The Nightingale Sings by Charlotte Bingham

Author:Charlotte Bingham
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Transworld

Twenty-One

On her return Cassie found a string of messages on her private answerphone, mostly from various owners who wanted to talk to her rather than Liam or Rosemary about their horses’ prospects over the Christmas holidays, some from friends inviting her to various dinners and drinks parties, a couple from Mattie trying to find out exactly when she would be back and a brief but angry one from Joel, wanting to know what in hell she thought she was doing walking out on him without any explanation and all but ordering her to call him the moment she got back. Once she had listened to all the messages and jotted down the important ones Cassie then erased the tape and sat down to answer what she considered to be the vital calls. At the moment this did not include making one to Joel.

You can go whistle for the moment, Mr Benson, she said to herself as she was dialling Mattie’s number. You have no right to be mad at me. I’m the one who should be and is mad at you, so you can go whistle.

She got Mattie’s answering machine and Cassie could tell from the sound of his voice as he instructed any callers to leave their messages that he was thoroughly fed up, but then such is the nature of tough love, she concluded. Nothing good comes easy, she reminded herself, and as far as her son was concerned, too much had been coming his way of late far too easily.

Even so she left a message saying she was back and that she hoped he would still join her for Christmas at Claremore, even though no doubt it would mean she would have to entertain Phoebe McMahon as well. Such, however, was the joy of Christmas at Claremore that Cassie reckoned entertaining the McMahon daughter would only be the smallest of sacrifices if it meant seeing her handsome son’s face across the festive table, just as she would have shut up and put up with her supercilious son-in-law if only she could have somehow got back on the right side of her daughter and persuaded her to come over at some point during the Christmas holiday.

As it was when her call to Mattie was returned it was by Phoebe McMahon who explained that Mattie was unavailable because he was out holding a horse for the visiting Niall Brogan. Furthermore and with sinking heart Cassie learned that Mattie and Phoebe had accepted an offer from Phoebe’s parents to spend Christmas week with them in Antigua as guests of one of their owners, to which destination they were due to fly out from Shannon that same afternoon. When Mattie called Cassie back half an hour later to explain, Cassie found she had not the heart to try to talk him out of such a glamorous invitation, instead she urged him to go off and enjoy himself in the Caribbean.

‘You’ll be all right, won’t you? I mean you’re not going to

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