"Hurry Mum, they're going without me." Kate's third and youngest cried as she struggled to tie his shoelace. When she finished he ran for the door, his schoolbag jumping up and down on his back.
"Stay away from the puddles in the lane" she shouted after him as he ran to catch up with his brother and sister on their way to the main road to wait for the school bus. Paddy, her husband, had left around six to queue for the mart and unless he had a miraculous change of habit he wouldn't be home until the small hours of the morning, much the worse for wear. She endured patiently his obsessive hard work and his drinking and looked forward to the peace and quiet of a day like this when he was away all day.
Kate turned on the radio and cleared the table. She always listened to the morning magazine programmes; they kept her in touch with the outside world, which she missed since she became a farmer's wife. She had been born and brought up in the town and lived there until she married, and although she loved the country there were times she found it lonely. She had just started washing up when the phone rang. She dried her hands and went into the hall.
"Hello."
"Is that Kate?"
"Yes."
"This is George." She scrambled around in her head and drew a blank.
"George who?"
"Has my voice changed that much?"
"George" she said, tumbling to it, "where are you?"
"In town. How are you?"
"I'm fine. What are you doing in town?"
"I'm staying overnight; I'm on my way to the boat in the morning. How's Paddy?"
"He's fine."
"Could you both have dinner with me to-night? I'm staying at Lawlor's."
"Paddy isn't here. He won't be back until late."
"Well can you come?"
"I just might be able to contact Paddy at the mart."
"Fine" George said. "But if you can't contact him, come yourself."
"Are you sure you're not just being polite?"
"Of course not, I'd love to see you."
"What time and where?" she asked.
"Lawlor's at eight."
"Thank you, George" she said. "I'll try and contact Paddy right away."
"See you later" he said, and hung up.
Kate stayed sitting at the telephone giving free rein to her memory. She had gone out with George for almost two years. It was through him she met Paddy; they were friends at the rugby club. It was quite a while before Paddy asked her out, which in no way affected Paddy and George's friendship, and when they came to be married, she knew Paddy would have asked him to be his best man but he had gone to Canada and after Christmas cards for a couple of years they lost touch.
George was tall and well built with a fair complexion and sandy hair. He was a natural gentleman who would hold the door open not only for a woman but for a man too, for no other reason than it wasn't in him to go first. His good manners were no mere formality; he was sensitive to others and genuinely self-effacing in the nicest possible way. Everybody liked George, and most of the girls were crazy about him but, apart from Kate, he treated them all the same.
She picked up the phone and dialled the mart.
"Could you get Paddy Martin for me please?"
"Hold on."
She could hear the public address: "Telephone call for Paddy Martin, will Paddy Martin please come to the telephone."
She waited. After a while a voice said: "Did he not come?"
"No."
"Hold on a minute I'll try outside."
In a minute he came back. "He was here earlier, but he's gone."
"If he comes back will you ask him to ring home please."
"O.K."
"He surely doesn't start as early as this" Kate thought. "I'll try one of the pubs later." She knew most of his haunts, but it wasn't easy to get him as he used to tip off the barmen to say he wasn't there. She didn't hold out much hope of contacting him unless she toured the pubs herself, and she was determined not to suffer the humiliation of doing that again.
Kate went back to the kitchen to finish the washing up. The radio fought a loosing battle with her memories of the carefree days of fifteen years ago and more. She remembered them as good times, not just George, but her girlfriends and the whole gang. One by one they got married. She reflected that it is a choice between the net happiness of bachelorhood or the net happiness of marriage. The trouble is that bachelorhood is tagged failure and marriage success, and fourteen years into marriage Kate knew that this was an over-simplification and even a distortion of the truth. It suddenly occurred to her that she didn't know if George had married. She assumed he hadn't or he'd have said something, but it might be that he is just travelling alone.
Kate finished the washing up, her mind still buzzing. She went upstairs to make the beds. When she had made her own bed she went to the wardrobe and took out some outfits and held dresses up to herself, looking in the mirror, matching this with that and indulging her passion for good clothes. She and Paddy went out a couple of times a year to the IFA and Hereford Breeders' dinner dances for which she always got something new; Paddy for all his faults wasn't mean, but he never noticed what she wore. Kate surprised herself and became excited at the prospect of having dinner alone with George, and she felt free to do so since she had made a genuine effort to contact Paddy. She was now beginning to hope that he wouldn't get the message at the mart. George had been careful to say to come herself if she couldn't contact him. Then she lapsed into an intimate fantasy with George and brought herself back to reality by thinking it likely he would have a wife with him. She put away all of her clothes without deciding finally what to wear.
Kate went downstairs and collected her thoughts to plan everything in readiness for her evening out. She started to get dinner ready for the children; Paddy always had his meal out on mart day.
"Fourteen years is a long time, George might be fat and bald" she thought. "I've certainly put on weight and I'm sure he has too." She started to feel anxious that after the preliminaries they might run out of things to say and began to half hope that Paddy would get her message. She had the children's dinner ready to put on and went out to the yard to feed the pet lambs that were her 'pin money'. She imagined the kind of life she would have had if she had married George: a fine semi, or even detached house in Toronto or wherever he lived, and all that went with a comfortable middle-class suburban existence. No muck and dirt and worries about the weather and the price of cattle, and above all no husband coming in drunk at night.
She had just finished the lambs when the telephone bell in the yard shattered her fantasy, and on her way inside she couldn't decide whether she wanted it to be Paddy or not. She lifted the phone.
"Is Paddy there?" She took the message and realised she was glad.
Kate put on the dinner for the children and made herself a snack lunch. She began to waver again between looking forward to to-night on her own and half hoping that Paddy would be there. He usually had his lunch at the mart, so she phoned again.
She wanted to be able to tell him and George, if she couldn't contact him, that she had tried twice and left a message both times. No, he hadn't been back and they would definitely give him the message if he turned up. She was sure now that it was going to be a normal mart day and Paddy wouldn't be home until the small hours.
The children arrived in from school and had their dinner. Kate sent the middle one, Pat, to the cottage at the end of the lane to ask Mary if she could baby-sit. She felt unsettled and decided the only way to put in the time was to do some hoovering. She got out the hoover and did most of the house, then she left the children's tea ready and went upstairs to wash her hair. She spent time doing her nails and went through her clothes again trying things on and finally selecting what she would wear. She went downstairs, got the children's tea and called them. When Julie, the eldest, saw the curlers she asked:
"Where are you going, Mum?"
"I'm going to meet an old friend of your Dad's and mine."
"What's her name?"
"It's not a her it's a him, his name is George."
"Is Dad going too?"
"I don't think so, George phoned after breakfast and I can't contact Dad. It's mart day and he'll be away all day."
"Where does George live?"
"Canada."
"And where are you meeting him?"
"He's invited us for dinner in Lawlor's."
"Mum, you can't go out for dinner with a man; if Dad's not there, everyone'll think you're having an affair." And they all laughed, including Kate.
"Of course they won't. He's just an old friend, and really he was Dad's friend."
"But if anyone sees you they won't know that" said Julie.
"They can think what they like" replied Kate and thought how ridiculous it was that a man and woman can't be seen together without people's tongues wagging, yet she knew that was the way it was, and resented her thirteen year old daughter reminding her.
Kate cleared the table as the children became absorbed in their favourite 'soap'. She washed up and went upstairs to get ready. She was in good time and soaked in the bath, going over in her mind what she remembered of her courtship with George. All her memories were good and stirred inside her a warm feeling the like of which she had long since forgotten. For a few precious minutes she felt free of all the responsibilities the last fourteen years had brought. She was entirely on her own indulging her body and her mind as though husband and family and everything else didn't exist. The water started to go cold so she got out, draped a towel around her and went to the bedroom. She began to dress, selecting each item carefully, and when she finished she did a couple of turns in front of the mirror and allowed that she was pleased. She sat down on the stool in front of the dressing table to try on jewellery. Julie pushed the door open and came in.
"That's nice Mum" she said. "But I don't like the earrings." Kate tried another pair.
"Is that better?" she asked, fastening the hasp of the necklace that went with them. Julie agreed it was and picked out a brooch that she held to her mother's dress and which they both agreed was just right. Kate put on some perfume.
"That's your special perfume, Mum. Isn't it?" Julie said with a conspiratorial grin.
"Yes love, it is, but I don't often get a chance to use it, you see the lambs don't like it."
"I hope George does" Julie said laughing as she danced to the door pulling it behind her.
When Kate got downstairs Mary had arrived. Kate enquired about homework, gave the usual instructions about bedtime, which she knew would be ignored, and left. As she crossed the yard to the shed her heart sank - Paddy had taken the car and left the Land Cruiser.
"Not the end of the world" she thought "but a bit of a 'letdown'."
Kate arrived at the hotel and immediately recognised George waiting at the door. He didn't see her getting out of the Cruiser and she had time to see that he was heavier, with hair thinner and receding. As she went up the steps he saw her. He smiled broadly and came down towards her.
"Kate" he said, and kissed her on both cheeks. Holding her firmly by the upper arms he stood back and looked her straight in the eyes: "you haven't changed a bit."
"Oh George, there's much more of me than there used to be." He stood back and looked her up and down.
"A little, perhaps." He said "but nothing stays the same." Holding her under one arm he walked her up the steps and held the door open for her.
In the foyer he asked "Would you like a drink here or will we go into the bar?"
"Here is fine" she replied, and he went and ordered their drinks. When he returned he sat beside her on the sofa, turning sideways to look straight at her.
"I couldn't contact Paddy. I tried the mart twice and left a message. He'll be sorry to miss you. What time do you leave in the morning?"
"The ferry leaves at seven."
"Unless he drops in here by chance I'm afraid you won't see him, and this isn't one of his haunts."
"Be sure to give him my best regards and tell him how sorry I was to miss him. What family have you?" he asked.
"Three, a girl and two boys. Are you married yourself?" she asked.
"I was but we divorced three years ago."
"Have you children?"
"No" he replied. "But tell me about you."
"There's nothing much to tell really" she said and told him a bit about the farm and the children. He was genuinely interested and Kate was reminded how when you were talking to George he made you feel like the only person in the world that mattered. She relaxed quickly and their conversation flowed. They finished their drinks and had another. George asked for the menu and handed it to Kate. The waiter went away and when he came back they were still talking. They stopped talking and gave their order, and took up again where they had left off. Kate had a warm feeling deep inside and found herself fantasising that it was she and George. The waiter came to call them. As Kate walked across the dining room she felt ten feet tall and didn't care who saw her, she was feeling like a woman for the first time for years. She knew exactly why people had affairs and didn't blame them. She remembered what Julie had said and how they all laughed.
The light in the dining room was dim and they were at a table for two at the end of the room. As they faced each other across the table, for Kate everybody else in the world except George evaporated, and there was scarcely a break in the conversation. She abandoned herself to this time out of life and savoured every minute. She even resented the intrusion of the waiter. It was years since she felt so relaxed and light-hearted. She had planned to tell George where all the rest of their gang had got to and what had happened to them, but he didn't enquire and she decided not to. She enjoyed her meal without taking much notice of it, despite George's repeated concern that it was all right.
When the coffee came Kate looked at her watch. It was twenty past eleven. She didn't want the night to end but knew she would have to leave soon to let Mary home. They finished and went back to the foyer.
"I'm afraid I must go," said Kate. "That was a really lovely evening George, thank you."
"Must you, so soon?" he asked.
"I'm afraid so. I have to let the baby sitter home; she's got to get up for school in the morning."
"I hope you've enjoyed to-night as much as I have," he said.
"I've enjoyed it more than I can say."
"If there is any chance that you and Paddy can get to Canada I would be delighted to put you up."
"I don't think there's much chance, but thank you."
George held the door for Kate and took her arm going down the steps.
"Give my best to Paddy and tell him how sorry I was not to see him." George continued to hold Kate's arm as they crossed the car park. When they got to the Land Cruiser Kate took out her keys and opened the door. She turned around and said, "thank you again George that was a lovely evening."
"It was a great pleasure for me" he replied and holding her firmly he kissed her gently on the lips and then held the door while she got in. He stood back as she started the engine and waved as she drove out of the car park.
Kate drove home slowly, her head buzzing. When she got in Mary was asleep at the cooker. After she left, Kate checked the children. She went to her room, kicked off her shoes and lay on the bed remembering every detail of the evening.
She got into bed and went to sleep.
She woke, as usual, to the noise of the engine followed by the bang of the car door in the yard. On nights like this Paddy came to bed in three instalments: the noise in the yard, the clattering in the kitchen while he looked for something to eat and his eventual arrival upstairs. Kate pretended to be asleep when he arrived in the bedroom. She hated the stench of alcohol more than the noise. He got into bed and, as usual, he was asleep before her.