She looked at the woman behind the counter. She was pretty, she decided, but her eyes looked tired and drawn as she stared frantically from one girl to the other.
‘Yes, I’m Barbara.’
‘Oh, good!’ The lady looked relieved and she dived on to the stool in front of her. ‘I was afraid you might not work here any more.’
‘She wishes,’ Melissa muttered under her breath.
‘Can I help you?’
‘Oh God, I really hope you can,’ the lady said a bit hysterically, and rooted through her bag. Barbara raised her eyebrows over at Melissa and the two of them tried to hold in their laughs.
‘OK,’ she said eventually, pulling a crumpled envelope out of her bag. ‘I received this today from my husband and I was wondering if you could explain it to me.’
Barbara frowned as she stared at the dog-eared piece of paper on the counter. A page had been torn out of a holiday brochure and written on it were the words: ‘Swords Travel Agent. Attn: Barbara.’
Barbara frowned again and looked at the page more closely. ‘My friend went there two years ago on holiday but other than that it means nothing to me. Did you not get any more information?’
The lady shook her head vigorously.
‘Well, can’t you ask your husband for more information?’ Barbara was confused.
‘No, he’s not here any more,’ she said sadly, and tears welled in her eyes. Barbara panicked. If her boss saw her making someone cry she really would be given her marching orders. She was on her last warning as it was.
‘OK then, can I take your name, and maybe it will come up on the computer?’
‘It’s Holly Kennedy.’ Her voice shook.
‘Holly Kennedy, Holly Kennedy …’ Melissa was listening in on their conversation. ‘That name rings a bell. Oh, hold on, I was about to call you this week! That’s weird! I was under strict instructions by Barbara not to ring you until July for some reason—’
‘Oh!’ Barbara interrupted her friend, finally realising what was going on. ‘You’re Gerry’s wife?’ she asked hopefully.
‘Yes!’ Holly threw her hands to her face in shock. ‘He was in here?’
‘Yes, he was,’ Barbara smiled encouragingly. ‘He was a lovely man,’ she said, reaching out to Holly’s hand on the counter.
Melissa stared at the two of them, not knowing what was going on.
Barbara’s heart went out to the lady across the counter: she was so young and it must be so hard for her right now. But Barbara was delighted to be the bearer of good news.
‘Melissa, can you get Holly some tissues, please, while I explain to her exactly why her husband was here.’ She beamed across the counter at Holly, then let go of Holly’s hand to tap away at the computer while Melissa returned with a box of tissues.
‘OK, Holly,’ Barbara said softly, ‘Gerry has arranged a holiday for you and a Sharon McCarthy and a Denise Hennessey to go to Lanzarote for one week, arriving on the thirtieth of July to return home on the fifth of August.’
Holly’s hands flew to her face again in shock, and tears poured from her eyes.
‘He was adamant that he found the perfect place for you,’ Barbara continued, delighted at her new role. She felt like one of those television hosts who sprang surprises on their guests. ‘That’s the place you’re going to,’ she said, tapping the crumpled page in front of her. ‘You’ll have a fab time, believe me. When my friend was there she just loved it. There are loads of restaurants and bars around and …’ She trailed off, realising Holly probably didn’t give a damn about whether she had a good time or not.
‘When did he come in?’ Holly asked, still in shock.
Barbara tapped away on the computer. ‘The booking was made on the twenty-eighth of November.’
‘November?’ Holly gasped. ‘He shouldn’t even have been out of bed then! Was he on his own?’
‘Yes, but there was a taxi waiting outside for him the whole time.’
‘What time was this at?’ Holly asked quickly.
‘I’m sorry but I really can’t remember. It was quite a long time ago—’
‘Yes, of course, I’m sorry,’ Holly interrupted.
Barbara completely understood. If that was her husband – well, if she ever met someone worthy of ever becoming her husband – she would also want to know every single detail. Barbara told her as much as she could remember until Holly could think of no more questions to ask.
‘Oh, thank you, Barbara, thank you so much.’ Holly reached over the counter and gave her a big hug.
‘No problem at all,’ Barbara hugged her back, feeling satisfied with her good deed for the day. ‘Come back and let us know how you get on,’ she smiled. ‘Here’s your details.’ She handed Holly a thick envelope and watched her walk away. She sighed, thinking her crappy job might not be so crappy after all.
‘What on earth was that all about?’ Melissa was dying to find out. Barbara began to explain the story.
‘OK, girls, I’m taking my break now. Barbara, no smoking in the staffroom.’ Their boss closed and locked his door and then turned to face them. ‘Christ Almighty, what are you two crying about now?’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Holly eventually arrived at her house and waved to Sharon and Denise, who were sitting on her garden wall sunbathing. They jumped up as soon as they saw her and rushed over to greet her.
‘God, you both got here quick,’ she said, trying to inject energy into her voice. She felt completely and utterly drained, and she really wasn’t in the mood to have to explain everything to the girls right now. But she would have to.
‘Sharon left work as soon as you called and she collected me from town,’ Denise explained, studying Holly’s face and trying to assess how bad the situation was.
‘Oh, you didn’t have to do that,’ Holly said lifelessly, as she tried to put the key in the door.
‘Hey, have you been working in your garden?’ Sharon asked, looking around and trying to lighten the atmosphere.
‘No, my neighbour’s been doing it, I think.’ Holly pulled the key from the door and searched through the bunch for the correct one.
‘You think?’ Denise tried to keep the conversation going while Holly battled with yet another key in the lock.
‘Well, it’s either my neighbour or a little leprechaun lives down the end of my garden,’ she snapped, getting frustrated with the keys. Denise and Sharon looked at each other and tried to figure out what to do. They motioned to one another to stay quiet as Holly was obviously stressed.
‘Oh, fuck it!’ Holly yelled, and threw her keys on the ground. Denise jumped back, just managing to avoid the heavy bunch from slamming into her ankles.
Sharon picked them up. ‘Hey, hon, don’t worry about it,’ she said light-heartedly. ‘This happens to me all the time. I swear the bloody things jump around on the keyring deliberately just to piss us off.’
Holly smiled wearily, thankful that somebody else could take control for a while. Sharon slowly worked her way through the keys, talking calmly to her in a singsong voice as though Holly was a child. The door finally opened and Holly rushed in to turn the alarm off. Thankfully she remembered the number: the year Gerry and she had met and the year they got married. As if she could ever forget those numbers.
‘OK, why don’t you two make yourselves comfortable in the living room and