CHAPTER19
Beth awakened early on Friday morning to a quiet house. As she hobbled her way to the bathroom, she passed by Jasper the cat who sat perfectly still at the bottom of the stairs, seemingly unfazed by the influx new visitors in his home. He observed as she held the walls, hobbling into the loo, her leg unsteady, almost floppy without the weight of the brace.
The main bathroom was large and bright, with pale yellow walls and a white tiled floor. The clawfoot bath looked incredibly inviting, however Beth knew that she’d never be able to get in or out safely on her own. There was a shower over the bath, but again, she would have to hike that bad leg over the side and hope she stayed upright. Not a challenge she was willing to accept.
No, you are not waking Paul, she thought to herself.He does enough for you – let the man sleep!
Asking for help was tough at times, even from her husband. It was hard not to feel like a burden, but she was stubborn, sometimes to her own detriment. While keeping this a secret from the girls was tricky and exhausting, it was still better than having them pity her.
* * *
Upstairs, Alex was also wide awake with only one thing on her mind. Aiden. Bloody Aiden. Walking around with his stupidhowdy, ma’amvoice and his stupid excellent face.Dammit, she thought,pulling a pillow over her head, this is ridiculous. He’s Tara’s partner! Remember Tara, your old bestie who would absolutely never steal your boyfriend? Well, there was that incident in second year at uni, but he technically wasn’t your boyfriend so that doesn’t count.
She screamed into the pillow before throwing it on to the floor. It was only Friday. They didn’t leave until Monday afternoon, which meant another three days of smiling and ignoring her libido which was determined to make itself known.
She looked at her phone. Half past seven. Not quite the long lie-in she had planned, but she could make some tea and bring it back to bed. Maybe snag some of those biscuits left over from last night.
Throwing on her dressing gown, she tiptoed her way downstairs and into the kitchen. Hungrier than she thought, she wondered if there might be any of that nice bread left and—
‘Morning.’
Alex jumped at least two feet in the air. ‘Christ on a bike, you scared me!’
Aiden smiled from behind the fridge door before returning inside to rummage. ‘Sorry,’ he whispered. ‘I was starving. Do you know if there is any of that crusty bread left?’
‘Try the breadbin,’ she replied, quickly flattening her hair, though his bed head was almost worse than hers.
She filled the kettle and stood awkwardly while it boiled, watching Aiden, in his boxers and T-shirt, carve into a tiger bloomer.
‘Do you always wander around someone else’s house half-naked?’ she asked.
He turned and smiled. ‘I’m hardly half-naked, though you don’t appear to be wearing much under that bathrobe yourself.’
As they locked eyes for a moment, Alex felt her pulse rate soar. The sound of footsteps coming down the hall snapped them both out of it.
‘Oh good,’ Beth said as she limped into the kitchen, ‘I could murder a cuppa. Morning, Alex… Aiden. Oh, Paul has those boxers. I think. Hugo Boss? Anyone know where the mugs are?’
One by one, everyone in the house began to rise and before long the living room was full again.
‘Sleep well?’ Erin asked, yawning. Alex thought she looked as if she hadn’t slept a wink. Underneath her eyes, her face looked almost hollow.
‘If you’re still tired, go back to bed,’ she suggested. ‘I’m sure we can all amuse ourselves for a few hours.’
‘But breakfast…’
‘We can manage,’ Becky said. ‘Besides, I intend to do nothing this afternoon except take advantage of those sun loungers. It’s supposed to be scorching. Go and rest for a bit.’
Erin conceded and headed back to her bedroom, where Jasper had taken up residence at the foot of the bed. She was tired, but this was nothing new. She’d often sleep in the day because night-time was the worst. Night was when she missed Scott most intensely. She’d dream about him constantly, always happy dreams. Dreams where everything was the way it had been. The way it still should be. It wasn’t lack of sleep that left her fatigued, it was the dreams; the sheer force of missing him was exhausting.
‘How can it be this hot?’ Becky asked, fanning herself with a magazine. ‘It’s Ireland. We have two seasons and both of them involve rain.’
As there were only three sun loungers, the rest of the group made do with beach towels on the grass. Beth and her leg brace were assigned one of the loungers, with Becky and Tara taking the remaining two.
‘So, you left university, only to go back to university?’ Tara asked Beth. ‘Weren’t you sick of it?’
Beth shrugged. ‘It’s different when you’re on the other side of the lecture hall. I love my job.’
Tara thought that she’d rather clean toilets with her own toothbrush than go back into education. ‘And what else do you get up to when you’re not teaching?’
