Emer had completed a bookkeeping course in Cork after leaving school and it hadn’t been long after, she’d headed for Dublin. Her new qualification had secured her a position in a furniture factory’s office and she’d lodged with a group of girls she’d gotten friendly with while studying in town, all keen for a taste of capital city life. At first, she’d written regularly and had come home once a month, full of news of what life like was like in the big smoke. Noreen and Malachy had counted down the days between those visits, worrying in between times she was burning the candle at both ends, but comforting one another with the fact they knew she was happy and living life to the full. Slowly though, the letters had become fewer and the visits non-existent apart from holidays and birthdays. Independence was all part of growing up, Malachy had said, and she’d agreed with him but it didn’t stop her missing Emer and was she that busy she couldn’t write a little more often.
Noreen hadn’t confided in anyone but Malachy to being a little hurt when her niece got engaged to Phelan Daly without breathing a word to her of it being on the cards. His family owned the furniture business where she worked. Emer had mentioned in passing, on a rare visit home, she’d been stepping out with the boss’s son but there’d been no talk of it being serious. She hadn’t even brought him home to meet the family. It had stung a little, hearing the news her precious niece was engaged to a veritable stranger via a quickly scrawled letter landing on the mat inside the front door of the shop on a Wednesday morning.
And now this. She folded the letter up and tucked it back inside the envelope before handing it back to her sister. ‘Poor Emer, a broken engagement and no job as a result.’ Her heart went out to her niece even as she wondered why she’d had to hear this news from Rosamunde who clearly didn’t know what to do about the situation her daughter found herself in. ‘She doesn’t say what happened though does she? Only that her fiancé and her have parted ways which means she feels she can no longer work at the factory and she’s been living off her savings this past month as finding a new job is proving a challenge.’
‘Yes, but she won’t be able to do that much longer. To be honest, Noreen, I’m surprised she has any savings. You know how money always burned a hole in her pocket. If she can’t find work then she’ll have to come home,’ Rosamunde said, stuffing the envelope in the pocket of her cardigan before wringing her hands. ‘But what will she do here? Sure, it’s why she left in the first place. There’s not much in the way of prospects for a young person in Claredoncally and around abouts.’
‘There’s always Cork.’ Noreen had felt she should have applied for work in town when she finished her course. It was much closer to home and if it was city life she was after wanting to try, Cork was every bit as much a city as Dublin, though granted a little smaller.
‘There is but I think she needs to be home with her family in order to get over all the upset with Phelan, and sure the bus to town is slower than a horse and cart. It would take her well over an hour to get in and out every day. You know how she hated it when she was studying. No, I was thinking something closer to home.’
Ah, now Noreen could see what had brought her sister steaming over to the shop. She’d never been very subtle. She sighed, her words coming out in an exasperated hiss, ‘Rosamunde, why don’t you say what it is you came to say?’
Rosamunde licked her lips and eyed her sister speculatively for a moment. ‘Alright then. You always were straight to the point, Noreen. Would you see your way to giving Emer a job here at the shop, until she can get herself on her feet again?’
It was as she’d thought. ‘I don’t know, Rosamunde. I don’t think there’d be enough work here to keep her busy.’
‘Noreen, please, she needs your help.’
It was all she’d ever wanted; to be needed the way a child needs her mammy and Emer was the closest thing to a daughter she was ever going to have. Of course, she wanted to keep her close, she would like nothing more than to work alongside her but it was pointless if all they’d be doing was twiddling their thumbs. ‘I’ll talk it over with Malachy.’
‘Bless you, Noreen, you’re one in a million so you are.’
One month later...
‘EMER, YOU’LL RUB A hole in the glass if you polish that window any harder,’ Noreen said, opening the till. ‘I’m going to finish up for the day. Put your rag away and get yourself off home.’
‘Right-ho, Aunty Nono,’ Emer called back cheerfully, finally satisfied she had the panes gleaming. She dropped the cloth back in the bucket and returned it to the cupboard under the stairs. Next, she went to take her shop coat off, but first things first, she pulled the crumpled pound note from her pocket and stuffed it into her bag hanging on the hook on the door. It separated the shop from the stairs leading to the living quarters upstairs. Then she took her coat off, glad to see the back of the ugly old thing as she hung it
