Tara Road by Maeve Binchy Read Free Book Online Page A

prepared to spend huge amounts on a wedding day.
    Gertie was kind to the brides and didn't fuss them. She helped them choose but didn't steer them towards the most expensive outfits. She encouraged them to be more daring. A wedding was for dressing-up, she said, like a rainbow or fireworks.
    'Why is it called Polly's? It's a silly name,' a bride asked Ria one day.
    'I think it's to do with Pretty PollyGCa something like that,' Ria explained.
    'That was very diplomatic,' Gertie said admiringly afterwards.
    'What do you mean? I hadn't a clue why he called it Polly's. Do you know?'
    'After his fancy woman. It's hers; he bought it for her. You know that.'
    'I didn't, actually. I hardly know him at all. I thought he was a pillar of the Church and all that.'
    'Oh yes, he is when he's with the wife. But with Polly CallaghanGCa that's something else.'
    'Oh, that's why the cheques are all to P. Callaghan. I see.'
    'What did you think it was?'
    'I thought it might be a tax thing.'
    'But wasn't he at your wedding and all? I thought you were great pals with him.'
    'No, Danny sold his house for him, that's all.'
    'Well, he told me to give you the job and to organise all the gear for your wedding, so he must think very highly of your Danny.'
    'He's not the only one. Danny's out at lunch today with two fellows who are thinking of setting up their own firm. They want him to join them.'
    'And will he?'
    'I hope not, Gertie, it would be too risky. He has no capital; he'd have to put the house up with a second mortgage as a security or something. It would be very dangerous. I'd love him to go somewhere where he'd be paid.'
    'Do you tell him this?' Gertie asked.
    'Not really. He's such a dreamer, and he thinks big, and he's been right so often. I stay out of it a lot of the time. I don't want to be the one who is holding him back.'
    'You have it all worked out,' Gertie said with admiration. Gertie had a boyfriend, Jack, who drank too much. She had tried to finish with him many times, but she always went back.
    'No, I don't really have it worked out,' Ria said. 'I look placid, you see, that's why people think I'm fine. Inside I worry a lot.'
    'Did you say yes to them?' Ria hoped that Danny couldn't hear the anxiety in her voice.
    'No, I didn't. Actually, I didn't say anything. I listened to them instead.'
    Danny was good at that. It looked as if he was talking but in fact he was nodding his head and listening.
    'And what did you hear?'
    'How much they wanted Barney's business and how seriously they thought I could deliver it. They know all about him, like what he eats for breakfast sort of thing. They told me about companies and businesses he has that I never knew about.'
    'And what are you going to do?'
    'I've done it,' Danny said 'What on earth did you do?'
    'I went to Barney. I told him that anything I had was due to him and that I had this offer from fellows who knew a bit too much about him for his comfort.'
    'And what did he say?'
    'He thanked me and said he'd come back to me.'
    'Danny, aren't you amazing! And when will he come back to you?'
    'I don't know. I had to pretend not to mind. Maybe next week, maybe tomorrow. You see, he might advise me to take it or not to. I'll listen to him. He could ring tomorrow. I might be wrong but I feel he'll ring tomorrow.'
    Danny was wrong. Barney McCarthy called that night. He had been thinking of setting up a small estate agency business himself. All he really needed was to be prompted to do it. Now he had. Would Danny Lynch manage it for him? On a salary, of course, but part of the profits as well.
    Not long after this they were invited to a party at the McCarthys' home. Ria recognised a lot of faces there. Politicians, a man who read the news on television, a well-known golfer.
    Barney's wife was a large comfortable-looking woman. Mona moved with ease and confidence amongst the guests. She wore a navy wool dress and had what must have been real pearls around her plump neck. She was probably in her