Page 2 of The Granddaughter's Irish Secret
He nodded, looking miserable. ‘I feel… I have felt lately… That we’re not getting anywhere really. I mean… there is so much you want that I can’t give you. I’m not ready to commit to having a family, or even to make more of a commitment.’
Speechless, Rose stared at him. ‘What?’ she croaked. ‘What do you mean?’
He shrugged. ‘What I just said.’
Rose couldn’t believe what she was hearing; Gavin had never said anything like this before. If he wasn’t sure about the relationship, he had kept those feelings well hidden.
‘You can’t commit?’ she asked incredulously. ‘Or is there someone else and you’re too chicken to tell me?’ Anger rose in her chest like red-hot lava. ‘How can you do this to me? And this way? This horrible cowardly way, tonight of all nights, when I’ve cooked dinner for you and we were going to celebrate, and—’ She stopped, unable to go on. Her whole world seemed to crumble, the world she had built up while she thought they had something that would last forever. But here he was, telling herhe was leaving her. ‘You’re forty-two, Gavin. If you can’t commit now, you never will.’
‘Maybe not.’ Gavin rose from the table, looking at the plates and cutlery, the two candles, the little bouquet of flowers in a silver vase and the napkins folded into hearts. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said. ‘But all this is not what I want. I just can’t stay.’ Then he walked into the bedroom.
Rose sat there as if paralysed, wondering if she was dreaming. It could not be true. Could it? Then the door opened and Gavin came out rolling a suitcase behind him. He stopped in the doorway. ‘You can stay in the apartment as long as you like,’ he said. ‘I’ll leave a forwarding address at the office as soon as I’m settled.’
‘You packed that suitcase so quickly,’ she said, ignoring his remark. ‘Or… was it already packed?’
‘I made sure I had everything organised,’ he said. ‘I’m catching the early flight to New York tomorrow morning. I’ll stay in a hotel near the airport tonight.’
‘You had it all worked out,’ she said bitterly, getting up from the chair. ‘How convenient.’
‘I thought it would be easier.’ There was a hint of sadness in his eyes as he came forward to kiss her cheek. ‘Goodbye, Rose. I’ll be in touch. I’d like us to stay friends. You’ve been wonderful and I’m sorry if I hurt you.’
Rose backed away. ‘Bye then,’ she said stiffly. ‘Don’t bother to call me. You can forget about being friends. I don’t think I want to see you ever again.’
Gavin sighed. ‘Okay. I know you must be angry and upset. But I think you’re better off without me, to be honest.’
‘Please, just go,’ she said under her breath. ‘I can’t stand listening to you.’
He stood there, looking at her for a minute. Then he slowly walked to the front door and left.
Rose stood there for a moment, staring at the door, trying to take in what had just happened. She looked at the steaks waiting to be fried, the gratin cooking in the oven, the beautifully laid table, the flowers and the bottle of wine, feeling foolish to have made such an effort. It had all been for nothing. Stunned, still not quite believing he was gone for good, Rose sank down on a chair, staring into space. The phone on the kitchen island suddenly rang and startled her out of her misery. She grabbed it without thinking and whispered, ‘Hello?’
‘Rose?’ a voice said. ‘Is something wrong?’
At the sound of her grandmother’s familiar voice, Rose burst into tears. ‘Oh, Granny,’ she sobbed. ‘Something terrible has happened.’
‘What? Are you ill?’ Sylvia Fleury sounded alarmed.
‘No, it’s not me, it’s Gavin,’ Rose said.
‘He’sill? What’s wrong with him?’
‘Nothing. But I wish he had something seriously wrong, something that causes a lot of pain,’ Rose said angrily. ‘He has just walked out on me. Right now, this evening, when I had cooked him a lovely supper. Told me he was going to New York and that he wasn’t taking me with him and that he was breaking up with me.’ Rose started crying again.
‘That’s horrible,’ Sylvia exclaimed. ‘Well, I didn’t like him at all, to be honest.’
‘You only met him once,’ Rose remarked, blowing her nose.
‘Yes, when he very reluctantly came to stay and didn’t seem to like anything in Kerry,’ Sylvia countered. ‘And he looked as if he couldn’t wait to get back to Dublin. I didn’t say so at the time, but I thought him more than a little bit stuck up.’
‘I know what you mean,’ Rose mumbled. ‘And you’re right, even though I couldn’t see it at the time.’
‘Is there another woman involved?’ Sylvia asked.
‘He said there isn’t,’ Rose replied. ‘He went to take up a job in New York. He’s leaving tomorrow morning,’ she added, tears rolling down her cheeks. ‘And I’ll never see him again.’
‘Good,’ Sylvia said sternly. ‘You’re better off without him, darling. You’ll see that in time. Wouldn’t it be worse if you had been planning a wedding and he left you at the altar or something?’
‘Maybe,’ Rose said, dabbing at her face with one of the napkins. ‘Oh, Granny, I don’t know how I’ll cope without him. What am I going to do? I can’t go into the office and face all the pitying looks and whispers behind my back. And please don’t say I should have known dating my boss was a bad idea. I’ll get that from Lily as soon as she finds out.’
