Florence Sullivan walked slowly through Dublin’s Botanic Gardens. All the spring bulbs were out and the place was a mass of colour. Red and yellow and pink tulips were everywhere!
‘“A host of golden daffodils, beside the lake, between the trees” … aren’t they just like the ones in the Wordsworth poem?’ Florence Sullivan smiled as they strolled up along by the riverside. Tessa had known her mother would love this outing to one of her favourite places. It was great to see the public gardens as the seasons changed, with their magnificent floral displays and beds created by the gardeners, but probably the best part of the Botanic Gardens was the woodland, filled with trails, that bordered the river. They stopped to watch the swans and their young cygnets on the water and a clutch of young ducklings following their mother further down. Out of the corner of her eye Tessa spotted a little boy on his own coming towards them, his father trying to race after him, as he’d clambered out of his buggy and was stepping dangerously near the water’s edge in his determination to get to the ‘duckies’. Tessa scooped him up and, ignoring the two-year-old’s surprised protests, handed him back to his dad.
‘Thanks! He’s an utter devil! We need eyes in the back of our heads to keep up with him!’
She stifled a pang of envy as she noticed the heavily pregnant young woman rushing to join them.
Over near the gazebo some of the white and purple magnolias were starting to come into bloom, and, taking a rest on one of the park benches, Tessa and her mother laughed, watching the antics of a pair of squirrels who were racing up and down a beech tree.
‘Mum, let’s have a look in the glasshouses,’ Tessa suggested. ‘And then we’ll have some lunch.’
The glasshouses had been restored within the last few years and were magnificent, with their array of hothouse flowers and orchids and lilies. Florence Sullivan picked out some favourites and read up about them from the information provided. After a quick wander around the impressive Palm House they made for the restaurant.
‘Soup and a sandwich for me,’ ordered her mother, as Tessa went up to join the queue.
‘Thanks,’ said Florence, as they sat at the table eating.
‘Mum, it’s just some carrot and orange soup and a roll.’
‘No. I don’t mean that,’ continued her mother, her pretty face serious. ‘For this … for everything.’
‘Mum, it’s a pleasure coming up here on a day like this. You know I’ve loved the Botanic Gardens ever since I was a little girl, when you and Dad used to bring us.’
‘No, Tessa, it’s not just coming here to the gardens, it’s everything you do for me. I appreciate what you have done so much. You have given up so much to come back here,’ Florence said, folding her napkin in half. ‘You were always the kind one and the big-hearted one! Now it is you that has given up your career, given up that lovely flat of yours in London and your busy life, to come back to Dublin and spend most of your time with a foolish old woman.’
‘I wanted to, Mum. Nobody forced me,’ Tessa said evenly. ‘You have been so good to all of us. We all had such a great childhood and time growing up, and that was down to you and Dad. I wanted to come back to be with you.’
‘I just worry about you,’ Florence said softly. ‘This is not what I planned.’
‘Mum, I messed up some of my life on my own, so don’t go blaming yourself! I was the one who wasted almost eight years with Grant, thinking that we were going to end up getting married, and that once he got over his divorce everything would be fine. I thought I’d have a house in Surrey, a place in Spain and a great life, and that if Grant didn’t want more kids then that was OK! I was so bloody stupid.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said her mother, squeezing her hand.
‘I’m sorry, too … for not listening to you and my friends. I should never have believed him, wasted so much time with him. It just gets me mad when I think of him. Married now, with a new wife and a daughter! No problem about having kids now … apparently he loves being a mature dad! Sarah in the office keeps me posted on the goings on,’ she said bitterly.
‘Oh, Tessa!’
‘I know. I’ve been so stupid … such a fool. So coming back home away from Grant and all the office intrigue and gossip was maybe not the worst thing in the world, Mum.’
‘I just worry about you … I can’t help it. You are a beautiful intelligent young woman!’
‘Mum, I’m thirty-nine … and probably at this stage set to be the spinster in the family!’
‘Tessa?’
‘No, Mum, it’s OK. At my age you have to accept things and put them behind you.’
‘You need to get out more … see people,’ fussed her mother. ‘You should be socializing. I’m sure that there are plenty of decent nice men out there.’
‘Mum, for heaven’s sake.’ Tessa laughed. ‘I’ve given up on meeting someone! And I do go out … I have my job, my lunchtime Pilates class on Wednesday, and my cookery class on Tuesday nights, and I regularly go to the cinema with Cass and Naomi if they are around.’
‘Exactly,’ said Florence. ‘You never go to parties or dances, or whatever you young people do!’
Tessa could see the genuine concern on her mother’s face. She was still a very beautiful woman. She had married at twenty and been adored by Tessa’s father, Christopher, right up till the day he died ten years ago. Florence Sullivan had no experience of heartbreak and deceit or disillusion! How could she?
‘Well, Mum, you’ll be glad to hear that I’m actually going to a party tomorrow night.’
‘A party?’ her elderly mother seemed surprised.
‘Yes,’ Tessa said brightly. ‘Paul and Gemma, a lovely couple in my cookery class, have invited us all to their house-warming party this weekend. It should be fun!’
As they walked back to the car and her frail mother stopped to admire the bright pink camellias, Tessa decided that maybe she should really go to the house-warming. She’d presumed that Gemma had only invited her out of politeness, but to her surprise most of the class had said they would go. The crowd were good fun. She’d text Gemma and let her know she’d changed her mind.