‘Ah no, Moira, the place is a mess. You don’t need to be coming in. Sure, head on down to the café like I said. I’ll be there soon.’ She tried to shut the door, wincing as a cough sounded from somewhere inside and both Moira and Aisling’s eyes bugged as the realisation their mammy was not alone dawned.
Moira stuck her foot in the door and her voice came out in a strangled whisper. ‘I knew you were up to something. Have you your man friend in there?’
Maureen bit her bottom lip.
‘You have too,’ Aisling said. ‘I know that look. It’s the same one you get when you don’t want to own up to eating the last snowball.’
‘Or, when you steal my clothes,’ Moira muttered.
‘Come on now, girls, we’re all adults here, let’s be reasonable.’
‘I’m not. I’m the baby of the family,’ Moira said, bottom lip firmly out as her voice ramped up several notches.
‘Moira, you’re twenty-six.’
‘And you’re my mammy and mammies don’t go riding their man friends on a Friday night!’
Aisling put her hands over her ears. She felt like sitting down on the floor and rocking back and forth. She was the one who’d just been on her honeymoon. She was the newlywed; as such it should be her and her husband getting up to shenanigans. Not Mammy!
‘Moira, would you keep it down. I’ve an elderly woman across the way who doesn’t need to be hearing you giving out about my private business.’
‘So, you’re not denying it then. You’ve done the deed,’ Moira stated, not in the least contrite as she peered past her mammy trying to catch a glimpse of this Donal fella.
Maureen danced about like Rocky Balboa, trying to block her view.
‘Mammy, you can’t blame Moira for being upset. It’s hard getting used to the idea of you with someone who isn’t Daddy,’ Aisling said, mercifully keeping her voice down.
‘How do you think I’m finding it?’ Maureen hissed back, feeling close to tears. This was not how she’d thought her morning would go. She’d envisaged a cooked breakfast then her and Donal would read the papers and after that perhaps take Pooh for a walk along the pier. No, being shouted at by her youngest child and stared at by her middle daughter as though she’d committed a heinous crime hadn’t been on her agenda when she’d opened her eyes and seen Donal smiling at her. ‘You’re being very selfish the pair of you. Off you go now. I’ll see you in the café shortly.’ She hauled Pooh in by the collar and shut the door in their surprised faces.
Donal was dressed and sitting on the end of the bed, bent over as he put his shoes on, when she went back into the bedroom.
‘Did you hear all that?’
He straightened and nodded as he looked at her. ‘I did, and I’m sorry I’ve put you in an awkward position with your girls. I’ll head off home and let you sort things out with them.’
‘I don’t want you to go and it’s not your fault, Donal. It’s those two behaving like children but I should go and talk to them.’ They’d both be getting a flea in their ear when she joined them. ‘I said I’d meet them down the road at a café there but can I at least make you a cup of tea and some toast before you go.’
He stood up and wrapped her in an embrace, planting a kiss on top of her head. ‘You go and talk to your girls. I’ll get on home and call you later to see how it went. Our children are always our children, Maureen, and they need to know you’re still their mammy no matter what else is going on in your life.’
Maureen decided she was definitely falling in love with Donal McArthy because, unlike her offspring, he was a kind and tolerant man. She saw him to the door and then spent a rushed ten minutes showering and tidying herself up before rounding up Pooh and heading down to meet Aisling and Moira.
Chapter 15
The day was indeed glorious, Maureen thought, wishing her mood matched the bright weather as she weaved her way down the busy main street. You’d almost get away with no coat if you stayed on the sunny side of the road. She said hello to a man whose name eluded her but whom she knew through the yacht club before settling Pooh down outside the café. ‘We’ll go for a lovely walk along the pier once I’ve sorted those two eejits sitting inside there out. You be a good boy, now.’ She handed him a treat and once satisfied he was happy to sit observing the foot traffic, giving the odd conversational yap, she gave him a final pat and pushed the door open.
The coffee shop was buzzing with chatter and the clatter of cups and saucers. The air thick with ground beans and cinnamon. Aisling and Moira were sitting at a table dappled with sunshine, in the corner of the nautical-themed space. Her eyes narrowed seeing Aisling was talking to someone on her mobile. She’d put money on it being Roisin. They’d already ordered, she also saw, noticing Moira was nursing a cup of coffee. There was an oversized chocolate chip cookie in front of her. The telltale crumbs on the plate in front of Aisling told her it would take more than her mammy having her man friend stay overnight to put her off her food. She joined the short line waiting to be served.
MOIRA HAD TELEPHONED Roisin as soon as she’d gotten her backside down on a seat inside the café,
