Minding Frankie - Maeve Binchy [91]
“Silly argument is what you call it? A row that destroyed my mother’s family!”
“I didn’t know any of it, Des. Not until I heard from you.”
“Do you believe me?”
“I believe that’s what Nora said to you, certainly.”
“So you think she was lying?”
“No, I think she believes what she was told. My parents are dead now. Your mother is dead. We have no one to ask.” He knew that he sounded weak and defeated.
But oddly Des Raven seemed to recognize the honesty in his tone. “You’re right,” he said, almost grudgingly. “It’s up to us now.”
Frank Ennis had seen the waiter hover near them and leave several times. Soon they must order.
“Would you like something to eat, Des? I ordered an Australian wine to make you feel at home.”
“I’m sorry—I like to know who I am eating and drinking with.” Des was taking no prisoners.
“Well, I don’t know how well you’ll get to know me.… They say that I’m difficult and that I make a mess of things,” Frank said. “That’s what I’m told, anyway.”
“Who tells you that? Your wife?”
“No. I never married.”
Des was surprised. “So no children, then?”
“Apart from you, no.”
“I must have been a shock.”
Frank paused. He must not say the wrong thing here. It was a time to be honest and speak from the heart. But how could he admit to this boy that his instincts and first reactions had been doubt and confusion and a wish to check it all out? He knew that if he were wholly truthful he could alienate Des Raven forever and lose the son he had only just met.
“It may sound cold to you, Des, but my first reaction was shock. I couldn’t believe that I had a child—my own flesh and blood—without my having an idea about it. I am a tidy, meticulous sort of person. This was like having my whole neat world turned upside down. I had to think about it. That’s what I do, Des, I think about things slowly and carefully.”
“Really?” Des sounded slightly scornful.
“Yes, really. So when it had got clear in my mind, I called you.”
“And what had you to get clear, exactly?”
“I had to get my head around the fact that I had fathered a son. And if you think that’s something that can be accepted as natural and normal in two minutes then you are an amazing person. It takes someone like me a bit of time to get used to a new concept, and as soon as I did I called you and you had already gone.”
“But you must have been afraid that people would find out.” Des was still taunting him.
“No, I wasn’t afraid of that. Not at all.” He had to think what Clara might have said, and it came to him. “I was proud to have a son. I would want people to know.”
“I don’t think so.… Big Catholic hospital manager having illegitimate child. No, I can’t see you wanting people to know.”
“There is no such word, no concept of an illegitimate child nowadays. The law has changed and society has changed too. People are proud of their children, born in wedlock or outside.” Frank spoke with spirit.
Des shook his head. “All very fine, very noble, but you haven’t told anyone about me yet.”
“You are so wrong, Des. I have indeed talked about you and said how excited I was to be going to meet you.…”
“Who did you tell? Not Miss Frosty in your office, that’s for sure. Did you tell your mates at the golf club or the racetrack or wherever you go? Did you say, ‘I have a boy too. I’m like you, a family man’? No way. You told nobody.”
Frank sat there, miserable. If he started to tell him about Clara it made it all the more pitiable. There was only one person to whom he had told the secret. At that moment Anton Moran appeared at their side.
“Mr. Ennis,” he said, as if Frank had been a regular customer since the place had opened.
“Ah, Mr. Moran.” Frank had the feeling of being rescued. It was as if this man were throwing him some sort of a lifeline.
“Mr. Ennis, I was wondering would you and your son like to try our lobster? It is this morning’s catch, done very simply, with butter and a couple of sauces on the side.”
Anton looked from one to the other. A sudden silence had fallen between the two men. They were looking at each other, dumbfounded.
“I’m sorry,