Carol Clark - Laced

Jack cleared his throat. “Have you lived here long?”

“I lived in the next village growing up. I met Sam when we were both twenty. We’re married twenty-five years. Two kids. Whoops!” She turned the truck quickly onto a road full of potholes. “Sorry. I’m on auto-pilot, thinking I was on my way home. I’d better slow down with all these bumps.”

There is a God, Regan thought.

After ten more minutes of bumping along, they made a turn and drove through a set of gates toward a cottage in the distance where a man and a woman were outside gardening. “They’re here!” Breda exulted as she started honking the horn and waving. “I wonder why they haven’t been in the store!”

This isn’t how I imagined we’d approach people who might be Jane and John Doe, Regan thought, her heart beating fast. She could tell that Jack was also a little tense. They had programmed a main number of the garda into Jack’s cell phone and promised to contact the officials if they had anything to report about the Does or if they needed help.

The Thompsons glanced over at the oncoming truck and started to get up from the ground as Breda pulled closer and closer. But when the smiling couple straightened up to their full size, Regan’s heightened emotions fell flat.

The woman was head and shoulders taller than the man.

Clearly they were not Jane and John Doe.

Jack turned to look at Regan. She could tell he was disappointed. “Come on,” he said, squeezing her hand. “Let’s see what they have to tell us about the Fun Run.”

Dr. Sharkey fixed up Margaret Raftery with a temporary cap nearly identical to Bobby’s. “We’re lucky your whole tooth didn’t break off,” he told her. “It’s going to take a few more visits before we get you in order.”

Margaret was floating in the chair, the nitrous oxide mask covering her nose. “It’s all right,” she said. “I’ll kill two birds with one stone and go to the gym when I come back to Galway.”

“Isn’t Rory wonderful?” Dr. Sharkey asked.

“So he is,” Margaret said. “I love him. I just love him. He thinks I’m a wonderful painter.”

“You paint?”

“Indeed. And I drew the decal for the Fun Run.”

“My mother and I were in the Fun Run!”

“Bully for you.”

Sharkey laughed. “That decal was perfect for the race. It captured the spirit of the day. A fun decal for the Fun Run.”

“Right. A fun decal for the Fun Run.” Margaret started laughing. She hadn’t felt this carefree for a long time. She’d completely forgotten that losing her tooth might be a sign of her impending death.

“Who are your friends?” Dr. Sharkey asked, pointing to the receptionist’s area.

“They’re staying at Hennessy Castle where I work. They ran in the Fun Run, too.”

“They did? I must tell Mother. Now take a look, Margaret.” He held up the mirror.

Margaret smiled. The ensuing horror she felt penetrated the nitrous oxide haze. “It looks as though it needs a good cleaning, it does…”

“It’s a temporary cap,” Dr. Sharkey assured her. “The permanent one will be beautiful. Now let me turn on the oxygen and bring you back down to earth.”

“With that tooth you’ll have to bring me up from hell.”

“Breathe in the oxygen,” Sharkey said calmly.

“I’ll get oxygen outside,” Margaret said, pulling off the mask. “I live in the country where there’s nothing but fresh air.” She swung her legs around and stood. “I don’t feel as good as I did five minutes ago.”

“You should sit down-”

“No.”

“Then go home and get some rest. You’ll feel better tomorrow.”

Margaret nodded and went out to the waiting room where Brian and Sheila had been sitting in glum silence. “Time to go home,” she announced, her face grim with determination. “I want to go straight home this very minute, and I don’t want to hear another word about your aunt Eileen. My tooth is throbbing and my head hurts.”

Brian and Sheila knew better than to argue. Their art collecting was done for the day.

And they both felt as if they were done for life.

Brad and Linda Thompson were also newlyweds and also from New York City, and both had just turned fifty. They had married six months ago, a second marriage for both. Their cottage in Ireland was a vacation retreat where they planned to spend every August. They would rent the cottage in June and July and then visit whenever possible during the rest of the year.

They seem to have a great life, Regan thought as she, Jack, and Breda sat down with the Thompsons in their cheerfully decorated living room. Framed wedding photos filled the shelf above the fireplace. They were an attractive couple. Brad had two grown children from his previous marriage who, judging from the pictures, seemed to approve of their father’s new mate.

“We finally got it right,” Brad said jovially as he handed glasses of sparkling water to everyone. “Linda and I are having the time of our lives. And we made a pact to always keep in shape, so that’s why we did the Fun Run.”

“Here I am with a roomful of newlyweds,” Breda said, fidgeting with excitement. “I feel like an old married lady.”

“Hey,” Brad said, “you’re doing all right. That husband of yours is a nice guy.”

“Indeed!” Breda agreed. “Life gets a little boring at times, but I’m happy.”

Regan smiled. Breda was clearly thrilled to have a little excitement thrown into her day, and Linda was obviously a woman in love. She was positively glowing and not just because of her large diamond earrings and numerous gold necklaces, bling not normally found on someone gardening. They must be presents from Brad, Regan decided.

“Ours is a mature love,” Linda said, smiling at Brad with adoration and sounding like an earnest talk show guest. “We both found out what we didn’t want.”

“I found out a few things I didn’t want, but there’s nothing I can do about it now,” Breda said. She laughed, slapped her knee, and looked around the room to make sure everyone appreciated her joke. They did.

Brad worked in finance, and Linda was a real estate agent. They met when he was trying to find an apartment to rent after splitting up with his wife.

“When I met Linda, all the clouds parted,” Brad said, gesturing out the front window. “She lit up my life,” he declared, sitting on the ottoman in front of Linda’s chair and putting his hand on her leg. “I bring her coffee in bed every morning-”

Breda looked awestruck.

“-and never once has she nagged me to take out the garbage.”

Just wait, Regan thought.

Jack cleared his throat. Regan could tell he wanted to get down to brass tacks. But Brad wasn’t finished.

“Our friends tease us,” Brad continued, “because we’re so over the moon in love.”

Linda giggled, placed her hands on her husband’s back, and started to massage his shoulders.

We had better make this fast, Regan thought. Breda was about to fall off her chair.

“Isn’t being a newlywed just wonderful, Regan?” Linda cooed, wrapping her arms around her husband and resting her head on his shoulder.

“Yes,” Regan agreed. “We’re very happy. But we don’t want to keep you, so if you don’t mind, we’ll just ask a couple of questions about the race and be on our way.”

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” Brad asked with great enthusiasm. “We have steaks in the freezer.”

“No, thank you,” Jack answered. “We’re having dinner with a cousin of Regan’s in Galway. Gerard Reilly. He has a radio show here.”

Linda and Brad’s faces were blank. “I’ve never heard of Gerard Reilly. Have you, honey?” Linda asked, nuzzling her nose against her husband’s sweater.