‘Bad place for flooding here; I hope the tide hasn’t risen before we come back. I wonder will we ever be able to afford our own helicopter?’ Hilary bantered.
‘Never say never. Ready for coffee?’
‘I sure am,’ Hilary replied. Jonathan had picked her up en route from Rosslara and she had just eaten a banana, knowing that they were stopping for refreshments before they got to Gorey.
Joanne’s Hot Bread Shop was comfortingly warm and the scent of freshly baked bread wafted around them enticingly as they walked past the mouthwatering displays of cakes and breads. They tucked themselves into a little alcove at a table for two and scanned the menu.
‘Scrambled eggs and a slice of bacon for me,’ Hilary decided briskly.
‘And a croissant and a scone and jam for me, please, and a pot of coffee for two,’ Jonathan said to the waitress who had arrived to take their order.
‘Do you think I’m neglecting family? Am I being selfish, Jonathan?’ Hilary asked when the waitress had delivered their breakfast to them and Hilary had poured their coffee.
‘No! Not at all!’ he exclaimed. ‘You’re a very giving mother and wife, Hilary. Too giving sometimes, that’s your problem. So I’m glad you had your day of protest. It does them no harm to get a reminder sometimes that you aren’t Superwoman. Do you want to give up work?’ He smothered his croissant in butter and jam and bit into it.
‘No, I really enjoy it. It’s just the juggling that I find hard-going and the fact that Niall is keeping his head in the sand about Margaret, and is allowing Sue to get away with doing feck all! My time is as precious as hers, or his, and neither of them gets that and it makes me furious,’ she seethed. ‘They seem to have the impression that I’m just dabbling in work, that it’s some sort of friggin’ hobby!’ Her voice rose indignantly.
‘We don’t want to scare the natives, dear,’ Jonathan said soothingly, noticing two middle-aged women at another table looking in their direction.
Hilary giggled. Her friend was so good at injecting humour when she got a bit fraught. ‘But you know what I’m saying!’ She bit into a slice of buttery toast.
‘I do. I see exactly where you’re coming from and if you want my advice, I would set my boundaries. Tell Niall, Sue and the girls that you have a career that’s important to you and you need them to respect that. Tell them that they all have to pull their weight because you’re not doing it all by yourself any more.’
‘I know you’re right and I do say things and they muck in for a while and then they forget and we all slip back into our old ways. I’ll just have to keep nagging,’ she grimaced. ‘Anyway enough of me, tell me about your weekend. How’s your mam? And any update on the new romance?’
‘Well now that you ask,’ Jonathan grinned, bursting to tell her his news. ‘There has been a development and you’ll be proud of me and so will Hannah.’
‘Tell me all,’ demanded Hilary eagerly, replenishing their coffee cups.
‘He phoned me and for once in my life I played it cool,’ Jonathan laughed, before telling her all about the events of his weekend.
‘Isn’t it great that we can tell each other everything,’ Hilary said an hour later, tucking her arm into her best friend’s as they walked up the hill at the side of the coffee shop to the car park. ‘I never feel I’m being disloyal to Niall if I say something about him, and you’re the only one I’d say things about him to.’
‘Real friendship is such a gift, isn’t it?’ Jonathan smiled down at her. ‘You know everything about me and I know everything about you and we can say what we like to each other.’
‘I know. I say things to you I wouldn’t dream of saying to Niall or anyone else. Even though I love him dearly.’
‘Well of course you’re not going to talk to him about your boobs and ass going south, and having to cross your legs when you sneeze! He doesn’t need to know about your leaky bladder,’ Jonathan teased.
‘Give over, that was only once when I had the flu and I got a simultaneous coughing and sneezing fit,’ she protested, getting into the car.
‘Just keep doing the exercises,’ he cautioned, clipping his seat belt on.
Less than half an hour later they were on site and Hilary was fit to be tied. The electrician had ignored her plans and had taken short cuts wiring the spa area that were totally unacceptable.
‘Peter, this isn’t on,’ she said to the builder who was standing with his arms folded frowning at her. She turned to the electrician who was standing beside him glowering at her.
‘Rory, I told you where I wanted the spots. And those dimmer switches for the floor lights were to be separate from the wall lamps. You can’t have them all running off the one switch.’
‘Ah now you’re only complicating things. I’ve been doing electrics for years. I know what needs to be done and how to do it – don’t get your knickers in a twist,’ the florid, thickset electrician said patronizingly.
‘He does have a point,’ the builder remarked. ‘This is all a bit complicated and time-consuming.’
‘Is that right?’ Hilary gave him a withering stare. ‘Well I’m the lighting designer on this project, and I’m doing what the owner has asked me to do, so it’s like this, Peter, I’m getting my client on the phone right now and you can discuss it with her. It’s her money that’s being spent here and as far as I’m concerned, you, Rory, are not doing what you’ve been asked to do, or paid to do.’
‘Now wait a
