Silver Wedding Read Online Free Page B
about him. Was the message written in her face . . . ?
Ken put her out of her misery. 'No, it's got nothing to do with me. It's a family thing, she wants to talk about your silver wedding anniversary and how you're going to celebrate it.'
Desmond Doyle was disappointed that Ken was definitely leaving. 'Oh, that's not for months,' he said.
'Anyway, whenever it is, the main thing is that you discuss it and do what you both want, and I know that's what Anna came home to talk to you about, so I'll leave you to it.'
He was gone, there had been handshakes all round and a quick grip of Anna's arm with his other hand.
They watched him pull out into the road and he tooted his horn very gently, just an acknowledgement.
The three Doyles stood almost wordless on the doorstep of Salthill, number 26 Rosemary Drive.
Anna faced them. 'I just told him casually that we were going to make plans, I don't know why he made such a big thing out of it.'
She got the feeling that neither of her parents was listening to her.
'That wasn't the only reason I came back. I came anyway to see you both.'
Still a silence.
'And I know you won't believe it but I just said that to him because . . . well, because I had to say something.'
'He's a very pleasant young man,' Desmond Doyle said.
'Good-looking too. Smartly turned out,' Deirdre Doyle added.
A wave of resentment washed over Anna. They were already comparing him favourably to Joe Ashe, Joe whom she loved with her body and soul.
'Yes,' she said in a dull voice.
'You haven't talked much about him before,' her mother said.
'I know, Mother, so you told him two seconds after you met him.'
'Don't be insolent to your mother,' Desmond Doyle said automatically.
Tm twenty-three years of age, for Christ's sake, I'm not insolent like a child,' Anna stormed.
'I can't think what you're so upset about,' her mother said. 'We have a lovely supper for you, we ask a civil question, pass a remark about how nice your friend is, and get our heads bitten off.'
'I'm sorry.' This was the old Anna.
'Well, that's all right, you're tired after a long day. Maybe the little drinks on top of all that driving didn't agree with you.'
Anna clenched her fists silently.
They had walked back into the house and stood, an uneasy threesome, in the sitting room. They were beside the wall of family pictures.
'So what do you think we should do, eat now?' Mother looked from one to the other helplessly.
'Your mother went down to the shops especially when she heard you were coming tonight,' Father said. For a mad moment she wished that Ken Green hadn't left after all, that he was here to drive a wedge through this woolly mass of conversation, this circular kind of talk that went nowhere.
It just rose and fell, causing guilt, creating tension, and then was finally patted down.
If Ken were still here he might have said: 'Let's leave the meal for half an hour and talk about what you would really like to do for your anniversary.' Yes, those had been his very words.
He hadn't said anything about what should be done or what might be expected, or what was the right way to go about it. He had said as he was leaving that Anna would want to talk to her parents about what they would both like for this day.
Like. That was a breakthrough in this family.
On an impulse she used exactly the words she thought Ken Green would say.
Startled, they sat down and looked at her expectantly.
'It's your day, it's not ours. What would you like best?'
'Well, really...' her mother began, at a loss. 'Well, it's not up to us.'
'If you all want to mark it, that would be very gratifying of course ...' her father said.
Anna looked at them in disbelief. Did they really think that it wasn't up to them? Could they possibly live in a wonderland where they thought that life was a matter of all their children deciding to mark the occasion together? Did they not realize that in this family everything was acting... and that one by one the actors were
Ken put her out of her misery. 'No, it's got nothing to do with me. It's a family thing, she wants to talk about your silver wedding anniversary and how you're going to celebrate it.'
Desmond Doyle was disappointed that Ken was definitely leaving. 'Oh, that's not for months,' he said.
'Anyway, whenever it is, the main thing is that you discuss it and do what you both want, and I know that's what Anna came home to talk to you about, so I'll leave you to it.'
He was gone, there had been handshakes all round and a quick grip of Anna's arm with his other hand.
They watched him pull out into the road and he tooted his horn very gently, just an acknowledgement.
The three Doyles stood almost wordless on the doorstep of Salthill, number 26 Rosemary Drive.
Anna faced them. 'I just told him casually that we were going to make plans, I don't know why he made such a big thing out of it.'
She got the feeling that neither of her parents was listening to her.
'That wasn't the only reason I came back. I came anyway to see you both.'
Still a silence.
'And I know you won't believe it but I just said that to him because . . . well, because I had to say something.'
'He's a very pleasant young man,' Desmond Doyle said.
'Good-looking too. Smartly turned out,' Deirdre Doyle added.
A wave of resentment washed over Anna. They were already comparing him favourably to Joe Ashe, Joe whom she loved with her body and soul.
'Yes,' she said in a dull voice.
'You haven't talked much about him before,' her mother said.
'I know, Mother, so you told him two seconds after you met him.'
'Don't be insolent to your mother,' Desmond Doyle said automatically.
Tm twenty-three years of age, for Christ's sake, I'm not insolent like a child,' Anna stormed.
'I can't think what you're so upset about,' her mother said. 'We have a lovely supper for you, we ask a civil question, pass a remark about how nice your friend is, and get our heads bitten off.'
'I'm sorry.' This was the old Anna.
'Well, that's all right, you're tired after a long day. Maybe the little drinks on top of all that driving didn't agree with you.'
Anna clenched her fists silently.
They had walked back into the house and stood, an uneasy threesome, in the sitting room. They were beside the wall of family pictures.
'So what do you think we should do, eat now?' Mother looked from one to the other helplessly.
'Your mother went down to the shops especially when she heard you were coming tonight,' Father said. For a mad moment she wished that Ken Green hadn't left after all, that he was here to drive a wedge through this woolly mass of conversation, this circular kind of talk that went nowhere.
It just rose and fell, causing guilt, creating tension, and then was finally patted down.
If Ken were still here he might have said: 'Let's leave the meal for half an hour and talk about what you would really like to do for your anniversary.' Yes, those had been his very words.
He hadn't said anything about what should be done or what might be expected, or what was the right way to go about it. He had said as he was leaving that Anna would want to talk to her parents about what they would both like for this day.
Like. That was a breakthrough in this family.
On an impulse she used exactly the words she thought Ken Green would say.
Startled, they sat down and looked at her expectantly.
'It's your day, it's not ours. What would you like best?'
'Well, really...' her mother began, at a loss. 'Well, it's not up to us.'
'If you all want to mark it, that would be very gratifying of course ...' her father said.
Anna looked at them in disbelief. Did they really think that it wasn't up to them? Could they possibly live in a wonderland where they thought that life was a matter of all their children deciding to mark the occasion together? Did they not realize that in this family everything was acting... and that one by one the actors were
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