Helen didn’t know what possessed her, but she phoned Carmel Quinn again and asked if they could meet for coffee. Carmel immediately suggested The Shelbourne Hotel.
‘I have an appointment in town on Wednesday, so that would suit me best.’
Helen didn’t know what she would say to Dan’s mother, but she knew that something had to be done. She had never seen Amy so unhappy. Amy had moved temporarily to Jess’s house and was back at work, but, as Ciara so aptly put it, she was like a robot going through the motions. She knew that Paddy had phoned Eddie, and that both fathers had been equally puzzled about what was going on between their offspring and had commiserated with each other.
Carmel was sitting on a couch near the window in the hotel’s magnificent lounge overlooking St Stephen’s Green, elegant as ever in a cream jacket and tan-coloured trousers.
‘It’s lovely to see you,’ she said, as Helen joined her and ordered a pot of tea.
Helen sat down beside her, unsure of how to start.
‘How is Amy?’ asked Carmel.
Helen would love to have lied and said Amy was fine and had a wonderful new boyfriend, but she was brutally honest instead.
‘Miserable.’
‘Dan’s the same,’ Carmel said slowly. ‘He tries to pretend that he’s fine, but it’s obvious he really misses Amy. Eddie and I are baffled as to what this is all about, and believe me, Helen, we are highly embarrassed at our son’s behaviour.’
‘Has he said anything to you?’
‘Obviously there was some big row about a surf weekend, but Eddie says that there was more to it than that. Dan wouldn’t say much to me, but he does talk to his father. Eddie’s close to the boys.’
‘Amy blames herself,’ Helen said calmly. ‘She says that she was too caught up in planning and organizing the wedding and all the arrangements, and drove Dan away.’
‘For heaven’s sake, a girl has to organize a wedding and make arrangements!’ Carmel sighed with exasperation. ‘Dan should have thanked heaven he had a girlfriend who could organize things. What kind of wife would she be if she couldn’t? Honestly, men haven’t a clue.’
Helen was surprised that Carmel was not just taking her son’s side.
‘I don’t know what is going on with my boys,’ Carmel ruminated. ‘Rob was going out for years with Hannah, a nice girl but clearly not the right person for him, and the two of them finally decided to break up. Then there’s Dan, getting cold feet about marrying Amy – and Dylan, who seems to have a string of unsuitable girlfriends. The boys don’t talk to me very much, and I try not to interfere in their lives, they are young men after all, but this situation is unfortunate, to say the least.’
‘The past few weeks have been a nightmare,’ Helen confided. ‘But at least we’ve cancelled everything. Sent the wedding gifts back, and told everyone.’
‘It must be awful,’ Carmel commiserated with her. ‘I myself found it so embarrassing telling our friends and family. And it’s so humiliating.’
‘Anyway, it’s all done now, and I guess we just have to get over it!’ said Helen sadly. ‘Paddy and I were always very fond of Dan; we still are. Amy is young, and she will just have to get on with her life, even if it is without him.’
‘Helen, I wish I could say that I could do something to change things, but unfortunately I cannot,’ said Carmel firmly. ‘We cannot interfere where Dan is concerned; he is thirty-three, after all. Eddie and I have a policy not to intrude in our sons’ lives. There is nothing worse than a man who constantly seeks the approval of his parents!’
‘Of course not.’
‘Amy might think that Eddie and I had some hand in this, but I promise you we had nothing to do with it. Both of us think that Amy and Dan were very suited and we were looking forward to having her as a daughter-in-law.’
Helen could sense regret in Carmel’s voice, along with an unwillingness to say any more about the situation.
Awkwardly, they finished their tea and made some small talk before Helen paid the bill.
‘Please give Amy my regards,’ said Carmel, as she took up her handbag and left.
Helen considered staying on in town and doing a bit of shopping, but she was in no mood for looking at clothes or shoes, and instead decided to call over to see her mother.
Sheila was a big worry at the moment. Last week she had taken the DART train to Malahide for no apparent reason, using her oldage pass. Her mother didn’t know a soul in Malahide, and luckily a Good Samaritan called Alice Scanlon had noticed her sitting on a bench down near the marina in the spitting rain and gone over to check if she was OK. Sheila hadn’t been able to remember where she lived, and had been persuaded by Alice to go to her house for a cup of tea while she tried to discover who to contact.
Alice had found Helen’s name and phone number under ‘next of kin’ on the donor card in Sheila’s handbag and had phoned her.
Filled with trepidation, Helen had driven over, only to discover Sheila out admiring Alice’s roses in the back garden. Sheila had seemed as right as rain after her adventure. She’d been like a little kid, and Helen had hugged her, trying not to let her mother see how overwrought she was as she thanked Alice and her husband. Her mother’s memory lapses were getting worse, and Helen knew the situation was something that had to be tackled. She’d had reports of Sheila not having enough cash to pay in the local shops, and forgetting to collect her pension. Honestly, her mother was half daft!
The family were all concerned, and knew that something was going to have to be organized if Sheila was to continue living safely in Willow Grove. They decided that her mother’s home help Sylvie – who’d been persuaded to return – would come in for a few extra hours during the week, and that at weekends they would all take turns looking after Sheila. Paddy was the best in the world and made Helen’s mother welcome almost every weekend, but now her brothers would have to give a hand, too.