Page 95 of Such a Good Couple
Annie’s mind circled around her mother’s words all the way back to Dublin, and Rachel, who was driving, seemed to get that she wasn’t in the mood to chat.
When they got back to the cottage, Rachel made tea for Annie and poured herself a glass of red wine.
‘I loved seeing where you come from,’ she told Annie.
‘Yeah, it’s quite something!’ Annie said ruefully.
‘Makes sense.’ Rachel raised her glass. ‘You’re quite something too!’
What do I do withthat?Annie wondered helplessly.
Was it flirty? Friendly? Tipsy?
She’s only had two sips of wine, Annie reminded herself.
‘I’m wrecked.’ Rachel rose from the table. ‘Hopefully the wine will help me sleep!’
She leaned down to hug Annie and left a fleeting kiss on her cheek, before heading out to the hall and up the stairs.
Well, that’snot head-wreckingly confusing at all!Annie thought, exasperated.
The next morning was Ollie’s big day. Town was abuzz with runners and supporters alike. Arriving at the brunch place, Annie was tired. She’d devoted at least an hour and a half to over-thinking about Rachel in bed the night before. She sat down heavily at the large table Maggie had reserved for them while Rachel got menus.
‘Hey.’ Conor slid into one of the seats opposite.
‘Hey!’ she replied wearily, and he frowned.
‘Are you feeling okay?’ He leaned forward with concern.
‘Oh yeah, all good on that front.’ Annie patted her bump.‘Beanie is starting to move a bit,’ she said, trying to inject a bit of life into her voice. ‘You won’t be able to feel yet,’ she added quickly, pulling her leather jacket closed as his hand reached over. ‘Anyway, I’m grand,’ she said quickly, to gloss over the awkwardness. ‘I’m just tired. We got back late from my parents’ last night.’
‘Ah, so she’s met the parents.’ He sat back. ‘Big moves.’ He looked away, shaking his head slightly.
‘Not the time, Conor,’ Annie sniffed.
‘Whenisthe time, may I ask?’
‘How about when we’re not all out to brunch?’ Annie hissed, glancing towards Rachel, who was leaning on the bar and chatting to the manager, a guy she seemed to know. In her twenties and early thirties, Rachel had worked in restaurants before her painting had taken off.
‘She’s becoming involved with my baby, Annie. I’ve a right to an opinion.’
Annie sighed. ‘Okay. Yes. I know you do. To a point. But it’s my life.’
‘You know how it looks, right? It looks like you were with me to get pregnant, and now that you are, it’s back to women.’
‘Ha,’ Annie scoffed, anger rising. Conor had never been entirely comfortable with her sexuality. ‘We were together nearly twenty years, Conor. That would be some long game. What itactuallylooks like is that you left me when I wasn’t getting pregnant, and now that I am, you’re suddenly all over me again. Also, even though this is not the point, I am not “back” with women. I’m living with my friend.’
‘I know you,’ he said darkly. ‘I know what you look like when you’re falling for—’
A sudden jump in the volume of chatter around them stopped him from finishing, and they both looked to the door to confirm the cause. Fionn in sunglasses, jeans and a T-shirt had entered,with Maggie and Clara and the five kids behind him.
The manager abandoned Rachel and rushed over. To Annie’s surprise, Fionn seemed to know him too. He pulled the smaller man into a hug and Maggie was beaming. The nine of them made their way to the table, causing a wave of interest to ripple through the restaurant just as Rachel returned and took her seat beside Annie.
‘Hey, Annie!’ Fionn leaned down to hug her. ‘You look fabulous. Fully preggo now. Amazing.’ He high-fived Conor as both Maggie and Clara kissed Annie’s cheeks and patted the bump. Then the three of them moved to Rachel and kissed her too. They settled the kids at the end of the table and a waitress zipped over with colouring pencils and sheets of paper.
‘Happy times.’ Fionn sat down beside Conor. ‘This is Danny.’ He introduced the manager, standing at the head of the table. ‘We used to wait tables together back in the day.’
‘So did we!’ Maggie added.
