‘Thanks.’ He pulled away and flashed a smile. ‘I can cope now. Right. Bedrooms.’
‘Can this be my room?’ Vinnie called from somewhere in the house.
‘Is it the biggest?’ Cara called back. ‘Does it have an en suite? Because then the answer is no.’
I need my own bathroom.
With that, her mood dipped. She’d managed to forget about food and all that other stuff. It was no surprise that now she found herself navigating to the kitchen. The fridge was filled with wine, beer and other ‘essentials’. ‘Ed, look!’
‘Jessie’s doing, no doubt.’
And here came Jessie now, in a floaty beach dress, carrying a glass of rosé and accompanied by Bridey.
‘This place!’ Cara exclaimed.
‘I know, right. This weekend is going to be awful – no offence, Ed, but when Canice and Rose have once again broken our spirit, at least we’ll have somewhere nice to lick our wounds.’
‘Seriously, though, was it really spendy? I feel guilty.’
‘Would you stop? I got it for half-nothing from a customer. Anyway, spending money calms me. I needed to stay somewhere nice for the sake of my sanity, and I’m not booking my crowd into a swanky gaff, leaving the rest of you in some shithole. We’re all in this together.’
‘But you got that wine and beer in.’ Cara took a wad of notes from her bag and pushed them into Jessie’s hand.
‘No.’
‘Yes!’
‘Christ, you’re strong-willed when you want to be,’ Jessie grumbled. ‘Thanks, hon.’
The four younger children stampeded into the kitchen.
‘They’re in here.’ Dilly wrenched open a cupboard door.
‘Deadly!’ Vinnie had found a stash of biscuits. He tore a packet open and shoved one into his mouth.
‘Hey!’ Bridey called. ‘You can’t go for a swim now. You’ll get cramp.’
‘You’ll be fine.’ Cara whipped the packet away from him. ‘Get your togs and go.’
Returning the biscuits to the press, she couldn’t help taking a glance – tons of stuff in there: chocolate, Haribo, what looked like cupcakes …
‘Ice-cream in the freezer,’ Jessie said.
‘Oh.’ No.
‘Just, we all need every possible prop to get through this weekend. Cara, Ed, take a good long look at me now. This is the last time there’ll be a sober sighting of me. I plan to start drinking, get scuttered and stay that way until Sunday afternoon. I’ll be in a constant process of topping up.’
‘Maybe it won’t be so bad,’ Ed said.
Jessie gave a hollow laugh. ‘Ya think?’
It was harder for Johnny and Jessie, Cara knew. Canice was nasty to all three of his sons but it cut Johnny to his quick.
And while Rose was hostile to her three daughters-in-law, she definitely had it in for Jessie the most.
‘Okay,’ Jessie said. ‘I’ll get my swim out of the way, then make a good run at the drinking.’ She looked at Ed and Cara. ‘You coming?’
‘I am not.’ Cara made her voice good-humoured but no way on earth was she putting on a pair of togs.
‘What about you, Ed?’ Jessie’s phone rang. ‘Ferdia? You’re actually there? No, Liam couldn’t wait, but hang tight, I’ll send Johnny in.’ She hung up. ‘Ferdia. Train was delayed.’
‘I’ll go,’ Ed said. ‘It’s no bother.’
‘Ah, no … Are you sure? Just Johnny’s not in great form …’
‘Course.’
Jessie, surrounded by children carrying togs and towels, strode off towards the water’s edge, Ed got into the car and drove away, and suddenly Cara was alone in the sunny little house.
She wasn’t quite sure what to do. She could unpack but that would only take five minutes. Maybe she should sit on the deck and simply be.
She touched her tongue against the ragged edge of her broken tooth. The day it had happened, she’d been freaked out, convinced she’d managed to rot her entire mouthful of teeth. She couldn’t face the judgement of the dentist. But, as it happened, the broken tooth didn’t hurt, so everything was grand. A bit weird that a lump of enamel had broken off for no reason, but maybe it was just natural shedding.
Out of nowhere, the idea of ice-cream appeared in her head. The clock was ticking. Ed would be back in about forty minutes and the kids might be even sooner.
She’d intended to have a healthy weekend, but the proximity to food and the freedom of her solitude …
Her heart was thumping. Her blood was pumping through her hands and feet, pulsing against her fingertips. Like an automaton, she went to the kitchen and opened the freezer door. There were four tubs of Ben & Jerry’s. One of them was Cherry Garcia, her