Sarah was engrossed trying to draw Mr Bones, the story of the dog detective with his big nose and ears always searching for clues inspired by the mutt they met every week at the butcher’s. She giggled as she drew a leaf floating down towards his nose. Her phone rang and she grabbed it, still laughing.
‘Well, you sound in good form.’ She recognized the voice immediately. It was Mick’s cousin Ronan calling from London. It was a few weeks since they’d met. He was returning to Dublin next weekend and wondered if she would be interested in joining him and a group of friends for supper. ‘We’re going to that nice place in Sandymount village: Mario’s. The table’s booked for eight thirty.’
‘That sounds great!’
‘What about meeting there?’
‘Perfect,’ she agreed.
‘I enjoyed our chat in Karen and Mick’s,’ he admitted. ‘I was on an early flight to Heathrow the next morning so I slept at their place. I’ve invited them along on Saturday too.’
Great, thought Sarah, at least I’ll definitely know someone else. Putting down the phone a few minutes later she couldn’t believe that he had got in touch with her and asked her to dinner. OK, so it wasn’t a proper romantic dinner date, but he had phoned and asked her out. She had tried blind dates and speed dating before – with zero success, seeming to attract only oddballs and weirdos – and lately had even toyed with the idea of internet dating, but was rather nervous about it. Having Ronan ask her out definitely sounded like much more fun. All she had to do was to organize a babysitter!
Sarah couldn’t believe it, her mother was busy, going to the Abbey Theatre with her friends Fran and Rhona on Saturday night.
‘I could cancel if you’re stuck,’ she offered. ‘Who is it you are going out to dinner with anyway? Is it a man?’
‘No, Mum, it’s just a thing with Karen and Mick and a few others. Don’t worry, I’ll get someone else.’ Her mum enjoyed her trips to the theatre with her friends and it wasn’t fair to ask her to forgo something she had probably organized weeks ago. But she was disconcerted to discover her two sisters were by freak coincidence both away the coming weekend. Anna was taking a student group to a seminar on Paddy Kavanagh’s poetry in Monaghan and Grace was in Manchester and had organized to stay overnight.
‘Maybe you could change your dinner date,’ suggested Grace. ‘Then I could babysit for you.’
Well, she couldn’t do that, so Sarah trawled through the small list of local teenagers and students she normally used. Sinead had college exams, Lucy Conway was sick with tonsillitis and Aoife Mulligan had recently got a job as a barmaid in one of the local pubs and had given up babysitting. Disaster: she had absolutely no one to mind Evie.
Later that evening she was in the middle of putting her to bed when Angus called at the kitchen door.
‘Let me settle her, Angus. Then we can have a cup of coffee.’
Evie wanted to show Angus the new books she’d got from the library.
‘If I read you one, will you promise to be good and go to sleep straight afterwards? Deal?’ he offered
‘Deal,’ agreed Evie. Sarah wondered how on earth it was that Evie would behave for him when sometimes it took her ages to get her to quiet down. She put on the kettle and rooted around for the malted milk chocolate biscuits that Angus liked. She listened at the bedroom door as Angus read the story of The Princess and the Pea in his soft Scottish accent, Evie quiet and enthralled, the two of them chatting easily when he was finished. Angus rounded off the storytelling with a Scottish lullaby. Afterwards he sat at the bedside saying nothing for a while until Evie turned over and, snuggling up to her big white teddy, fell asleep.
‘Angus, you’re a wonder-worker!’ she praised him. ‘I wish that I could get her off to bed so easily every night.’
‘I seem to have a way with getting kids to go to bed,’ he joked. ‘Not so sure about the grown-up females of the species though!’
Sarah reddened at his teasing. Angus ignored her discomfort as he grabbed his mug of coffee and ladled two heaped spoons of sugar into it. She passed him the biscuits hoping they hadn’t gone soft. They sat companionably down in front of the fireplace, Sarah tucking her bare feet up under her.
‘You said you wanted to ask me something,’ she prompted.
‘I was just wondering if you were around tomorrow.’
For one crazy moment she thought that she was going to be asked out twice in the same day, but realized a few seconds later that Angus had no intentions in that direction and saw her only as a neighbour and his landlady’s daughter.
‘It’s just that I’m getting a new computer delivered and I wondered if you could let them in.’
‘Of course,’ she offered. ‘I’m not working tomorrow.’
‘I’ve a meeting with some of the Google guys tomorrow which I don’t really want to cancel.’
‘Sure.’ She smiled, knowing that Angus worshipped at the gods of the internet.
Fumbling in his pocket he gave her the spare key. ‘You don’t have to do anything but make sure they put the box down carefully.’
Sitting chatting with him, Sarah realized that perhaps she had also found the solution to her own problem.
‘Angus, are you by any chance free on Saturday night?’ He was bound to be doing something interesting or flying back home to Edinburgh to see Megan. She held her breath.
‘Actually, I’ve nothing on this Saturday, Sarah, so I’m all yours,’ he said, grinning at her in anticipation.
‘Well actually, all Evie’s!’ she fumbled, suddenly feeling awkward. ‘I’ve been invited out to dinner with friends and I’m really stuck for someone to mind her. Mum and my sisters, my normal babysitters – everyone’s tied up. I wouldn’t ask you, Angus, except that it is a sort of an emergency.’
She could see the change of expression in his face. ‘It’s all right if you say no, Angus, honestly.’
‘No,’ he said, suddenly serious. ‘I’m in Dublin this weekend and if it’s important for you, Saturday night is great for me. I’d be delighted to babysit for one of my favourite young ladies. What time do you want me for?’
‘Seven thirty, if that’s OK. Evie will be thrilled.’
‘I’m glad one of the Ryan young ladies appreciates my company,’ he said thoughtfully, putting down his mug.
‘Angus, stay!’ she found herself saying. ‘I’ll make more coffee.’
‘Sorry, I’ve got to see a man about a banner,’ he joked, getting up to leave.
After he was gone, Sarah reflected how much she really liked Angus; they always felt relaxed and comfortable around each other and the fact that he lived so close by and that they could help each other out was a wonderful bonus. He was great with kids and old people like Oscar, and made her smile even when she was sad. In her opinion he was the perfect man: funny and witty and able to beat her hands down on any computer game known to mankind. That Megan girl was lucky to have such a great boyfriend!