‘Oh, I won a lot of them at golf. The Waterford Crystal, those are all golfing prizes. James won a few as well. Then the rest are gifts, but you know James can’t accept gifts over a certain amount and he’s fierce honest about that sort of thing. So people try to say thank you in different ways. We have more china than I know what to do with – we’re coming down with all the Belleek. And people know that I collect Hummels so they keep arriving.’ She stood and Colette watched her cross the room. Such a petite woman on top, it was like the two halves of her body moved independently, her wide hips swayed and her arse wagged as she walked to the cabinet. She flicked a switch so that the figurines lit up. ‘That’s Little Boy with Flute, and that’s Little Girl in Tree, and that’s my favourite, Little Boy with Sheep.’ She was pointing in an exaggerated way so that Colette could not help but smile, and despite the gaudiness of the figurines she was charmed by Izzy’s fondness for them. ‘I won’t even tell you how much they cost,’ Izzy said. ‘It’s a sin.’ She sat down on the sofa again and smoothed her hands over her knees. ‘Are you settling back in?’ she asked.
‘Oh, well enough. I’ve made a little home for myself up in the cottage. It’s starting to get cold but sure I’ll manage.’
‘Well, stay warm anyway, there’s nothing more miserable than the cold. Have you plenty of blankets and that sort of thing?’
‘Oh. I’m made of strong stuff.’
Izzy nodded and smiled. ‘And what about your job at the university?’
‘That was just a fellowship, a six-month thing. I had to apply for it and all of that, but the funding only lasts six months. It’s grand anyway, it means I can get on with my own work now.’
‘And how’s that going?’
‘Oh, as well as can be expected. Work is work. People think that when you’re a writer you love writing so much you skip to the desk every morning, but there can be days when it’s a struggle, when you’d rather do anything else.’
‘Oh God! It’s hard for you too? And you’re a professional. There are days I sit down at that table to try and do my homework and I feel completely blank.’
‘Well, it happens to the best of us.’
‘I don’t suppose much has changed around the town since you left. You always think when you go away you won’t recognise a place when you come back and then it’s the same as ever.’ Izzy was staring down into her cup. ‘But we have a new priest. Who I know you’ve met. Father Brian. He’s a breath of fresh air. A great addition to the town. Just what we needed really. The last fellow was too sweet to be wholesome.’ Izzy gave Colette a knowing look. ‘He used to be a Guard.’
‘Who?’
‘Father Brian. He was a Guard up in Dublin for years and then one day he got the Call and that was it.’
‘He must have some stories.’
‘Yeah – but he doesn’t talk that much about it.’
Colette watched Izzy’s gaze wander off around the room.
‘What part of Dublin are you from again?’ Izzy asked.
‘Terenure.’
‘Oh no,’ Izzy said, ‘he’s from somewhere over on the Northside – Drumcondra, I think.’
‘Well, he seems to be kind anyway, easy going.’
‘Ah yeah, he’s a bit of craic. Even James likes him. And that’s saying something.’
‘How is he?’
‘He’s fine. Finding it difficult to settle in to a new parish, I think, but he says the people in the town are welcoming and try to—’
‘No. I meant James – how is he?’
‘Oh, he’s grand. Same as ever – busy, busy, busy. On the road the whole time. But he never seems to switch off – he’s obsessed with it.’
‘With politics?’
‘With the town, the community, the area. You’d swear he was running the country, he puts that much into it. And there’s always something.’ Izzy tapped her fingernails against her cup. ‘You might be able to get a divorce soon,’ she said.
‘What?’
‘I heard there’s going to be another referendum next year. Depending on what way it goes – you could get divorced.’
‘Who said I want a divorce?’
‘Ah yeah, I know, but if you did want to you could.’
‘It seems an odd thing to me that a load of strangers can get together and make a collective decision about my marriage.’
‘Oh God, I’m sorry, Colette. Don’t mind me. I have a terrible habit of saying the first thing that comes into my head.’
Colette looked down at her wedding ring and began to turn it on her finger. She knew that Izzy smoked but she couldn’t see an ashtray anywhere or smell cigarettes. She thought about taking her tobacco from her handbag and placing it on the table to prompt her, but there would have been something almost shameful about smoking in this fussy little room.
‘How are your boys?’ Izzy asked.
It was like someone had walked up behind her and laid two heavy hands on her shoulders. She lifted her head and tried to focus on Izzy. The light coming through the window behind her had already begun to fade. It had reached that time of day when she started to bargain with herself, and she knew that as soon as she was done with this conversation she’d drive straight back to the cottage and pour herself a drink.
She placed her cup and saucer on the table. ‘Ronan is fine. He’s at Trinity now. Studying business. We’ve told him a thousand times he can go off and do whatever the hell he wants but I suppose Shaun would like him to take an interest in the factory so that one day he might at least consider taking it on. And he’s compliant, Ronan. That’s one thing about him; he’s never given us one bit of bother. It was nice when I was in Dublin because I got to see a bit more of him. We’d meet up for lunch in town. And he never blamed me for anything that happened. Unlike Barry, who hates me with every fibre of his being.’
‘Oh, teenagers!’ Izzy said. ‘They’re the worst! Our Orla only comes home from boarding school at the weekends to fight with me.’
Colette felt defeated by Izzy’s performance, this attempt to make it seem like their situations were one and the same.
‘But Carl,’ Colette said, ‘I’ve barely spoken to Carl for the past six months and for the past six weeks I’ve been living less than three miles from him. I’ve tried reasoning with his father. I’ve phoned, I’ve written letters. I’ve tried everything bar going out to the house and lying down in the driveway. I need to see my son. And I’m not going to start hanging around the school gates like a mad woman. He’s been through enough.’
