just wondering if there’s ever any trouble with all those people employed. There must be some issues now and then.’
‘Not really,’ Deirdre says. ‘We’re fairly lucky that way. Of course, there was that incident last month when…’
‘No,’ Olive interrupts her. ‘No trouble. As Deirdre says, we’re very lucky.’ Olive stands and lifts Shay’s bag. ‘Here, I’ll help you with that,’ she says, making sure I leave. Deirdre is wide-eyed behind her desk, looking at Olive.
With Shay on my arm, I hurry out of the building. I can’t believe Olive interrupted Deirdre like that. It was so obvious she wanted to shut her up. But why? What was Olive trying to keep from me? Maybe she just wanted me to feel that it was none of my business. I might have taken the man, but the brewery was hers. I’ll have to ask Conor about it. Is there a disgruntled employee on the loose? I need to know. They could have sent the card.
Chapter Thirty
Noel walks into the kitchen, a grey suit clinging to his muscled body. He has a lot going for him in the looks department. Brown hair with a reddish glow, always gelled back off his face, showing off his sculpted cheekbones and flawless skin to perfection. His smile displays a set of perfect teeth. His brown eyes are always alert, nervous, like he’s waiting for something to happen.
Conor was only in the door twenty minutes before Noel arrived. Thankfully, I had already confronted him about the disgruntled employee. I didn’t want that sitting in my box of worries for the night. It turns out, it wasn’t so much an incident as a disagreement, something to do with the accounts.
Mark Dunne, a nephew of one of Caldwell’s employees, had been put on placement at the brewery. He had been studying accountancy and needed a few month’s work. Conor didn’t go into much detail except to say it didn’t work out, and after two weeks he had had to let him go. The uncle hadn’t been happy about it. I wonder what Amanda will think of this. Conor brushed it off as no big deal but Conor doesn’t know about the card. If Noel hadn’t walked into the house, I might have told him.
‘I need a word,’ Noel says, leaning over the crib to where Shay sleeps peacefully. If that’s my cue to leave, I don’t register it.
‘What’s up, bro?’ Conor says, taking a large file out of his briefcase and placing it on the table. He comes home with paperwork every night and drops it on the table. Then places it back in the briefcase the next morning not having looked at it. Whatever his plan is when he leaves the office, it disappears when he arrives home to his family. Unless of course, it’s something he doesn’t want to leave on the premises when he’s not there.
‘It’s about the christening. The godfather thing.’ Noel lifts his face from the crib as he speaks. ‘It turns out I’ve to go away for a while, three months, maybe more.’
‘Where are you going?’
‘Oman, of all places. The company are setting up a new system and I’ve to supervise the installation.’
Emptying the dishwasher, I listen intently but say nothing. If Noel can’t be Shay’s godfather, I won’t lose any sleep over it.
‘When are you off?’
‘The end of next week sometime.’
‘Jesus, Noel, they didn’t give you much notice, did they?’
‘They did mention it a while back. Abbie wanted me to go but I said no at the time but now I’m thinking it’s a nice bonus. A great opportunity. We might like to get one of these for ourselves.’ He rests his hand gently on Shay’s head. ‘And when that happens the idea of working away from home will probably be less attractive.’
Abbie must be thrilled about getting Noel to move to Oman. She’s been at him for a long time to make the move. It’s her father’s business and she wants Noel to rise to the top of it. Going to Oman will help.
Wanting a child has been top of Abbie’s list since she and Noel married three years ago. She told me about it when we disclosed our wonderful news to them. Apparently Noel wasn’t ready. I’m surprised Abbie didn’t put up a fight sooner to get her way. She was brought up getting whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. Noel is always dropping her wealthy upbringing into the conversation, commenting on how spoilt she is. Well now he’s going