No Way to Say Goodbye - Anna McPartlin [119]
“You’re right.”
“Would you like to catch up over dinner?”
“Very much.”
“And, if you’re free, maybe afterwards we could get married.”
She laughed. “Let’s just have a shag first and see how it goes.”
And in a moment reminiscent of the closing credits of a Hollywood romance or a French drama, Sam and Mary stood in the middle of a white room. It would have been obvious to anyone who cared to look that all they could see was each other. And if that person was given to fantasy they might have expected them to live happily ever after.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to my family: Mary and Tony O’Shea for being my aunt, my uncle, my mum, my dad, and all things during times good and bad; Denis, Siobhan, Brenda, Caroline and Aisling for taking me into your home and making me feel like I was a part of it; their significant others, Lisa, Paul, Mark, Ger and Dave, for all that you are to the people I love. Mary and Kevin Flood, for being my home away from home, and to Mary for being the eternal reminder that my mum once lived here; their sons Eoin, Dara, Cónal & Ruaraí for the eighties, and for being the people who never failed to make me laugh; Paudie McSwiney, for your friendship, which I hold dear; the McSwineys of Kenmare for being the first family in Ireland to buy a copy of Pack Up the Moon; my grandparents, Bertie and Nora McSwiney, no longer living but still in all our hearts – we loved you then and we love you now; Claire McSwiney, my half-sister and some would say better half, thank you for your kindness; Claire’s mother Mary – you were and always will be a lady; Don and Terry McPartlin for your enduring support, help and friendship.
To my husband, who fell in love with me even though I had a God-awful perm and a penchant for wearing polka dots – like Dolly P once said, “I will always love you”, and the day you bother to read one of my books is the day you’ll get a dedication.
To my friends: Valerie K – to me you will always be my Hallie and no one makes me laugh the way you do; Fergus E, I love you like a fat kid loves cake; Enda B, did you ever know that you’re my hero? Sing it with me now – you’re everything I wish I could be. Tracy K, I’d jig naked just to hear you laugh; Edel and Noel S and Lucy and Darren W, you’re sensible, forthright, intelligent, irreverent, funny and I’m glad I met you; Joanne C, you are me in a parallel universe except you get to be blonde and have better dress sense but I love our weird ways; John G, how can I not love a guy who married the blonde, better-looking and better-dressed me? Martin C, the first time I met you I was wearing baggy pants and bunny slippers and you didn’t hold it against me – you are and will always be one of my best friends; to Trish C for making me fill out forms on an Easter Monday – I know I moaned but without you we’d still be renting; Graham D, for those nights when the band was courting record companies in Reynard’s or Lillie’s and I was bored stupid – you always knew what to say – and to your wife Bernice D for becoming a great friend; Angela D, the ultimate punk rocker with flowers in her hair; to Lisa and Warren: Lisa sings, Warren supports, and you can’t beat that.
To my friends from Kenmare: Leonie K, we laughed, we cried, people died, we survived and through it all I love you; Dermot K, I love you, your wife and your kids; Cliff M, you’re the only person in the whole world I would watch a gardening show with; Gareth T, you get me on a whole different level; Mark L, thank you for being the first person to tell me a joke after Mum died – I’ll love you for ever for that; Nina B, for being one of the kindest and best people I’ve ever known; Bernice and Rosita, the C twins, for our friendship through all those years.
To the buyers and sellers in Easons, Hughes and Hughes, Dubray and Tesco: your support has been overwhelming and much appreciated, thank you, thank you, thank you.
To Paula Campbell, Poolbeg’s publisher – you have the hardest job of all. You find talent where others don’t. Without you many of the writers in this country wouldn