Minding Frankie - Maeve Binchy [154]
He dressed very slowly. He was pale and his eyes looked tired, but really and truly he might pass for a normal person, not someone with the most important secret of his life tidied away, unopened, in a drawer. A person who would give every single possession he had for a pint of beer accompanied by a large Irish whiskey.
How amazing that he looked perfectly normal. Now, looking at him, you might think he was a perfectly ordinary man.
Lisa was startled to find him there when she arrived back with Dingo Duggan and his van. She was going to take her possessions down to Katie and Garry’s.
“Hey, I thought you’d be at work,” she said.
Noel shook his head. “Day off,” he muttered.
“Lucky old you. Where’s Frankie? I thought you’d want to celebrate a day off with her.”
“She went with Emily and Hat. No point in breaking the routine,” he said flatly.
“You okay, Noel?”
“Sure I am. What are you doing?”
“Moving my stuff, trying to give you two lovebirds more room.”
“You know you’re not in the way—there’s plenty of room for all of us.”
“But I’ll be going to London soon. I can’t clutter your place up with all my boxes.”
“I don’t know what I’d have done without you, Lisa, I really don’t.”
“Wasn’t it a great year!” Lisa agreed. “A year when you found Frankie and when I … well, when I let the scales fall from my eyes over so many things. Anton for one, my father for another …”
“You never said why you came here that night,” Noel said.
“And you never asked, which made everything so restful. I’ll miss Frankie, though, desperately. Faith is going to send me a photo of her every month so that I’ll see her growing up.”
“You’ll forget all about us.” He managed a smile.
“As if I would. This is the first proper home I ever had.” She gave him a quick hug and went into her bedroom to check the boxes that were going to be driven over to her sister’s.
“Give Katie my love,” Noel said mechanically.
“I will. She’s dying to tell me something—I know by her voice.”
“It must be nice to have a sister,” he said.
“It is. Maybe you and Faith could arrange a little sister for Frankie one day,” she teased.
“Maybe.” He didn’t sound very confident about it.
Lisa was relieved to hear Dingo arriving to carry the boxes. Noel was definitely not himself today.
Katie did indeed want to tell Lisa something. It was that she was pregnant. She and Garry were overjoyed and they hoped Lisa would be pleased for them too.
Lisa said she was delighted. She hadn’t known that this was in the plan at all, but Katie said it had been long hoped for.
“Two career people? Highfliers?” Lisa said, in mock wonder.
“Yes, but we wanted a baby to make it complete.”
“I’ll be a terrific aunt. I don’t know anything about having a baby but I sure as anything know how to look after one.”
“I wish you weren’t going away,” Katie said.
“I’ll be back often,” Lisa promised. “And this baby will grow up in a family that wants a baby—not like the way you and I grew up, Katie.”
· · ·
Emily and Hat were surrounded by seed catalogs, trying to decide from the huge amount on offer. Frankie sat with them and seemed to study the pictures of flowers as well.
“She’s just no trouble,” Emily said fondly.
“Pity we didn’t meet earlier—we could well have had a few of those ourselves,” Hat said wistfully.
“Oh, no, Hat, I have much more the personality of a grandmother than a mother. I like a baby who goes home in the evening,” she said.
“Is it dull for you here with me?” he asked suddenly.
“What do you mean?”
“Back in America you had a busy life, teaching, going to art exhibits, thousands of people around the place.”
“Stop fishing for compliments, Hat. You know that I’m besotted with this place. And with you. And when we push this little pet back