‘Ronan,’ I said. ‘Can you tell your mother how this has impacted your life?’
Haltingly, reluctantly, he said, ‘I’ve had to take out a second mortgage on my house to get the money to pay this off and –’
‘You’ll get your money back!’ Trassa exploded. ‘You’ll get the house when Seamus Senior and I are gone.’
‘It’s not just about the money,’ he blurted.
‘Course it’s about the money.’ A glint of steel had appeared in her. ‘All I heard from you was fifty-nine thousand euro this, fifty-nine thousand euro that. But you won’t be out of pocket.’
‘But … Mam. Listen, can you?’ His body was clenched tight. ‘The sheriff came to your house to seize goods –’
‘How do you know?!’
‘Dad told me. He’s not well,’ Ronan whispered. ‘It was an awful ordeal for him. Then I had a visit. From Collie Byrne.’
Trassa was stopped in her tracks. This was something she hadn’t expected. ‘What … what did he want?’
‘His twenty thousand euro.’
‘Twenty thousand?’ Trassa exclaimed. ‘It was only twelve thousand the last I heard.’
‘Trassa. Tell the group who Collie Byrne is.’
Looking stunned, she managed, ‘He’s a … a local moneylender.’
‘He works in the bank?’ I knew he didn’t.
‘No. He’s … freelance.’
‘He’s a loan shark.’ For the first time Ronan was angry. ‘He came to my house –’
‘Why?’
‘He knows I’m the only one still talking to you. I couldn’t tell Keith where I was going today because he’ll do nothing to help you ever again.’
‘What did Collie do … say?’ Trassa looked genuinely shamed.
‘He said it was nothing personal but if he wasn’t paid back by the end of this week that things would get messy.’
‘Messy?’
‘Yes, Ma, messy. Which means rough. He gave me a choice between it happening to Dad or me.’
‘And what did you say?’ Trassa’s eyes gleamed with terrible interest.
‘Me, Ma, I said me.’
A sharp nod of approval. ‘Good boy.’
Ronan couldn’t cope with much more so I finished the session early and ensconced him in the drawing room where, white as a sheet, he jigged his leg compulsively.
‘Did it do any good?’ he stuttered.
‘Hopefully. Probably.’ I couldn’t make promises. This might have broken open Trassa’s denial, but addiction is a powerful thing. ‘You were very brave. Thank you for coming. Will you be … okay? With this Collie Byrne character?’ This wasn’t part of my job. I couldn’t take on the problems of the family and friends of my clients but I felt very tenderly towards poor Ronan.
‘It’ll take some juggling. Moving money around. Some of the credit cards will have to wait. Collie’s money is a priority.’
‘Good. Good. Are you okay to drive home?’
‘Ah, yeah. Better get back before Keith’s put paid to the entire herd.’ He attempted a lacklustre smile and trailed out to his car, looking small and young.
21
When Ronan’s car had disappeared from view, I switched on my phone, to discover three missed calls from Luke, then a text asking me to ring.
What was with all the calls? Apart from Mum, no one I knew made them. Everything was done through text or voice-notes.
For privacy, I went out to my car. My hands, as I pressed the buttons, were shaking. ‘Hi. It’s Rachel.’
‘Thanks for calling back.’ He sounded exhausted. ‘Sorry about this, but I get it now, why I was freaking out. Can I explain?’
‘Um … sure.’
‘She looks like you. Kate, I mean. When I saw her sitting at that table, for a split second, I thought …’ He sighed heavily. ‘Everything’s mixed up in me. The past and the present, you know?’
‘… Well.’ I strove for humour. ‘I don’t need to remind you that your mum’s just died.’
‘Yeah.’ Another world-weary sigh. ‘I thought it would be just about missing her, but everything is fucked up. Justin and I are scrapping the way we did when we were kids – so much for any mad fantasies about moving back to Ireland. Forget it. We can’t address a civil word to each other. Which isn’t ideal when we’re living in his house.’