The Wife Before Me(75)
‘You’ll need it for your visits,’ Rosemary had said, waving her thanks away.
Each time Elena sits inside it she thinks of a pumpkin, but she is grateful to have wheels under her again.
‘Ms Langdon, are you okay?’ Sophie has returned to the room.
Elena blows her nose and crumples the tissue in her fist. ‘Is Yvonne trying to stop me from seeing my children again?’
‘You have been granted visiting rights in a court of law.’ The social worker assumes the evasive mask of a professional. ‘Only a judge can reverse that decision. Would you like a cup of tea before you leave?’
‘No, but thank you. I’ve to go to work.’
‘Then I’ll see you at the same time on Friday. You did well today, Ms Langdon. The first visit is always the hardest.’
Elena drives into the city and circles Mountjoy Square searching for a parking spot. Usually, if she is unable to take a lift with Rosemary, she cycles to work and locks her bike to the railings of the building. Her basement office is accessible via an exterior set of wrought-iron steps. She is convinced her office must have been a broom cupboard in an era when these houses were grand residences. Moving around in such a cramped space will be good training for a prison or a psychiatric cell, she thinks in moments of black, bleak humour.
* * *
Billy rings that evening and asks her to visit him at his house. His invitation surprises her; he knows she must not go too close to Woodbine. Having finally gained access to her children, Elena is determined not to take any further risks.
‘I could be recognised going into your house,’ she says. ‘Can’t we meet somewhere else?’
‘I wish I could, Elena.’ His breathing is laboured and fast. ‘The news from the hospital is not good so I’m confined to barracks. There’s something I have to tell you. I won’t keep you long. Come on Friday―’
‘I’m seeing my children on Friday.’
‘Then Saturday.’
‘What if Nicholas…’ She pauses. Billy would not ask her to break bail without a good reason. Nicholas always goes to the gym on Saturday afternoons, as well as two evenings a week. Pumping his fury into iron. Why was that never enough to assuage it? An attempt on his life has hardly changed his self-discipline. Elena agrees to have lunch with Billy at one o’clock on Saturday.
* * *
She arrives on time. Billy has prepared a salad with cold chicken and ham. Their conversation flows easily throughout the meal. No sign that there is anything on his mind, yet she can tell he is troubled.
They take coffee beside an open fire in his living room. ‘The old ticker is not behaving as well as it should,’ he admits. ‘It’s progressive. Six months if I’m lucky, according to my cardiac specialist.’
She is shocked by his blunt statement, yet not surprised; Billy has deteriorated since she saw him in hospital. But he shows no sign of distress as he outlines the specialist’s verdict.
‘I’ve had a good innings and things haven’t been the same since Jodie died. And John, too. He’s the reason I asked you here.’
‘Amelia’s father?’
‘Yes. John was a gentle person but he was dead set against Amelia marrying Nicholas. I’d met Nicholas and liked him well enough at the beginning, so I found it hard to understand why John was so opposed to him. He used to work for a credit control company and he had friends in far-flung places. He found out information on Nicholas that you or I would never uncover in a month of Sundays. I never heard the full details but I remember it had to do with an embezzlement scandal that was hushed up when Nicholas was working in Hong Kong―’
‘Nicholas was never in Hong Kong.’
‘He was, Elena. Two years there and a year in China before he joined Keogh & Harris, as it was known then. John was going to tell Amelia what he’d uncovered but when she decided to end things with Nicholas, he kept the information to himself. There was some trouble between him and Amelia at the time and that could have made things worse. But he confronted Nicholas and warned him he’d release the information if he attempted to persuade Amelia to change the decision she’d made not to marry him.’
‘I never knew Amelia broke it off with him. But, then, I never knew anything about him, anything truthful that is. It’s my own fault. I was so stupid – so stupid… I let him embezzle every penny I owned.’ Elena beats her fist against her knee. ‘I took everything he told me at face value and look where I am now.’
‘Everything passes, Elena. Karma has a way of balancing us out.’
‘That’s a nice thought, Billy. But I’m afraid it’s for the birds.’
‘Hear me out, girl. Knowing when you’re going to make your final exit has a way of concentrating the mind and there’s something I need to tell you. Remember that hairy lad in the next bed to mine when you were visiting me?’
‘Red? With the beard?’ She remembers his expressive language as he struggled to master his crutches.
‘That’s him. Red Boland.’ Billy laughs. ‘He was red before he went grey. Nicknames can be hard to shake. I told you he took a tumble off his Harley, out Glendalough way. Luckily, he wasn’t killed. I used to be a biker back in the day. Jodie, too. The bike kept me going after she died. I only gave it up when the old knees started giving me trouble.’