Kate took to her instantly. There was something very appealing about her direct gaze and warm smile.
‘I love what you’re wearing,’ she said. Carmen was wearing a short raspberry-coloured shift dress that complemented her skin tone. It had a wide slash neck, which meant it was always falling off one shoulder or the other, but elsewhere the soft jersey material clung to every curve of her whippet-thin body. Combined with the espadrilles on her feet and the soft dark ringlets falling loosely around her shoulders, the effect was of a casual, effortless glamour that made Kate feel like a drag queen with her over-made-up face, complicated hair arrangement and over-the-top dress.
‘Thanks. It was the first thing I found.’
‘This is Freddie, Kate’s flatmate,’ Lorcan continued. ‘We work together from time to time.’
‘Oh? What sort of work do you do?’ Carmen asked.
Kate and Freddie raised their eyebrows. Either the pair hadn’t been together very long or they didn’t waste much time talking.
‘I’m a director,’ Lorcan told her, adding ‘in the theatre.’ He was used to women’s faces falling when they realised he wasn’t in films. ‘Freddie’s a costume designer. I’ve been meaning to call you, actually,’ he said to Freddie. ‘I’m trying to get a touring company together – you know, travelling around Ireland bringing culture to the great unwashed. Would you be interested in tagging along?’
‘Would I!’ Freddie was thrilled at the prospect of following Kate’s gorgeous brother up hill and down dale.
‘What do you do, Kate?’ Carmen asked.
‘I’m a chef, but –oof!’ Kate was hit hard from behind. She turned to discover her six-year-old nephew, Jake, struggling to free himself from her skirt, which had engulfed him like a parachute. ‘Hi, Jake! Here, let me help.’ She freed him.
‘Jake! Say sorry to Kate – you nearly knocked her over.’ Helen, Kate’s sister-in-law, came trotting up after him.
‘Don’t worry, Helen. No chance of that in this dress – too much ballast!’
‘Sorry, Kate,’ Jake panted. ‘Spiderman’s after me. I’m the bad guy.’ His four-year-old brother Sam was storming through the crowd towards them, while her brother Conor tried to field him. They sent a kind of Mexican wave through the crowd as drinks were hoisted aloft to save them from spilling.
‘Well, there goes my reputation as Supermum!’ Helen smiled wryly. A former actress, she was now at the centre of a growing industry built around her cult status as an Olympic-standard home-maker. A tall, strikingly attractive blonde, she seemed effortlessly elegant, her precision-cut bob gleaming as if it had been newly polished, her tailored oyster suit showing off her figure, which was still girlishly slim even after two children.
Sam thundered up to Jake on his chubby little legs, with Conor, red-faced, in the rear.
‘Sam!’ Kate grinned. ‘You wore your Spiderman costume!’
‘He wouldn’t put on his new clothes,’ Jake explained importantly, with all the superiority of an elder brother.
‘It was the only way we could get him out of the house,’ Helen said. ‘Rachel’s furious.’ She giggled.
‘Huh! I’d like to seeherwrestle Sam into something he doesn’t want to wear.’
Sam and Jake tore off again.
‘No more running, you two!’ Conor roared futilely.
He greeted Kate with a kiss. ‘Hi, Lorcan,’ he called to his brother. ‘Saw your show last week – complete bollocks!’ he roared cheerily.
‘Uh, thanks Conor.’
‘I’ll call you during the week, give you a few pointers where you went wrong.’
‘Great!’ Lorcan grimaced. To create a diversion he introduced Conor and Helen to Carmen. ‘Helen’s quite famous, actually,’ he told her. ‘She’s kind of a Jane Asher on speed – Ireland’s answer to Martha Stewart.’ When Carmen looked blank, he explained, ‘She’s a sort of housewife guru. She has her own TV show.’
‘Oh really? I’ve never seen it.’
‘Oh, no one everseesit,’ Lorcan said airily. ‘It’s on during the day when real people are at work.’
‘I do have my adoring public, Lorcan,’ Helen protested mildly.
‘It’s kind ofBlue Peterfor grown-ups. She shows you how to make a dinner service out of pastry and knit your own Christmas tree, stuff like that.’
‘Don’t mind him.’ Helen laughed. ‘It’s a lifestyle show,’ she explained to Carmen. ‘We do cookery slots, features on entertaining and home decor, stuff like that. It’s not going to set the world on fire but?—’
