For Maureen’s part she wanted to know what Moira was doing at a seventieth birthday party at the Clontarf Rugby Club.
Chapter 36
It was when the birthday cake, a triple-layered cream sponge was being passed about the crowded and hot clubroom, Moira finally managed to pin her mammy down.
‘Mammy, you should have told me.’ Moira wasn’t sure where to start with what exactly Mammy should have told her. That Donal was the lead singer in a Kenny Roger’s tribute band? The penny had dropped as to who he’d reminded her of. It wasn’t Father Christmas after all, it was Kenny Rogers. And then, there was the fact that Mammy was after playing tambourine in that band. Or, was it that she was doing a Kenny, Sheena duet? That she had white cowboy boots which were kind of cool, just not on Mammy? And, why was she wearing a yellow dress that could have served as a bridesmaid’s dress in the seventies? Her mind was so full of all these questions jostling for attention she couldn’t articulate any of them. ‘I’m shocked, so I am.’ Was all she could come up with.
‘What are you doing here, Moira, are you following me?’ Maureen narrowed her eyes.
Moira snorted. ‘Mammy, I have better things to do than sneak after you on a Saturday night to see what you’re getting up to. I’m here with Tom, it’s his great aunt’s birthday.’
Jaysus wept, but Ireland was a small country, Dublin an even smaller city; you could get away with nothing, Maureen mused.
‘Moira!’ Donal boomed, ‘Fancy meeting you here.’
‘Fancy,’ Moira replied as Tom came up and joined her.
‘Maureen, who’d have thought? You’re a sly old dog.’ Tom flushed realising what he’d said. ‘What I meant to say was I didn’t know you could sing. You were great so you were. It was like watching an episode of Stars in their Eyes.’ He held out a hand to Donal. ‘I’m Moira’s fella, Tom, you must be Donal.’
Moira put a hand firmly on Tom’s bottom as she spied two women around her own age giving him the glad eye. It was a momentary distraction from the whole Mammy, Sheena thing. He jumped at the unexpected bodily contact as he shook hands with Donal. ‘You had everybody up on their feet,’ he said, reverting to his normal height as Moira released her grip, satisfied she’d made her point. Still, she kept a firm eye on the two women as they mooched off to check out what other talent was on offer. Tom engaged Donal in a conversation about Shay, Roisin’s boyfriend, who was also in a band while Maureen and Moira squared off.
‘You’ve been keeping a lot of secrets, Mammy. Relationships are built on trust you know.’
Maureen frowned because she was certain she’d said those very words to Moira when she was younger. Yes, she could recall quite clearly her response to her youngest daughter telling her she was going to a church youth group club when in actual fact she’d been spotted by Aisling who hadn’t hesitated to land her little sister in it, at the Hairy Lemon pub.
‘I’ve been keeping secrets for a reason because you’ve far too much to say for yourself. Sure, if you’d known I was going to be here tonight with Donal and the band, you’d have poked fun at me and him.’
Moira would have liked to have said it wasn’t true and she’d have done no such thing but she had an inkling it was exactly what she’d have done. Mammy had a point.
‘It was a shock seeing you up there like that, is all. It’s not every day your mammy, who only ever sang along to the radio gets up and sings Sheena Easton. I had no idea Donal was even in a band let alone a Kenny Roger’s tribute band. He’s very good,’ she admitted, and then seeing her mammy’s face added, ‘And so were you. That’s a grand tambourine you’re after shaking and you hit those high notes like Sheena herself.’ Moira was grateful Mammy was in the yellow dress and not the white, disco spandex pants Sheena had worn back in the day.
‘Thank you, Moira, that’s kind of you to say. I’m Dolly in the next set.’ Maureen decided to be magnanimous too, although she knew her phone would be ringing first thing tomorrow morning with Aisling and Roisin demanding to know why she hadn’t told them her new fella sang in a Kenny Rogers tribute band and how she was after singing Sheena at a seventieth birthday party. She wondered what they’d have to say when she told them she and Donal were talking about going to Los Angeles for a holiday to see Patrick. Plenty, she was sure, but she’d have to wait and see because for now her audience was waiting.
Chapter 37
1971
The weekend Bronagh was supposed to have been in Donegal was the slowest one she’d ever known. She’d tried to quash the unease she felt at the memory of the last kiss she’d shared with Kevin and somehow, managed to keep a bright face on things for her mam’s sake. ‘Sure, there’ll be plenty more times to go to Donegal. His family’s not going anywhere, Mam, and as soon as Erin’s well we’ll sort out another date for you to go to Tramore. It’s one of those things, what can you do?’ she’d said, injecting a cheeriness she didn’t feel into her voice.
Mam had been so disappointed she was going to miss out on seeing Hilary and the children. She’d been quiet all weekend, busying her hands with a tapestry of kittens playing with a ball of string she was working on for Erin’s bedroom. Bronagh couldn’t bear it if she felt guilty about her and Kevin’s Donegal jaunt being cancelled too. She never wanted her to feel she was a burden because she
