Donal was a glass half-full man with an unfailingly positive attitude and he was exactly the sort of person she wanted to spend time with these days. Life was too short to find yourself on the arm of a crotchety old man and, thought Maureen, it was astounding the number of querulous men in their late sixties roaming the streets of Dublin at any given time. It was not something she’d noticed when her Brian was alive but once she’d been widowed a respectable length of time, they seemed to have come crawling out of the woodwork moaning and groaning all the way.
Sure, there’d they be with their walking slacks pulled up high around their armpits, their waistlines a thing of the past, as they complained at the rambling group get togethers how the price of gas was going up yet again and how was a pensioner supposed to keep warm in this godforsaken country of theirs? Or, at her painting class they’d be moaning the paperboy had tossed the newspaper onto the damp grass again and how was a man supposed to find out what was happening in the world when the front page was soggy? Oh, and she’d never come up for air again if she were to start on the curmudgeonly lot down at the bowls who were always on about how hard it was to get a decent cup of tea these days as they sipped their brew at the afternoon break.
Donal brought her back to the here and now. ‘I’m ringing for no other reason than I wanted to hear your voice.’
It was rather nice to have someone want to hear the sound of her voice for a change.
‘Have you had a good day?’ he asked.
‘I have.’ She remembered her curls and would have liked him to see them. She raised a hand to fluff her hair up and realised she still had the headscarf on. ‘I’ve not long walked in the door. I was after taking Pooh for a walk down the pier. It was very invigorating, so it was.’
‘I’d say it would be. I very much enjoyed our walk the other day.’
‘I did too, and I’m sorry about Pooh. He’s not used to male company and he can be quite territorial where I’m concerned.’ She’d been mortified when the poodle had cocked his leg and before she’d been able to stop him, peed on Donal’s left trainer.
Donal laughed his big rumbly laugh. ‘There’s a first time for everything, Maureen, and sure he’ll get used to me.’
She liked the way Donal was planning on being around enough for Pooh to get to know him. But as quickly as the warm fuzzy feeling had come it went and she felt queasy as though she’d been eating too much rich, fried food. If he was planning on winning her poodle over, it wouldn’t be long before he was making noises about meeting her girls and introducing her to his girls. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for that yet. It would make things official. It would open him up to judgment from her three because it would be inevitable, they’d draw comparisons between him and their father. Just as it was inevitable Donal’s two daughters would compare her to their late mammy. Neither of them were looking for a replacement for their late spouses though. Through no choice of their own they’d found themselves on their own. It was a lonely thing to turn to tell someone something and find there was no one there anymore. This wasn’t something she thought either of their children would understand.
Her girls, she knew, had been gobsmacked by her New Year’s Eve announcement of having made a new man friend. They were itching to know more about him too but so far, every time she’d sensed they were about to pump her for information, she’d managed to head them off. She wouldn’t get away with it much longer and she supposed she didn’t want to either because she liked Donal. She liked him a lot; she only hoped they would too and she didn’t even want to think about what Donal’s girls would make of her.
She could feel Brian’s eyes on her from where he gazed out of the silver frame watching over her living room. She liked to think he’d approve, not that there was anything to disapprove of. Thus far, she and Donal had met for lunch and gone for walks and spoken on the phone but there’d been no romantic encounters. She wasn’t sure how she’d fare were he to make such an advance but she certainly wouldn’t be averse, to him trying. Was kissing and the rest of it like riding a bike? Did it all come back to you once you got back in the saddle so to speak?
‘I’m sure he will, Donal,’ she said, spying Pooh licking his chops, his dinner finished as he moseyed toward her. ‘What do you think about coming along with me to the puppy training class next week? It might help.’
‘I’d be honoured to accompany you.’
Again, Maureen smiled, hugging the sound of his jovial voice to her before inquiring as to what he’d spent the day doing.
‘I had a grand morning looking after my Gaby’s little Keegan.’ They whiled away a half hour chatting about the delights of being a grandparent and then, glancing at her watch, Maureen realised she needed to think about getting ready. She had a big evening ahead of her.
‘I’ll ring you tomorrow then, Maureen. I’m looking forward to hearing all the craic of the hen night,’ Donal said.
‘It will be down to me and Bronagh to keep an eye on
