Page 64 of A Second Chance Summer in Dublin
‘No room. There’s me, Stevo, Max and I have to take Uncle Barry or he’ll go AWOL.’ Belinda’s voice is breathy now.
‘Relax,’ I tell her, pushing her shoulders down with my palms as I start to sew her in.
‘Stevo is going to see you in the dress?’ Kathleen balks, her eyes on stalks.
‘Kathleen, Stevo’s seen me bend over naked to plug in my iPhone in mid-winter, more ginger hair on my body than a sunburnt Gorilla, nothing can shock the poor man anymore.’
The sisters all crease up laughing. The tension evaporates.
‘I was texting with him about it just now,’ Kathleen says. ‘He’s gone home to get ready. He’s going to look so handsome.’ I glance at her as she speaks to her sisters, she seems in a sort of faraway trance.
‘I still can’t believe I’m getting married today.’ Belinda sighs as I meticulously sew neat, tiny, white, blind hem stitches.
‘Stay still, almost there,’ I mutter, concentrating hard.
‘You look amazing, Denise,’ Belinda tells her sister. She really does. Her black dress and her curly blow-dry are pure perfection. She spins three-hundred-and-sixty degrees.
‘I know! I feel like an absolute ride. Do ya know what Uncle Barry said when I walked into the front room?’ She stops spinning, slams her hands on her hips.
‘Oh God help me, wha’?’ Belinda asks, in trepidation, biting her lip.
‘What a transformation! Like I was bleedin’ Wonder Woman or somethin’!’ Denise does a hop-skip dance around Belinda now.
‘Sit down, ya mad thing,’ Amanda says as Denise collapses onthe bed like a starfish.
‘Mind the dress,’ I yell over Kathleen’s shoulder now as she takes over the hop-skip dance around Belinda; I can’t help but admire the pint-sized perfection that she is.
‘Last time I’ll say this, everyone get into your shoes and do final checks,’ I tell them again, laughing but trying to keep my tone strict. It’s always at the last moment a shoe goes missing, a false nail pops off, or a bag can’t be found.
‘On it!’ Denise and Amanda scatter. Kathleen remains, as she is already ready.
‘Arms out.’ I perch the needle between my lips as Belinda does as she’s told. ‘How’s that feel?’
‘That’s feeling so much better already,’ she tells me, shimmying her shoulders up and down. ‘But you’ll have to come to the church in case this bursts at the altar. There’s room in the bridesmaids’ car. I already had a child out of wedlock and I’m in a white dress, if me tits fall out I might burst into flames!’
I laugh out loud and nod. ‘I’ll sit at the back, I’ll be there. But trust me, it won’t fall down.’ I bite the thread free from the needle.
Denise and Amanda return in their high heels and with their bags – and the most stunning white rose bouquets. Amanda hands a bouquet to Kathleen.
‘Now, that’s not your dinner, Kathleen, all right? Do not eat that bouquet during the mass.’ Amanda scoffs yet again.
‘The loaves and the fishes and the Vegan Mary, what?’ Belinda crashes in as she hits the high-five Amanda is already holding in the air in response to her quip.
‘Just wait until I join the Scientologists, then ya’ll really have something to slag me about.’ Kathleen, I can tell, is spoofing them, but the bedroom falls silent for a moment.
‘Don’t you bloody well dare.’ Amanda’s voice is less than jovial now.
‘Knowing this one, she probably knows Tom Cruise!’ Denise pipes up.
‘Over my dead body.’ Belinda turns on her heels.
‘For your information Tom is a total pet. So then, think about that next time you pescetarian-persecute me.’ Kathleen’s perfectly toned golden shoulders rise and fall.
‘Okay. Everyone. OUT!’ I cut this drama as I make small circular movements with my hand. ‘Let’s get this woman to the church on time!’
Chapter Thirty-Two
‘By the way, Grace.’ Kathleen twists her body round from the front seat of the taxi to look at me, gripping her seatbelt to steady herself. ‘That call I took on my cell in Belinda’s bedroom when you said we’d no time to gossip? The client of mine in LA? She’s averrrryyyimportant woman, and guess what?’ Her perfect white teeth dazzle against the dark plum of her matt lipstick.
