Chapter 7
SEVEN
A week after that Sunday lunch, Marian found herself sucked into the wedding preparations with Claire.
She had been in Pierce’s office yesterday to familiarise herself with what she would be doing while Pierce was away.
It didn’t seem to hard to answer calls and emails but she would have more things to do when he came back.
She had texted Theo a second time in order to test the waters but there had been no reply.
He seemed to be still sulking and Marian wondered if they would ever get back what they had lost. But she pushed all those thoughts away while she concentrated on Claire’s wedding preparations.
They had a fun afternoon in Cork where they scoured the shops for the perfect outfit. ‘Not too blushing bride or matronly,’ Claire said during their drive. ‘Something in between those two would be great.’
‘Hmm,’ Marian mused as she considered the problem while they drove down the winding road to Cork city.
‘How about a big hat and a suit? I mean a jacket and skirt. I saw an old photo of Mick Jagger and Bianca when they were married in St Tropez in the early nineteen seventies. She wore a big hat and a suit. All white, but you could pick another colour, like pale green to go with your eyes. I know it sounds weird, but I think that would…’
‘Yes,’ Claire exclaimed, looking briefly at Marian with shining eyes before she concentrated on the road again. ‘I love that idea. So classy and ageless. But where would we find such an outfit?’
‘We’ll start with the hat,’ Marian said and picked up her phone. ‘I’ll google hat shops in Cork to see if I can find something. Then we could go to Brown Thomas and look for that kind of suit. I know it might cost an arm and a leg, but it’s your special day.’
‘And I can wear the suit at other occasions afterwards,’ Claire said. ‘Marian, you’re a genius.’
‘We haven’t found that suit yet,’ Marian remarked. ‘But when we do, I’ll accept the compliment.’
‘Ah, we will,’ Claire said with a grin. ‘I can feel it.’
They drove through the winding streets of Cork and miraculously found a parking spot near Patrick Street, where all the best shops were to be found.
Then, as Marian hadn’t managed to find any hat shops, they walked the short distance to Brown Thomas, hoping they also had hats among their large and fashionable stock.
As they walked towards the department store, Claire suddenly stopped dead, so suddenly Marian nearly fell over.
‘Look,’ Claire squealed, pointing at a poster in the window of a bookshop. ‘That author everyone in Dingle is talking about is doing a book signing next week.’
‘Oh?’ Marian stared at the poster with the cover of a book depicting a meadow full of wildflowers with the title A Stranger Comes Home written in large letters across it. Then there was a photo of that face that was now so familiar to her. ‘The same day as your wedding,’ she said to Claire.
‘What a pity,’ Claire said. ‘I’d have gone to get a signed copy, if I could. But hey, let’s go in and buy that book. It’s his latest and nobody in Dingle will have read it yet.’
‘Okay,’ Marian said and followed Claire through the door of the shop. She had to confess that it would be interesting to read his latest book and find out what all the fuss was about. ‘I’ll have time to read it while you’re away,’ she said.
‘And then I’ll read it,’ Claire said. ‘Oh,’ she said, looking around, ‘what a lovely shop.’
Marian had to agree. The bookshop was more like a cosy library than a shop, with bookshelves painted green and colourful rugs on the wooden floor. There was even a fireplace with two leather easy chairs beside it and an arrangement of dried flowers on the mantelpiece.
‘You just want to pick a book and sit down and read for a few hours,’ Marian remarked.
‘I know. It’s very cosy. But here’s the book,’ Claire said and picked up one of the copies from a stack on a table by the door. ‘Hi,’ she said to the shop assistant at the till. ‘Is this the latest novel by John Peters?’
‘That’s right,’ the shop assistant said and pushed her glasses up her nose. ‘He’s signing here next week.’
‘We’d come if we could,’ Claire said. ‘But we have something else on.’ She handed the assistant the book. ‘So we’ll buy this copy and come to the next book signing, whenever that is.’
‘Soon, I hope,’ the assistant said as Claire paid. ‘He said he’s working on something new that will be finished in a month or two. He publishes his own books, so he can get them out quite quickly, depending on how much time he has.’
‘If he’s self-published, how come you’re promoting his book like this?’ Marian asked. ‘With a book signing and a poster and everything.’
‘We don’t usually stock self-published authors’ books,’ the shop assistant replied.
‘But he’s so popular and we sell an enormous amount of his books, so we make an exception.
And the owner is a personal friend of John Peters.
This is an independent bookstore, so we’re not in a chain and can do what we like.
I don’t think Easons would be as willing to do that as we are. ’
‘Long live independence, in that case,’ Claire said.
‘Oh yes,’ the shop assistant agreed. ‘Independent bookshops are a lot more interesting.’
‘I love books,’ Marian said, looking longingly at the well-stocked bookshelves. ‘If I had the time, I’d stay here and browse.’
‘But we don’t,’ Claire said, pulling at Marian’s arm. ‘Come on, we have to find that perfect outfit.’
‘She’s getting married in about a week,’ Marian said to the shop assistant. ‘But I don’t want her to turn into Bridezilla, so we’d better find that suit quickly.’
‘How lovely,’ the shop assistant said. ‘I wish you every happiness.’ She picked up a card from a stack on the counter. ‘Here, take this. You’ll find our Facebook page there and then you can keep up to date with our events and John Peters’ next book signing.’
‘Brilliant.’ Claire took the card and put it in her handbag. ‘Thank you so much. We’ll do our best to come to the next event, won’t we, Marian?’
‘Of course,’ Marian said.
They said goodbye to the shop assistant and left, hurrying down the street to the department store. ‘What a lovely bookshop,’ Claire said. ‘We must go back next time we’re in Cork.’
‘We should,’ Marian agreed. ‘I’ll look out for the next book signing. I want to know everything about that author. John Peters, I mean. Everyone around here seems to love his books.’
‘You could start by looking him up on Facebook or ,’ Claire suggested. ‘He probably does his own marketing, so he’s bound to have posted everything about himself and his books all over the Internet.’
‘Great idea. Why didn’t I think of that?’ Marian said as they reached the entrance door of Brown Thomas. ‘But here we are. Let’s go shopping.’
After more than an hour searching through various designers, they emerged carrying two big bags with the famous Brown Thomas logo.
One of them contained not the suit Marian had suggested, but a dress Claire had fallen instantly in love with.
It was by a new Irish designer in pale green linen with tiny white and pink flowers around the frilly neckline.
It suited Claire’s complexion and Marian had to agree it was lovely.
And then by sheer good fortune, they had found a straw hat with a green ribbon around the crown, which was a perfect match with the dress.
‘Like Scarlett O’Hara,’ Marian said when Claire put on the hat.
‘But it’s not exactly what I had planned. ’
‘Oh fiddle-di-dee,’ Claire joked as she did a twirl in the changing room. ‘Let’s forget Bianca Jagger and say hello to a southern belle. I simply have to have this whole outfit. Pierce will love it.’
‘Everyone will,’ Marian declared. ‘And it will be lovely to watch you dance the first waltz in that dress. And this is my treat,’ she continued, taking out her credit card. ‘No arguments.’
‘I won’t argue,’ Claire said, looking a little doubtful. ‘But can you afford it?’
‘Of course I can,’ Marian said. ‘I haven’t touched the inheritance from Auntie Rachel, and I intend to spend it on nice things, like your wedding dress.’
‘Oh.’ Claire looked relieved. ‘That’s okay, then. I’m afraid I spent my inheritance on the downpayment for our new house. But I think she would be happy about that.’
‘Of course she would,’ Marian agreed. ‘I can’t think of anything better to spend it on.’
‘Darling Auntie Rachel,’ Claire said. ‘How lucky we were to have her.’
‘She was such a character,’ Marian said. ‘And so generous.’
‘She was,’ Claire agreed. She took off the dress and handed it to the shop assistant who had just appeared. ‘We’ll take the dress and the hat. And now we must find something for you, Marian. You have to look pretty at my wedding too.’
‘Oh,’ Marian said. ‘I hadn’t thought about that. But I did see an outfit I liked on the Pamela Scott website. I’ll show it to you when we have lunch. And if you like it, I’ll order it and then it’ll be sent to Magnolia Manor.’
‘Good idea,’ Claire agreed. ‘We’ll just have this packed up and go to lunch somewhere nice.’
‘Okay,’ Marian said. ‘I’m getting hungry. Let’s go to that fish restaurant I’ve heard so much about. Isn’t it around here somewhere?’
‘You mean Quinlan’s?’ Claire asked. ‘Yes, that’s what I thought too.’ She stopped and took her phone from her handbag. ‘I’ll google them.’