Page 13 of The Widow's Irish Secret
‘Great,’ Colette said. ‘We’re already on the first round except for you. And Nora, of course. What will you have?’
‘The same as Tricia,’ Nora replied.
They all sat down and then drinks arrived and they started to chat, getting to know each other and finding out about Tricia and her plans. They all agreed that it was very brave of her to take on the cottage and offered to help with whatever they could.
‘You might be sorry you said that,’ Tricia quipped. ‘I’ll need all the help I can get. It’s going to be a very busy summer for me with the cottage and my daughter’s wedding in August, which will also take up a lot of time.’
‘But you have to take a break and have a bit of fun,’ Maggie suggested. ‘We’ve all made a pact to enjoy ourselves as much as we can this summer. Except for Nora, we’re all single for one reason or another, and we’re all in our early to mid-sixties, but we’re not dead yet, are we?’
‘Certainly not,’ Mary said. ‘I lost my husband ten years ago and it was tough for a long time.’
‘I was so sorry to hear that,’ Tricia interjected. ‘John was such a lovely man.’
‘He was. And you wrote to me and said the kindest things.’ Mary patted Tricia on the arm. ‘It was a great comfort. But now I feel ready to get out there again. Not to catch a new husband but maybe just to find someone to go to the movies with or something.’
‘I know what you mean,’ Maggie agreed. ‘I went through a very painful divorce after twenty years of marriage. Not that I want to go there again. I’m done with marriage. But it would be nice to have a boyfriend.’ She looked at Colette. ‘You were never married, were you?’
‘No, but I’ve been in relationships that didn’t work,’ Colette said with a sad little sigh. ‘I just picked the wrong types, I suppose. I don’t regret not being married, but living alone is beginning to feel boring. So why not have a go?’
‘Have a go – how?’ Tricia asked, both intrigued and amused. ‘Not that I’m looking for anyone, of course. I think I’m done with all of that. I want my own space and to live on my own terms from now on. I cared for my late husband for two years until he died.’
‘And you lost the love of your life when you were so young,’ Mary filled in. ‘I remember how sad we all were for you when you lost Fred. It must have broken your heart.’
Tricia nodded. ‘Yes. It was hard and the feeling of loss will never go away completely. Grief never ends but you can heal and move on. That’s what I’m doing, anyway.’ Tricia blinked away tears and took a swig of her Guinness to hide her distress. Then she looked around the group. ‘But I’m curious. What are your plans for finding that occasional boyfriend?’
‘Not me,’ Nora said, waving her hands. ‘I have all the male companionship I need.’
‘You married a saint,’ Mary said. ‘And we’re all jealous. So we’ll count you out of our plan, of course.’
‘Out of what plan?’ Tricia asked, her curiosity mounting.
‘We’re going speed dating,’ Colette replied.
‘Speed dating?’ Tricia burst out laughing. ‘That’s hilarious.’
‘It’s not a joke, though,’ Colette said. ‘It’s for mature single men and women. On Friday night in the community hall. Thenthere’s finger food, wine and dancing to sixties music. You have to be over sixty to attend and we all qualify big time.’
‘You want to come?’ Maggie asked.
‘Sure, why not?’ Tricia said, feeling reckless. ‘It’s just a bit of fun, isn’t it? Meeting people, having a laugh.’
‘Well, yes,’ Maggie agreed. ‘No serious stuff at all. Except maybe we have to be kind to the old boys even if you don’t like any of them.’
‘They’re a little lonely, you see,’ Mary remarked. ‘I think men find it harder to live alone than women do.’
‘I think that’s true,’ Tricia agreed. But she didn’t feel like meeting anyone new and wondered how she could politely refuse. ‘I’m not sure it’s my thing, though. I’m not interested in meeting anyone.’
‘Oh, please, Tricia. I’d love you to come,’ Maggie pleaded. ‘It would be nice to have someone with me. I’m not feeling very confident about going to something like that on my own. I know Colette is going but I’d love to have someone else to prop me up if things don’t work out.’
‘Well, in that case, I don’t mind coming with you,’ Tricia said, touched by Maggie’s insecurity. ‘If you need a little support. It’ll be interesting to see how it works anyway.’
‘Oh, great.’ Maggie looked relieved. ‘I’ll pick you up and we can go together. You can just watch from the sidelines and have a drink with us afterwards.’
‘Great,’ Tricia said. ‘It sounds like a fun event anyway.’
The conversation moved to another topic, and her thoughts drifted while the others chatted on. She tried to imagine how she felt about getting into yet another relationship.No, not again, she said to herself.I’ve had enough of that kind of thing. I’ll go along to the speed dating just for fun all the same. It will be nice to make friends with women my age and to support Maggie, who seems a little nervous about it.
‘How come you left Dublin so suddenly?’ Mary asked. ‘I thought you had a nice little flat there or so I heard from Sylvia.’
