The minute Jessica Kilroy heard the good news that Amy and Dan were back together she thanked her lucky stars that she had stayed on her diet. She was down by ten kilos, which made a huge difference: her jelly belly was flatter, her arms thinner and she felt so much healthier and trimmer.
‘Jess, we’ll be getting married as soon as we can,’ confided Amy. ‘So I hope that you will still be my bridesmaid.’
‘Of course I will,’ Jess promised. ‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world, and thank heaven I still have my dress!’
‘You still have the bridesmaid dress!’ gasped Amy.
‘I told you that I loved it and would have bought it anyway.’ Jess grinned. ‘Though I did suspect – or hope – that I might get to wear it when my best friend and her boyfriend eventually came to their senses.’
Amy hugged her, tears in her eyes, so relieved that Jess had insisted on paying for it herself, as otherwise she probably would have returned it. It amazed Jess when she found out that Helen had also kept Ciara’s bridesmaid dress, and hidden it in the back of the wardrobe.
‘Mum said that she couldn’t face going through all that rigmarole with Ciara ever again,’ confided Amy. ‘She thought that maybe some day Ciara might need a dress, and that she would have it for her.’
Jess smiled, knowing that, like her, Helen O’Connor had been secretly hoping that Amy and Dan would get married after all, and that’s why she had not returned the dress.
Jess was looking forward to the wedding. As well as losing weight, she had maintained her exercise regimè. She was walking as much as she could: an hour at least every day before or after work. She went swimming with Tara once a week and, encouraged by her sister Ava, had signed up for the summer on a GI-type training session two nights a week in the local park. It was the toughest thing she had ever done, and she had had to force herself to get over the embarrassment of being surrounded by blonde skinny girls who didn’t need to exercise and looked askance at her as, red-faced, she puffed and panted and sweated through one awful exercise after another. For the first time in her life her body was doing what it was meant to: stretching and jogging and moving, instead of lying or sitting around on couches and chairs.
Second class didn’t know what hit them as she took them off on long nature walks in the nearby park and added an extra PE class to their school routine. If the weather was good Jess believed it was far better to have them exercising outdoors in the fresh air than being stuck in the classroom or the school hall.
Looking in the mirror as she got ready to go to lunch with Amy and the girls in the Canal Café, Jess could see that her hair had improved and her skin was actually glowing.
She might not have a boyfriend or a man in her life but she actually looked good.
The busy restaurant was packed and they all were shoved on to a table near the back.
The girls were all delighted for Amy and thrilled to know that Dan and she were back together again.
‘We knew you’d get back!’ they all shouted, as Amy showed them that her engagement ring was firmly back on her finger again.
‘I’m never taking it off again,’ she swore. ‘Never!’
‘True love always wins out,’ insisted Tara. ‘Everyone knows that you and Dan are totally meant for each other.’
‘Is the wedding back on again, too?’ asked Orla, curious.
‘Yeah,’ grinned Amy. ‘We both want to get married before Christmas, but it’s hard trying to get somewhere.’
‘You’re not going back to the castle, then?’ Jess wanted to know.
‘No, this time the wedding will be a lot smaller and more lowkey,’ Amy said, glancing over at Jess, who was delighted that Amy could talk about her wedding normally, instead of being a crazy Bridezilla!
They studied the tall menus, and Jess ordered a mustard and honey chicken salad while the rest of the girls went for lasagne and garlic bread and the chicken wings and wedges.
They were all just tucking in and chatting when Sarah fled from the table. Orla informed them a few minutes later that poor Sarah was throwing up violently in the Ladies. Her half-full wine glass was still on the table when she reappeared, looking pale and wretched.
‘I’m ten weeks gone,’ she said grimly as she downed the wine. ‘And sick as a parrot.’
‘Congratulations!’ shouted Jess and the girls. ‘Well done. That’s great news!’
They all knew to a woman that Sarah was struggling to cope with her nine-month-old son, Sam, who’d had desperate colic and was an awful sleeper. It had put such a strain on her marriage that her husband Tom slept in the spare room during the week. That way, one of them could surface and work.
‘It’s not great news,’ she admitted. ‘It’s shite news . . . the last thing Tom and I wanted was to have another baby so soon when we have Sam. It’s a nightmare.’ She began crying. ‘A nightmare!’
‘Babies who don’t sleep a lot are usually really bright and intelligent in school,’ Jess consoled, trying to think of something positive to say. ‘Sam’s great, and you and Tom are so lucky to be having another baby. My sister Ava has been married almost three years and is dying for a baby, and she can’t get pregnant.’
‘Tell her she can have one in about seven and half months’ time,’ wailed Sarah. ‘I’m sure I won’t be able to manage.’
The rest of the meal was spent trying to cheer Sarah up and listening to the on and off saga of Tara’s love life with Johnny, the rat she’d been dating for over a year.
‘He’s a disaster,’ insisted Aisling, ‘and he doesn’t even treat you well. You should dump him!’
‘I know he’s not the best,’ Tara admitted. ‘But it’s really hard being on your own and not having a boyfriend. I don’t know if I could cope with being single like Jess.’
‘Thanks a mill!’ shrugged Jess, trying not to feel insulted.
‘Ah, you know what I mean,’ garbled Tara. ‘Must be tough always doing things and going places on your own!’
Jess took a deep breath. She did know what it was like. She would give everything in the world to change it. To have a guy she cared for, and who loved her back, in her life. But she wasn’t going to let the fact that there wasn’t destroy her. There might never be someone special, and she just had to get used to living her life the way she wanted and enjoy it.
‘You get used to it.’ She smiled. ‘Besides, I’m very independent. I like things my own way and I couldn’t see myself sticking with anyone who treated me badly just for the sake of it!’
An hour later they divided up the bill and said their goodbyes. Jess decided to walk home along by the canal and enjoy the sunshine . . . she was alone and there was no sign of that changing any day soon, but that didn’t alter the bizarre fact that she was happy, and had a sense of contentment with her life.