The Matchmaker (38 page)

After quickly towelling off and changing she opted for a simple lunch of carrot and ginger soup and a leafy green salad with crispy bacon croutons. Nikki and her two friends insisted she sit with them and through the meal she listened to the plans for next Saturday’s wedding.

‘Pray for good weather,’ pleaded Nikki. ‘I don’t know what we’ll do if it rains!’

‘Of course,’ laughed Maggie, remembering the massive rain shower on her own wedding day.

The afternoon passed in a haze of oils and lotions and her body being massaged, her skin cleaned, peeled and renewed and every bit of her feeling absolutely pampered. It was years since her body had received even half of this attention and she was so tired after it all she crawled into bed at five o’clock and fallen fast asleep.

The phone ringing beside her bed woke her, and for an instant she panicked wondering if she had slept the night through.

‘Hello,’ she answered sleepily, surprised to discover that it was Myles wondering if she would join him for dinner again.

She hesitated. She barely knew the man but the thought of facing the dining room and sitting at the table alone convinced her. Besides, he was good company and she had no intention of cramping Nikki and her friends’ pre-wedding girly talk this evening.

‘That would be lovely,’ she said, accepting Myles’s suggestion of a pre-dinner drink in the lounge.

She surveyed her minuscule wardrobe and opted for the cream dress with the scoop neckline and a beige wrap Sarah had insisted she brought along. Her skin was glowing and all she needed was a little lipstick. The dyed eyelashes made her eyes look huge and as if she had lined them already. She looked the picture of good health and her face had lost that careworn appearance it usually carried. The miracle of products and treatments was hard to beat, she acknowledged as she took a last twirl at the mirror.

Myles was sitting out in the open air on the large wooden deck that opened from the lounge, nursing a glass of chilled white wine, complaining about the lack of Guinness and beer available.

‘It’s not really a bar,’ she teased him. ‘Remember it’s a health spa we’re visiting.’

She opted for wine also and sat beside him, watching the evening sun’s reflection on the lake.

‘This place is great,’ he enthused. ‘There’s nowhere else like it. I’ve actually switched my mobile phone off.’

‘Me too!’ she admitted. She hadn’t given home or family a thought since breakfast.

‘Don’t know how I’ll manage when I get back,’ he said ruefully, ‘but it’s been well worth every euro!’

‘You’re leaving tomorrow?’

‘I’ve postponed it,’ Myles confessed. ‘I’m taking an extra day.’

Maggie could feel herself colour. The majority of guests were checking out around midday and heading back to normality. What if she and Myles were the only two left in the place? It would be so embarrassing!

‘There’s a group of Americans checking in tomorrow afternoon but I managed to keep my room for another night,’ he explained.

‘That’s great.’ She smiled. ‘So we’ll both be here.’

‘You don’t mind, Maggie, do you?’ he asked, totally straight up.

She considered for a second. He was entitled to the extra day’s break just as much as she was. He was a nice man, a little lonely like herself, and the few days here away from work and home would do him good.

‘Not at all.’ She smiled again. ‘In fact I’m delighted for you.’

The dining room was busy on Saturday night; obviously locals opted to eat here too. Maggie and Myles were shown to a small table on the far side of the restaurant. Maggie was starving after all the day’s physical exertions.

‘I think I’ll go for the prawns to start and the roasted salmon and vegetables,’ she said, reading over the wide-ranging menu.

‘Crab cakes and a steak,’ ordered Myles as the waitress opened a bottle of wine for them.

Maggie suppressed a smile. Why was it that men of a certain vintage always ordered the same thing on the menu? It didn’t matter what exotic foods or dishes Leo was offered, he would nine times out of ten order a steak. She had spent a lifetime cooking steak.

This time over dinner they talked about their backgrounds and childhoods and Maggie was surprised to discover that they had so much in common. He had gone to the same boarding school as Fran’s husband and was a mad GAA player in his day. ‘Hurling and football, I played them both,’ he boasted. ‘Represented Limerick for a year or two playing football. Now I have to content myself with a seat in Croke Park.’

She smiled.

‘Your husband wasn’t a GAA man, he played rugby!’ he joked. ‘So you must have gone to a lot of matches in your own time.’

‘I wasn’t the biggest sports fan,’ she confessed. ‘I was never sure what I was shouting for on the sidelines.’

Myles laughed and told her about the small solicitors’ firm he owned with offices on Lower Mount Street. ‘We mostly handle conveyancing and bit of contract advice and some family law,’ he explained. ‘We’ve a good loyal clientele who expect you to always be at the end of the phone in case of disaster. Alex, my youngest son, joined the firm after he qualified and had built up a bit of experience working in Goodbody’s, so it’s good to have him on board. My other lad is a paediatrician in the children’s hospital in Crumlin.’

She told him about her three daughters and granddaughter, discovering that his mother Dorothy was still alive and lived on her own in an apartment in Ranelagh, only a stone’s throw from Evie’s school.

‘She’s very independent,’ he confided, ‘and at eighty-eight can run rings around the rest of us.’

They liked similar restaurants, and had two or three friends in common, and both had visited Kelly’s Hotel in Rosslare regularly, except in different months of the year.

Leo would like him, she found herself thinking. They were the kind of men who would have enjoyed a pint together, watched a match, shared a meal. Almost overcome, she made a dash to the bathroom.

Nikki and her friend Suzie were standing in front of the mirror chatting about this day week.

‘Imagine, I’ll be married!’ Nikki grinned with delight.

‘All the best for next Saturday,’ said Maggie, ‘in case I don’t see you tomorrow before you leave.’

‘It’ll be brill,’ laughed Suzie. ‘The wedding of the year!’

‘Thanks.’ Nikki smiled again. ‘Your husband seems very nice. Maybe Joe and I will be like you two and come here for a break in a few years’ time.’

Maggie was about to try and explain that Myles was not her husband, and in fact was someone that she had just met, but she could see the girls had already lost interest and wanted to get back to their table.

‘Everything OK?’ asked Myles, standing up as she returned to the table, his eyes full of concern.

‘Fine,’ she smiled.

The waitress brought dessert and Maggie took a small spoon of the perfect crème brûlée as Myles tucked into a huge plate of homemade ice cream topped off with a caramel sauce.

‘Have a taste if you want,’ he tempted her. Maggie was aware of the sudden intimacy between them as she scooped some ice-cream into her mouth.

He grinned. ‘Told you you’d like it.’

Over coffee they talked politics, and about the changing face of Dublin, both getting riled up and then bursting into fits of laughter at their reaction to the mention of the Government.

‘Nothing like a good argument, that’s what Patricia used to say,’ he admitted, ‘though it’s funny how you miss them!’

‘Me too,’ she said softly, understanding exactly what he meant.

Looking around, Maggie suddenly realized that the dining room was virtually empty and the staff were throwing them impatient glances.

Laughing, they picked up their wine glasses and retreated to the lounge to continue their conversation. An hour later they finally called it a night and Maggie realized that it reminded her of when she was a teenager and didn’t want to say goodnight.

Myles smiled. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ he said, giving her an awkward hug.

Back in the bedroom Maggie stared at the bright-eyed woman in the mirror, telling herself to wise up and not be such a fool about the first decent man to have crossed her path since Leo.

The sun was high in the sky as Maggie made her way to breakfast. She had already done a few laps of the pool and had enjoyed it so much that she vowed to take up swimming in her local pool when she got back home. The dining room was quiet and she grabbed a copy of the
Sunday Times
and retreated to a small table with her fruit and yoghurt. She refused the offer of eggs and bacon and stuck to toast and tea.

There was an open-air kick-boxing session at eleven and she decided to give it a go before another good walk. After lunch there were only a few therapists on duty and she was fortunate to have managed to book in for a seaweed wrap followed by a full body massage.

Quite a large group gathered on the front lawn and it was hard not to laugh as they kicked and punched and aimed at unseen assassins. Myles was over at the back kicking hard, his tall frame towering over everyone else as their instructor demonstrated one move after another.

‘That was fun,’ he admitted afterwards as they downed a sparkling water.

‘I’m going to go for a walk,’ she said, putting her trainers back on and grabbing a spare bottle and her zip-up jacket.

‘Would you mind if I joined you?’

She hesitated. She had enjoyed the peace and tranquillity of yesterday. Maybe having Myles along would spoil it?

‘A long walk is exactly what I’m in the mood for, and that ridge near the woods you told me about last night sounds great. Otherwise I can set out a bit after you!’

There was no point following each other, she thought, almost reluctantly agreeing to his company.

Down by the lakeshore they stopped to drink in the view as a pair of swans dabbled in the water, before following the uphill path through the woods. Maggie was relieved that Myles was not set on talking the whole time but happy to fall into step with her without saying too much. When a rat scurried from the bushes, she jumped and grabbed his arm, relieved that he was with her.

‘You OK?’

‘Yes,’ she nodded, continuing. ‘Sorry, but I can’t bear rats!’

It was even warmer than yesterday and she slipped off her jacket and tied it around her waist as they began to climb through, the sunlight splattering the woodland floor.

‘What a beautiful spot!’ agreed Myles as he stood at the top taking in the view of the woods and fields and lake below them. The sky was clear and it seemed that they could see for miles over the surrounding countryside.

‘I told you that it was worth it,’ she said, conscious of his broad shoulders and sturdy legs standing in front of her.

‘Thanks, Maggie,’ he said slowly.

She grinned. ‘No problem.’

‘I don’t just mean for bringing me up here,’ he said, ‘but for the past two days. I was dreading coming to this place but having a bit of company, a bit of female company . . . I guess has made the difference!’

‘I was going to cancel too,’ she admitted, ‘but now I’m glad that I didn’t. Sometimes it’s just so awful doing things on your own when you’re not used to it.’

For some strange reason she suddenly felt shy with him and she gazed in the distance trying to compose herself and hoping that he didn’t notice.

‘Come on, we’d better get back,’ he said, taking her hand.

They slipped and slid and laughed the whole way back down through the woods, giggling like a pair of kids, Maggie in a rush for her seaweed wrap while Myles was heading off to a foot treatment.

Maggie joined him again for dinner, letting him order the wine as they perused the menu. The noisy group of Americans sat at the other end of the room quizzing the dining-room manageress about every item on the menu and how it was cooked.

He toasted her. ‘You look great.’

‘So I should.’ She laughed. ‘Mind you, if you’d seen the state of me this afternoon covered in layers of a seaweed jelly kind of thing . . . I looked like the monster from the lagoon. Then that lovely girl from Cork, Hannah, gave me the most wonderful massage ever. Every knot of tension or stress in my body has been unravelled. I feel great.’

They opted to share a platter of sushi to start and both went for the tender Wicklow lamb.

‘Back to the grindstone tomorrow,’ said Myles, filling her glass.

‘I phoned home and thank heaven the house survived the party! Sarah and her pals had a great time and nothing was broken or destroyed, thank the Lord!’

‘That’s the difference having daughters; my lads would have trashed the place. One time Patricia and I came back from a weekend in Prague to find Alex had burned every pan in the place frying sausages and blocked the toilet bowl. It wasn’t pretty! We had to get that Dyno-Rod drain-cleaning crowd out!’

‘Yuck,’ she grimaced. ‘Though you have to let them have them! I’m dying to hear about Sarah’s party when I get back.’

‘Lads never tell you a thing,’ he complained. ‘I guess that’s why I find it so hard without Patricia. Miss the chat. She was a great talker!’

‘You had a good marriage . . .’ she ventured.

‘We suited each other,’ he said simply.

She thought about that for a second, realizing that in a few words he had said a lot about his wife. They had balanced each other out, shared routines, cared for each other over many years. Leo had suited her. He had come along when she was young and flighty and insecure and rescued her. Over the years she supposed they had taken it in turns to rescue each other; like a sturdy boat tossed on the ocean their marriage had weathered quite a few storms and also enjoyed many calm balmy days.

‘Leo suited me too,’ she said, playing with the stem of her glass. ‘That’s why it’s so hard without him.’ She sighed, thinking of her return to the house on Pleasant Square and the loneliness of it.

‘I hope that you won’t think me too forward,’ Myles said slowly, his gaze concentrated on her, ‘but would it be all right if we kept in touch? Perhaps went to a play or a film together or even a walk?’

She considered. It was not as if she was being disloyal to Leo, nothing on earth could change her love for her husband, but it would be nice to see Myles again: two friends enjoying a meal out or a walk together.