Emily.”
“What are we going to do?” Trynor wailed. “That was our best chance for ages and we fluffed it.” He and Jotin were sitting together in a quiet spot at Home, allowing soft lights and gentle music soothe them after their frustrating day. “I can’t even get her to stay in the office and do paperwork until David comes out of his session, no, she trots off and has a longer coffee break. And then you fail abysmally to get him to come for another appointment. It was just awful, watching him walking out of there two minutes before she came back from the canteen and knowing he wouldn’t be back.”
Jotin lay back on the soft surface under them and looked at the lights. He ran his mind back over the day.
“Yes, we failed badly. David had every right to feel down. That was one of the worst bits, him suddenly feeling so low after being so cheerful and not knowing why.”
“Was that after he left?”
“No, it was when Joanne turned around, to start taking his history and he sort of knew it was the wrong woman. I could see his heart sink. He checked for the flowers, I’d told him to and she thought he was looking at her breasts. Would have been funny, if it hadn’t been so sad. Joanne tried really hard to get him to notice her. Told him all about Seán and how he’s gone. Only thing she didn’t ask was if David was married. Didn’t want to know.”
“She saw his ring, I suppose.”
“Hadn’t you noticed? He stopped wearing that after Kath accused him of not wanting to go on holidays. He felt if she hadn’t noticed that the start of a holiday was the one time they felt together, they didn’t have much. I didn’t try to discourage him.”
“But he’d still have the mark on his finger, takes a while to wear off.”
“Maybe. Wouldn’t have bothered Lucy.”
“No.” They lay together, pondering. After a while that older wiser energy filled the space and spoke softly inside their heads.
“You are doing your best. That is all any of us can do. Yes, they are remarkable souls who should be together for a whole life. They are more than the sum of their parts and might even work together in a future life, but if not it does not matter. If the Curies had not been there to work with radioactivity, someone else would have been found. Gilbert and Sullivan could have been replaced and the humans would have been no worse off. Watson and Crick would have discovered DNA alone, though maybe not as quickly. Lucy and David are a wonderful pairing such as these, but just think in terms of simply letting them enjoy that they are so well suited.”
“I was hoping they might be able to do something to help the Earth,” Jotin ventured.
“We have people and spirits working on that. The Earth is a magnificent creation and it would be a pity if it was lost. But remember, there are other worlds which we can use if we must.” The light faded, leaving Trynor and Jotin feeling gently sad, but relieved.
“OK, then. I suppose we just watch and wait. We’ll get another chance. Dublin isn’t such a huge place.”
Jotin chuckled. “Yes, the humans never tire of saying that. But they don’t stop to realise how many old friends they never bump into. Always astonished when they meet someone, never astonished they don’t. I mean, Ken is still in Dublin, but I don’t think David has seen him since the twins arrived.”
“No, and Lucy hasn’t seen Sally. Though she’s in London the last few months, I think. They were both in College at the same time, but no need for any contact, so we didn’t arrange any. Imagine the exhaustion if we had to keep them in touch with everyone they had ever known.” Trynor leant back again and stretched luxuriously. “I’m going to have a rest. I’m knackered, to borrow a phrase.” He closed his eyes.
Chapter 38
March 1984
Lucy’s mother Betty Browne put the last plate onto the table at her own place and sat down. She took a deep breath and let it out, looking at her family as they sat waiting for her to start.
“Sorry it’s a quick one again,” she said, picking up her fork, “I seem to be in a constant rush these days. Understaffed as usual and I have to make sure nothing goes wrong. So you’re the ones