Second Time Around Read Online Free Page A

time. Jess wondered how long it would be before she stopped worrying about her mum.
    ‘In here,’ her mother called when Jess let herself in and tossed her coat and bag on the hall table. She followed the sound of the radio and found her mother sitting at the kitchen
table, brochures spread out in front of her.
    ‘Hey.’ Jess kissed her forehead and dropped into a chair. ‘I was out with Katie and just dropped in to say hello on my way home.’
    ‘Dropped in to check up on me, more like.’
    Jess smiled. ‘Someone has to. Shouldn’t you be heading to bed?’
    ‘I’ve spent enough feckin’ time in bed,’ her mother retorted.
    ‘What’s all this?’ Jess looked at the flyers and leaflets covering the kitchen table.
    ‘I’ve decided that I need some hobbies.’
    Jess picked up the nearest flyer and looked at her in alarm. ‘Ice-skating? You’re kidding.’
    ‘It’s okay, I’ve decided against that one. It’s a bit tame.’
    ‘Tame? You could break your leg or hip.’
    ‘Christ, I’m forty-eight not eighty-eight,’ her mother growled. ‘Still, I was never the sporty type. This is more my kind of thing.’ She jabbed a finger at another
leaflet. ‘I walked miles when I lived in Limerick, mainly to try and get Noel to sleep and because there was feck all else to do.’
    ‘Hill walking. I suppose it would get you out in the fresh air,’ Jess said, although she’d sleep easier if her mother would just get back into her old routine of knitting and
reading.
    ‘I quite fancy meditation, too.’
    Jess’s lips twitched as she took the brochure Suzie handed her. ‘Buddhism?’
    ‘I always thought it was mumbo-jumbo but I’ve been reading up on it and it sounds fascinating. There are several classes, from meditation to mindfulness to loving kindness. I thought
that Sharon might like to come along. Lord knows, she could do with loosening up a bit. It’s as if she’s a poker stuck up her arse.’
    Jess grinned. Mum’s tactlessness could be embarrassing, but funny, too. ‘You might want to word it a bit more diplomatically when you speak to Shaz,’ she advised.
    ‘If I can’t talk straight to my own daughter what’s the world coming to?’ she retorted. ‘All I’m saying is that, if she relaxed a little, she might be able to
control her son.’
    ‘I think that might take a lot of classes,’ Jess mumbled, although she still found her mother’s change in attitude towards her beloved grandchild alarming. She had always doted
on Bobby and turned a blind eye to his bad behaviour, much the way Sharon did.
    Jess had found out in their teenage years that she had little in common with her sister, who was interested only in clothes, makeup and boys. She couldn’t wait to leave school, just
wanting to party and get a boyfriend. The older they became, the more they clashed, Jess yelling at her sister to turn down the music when she was trying to study and Sharon ignoring her. It had
been a relief when Sharon left home and, with some space between them, they got on better – not that they sought out each other’s company.
    The devastation of Mum’s accident had probably brought them closer than they’d been since they were children, and her mum was right about one thing: Sharon really did need to learn
to relax. The fun-loving teenager had become an anxious young mother who was ruled by her son’s moods.
    ‘I thought that you might like to do this with me,’ Suzie said.
    Jess took the leaflet and laughed. ‘Salsa? I don’t think so.’
    ‘You were the one who said I should get out more,’ Suzie pointed out with a sulky expression.
    Jess rolled her eyes and grinned. ‘I should have known that would come back to haunt me. Yes, you should get out more, but you don’t need me with you. Go
with women your own age.’
    ‘Like who?’ her mother demanded.
    Jess cast around for a name and smiled, triumphant. ‘I’m sure Aileen would be interested.’ Her mother’s neighbour was a good mate