Minding Frankie - Maeve Binchy [117]
What would Lisa say if Moira asked her to have a meal with her—except that she wasn’t free? Nothing would be lost. She would go around to Chestnut Court now.
“God Almighty, it’s Moira again!” Lisa said when she had put down the entry phone and buzzed her in.
“What can she want now?” Noel looked around the flat nervously in case there was something that could be discovered, something that would be a black mark against them. Frankie’s clothes were drying on the radiators—but that was good, wasn’t it? They were making sure that the little garments were properly aired.
He continued spooning the puree into Frankie, who enjoyed it mainly as a face-painting activity and something to rub into her hair.
Moira arrived in a gray pantsuit and sensible shoes. She looked businesslike, but then she was always businesslike.
Noel saw her properly for the first time. There was a sort of shield around her, as if it were keeping people away. She had good, clear skin. Her hair was curly in a color that suited her. It was just that it didn’t add up to much.
“Will you have a cup of tea?” he asked her wearily.
Moira had taken in the domestic scene at a glance: the child was being well cared for. Anyone could see that. They had even listened to her about getting fresh vegetables and making purees.
She saw the books and note files out for their studies. These were her so-called hopeless clients, a family at risk, not fit to be minding Frankie, and yet they seemed to have got their act together much better than Moira had.
“I had a tiring day today,” she said unexpectedly.
If the roof had blown off the apartment block, Noel and Lisa could not have been more surprised. Even Frankie looked up, startled, with her food-stained face.
Moira never complained about her workload. She was tireless in her efforts to impose some kind of order on a mad world. This was the very first time she had even given a hint that she might be human.
“What kind of things were most tiring?” Lisa asked politely.
“Frustration, mainly. I know this couple who are desperate for a baby. They would provide a great home, but can they get one? Oh, no, they can’t. People can ignore babies, harm them, take drugs all round them, and that’s perfectly fine as long as they are kept with the natural parent. We are meant to be proud of this because we have kept the family unit intact.…”
Noel found himself involuntarily holding Frankie closer to him.
“Not you, Noel,” Moira said wearily. “You and Lisa are doing your best.”
This was astounding praise. Lisa and Noel looked at each other in shock.
“I mean it’s a hopeless situation, but at least you’re keeping to the rules,” Moira admitted grudgingly.
Noel and Lisa smiled at each other in relief.
“But the rest of it’s exhausting and I ask myself, Is it getting anyone anywhere?”
Lisa wondered whether Moira might be having a nervous breakdown.
“It must be very stressful, your job. I suppose you have to try to compensate for it in your private life,” Lisa babbled, in an attempt to restore normality.
“Yes, indeed, if all I had to think about was Hall’s, I’d be locked up by now,” Noel agreed. “If I didn’t have Frankie to come home to, I’d be a right mess.”
“I’m the same.” Lisa thought of Anton’s. “Honestly, the comings and goings, the highs and lows, the dramas. I’m glad I have another life outside it all.”
Moira listened to all this without much sign of agreement or pleasure. Then she delivered the final shock.
“It was actually about my social life that I called,” Moira said. “I’m going to be thirty-five on Friday and I was hoping, Lisa, you might join me for supper at Ennio’s.…”
“Me? Friday? Oh, heavens. Well, thank you, Moira, thank you indeed. I’m free on Friday, aren’t I, Noel?”
Was she looking at him beseechingly, begging him to find some kind of excuse? Or was she eager to go? Noel couldn’t work it out. Honesty seemed safest.
“Friday is my day on—you’re free Friday evening,” he said.
Lisa’s face showed nothing. “Well, that’s very kind of you, Moira. Will there be many people there?”
“In