worry, I’ll get someone else.’ Her mum enjoyed her trips to the theatre with her friends and it wasn’t fair to ask her to forgo something she had probably organized weeks ago. But she was disconcerted to discover her two sisters were by freak coincidence both away the coming weekend. Anna was taking a student group to a seminar on Paddy Kavanagh’s poetry in Monaghan and Grace was in Manchester and had organized to stay overnight.

‘Maybe you could change your dinner date,’ suggested Grace. ‘Then I could babysit for you.’

Well, she couldn’t do that, so Sarah trawled through the small list of local teenagers and students she normally used. Sinead had college exams, Lucy Conway was sick with tonsillitis and Aoife Mulligan had recently got a job as a barmaid in one of the local pubs and had given up babysitting. Disaster: she had absolutely no one to mind Evie.

Later that evening she was in the middle of putting her to bed when Angus called at the kitchen door.

‘Let me settle her, Angus. Then we can have a cup of coffee.’

Evie wanted to show Angus the new books she’d got from the library.

‘If I read you one, will you promise to be good and go to sleep straight afterwards? Deal?’ he offered

‘Deal,’ agreed Evie. Sarah wondered how on earth it was that Evie would behave for him when sometimes it took her ages to get her to quiet down. She put on the kettle and rooted around for the malted milk chocolate biscuits that Angus liked. She listened at the bedroom door as Angus read the story of
The Princess and the Pea
in his soft Scottish accent, Evie quiet and enthralled, the two of them chatting easily when he was finished. Angus rounded off the storytelling with a Scottish lullaby. Afterwards he sat at the bedside saying nothing for a while until Evie turned over and, snuggling up to her big white teddy, fell asleep.

‘Angus, you’re a wonder-worker!’ she praised him. ‘I wish that I could get her off to bed so easily every night.’

‘I seem to have a way with getting kids to go to bed,’ he joked. ‘Not so sure about the grown-up females of the species though!’

Sarah reddened at his teasing. Angus ignored her discomfort as he grabbed his mug of coffee and ladled two heaped spoons of sugar into it. She passed him the biscuits hoping they hadn’t gone soft. They sat companionably down in front of the fireplace, Sarah tucking her bare feet up under her.

‘You said you wanted to ask me something,’ she prompted.

‘I was just wondering if you were around tomorrow.’

For one crazy moment she thought that she was going to be asked out twice in the same day, but realized a few seconds later that Angus had no intentions in that direction and saw her only as a neighbour and his landlady’s daughter.

‘It’s just that I’m getting a new computer delivered and I wondered if you could let them in.’

‘Of course,’ she offered. ‘I’m not working tomorrow.’

‘I’ve a meeting with some of the Google guys tomorrow which I don’t really want to cancel.’

‘Sure.’ She smiled, knowing that Angus worshipped at the gods of the internet.

Fumbling in his pocket he gave her the spare key. ‘You don’t have to do anything but make sure they put the box down carefully.’

Sitting chatting with him, Sarah realized that perhaps she had also found the solution to her own problem.

‘Angus, are you by any chance free on Saturday night?’ He was bound to be doing something interesting or flying back home to Edinburgh to see Megan. She held her breath.

‘Actually, I’ve nothing on this Saturday, Sarah, so I’m all yours,’ he said, grinning at her in anticipation.

‘Well actually, all Evie’s!’ she fumbled, suddenly feeling awkward. ‘I’ve been invited out to dinner with friends and I’m really stuck for someone to mind her. Mum and my sisters, my normal babysitters – everyone’s tied up. I wouldn’t ask you, Angus, except that it is a sort of an emergency.’

She could see the change of expression in his face. ‘It’s all right if you say no, Angus, honestly.’

‘No,’ he said, suddenly serious. ‘I’m in Dublin this weekend and if it’s important for you, Saturday night is great for me. I’d be delighted to babysit for one of my favourite young ladies. What time do you want me for?’

‘Seven thirty, if that’s OK. Evie will be thrilled.’

‘I’m glad one of the Ryan young ladies appreciates my company,’ he said thoughtfully, putting down his mug.

‘Angus, stay!’ she found herself saying. ‘I’ll make more coffee.’

‘Sorry, I’ve got to see a man about a banner,’ he joked, getting up to leave.

After he was gone, Sarah reflected how much she really liked Angus; they always felt relaxed and comfortable around each other and the fact that he lived so close by and that they could help each other out was a wonderful bonus. He was great with kids and old people like Oscar, and made her smile even when she was sad. In her opinion he was the perfect man: funny and witty and able to beat her hands down on any computer game known to mankind. That Megan girl was lucky to have such a great boyfriend!

All Sarah’s plans for dinner with Ronan and his friends went out the window when Evie started running a high temperature on Friday night.

She looked at the expensive conditioning treatment and decided tonight was perhaps not the night for trying to put it in her hair as Evie was demanding her full attention.

She sat with her daughter on her lap on the couch. Evie’s face was hot and red, her eyes heavy and she was tetchy and complaining, wanting cold water and for some bizarre reason a bowl of red jelly.

The next morning she was unable to eat even a morsel of breakfast. Evie normally bounced around the place with energy, especially on a Saturday, but today she was listless and quiet. All she wanted to do was lie in on the couch wrapped in her pink blanket and watch TV. She had no signs of a cold or runny nose and her throat looked fine and Sarah was unsure about trying to get an appointment for the doctor on Saturday morning which was usually reserved for utter emergencies.

‘Can I get you anything, pet?’ she offered, trying to coax her to sit up and eat.

‘Ribena, please, Mummy.’

All Evie wanted was glasses of her favourite blackcurrant drink. Sarah was tempted to phone and cancel her dinner date. What kind of awful mother was she who would contemplate leaving her child when she was sick!

Evie slept on and off all afternoon, and seemed a little better when she woke up. She nibbled a small toasted cheese sandwich for tea.

Sarah had phoned Karen, wondering what she should do. ‘Do you think I should cancel?’

‘Sarah, it’s just dinner and it’s not like you’re going to be miles away,’ she reassured, ‘I’m not drinking so I can drive you home if Evie needs you.’

Realizing the time, Sarah, in a mad panic, hopped in the shower to wash her hair and began to get ready. Maybe fate wanted her to skip dinner and stay home.

She was still undecided and in her dressing gown when Angus arrived. ‘Evie’s sick,’ she explained, feeling guilty. ‘I can’t leave her when she’s like this. It’s not fair, maybe I should just stay in.’

Angus said nothing and went into the sitting room and studied the patient who was watching TV. ‘I think she’ll live,’ he said solemnly, ‘but give me your mobile number in case I need it.’

‘Oh, thanks Angus, are you sure?’ she asked, relieved. When he assured her he was she raced off to get ready.

In her bedroom she pulled on a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a low-neck pink shirt. Maybe it was just a bit too casual? She stared at herself in the mirror, and then raced out to him.

‘What do you think of this?’

Angus was sitting near Evie, reading the sports section of the
Irish Times
, and looked up, a grin on his face crinkling up his eyes as he studied her. ‘You look great.’

Sarah valued his opinion not just because he was a man, but because he was usually dead honest about everything.

‘Now, just wait a minute.’ She chased back into her bedroom and pulled on her slim-fitting pink-print coloured skirt, jade-green top and a low-slung leather belt.

‘Angus!’ she announced, twirling around. ‘Is this better?’

She wasn’t rooting for compliments, just a bit of help about the momentous decision of what to wear. Unlike Grace and Anna she was a disaster about making her mind up about things. They both instantly knew what to wear and what clothes suited them whereas she could never decide!

‘You look lovely in both,’ he said diplomatically, ‘but the skirt . . .’ He was staring at her in a way that made her feel he was giving her one hundred per cent attention. ‘Wear the skirt.’

Back in the bedroom, she put on her make-up quickly and brushed her hair, grabbing her jacket when she heard the doorbell ring. The taxi must be outside.

She gave Evie a quick hug and a kiss and passed Angus the piece of paper with her number and the name of the restaurant. ‘Promise you’ll phone me if you need me?’

‘I promise,’ he swore, ‘but Evie will be fine, don’t worry.’

Mario’s was packed, and any misgivings Sarah had were put aside when Ronan greeted her with a welcome hug and insisted she sit by him. He’d wisely booked the big round table near the front of the restaurant and Karen and Mick were already there. He introduced her to two friends of his, James and Chris, who had both been at college with him. They were all perusing the menu when his sister Mary, a pretty dark-haired girl, and her boyfriend Brendan appeared. They were a friendly group and Sarah relaxed immediately as everyone tried to make up their mind what to order. She ordered the prawns to start and then after a bit of secret deliberation the stuffed cannelloni and salad. The service was quick and smooth and everyone opted for the Italian Barolo, but Sarah decided to take it easy on the alcohol in case she had to go home quickly to Evie.

The food was great, the conversation fun and Ronan kept everything light.

‘How’s your book going?’ he enquired as he tackled a massive pizza.

‘Sssh, Ronan, it’s not really a book,’ she exclaimed. ‘It’s just, something I’m having fun doing.’

‘I’d love to see it,’ he said, manoeuvring a large slice of tomato and pepperoni pizza to his mouth.

She really couldn’t make out if he was teasing her or just found her so naive it was amusing.

‘Honestly, I mean it,’ he said, putting the pizza down. ‘I’m redesigning the logo and publishing catalogue for one of the biggest children’s publishers in London. The stuff they publish is just fabulous. Kids’ books are huge at the moment – well, that’s what my friend Jilly tells me, and she’s one of their top editors. If you want I could get her to take a look at yours, even a few pages. All she can do is say no!’

‘Do you mean it, Ronan? You’re just not stringing me along?’

‘No. Jilly and I are great buddies.’ He grinned, spearing some salad from the plate between them. ‘I used to go out with her brother.’

Managing to keep a smile on her face, Sarah remained composed as she wondered had she heard correctly what he’d said. Maybe she was imagining it. ‘That would be great, Ronan, really great.’

Her thoughts were in turmoil as the conversation around the table turned to the property market. Since she hadn’t a bean to buy a home of her own and was dependent on the benevolence of her mother for her accommodation, it was a discussion to which she could contribute little, except to state that people were mad to be paying out half a million euros or more for what was nothing more that a concrete box of an apartment in some high-rise development in the middle of nowhere with no parks or playgrounds or even a place to go for a walk. What would happen to the children and toddlers living in these places in the future!

Karen got up to go on one of her frequent trips to the Ladies’ and Sarah excused herself and joined her.

‘God, I shouldn’t have had all that pasta,’ joked her friend. ‘I feel like I’m going to explode and all the Ballygowan is swishing around me like a fishbowl.’

Sarah giggled as Karen gave a discreet belch. ‘Better!’

‘A bit. God, this baby is playing havoc with my digestive system. First I couldn’t look at food and now I’m starving all the time.’

‘Do you remember my salami cravings?’

‘Irish whiskey salami!’ She giggled. ‘You ate bags of the stuff. Are you glad you came out tonight?’

‘Yes, I’m having a great time,’ she admitted. ‘Ronan’s so nice and everyone’s such fun . . .’

Karen stared at her in the mirror. ‘Yeah, it’s such a shame that some of the nicest guys are gay.’

Her eyes must have given her away.

‘You did know, Sarah!’

‘Of course,’ she fibbed. ‘It’s no big deal.’