My Limerick Lady: The BallyKeevan Series, #2

By Mary J Binchy

This book is number 2 in the Ballykeevan series and is just under 14k words. 

 

Mairéad has been persuaded, against her better judgement, to go with her sister Geraldine and her best friend Patricia to a party at Margaret's house in Ballykeevan. Apparently Margaret's parties have been the highlight of the midlands social calendar for years. Mairéad is afraid the women will get up to their usual well-meaning, but extremely annoying, matchmaking shenanigans.

 

She loves them dearly and knows they want her to be happy. She had dated a little after Nick left home but it wasn't easy with two young children. She has been on her own now for over twenty years and the idea of starting again seems scary. On the other hand, if she lives as long as her parents, she is destined to spend the next twenty years alone. She's not sure which is the scariest.

 

David's long-term partner died a few years ago. He has been on his own ever since. He never actively dated but was introduced to a few single women by well-meaning friends, hoping that one of them might help to heal his broken heart. He had been so in love with Helen that he could never see himself with anyone else…until now.

 

Mairéad is furious when she suspects that the matchmakers are at it again. Two men on the same day is a step too far.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary J Binchy
• Release date: Nov 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393201304

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

The Invitation

Hi Ger, Mairéad greeted her older sister. What’s up? Geraldine didn’t normally call during the daytime. It was a lovely surprise.

I need a holiday, she laughed but a mini staycation in Ireland will have to do for now.

I’d love a break too, Mairéad replied. We haven’t been away for ages. What do you have in mind?

I found a great deal in a hotel in Portlaoise. Bed, breakfast and evening meal with a €50 voucher off any spa treatment. Total price for two nights is just €200 each. What do you think?

Wow, that’s excellent. What’s the catch? Mairéad asked.

No catch, but we’d want to book as soon as possible, or it’ll be booked out.

Mairéad needed to check the dates. Patricia, her next-door neighbour, had invited her to a party in her hometown of Ballykeevan in County Westmeath. She had initially declined, but Patricia had pleaded with her. Her husband, Paul, was busy and couldn’t go. She didn’t want to travel alone. As Margaret, who was an old school friend and lived next door to her sister Mandy, had invited a large group of friends to the party, Patricia wanted to stay in a nearby hotel.

Oh, come on, Mairéad. It’ll be fun, Patricia had said. Margaret throws the most fabulous parties. We could make a weekend of it, take in a spa treatment too. You’ll be doing me a big favour. You know I hate travelling on my own.

How could she refuse an offer like that? Patricia could be very persuasive. She had been a good friend, always there when Mairéad needed her, even in her darkest hours. She could never have gotten through those early years without the support of Patricia and Paul. No, she couldn’t refuse. And who knows, she might even enjoy herself.

Mairéad checked the dates. The party was on the weekend immediately prior to the dates Geraldine had mentioned. She couldn’t do both. Apart from the cost, she couldn’t be away from home two weekends in a row.

She had a brainwave. She opened her laptop and began searching for the best deal she could find in the midlands for the weekend of the party. She found a large room with three single beds in the same hotel for a similar price and, with Patricia and Geraldine’s agreement, she booked. Portlaoise was only a stone’s throw from Ballykeevan. Geraldine had met Patricia many times. And of course, Mandy had been in Limerick quite often too. Mairéad was starting to look forward to the weekend away with the girls. 

Mairéad had always been close to her big sister. They were what are affectionately known as Irish twins, having been born not on the same day, but within the same year. Geraldine was exactly fifty-one weeks older. As teenagers they went everywhere together.

When they finished school, Geraldine went to catering college and a year later, Mairéad went to Limerick to study art, more than one hundred and twenty miles away, and about two hours by train. Travelling by train wasn’t cheap, especially for strap-cashed students.

As the years passed they spent less and less time together. In her second year in college Mairéad got a part-time job. Art college was expensive and, although her parents helped, she still needed to work weekends. Trips home during the academic year were rare so she looked forward to the weekends when her big sister came to visit.

But soon Geraldine’s trips to Limerick became more infrequent. She no longer headed to college every Friday, lugging her heavy rucksack. Traipsing from Marlborough Street in Dublin city centre, along the River Liffey to Heuston Station, to catch the train to Limerick was tiring at the end of a long week. Mairéad understood but she was disappointed.

As the years passed both girls married and started their families. As busy working mothers, they had even less time and opportunity for weekends together.

When Mairéad’s children were young she worked short contracts, none of which lasted more than six months and she was regularly out of work. Nick was a successful businessman, so money wasn’t an issue. Although she loved spending time with her children, she longed for a career that meant her years in art college hadn’t been a waste of time.

When Gráinne was five she started school. Mairéad