The Heartbreak Cafe Read Free Page A

stains, wouldn’t it? Yet, at the
same time she couldn’t see Emer wandering around Lakeview with a
bright blue space-aged style McQueen, she’d definitely get some
weird looks from the locals.
    While
less than an hour’s drive from Dublin on the motorway, Lakeview was
very much your quintessential Irish small town, locally owned pubs
and shops and a gorgeous café along one short street, surrounded by
pretty older houses, and lavish, sprawling newer ones further out –
all centred round the large oxbow lake.
    Emer and
her husband had moved there on the advice of other mutual friends
Deirdre and Kevin who had already relocated there – the houses in
Lakeview were larger and much cheaper than anything available in
Dublin, and the quieter pace of life perfect for growing families.
Jess loved visiting her friends down there and harboured the odd
hope that she and Brian might one day follow the other couples in
setting up home in the area, but at the same time her hubby was a
Dub through and through, and she knew he’d miss the cut and thrust
of city life. In truth, Jess would probably miss it too. It was
lovely to visit a sleepy place like Lakeview for a couple of hours
and enjoy the laid-back way of things, but after a while the
quieter pace of life might very well be grating.
    Eventually deciding on the lavender Prada (to hell with
practicality) Jess left the store and headed out into the late
afternoon sunshine towards St Stephen’s Green shopping centre where
her car was parked. It was a beautifully sunny May day, and for
once she got to make proper use of her Ray Bans instead of just
perching them on the top of her head like she usually did. Grafton
Street was especially buzzy on days like this; the street
performers and late-evening shoppers were out in force, and she
smiled as she sauntered along, jauntily swinging the striped Brown
Thomas carrier bag.
    On her
way, she couldn’t resist nipping into a nearby gift store to pick
up a cute teddy bear for little Amy. Well, her niece deserved a
treat too, didn’t she? Not that Amy was really her niece, but she
was the closest thing Jess was going to get to one, as she herself
was an only child.
    And Emer
was as good as any sister. They’d known one another for what seemed
like forever but in reality was only about fifteen years when
they’d met on the first day of college at DIT. Having both
graduated with marketing degrees, they’d taken up work at the same
Dublin-based drinks distribution company, and while Emer had in the
meantime given up the job, moved to Lakeview and started a family,
Jess was still working with the same company. Well, in theory at
least, as the small Irish firm had since been taken over and
re-branded under the massive international Piccolo label. The
company was responsible for the majority of Irish premium brand
alcoholic beverages, and Jess’s recently promoted role to marketing
manager for Ireland was to ensure that their key brands remained
fresh and desirable to the drinking public both here and
internationally. And speaking of which…as she passed by a popular
tourist pub, Jess was gratified to see that the majority of
customers sitting outdoors were enjoying the sunshine over longneck
bottles of Piccolo’s current brand leader.
    If only
her latest campaign could so easily convince Brian, she thought
fondly. Her hubby just couldn’t be persuaded to switch from his
lifetime favourite, Guinness, to Piccolo’s equivalent, Porters,
much to his wife’s chagrin. She’d tried hundreds of times
throughout their seven-year marriage to persuade him of Porters’
merits, but he just couldn’t be turned. His doggedness (or
contrariness as Jess called it) was something that amused their
friends no end, and something that frustrated her in equal
measures, but as it was just about the only thing he did that
annoyed her she could certainly live with it. Jess shook her head
in silent amazement. Seven years now. It was hard to believe she
and