A Very Promising Future: The BallyKeevan Series, #1

By Mary J Binchy

This book is number 1 in the Ballykeevan Series and is 10k words. Mandy and Aidan were childhood sweethearts and have been married for over 30 years. Their relationship has become tired and Mandy is frustrated. The sparkle is gone but no matter what she does, she can't seem to reignite their deep love and connection, which has faded with the years. With every passing day they seem to be drifting further and further apart.  Should she walk away and start over?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary J Binchy
• Release date: Oct 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393917199

Mary J Binchy

Mary was born in Dublin and has lived for over 30 years in County Leitrim, in the heart of rural Ireland. While recovering from surgery in 2008, and with a little extra time on her hands, she did a correspondence course in creative writing. Sometime later, a chat with her local librarian led to the setting up of a local writers’ group which is still going strong. After some success writing short articles for magazines and being one of ten contributors to a book published by her writers’ group, she decided to take her writing a little more seriously. 

Book preview

Out of Control

Oh no, Mandy thought, horrified when she logged into her emails. There was an email from HR about the three-day week she had applied for about 4 or 5 years ago. She had recently made enquiries about the current status of her application. But this reply had come too quickly to be good news. Most likely she was going to be told that there was no movement, that her dream of a three-day week was not going to happen any time soon.

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She knew that knowing her place on the list was no real indication of when she would get her three day week, ‘though at least if they told her she was number 5 or 6 she’d know the list was getting shorter. She was number 10 the last time she checked. Being higher on the list would mean she was nearer to her dream of having a four-day weekend. She was so looking forward to having more time to spend in her beloved garden and to decorate their home. Maybe even she and Aidan could have more time together. She never seemed to have the time or energy while working full time. It was a pity he was so totally against the idea of paying anyone to do anything in the house or garden.

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Her friend Margaret has a beautiful home and has it repainted regularly by a local painter decorator. According to Margaret he doesn’t charge too much either. Of course, Aidan insisted that no other man was coming into his house to paint. He would do whatever needed to be done. Unfortunately, he never seemed to have the time or the inclination. Their home was becoming very dated and dull.

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Before she got the chance to open the email from HR another popped into her inbox. This one was from her manager. The subject line said URGENT!

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She read the email Mandy, can you pop down to my office as soon as you get a chance please Kathryn had written. She knew it was more an order than a question, so she quickly replied that she was on the way. What on earth did that wagon want to discuss so urgently on a Friday afternoon? She still had so much to do before she finished, and she planned to finish early.

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Kathryn looked serious as she told Mandy to take a seat. Nothing new there. Kathryn hardly ever smiled, and though the corners of her mouth did turn up at the edges occasionally, everyone knew it was false. She never smiled with her eyes. No Duchenne smile from Kathryn!

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Mandy, she began, I need someone to take over the supervision of Input Section. It’s a busy unit and I believe you are the ideal candidate. What do you say? Still no smile.

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When do you need me to start? She hated the thought of moving from the Projects team.

Currently she had no staff. She enjoyed coming into work and not having to worry about bickering staff with their petty arguments. She had experience in a previous job of people arguing about who opened the window or who’s smelly lunch of hard-boiled eggs or kippers was stinking up the office.

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In Input Section she would have 20 staff. It scared the daylights out of