The Rose Garden Read online

  ‘Hey, I’ve got to go,’ he said, standing up. ‘I’ve got to see a man about a horse!’

  ‘Me too, I’m due back at Dr Jim’s. I’m helping out on reception for a few weeks,’ she said.

  She watched the swans serenely sail along the river for another few minutes, before heading back to the surgery.

  Later on she was cooking pasta for dinner for herself and Molly when she got a text from Luke.

  ‘How about coffee on Saturday morning if you’re free?’

  She was free …

  ‘Sounds good.’

  ‘Pick you up at 11a.m. Luke’

  ‘C u then. Kim’

  Kim couldn’t believe that she was actually contemplating meeting him. He might be a serial rapist for all she knew, but checking him out in vague conversations with Molly over the following few days she realized he sounded a pretty decent type of guy. Obviously he’d had a few girlfriends over the years, but by the sound of it he seemed to be currently single … Besides, Luke was more the kind of guy that you wanted to be friends with rather than get romantically involved with.

  They were going to go for coffee, that was all.

  Chapter 34

  LUKE ARRIVED IN THE JEEP, BUT THIS TIME WITHOUT THE TRAILER. Kim wondered where they were going as she ran out to meet him.

  ‘How are you?’ He grinned admiringly as she slipped in beside him in her jeans and suede jacket.

  ‘Great. I’ve been kept busy in the surgery and I’m building a website about Mossbawn House.’

  ‘Interesting! What does Molly think?’

  ‘I think at first she was a bit worried about it, but when I showed her how it is going to look and she read some of the content I think that she was actually very pleased.’

  ‘I must look out for it. My brother Justin wants Grangefield to have one, but we haven’t got round to it yet. He says it will help promote the stud farm so it won’t only be the locals that know about us.’

  ‘It would certainly help.’

  ‘I thought maybe we’d drive over to Rossmore, take a walk around and get a coffee there.’

  ‘Sounds great!’

  Rossmore was about a forty-minute drive away, a small seaside village with a cluster of houses and cottages, a few craft shops and a stylish hotel with an award-winning restaurant. A popular tourist spot during the summer, for most of the year it depended on fishing.

  They chatted easily and Kim was surprised at how much they had in common. She couldn’t believe that in Dublin they had literally worked on the same street for five years, had a few mutual acquaintances and yet had never bumped into each other!

  ‘It’s mad!’ she giggled.

  She discovered that Luke loved Mexican food, had travelled around Australia for a year, owned a horse called Lucky when he was twelve and hated zombie movies.

  ‘They are pathetic! Give me an intelligent vampire any day of the week!’

  As it was dry but overcast, Rossmore was quiet as they walked along the steep cliff path, the scenery spectacular.

  ‘I think we deserve a coffee now,’ he joked as they found their way to a small café overlooking the seafront.

  An hour later they were still sitting there talking, and it had begun to rain heavily.

  Coffee turned into lunch and Kim ordered the seafood special plate, while Luke went for a massive bowl of mussels.

  ‘The seafood here is amazing,’ she enthused as she tucked into crab, prawns and some spicy chorizo.

  As Luke was driving he didn’t drink, but she had a glass of white wine.

  He was good company, easy to talk to and actually very attractive, with his dark hair and unusual grey-green eyes. And the conversation never flagged as they chatted about when they were kids, their favourite films and places they had both backpacked to when they were younger.

  ‘The next time I go to Melbourne and up to the Barrier Reef I will not be staying in a hostel and sharing a room with ten other sweaty guys,’ he vowed. ‘I’ll be staying in one of those nice fancy hotels sipping cocktails!’

  ‘Me too!’ she laughed.

  As the weather eased they made a run back to the jeep, Kim flinging herself into the seat. As he reached for her safety belt, his hand brushed hers and Kim had the strangest feeling that she wanted him to put his arms around her. Luke didn’t seem to notice as he entertained her with stories about the kids in his school and their ability with iPads, iPhones and all things technical.

  ‘Some of the older teachers in the school haven’t a clue as to how tech-savvy most five-, six- and seven-year-olds are!’

  ‘Luke, thanks for the coffee and the lunch,’ she said as he dropped her off at Mossbawn. ‘I really had a great time.’

  ‘So did I!’ he said as she began to get out. She took her time, deliberately waiting to see if he would arrange to see her again, or even ask her out. But he didn’t, and she felt strangely disappointed.

  ‘Bye, Kim!’ he called good-naturedly as he turned the jeep and drove off.

  She was so stupid, trying to read something into him being nice and polite and asking her for coffee, when that was all it was – coffee! She was the one reading far more into it than there was. Maybe she was kind of desperate after Gareth. Maybe her confidence was so low that if a guy was any way decent to her she presumed it was more. She really liked Luke, but she guessed that he was just being kind and neighbourly. His mum and Molly were friends, for heaven’s sake! She just needed to cop on to herself.

  Over the next few days she checked her messages, but there was nothing from Luke. She was tempted to text him, but resisted. Kilfinn was a very small place – they were bound to bump into each other again … and again …

  Chapter 35

  MOLLY HAD BEEN STRESSED OUT FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS. FRANK Dunne had not taken well to her decision not to go ahead with the sale of Mossbawn and had actually been quite threatening. He’d written to her and phoned her three or four times, shouting that they had made a deal and she could not back out of it. But Michael Quinn had been quite firm that she had not returned a signed contract so there was nothing he could do and they had not technically received his deposit from his solicitor.

  ‘I spent time and effort on this project, not to count the costs I’ve wasted on plans for Mossbawn!’ he’d ranted at her. ‘You just can’t go and change your mind!’

  ‘You own the property!’ Michael reminded her. ‘And there is nothing he can say or do that will change that.’

  She felt so alone and vulnerable, and prayed to David to give her strength to stand firm and ignore Dunne’s bullying tactics.

  One day, coming home from the village, she was sure she had spotted his car parked near her driveway and she had panicked, turning around and driving to Rena’s.

  When Cara phoned to ask her to dinner on Saturday, Molly automatically said no. Over the past few months her friends had regularly asked her along to dinners, meals out, or to join them for a few drinks, but she had refused. She knew they were being kind and trying to include her the way they always had when David was alive, but she just couldn’t face it without him. She always found some excuse to back out or cancel arrangements. It was pathetic to isolate herself from their friends, from the other couples they used to hang out with, but she couldn’t help herself. How could she pretend to be happy when she saw all those couples and she was the one alone? A widow. She hated that damn word, just hated it!

  Of late the invitations were coming less often and she knew that she had no one to blame but herself. She was happy to watch TV or listen to the radio or read a book – was it any wonder her social life had become a great big zero since David’s death?

  ‘This time I’m not taking a “no”!’ argued Cara fiercely. ‘I’m fed up of you saying “no” to Tim and me. We are your friends – remember that. If you were the one who had died, not David, we would still try to be David’s friends. You know well, we’d have David here for dinner and drinks, a few meals. Why can’t you accept that, Molly, and s
top being so bloody difficult?’

  ‘Okay, okay!’ she said, giving in. ‘I’d love to come to dinner!’

  Cara and Tim were such good friends, and Molly knew that Tim really missed David too. They’d been close friends, played golf every week and often went for a coffee or a few pints.

  Molly opted for her black satin shift dress, high heels and a soft white wrap. She’d treated herself to a cut and blow-dry in the hair salon in the village. She had been a very infrequent customer over the past few months and Dee, the salon-owner, had tut-tutted about the perils of letting your hair go long at her age. Looking at herself, she could see that Dee had been right and that the shorter cut suited her much better. Her hair felt feathery and lighter and it made her feel younger. A little make-up and a spray of her favourite perfume and she was good to go.

  Kim was away, so Molly would drive over to Cara’s and get a taxi or a lift home later, then go back there and collect her car tomorrow. With David it had never been a problem, but now being on her own everything had to be worked out. Giving a last glance in the mirror as she topped up her lip gloss, Molly grabbed her car keys and jacket before setting the alarm and locking up the house.

  Cara and Tim lived about two miles from the village. The evening was still bright as the sun started to go down, and their living room was warm. Cara was big into plush furnishings and luxury, and there were two golden velvet couches, and deep purple armchairs with aubergine and rich purple cushions scattered on all the chairs. It was a bright, welcoming room. Tim hugged her the minute he saw her.

  ‘Molly, it’s so good to have you here in the house again for dinner. We’ve missed you.’

  ‘And I’ve missed you too,’ she said, hugging him back.

  Tim got her some wine and she joined the rest of the guests standing around chatting. She was glad to see that Trish and Larry were also invited, and Tim’s partner Fergus and his wife, Brigid.

  ‘It’s so nice to see you again,’ said Fergus warmly, squeezing her hand.

  Everyone made such a fuss of her she felt guilty.

  ‘Molly, let me introduce you to Rob Hayes, a client of ours who is setting up a business in the area. His company is building a plant about three miles outside Kilfinn.’

  ‘Oh, I saw it – it’s all glass and steel. You can see it from the road.’

  ‘Just about,’ laughed the man, ‘but I promise we intend screening it with some kind of hedge.’

  ‘Nice to meet you,’ Molly smiled, shaking his hand. ‘And it’s good to hear about some new business coming to Kilfinn.’

  ‘Bio-Cartex make medical devices,’ he explained, ‘and when we are up and running we should employ at least forty people, possibly more once we get established.’ He was a good-looking man, sixtyish, his grey hair shaved tight to his head, his accent a mixture of Irish and American.

  ‘Where are you from?’ she asked, curious but unable to place the accent.

  ‘About twenty miles down the road, actually,’ he laughed. ‘I studied engineering in Cork, but once I qualified I headed to Boston and for the past few years have been working for Bio-Cartex between there and Sweden and Dublin. But it’s good to be back on my home patch, as they say. Are you a local too?’

  ‘I live the other side of the village.’

  ‘That’s the one thing I can’t get over,’ he smiled. ‘This place has hardly changed over the years. There’s still Cassidy’s Café, the Kilfinn Inn, O’Donnell’s grocery store and Grogan’s chemist shop, though I see that Molloy’s Drapery has shut down. It was a great old place for everything from pyjamas to shoelaces. There’s nowhere like that any more.’

  ‘It was pretty unique,’ she agreed. ‘Mary Molloy kept everything that you could possibly need. It was such a treasure trove.’

  ‘I got my first Communion suit there,’ he said, bursting out laughing, ‘along with half the other guys in my class – we looked a right crowd.’

  Molly laughed too. Molloy’s had never been known for its style and fashion!

  ‘What are you two laughing about?’ interrupted Tim, coming to top up their glasses with wine.

  ‘Molloy’s!’ they said in unison.

  ‘God be good to Mary and Pat, but they were like two old dinosaurs! But we all miss them.’ Tim sighed. ‘There’s a rumour that a bookie’s is going to take over the shop.’

  ‘Not in the village!’ Molly protested.

  ‘Let’s hope it’s not true,’ agreed Rob.

  Two minutes later Andy and Louise arrived, Louise in a pale-pink maternity dress that hung in soft folds, her skin tanned and her shoulder-length dark hair immaculately blow-dried, kissing everyone. Andy worked in David’s old law firm. They had always got on well and she knew that Andy was embarrassed by the fact that his promotion to partner had come following her husband’s death.

  ‘Sorry we’re late, but our babysitter got delayed,’ she apologized.

  ‘Harry was having a meltdown, so we were lucky we managed to get away at all,’ confessed Andy.

  ‘Well, you’re here now and that’s all that matters,’ Cara soothed them. ‘Let me get you both a drink.’

  ‘I’ll have a sparkling water and a slice of lemon,’ beamed Louise. ‘With junior on board I have to be good!’

  ‘And I’ll have a beer,’ said Andy with a grin. ‘It’s great that I have a chauffeur to drive me home.’

  ‘My passengers have to behave,’ teased Louise.

  Fifteen minutes later they were all sitting in the dining room with its formal oak table and high-backed chairs, large silver candelabra in the middle of the table, the soft candlelight casting shadows all around.

  Molly was sitting between Tim and Rob, with Louise across from them.

  ‘Cara, do you need a hand?’ she offered.

  ‘I’m fine,’ she gestured, signalling madly to Molly to make sure that Louise, who was talking about the trouble she had had in her last pregnancy, which had resulted in the need for a dramatic Caesarean, was silenced immediately.

  ‘Do you have children?’ she asked Rob.

  ‘Yes, but they’re all grown up now,’ he explained.

  Cara served smoked salmon for starters, then her usual fillet of beef and gratin potatoes. She was a good cook but believed that this was a foolproof menu that always tasted good and appealed to everyone barring vegetarians!

  ‘The beef is amazing!’ Andy and Larry congratulated her, tucking in as Tim topped up all the wine glasses with an expensive Bordeaux.

  ‘This is a very good wine,’ enthused the visitor.

  Molly chatted to Louise as Tim and Rob debated the merits of various wines and regions. She hadn’t a clue about grapes or soils or vineyards.

  ‘You must be very pleased about the baby?’

  ‘We are, but it was a shock at first,’ Louise admitted. ‘Our other three are at school and soon we’ll be back to nappies again!’

  ‘It will be wonderful,’ said Molly softly. She could see that Louise was tense and tired and probably worried about being older.

  ‘Thanks,’ said Louise. ‘I’m sure people think that at our age we’re crazy.’

  ‘I wouldn’t let that bother me,’ smiled Molly. ‘You obviously feel well and look beautiful, so the baby must be thriving.’

  Over dinner the talk went from the global economy to local news and a big argument about various ghost estates around the country.

  ‘Most of them were built where people didn’t want to be, miles from the villages and shops and schools, where they would be isolated,’ said Trish firmly. ‘The local planners and councils got it totally wrong and gave permission for mad schemes that nobody wanted – all they cared about were the development fees and charges that are paid to them.’

  ‘Well, surely the architects are culpable too?’ suggested Rob.

  ‘Of course we are,’ Trish admitted. ‘It will take a long time for our profession to recover from the massive mistakes made. Many architects are struggling and some have even left the profession. Ha
rd lessons have been learned by all involved, I assure you.’

  Cara served a melt-in-the-mouth chocolate roulade for dessert and Molly found herself chatting easily to Rob.

  ‘Whereabouts in the village do you live?’ he asked, curious.

  ‘Do you know Mossbawn House?’

  ‘The big house?’

  ‘Yes,’ she laughed. ‘When David and I bought it, the place was a bit of a wreck, pretty run-down, so it’s been a real labour of love trying to return it to a family home.’

  ‘I remember Mossbawn – I used to go robbing apples in the orchard there when I was a kid and stuff myself with strawberries and gooseberries. That old codger, the guy who owned it, used to chase us out of it!’

  ‘Richard Morton was a bit of a character,’ Molly smiled, ‘judging by the stuff around the house and the stories I’ve heard about him. He used to write books about pirates. Apparently they were very successful and one was made into a film. He was mad into fishing!’

  ‘Eccentric, if you ask me!’

  ‘I suppose,’ she said gently. She was rather fond of the previous owner and his family, who had somehow managed to hold on to the house despite a massive downturn in their personal fortunes.

  She discovered that Rob was staying in the local hotel for a few days as he was overseeing the construction of the company’s new hi-tech plant.

  ‘Bio-Cartex being situated between two big towns and pretty close to a research campus is very useful,’ he explained. ‘Trish here has done a great job on the designs, and Tim and Fergus are overseeing all the construction and facilities a company like ours will need, while Andy is keeping us all on the financial straight and narrow. So it’s a good team!’

  ‘It sounds busy but interesting,’ Molly said, slightly puzzled as to why Cara had invited her along to the gathering.

  ‘Busy is the word,’ he said ruefully. ‘I’m spending a lot of my time back and forth and all over the place.’

  The rest of the night flew by and around midnight Molly found herself accepting a lift from Louise and Andy.

  ‘Cara, it’s been a lovely night.’ She had actually enjoyed herself and the company. ‘The dinner was great and I’m so glad that I came.’