Digital ISBNs
EPUB 978-1-77362-745-8
Kindle 978-1-77145-094-2
WEB 978-1-77362-746-5
Amazon Print 978-1-77362-747-2
Copyright 2013 by Sheila Claydon
Cover Art by Michelle Lee
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication my be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
For Ellen
This one’s for you
Thanks must go to Lesley Fleming for reading the manuscript of Kissing Maggie Silver several times and making her usual invaluable comments, Michelle Lee for designing the perfect cover, Roxanne Nolan for her scrupulous editing and helpful suggestions, and Jude Pittman and Jamie Hill at Books We Love for their continuing advice and support. Without them, my writing life would be considerably more challenging.
The noise blasted Ruairi’s ears the moment he pushed open the swing doors. He recoiled instinctively. Too many people! Too much music! Even too much food! He looked at the laden tables and his stomach protested. After six months working in what had to be one of the most peaceful places on the planet he was finding it more difficult than usual to readjust to the demands of civilization. All he wanted to do was to back out of the room and leave.
Leaving wasn’t an option, however. So, ignoring his momentary discomfort, he turned to the small, gray-haired woman who was standing beside him.
* * *
“Can you see anyone you know?” he asked.
“Over there!” She pointed, and then set off at speed across the room, adding her own voice to the hubbub.
He gave a smile of satisfaction as he watched her greet and hug her friends. It was time his mother started to enjoy herself again. She had been alone for too many months since his father died.
* * *
“Ruairi O’Connor! I don’t believe it! I thought you were in the middle of Africa or somewhere. Don’t tell me my parents invited you as well as the rest of the world?”
Ruairi grinned at the man standing stocky and square in front of him. “Not exactly. But they invited Mum and she isn’t up to travelling by herself.”
“So you’ve crashed the party?”
“I guess!” Ruairi stuck out his hand and then changed his mind and pulled the shorter man into a bear hug. “It’s been too long Mark.”
“Tell me about it!” Mark Silver hugged him back. Then he broke away and frowned. “Look, it’s fantastic to see you again but I can’t stop to talk now. I’m under orders to keep things running smoothly. You’ll stick around though won’t you, so we can catch up?”
Without waiting for an answer he nodded towards a large group of people on the opposite side of the room. “Good! Now grab a drink and then come over and say hello to the rest of the family.”
Dodging small children and chattering guests, Ruairi followed him, and within moments he was being welcomed with open arms into the bosom of the Silver family.
“I can’t believe it’s been ten years since you visited us,” Cathy Silver, Mark’s mother, still pretty despite her sixty-plus years, shook her head in mock reproof as she smiled up at him.
He gave her a contrite grin. “Sorry Cathy, but you know me…ever the rolling stone.”
“Yes, well at least you’re here now. We were so pleased when you phoned to tell us you were bringing your mother over from Ireland. She would never have come on her own.”
“I know,” his smile faded as he acknowledged the truth of her words. Since his father’s death eight months earlier his mother had spent far too much time alone in the cottage they had moved to when he retired; a cottage that was more than a mile away from its nearest neighbor and, because she couldn’t drive, a long and inconvenient bus ride to the local market town.
After the funeral she’d accepted he had to return to his job in New Zealand and told him she would be fine. And every time he’d telephoned she had sounded fine. That was why he had been so shocked by her appearance when he finally made it back to Southern Ireland. Somehow, despite all she had been through, he’d expected her to be the same. He hadn’t anticipated her extra wrinkles and the dark circles under her eyes. Too wrapped up in his career it had been much easier to believe what she told him when he called rather than spend time thinking about how she was actually coping.
When he saw how she had aged and how everything seemed to be an effort, he was consumed with guilt. And it was that guilt that had prompted him to book two return airfares to England the minute he’d seen the ruby wedding anniversary invitation pinned to her kitchen notice board. He hoped the grief that had overwhelmed her would loosen its hold a little if she spent time with old friends. Isolated for too long, she had lost her natural joy de vivre and become a shadow of the mother he had known all his life, and he was determined to do something about it.
He hadn’t discussed it with her. He’d just pulled a couple of suitcases down from the loft, dumped them onto her bed, and told her to pack. When she’d remonstrated he had been blunt.
“You can’t let Cathy and John down Mum. They go way back, and besides they took the trouble to fly over for the funeral and then stay on for a few days after Dad died.”
Not subtle, or even kind, but it had been effective. She had packed without complaint after that, even allowing him to lock up the cottage and deposit the keys with her nearest neighbor without a word of protest. She hadn’t spoken much on the journey to the airport, nor while they waited to board, but once they were on the plane some of her animation returned, and by the time they booked into their hotel she was closer to her old self.
Although he was delighted, it had made him feel doubly bad about his neglect. If a change of scene was all it took, then he had better do something about it. Upgrading their rooms to a suite he told her they were having a holiday. She’d shaken her head doubtfully.
“You can’t do that. What about your work? You must have a thousand things to do. Bringing me over for a long weekend is enough Ruairi. You have your own life to lead.”
If only! Pushing away the thought that had recently started worming itself into his consciousness at the most inopportune moments, he assured her he had all the time in the world. Later, after she had retired for the night and left him sitting alone in front of the flat screen TV in their suite, he’d been forced to confront the fact that although, to all outward appearances, he had one of the most exciting jobs in the world, he didn’t actually have much of a personal life. Nor did he have anyone to share it with.
A decade of moving from country to country as he pursued his career as a wild life photographer had given him a rootless existence that left little time for friends let alone an intimate relationship. There had been girls of course; more girls than he wanted to remember, but none of them had been special. They had just been someone to spend a week with, or a few months with, before he moved on to another country and another contract.
Now, absorbed into the noisy, affectionate warmth of the close-knit Silver family, he wondered if it was time for him to rethink his life and contemplate doing something else, something that didn’t keep him away from any possibility of a normal family life for months on end.
A melee of small children playing some sort of noisy game in the middle of the room interrupted his thoughts. If they were all part of the Silver family then it had grown a great deal in the past ten years. He turned back to Cathy.
“All yours?” he asked, pointing.
“Most of them. Peter has four, Mark and Andrew both have two, and there’s another one on the way.”
“And Maggie?” Ruairi had warm memories of the youngest member of the Silver family. When he last saw her she’d been a skinny, redhead with pigtails and freckles. Considerably younger than her three brothers she had spent most of her time trailing after them, desperate to be included in their games.
“Ah Maggie!” A shadow flitted across Cathy Silver’s face. Then the smile was back. “Right at this moment I think she’s concentrating on being the world’s best aunt!”
She gestured towards the laughing children. Ruairi followed her pointing finger as an older girl emerged from the huddle of bodies and made a break for the garden. Barely glancing at her he searched for someone with a passing resemblance to the young Maggie he had last seen ten years earlier. Then it dawned on him. The slim figure who had just disappeared was Maggie. She was the girl with the cloud of pre-Raphaelite curls, curves in all the right places, and an extraordinary turn of speed.
“That’s Maggie!”
“Yep! She’s brushed up quite well considering, hasn’t she?” Mark was back at his side, his duties over for the time being. “She’s always in her element at parties like this. She uses them as an excuse to ignore the fact that she’s a grown up. I guess that’s why the children all love her to bits.”
* * *
“...and they all lived happily ever after.” Maggie finished the story with a flourish and then sat back and folded her arms. “Now vamoose the lot of you! Go on! It’s time to get some food.”
Her nieces and nephews grinned at her, even the tiny ones. That was what they liked about Aunt Maggie. She didn’t try to be nice or anything soppy like that. She said it as it was, and right now she was telling them she’d had enough. They rushed off to grab paper plates and napkins without a backward glance.
“Well that’s thanks for you!” Her sister-in-law, hot and uncomfortable from the late stages of pregnancy, sank onto the bench beside her with a sigh of relief.
Maggie laughed. “I’m used to it. Teaching has shown me that the words gratitude and children should never be used in the same sentence!”
“I don’t know how you do it,” June shook her head. “You work with them all day long and yet you’re still up for playing with them whenever there’s a family gathering. You’re a marvel Maggie Silver and I wish I had half your energy.”
“Well it’s easy for me isn’t it? I get to give them back to their parents and go home for some peace and quiet. Looking after them 24/7 is a different proposition altogether.”
“I guess,” June smiled at her and then grimaced. “Ouch! This one kicks every time I sit down.”
“Not long now,” Maggie said soothingly. “Is there anything I can get you? A glass of juice or something to eat?”
“No thanks. I’ve got to pay yet another visit to the restroom in a minute, something else I’m looking forward to waving goodbye to along with the heartburn and backache. I just came over to check that you really don’t mind taking care of the children when I go into labor. It’s a big ask and I’m sorry if Mark sort of forced you into it by discussing it in front of your parents.”
“Don’t be silly. Of course I don’t mind. And when has Mark ever forced me to do anything? Besides, I’ll enjoy having the children to myself for a day or two.”
“Oh Maggie, thank you! You’ve taken such weight off my mind. I couldn’t believe it when I found out your parents were going to be away for most of August.”
Maggie laughed. “Poor Dad! He booked the cruise ages ago as a surprise for Mum for their fortieth wedding anniversary. When he told her about it this morning and she said she had already agreed to look after Amy and Sophie when you have the baby, he really thought he was going to have to cancel it. You know what she’s like. It’s always family first. He was really upset but trying hard not to show it when Mark popped in to talk about today’s arrangements and heard all about it. I’m really glad he talked to me and we managed to sort things out before she refused to go.”
“I know. That’s why I’m so grateful. I would have hated if they had cancelled.”
“Well worry no more, just be glad this baby is arriving during the summer vacation when I’m free. I’ll keep my cell phone switched on all the time so you can call the instant you need me.”
She frowned as she watched her sister-in-law walk away. June was Australian and her parents, who lived in a remote area north of Brisbane, rarely saw her. Maggie was sure it must be awful to be so far from home and family at a time like this.
Thinking about distant places brought her squarely to the one thought she had been avoiding all afternoon. Ruairi O’Connor. She had seen him the moment he entered the room, as had every other female, young and old, she shouldn’t wonder. It had been difficult not to, of course, because he was half a head taller than anyone else. And when he had smiled at her brother Mark she was sure the combination of square white teeth, clear hazel eyes and tan skin had provoked a universal sigh.
Ruairi O’Connor was at her parent’s party and nobody had told her he was coming. Ruairi O’Connor who had been the love of her life from when she was seven years old until he went travelling, and broke her heart, when she was thirteen. Ruairi O’Connor who she hadn’t seen for ten years because he hadn’t ever managed to make it back to any of her brothers’ weddings. Ruairi O’Connor who, after a few postcards, had forgotten about her altogether.
Already halfway through a game of hide n’ seek she’d had to abandon any thought of speaking to him as she hightailed it through the French windows into the large garden while her eldest niece counted to ten. And now here she was, still in the garden, trying to pluck up the courage to go and say hello to him and hope he wouldn’t remember how lovesick she’d been.
It would be so embarrassing if he remembered the countless times she had loitered around his garden gate waiting for him to arrive home from school; or how she had fought to sit next to him whenever he came to hang out with her brothers. And she certainly hoped he wouldn’t remember her cuddling up to him if a television program they were watching was too scary, determined to stick it out if it meant she could be with him. But he’d never complained. Not once. Instead, he’d shown her abandoned birds’ nests and empty eggshells the color of the spring sky, and helped her to identify the wild flowers in the field at the back of their gardens; a field that was full of modern houses now but which, all those years ago, had been a children’s paradise of long grass, insects and tiny scuffling creatures.
Maggie had only been allowed to go to the field if her brothers would take her, and more than once Ruairi had overridden their objections and held her hand all the way there and back.
And he had always been interested in her drawings too. He’d even pretended to be grateful whenever she’d given him a lopsided sketch or a smudged painting, and had propped them against a stack of books in the tiny room his family used as a study; the room where he kept his collection of animal photos, each one meticulously labeled on the back. No wonder she had given her childish heart to him.
She gave a wry smile as she closed her eyes and lifted her face to the warmth of the late afternoon sun. That had been then, when the entire world had been exciting and nothing was impossible. Things were different now. For a start she had grown up and learned that life goes on even when dreams get trampled on, and that hearts broken in childhood mend.
* * *
“You look as if you need a drink!”
His voice was deeper than she remembered but it still had the same edge, as if he was going to smile at any moment. Her eyes snapped open.
“Hello Maggie.”
She looked up at him, shading her eyes. He was a dark silhouette against the bright sunshine that was filtering through the trees. He was holding a glass of chilled white wine in one hand and a dish of strawberries in the other.
She hoped she sounded cool and sophisticated as she answered him. She knew she looked very different from the child who had fought to hide her tears as he set off on his travels. Then she had been a skinny teenager with braces on her teeth and freckles on her nose. Now she turned heads when she walked into a room.
He bent down and placed the wine and strawberries on the bench beside her. “I’ve been waiting for a slot in your busy schedule. Those nephews and nieces of yours have been keeping you occupied for most of the afternoon.”
She shrugged, aiming for casual nonchalance. “The result of teaching primary I guess. It’s sort of expected of me at family gatherings like this.”
He lowered himself onto the grass at her feet, and now that she could see him clearly she noticed he was frowning. “It hasn’t given you much of a chance to talk to the other guests.”
“Not really my thing at the moment.”
“Oh?”
She hesitated and then shrugged. Even after all this time he was still someone who had once seemed to be a part of the family, so what did it matter if she told him how things were in the Silver clan at the moment.
“I’ve upset everyone because I’ve just broken up with my boyfriend. He was suitable husband material you see. Apparently Mum and Dad were hoping we’d get engaged in time to turn today into a joint celebration, so keeping out of the way is a good idea.”
Ruairi raised his eyebrows, the hint of laughter back in his voice. “I hardly dare ask, but what is suitable husband material?”
“Oh, you know! Kind, considerate, solvent, good with children, the usual stuff.”
“So whatever was it that made you turn such a paragon down?”
Maggie shot him a startled look. “You know you’re the first person to ask me that. Everyone else just keeps telling me why I shouldn’t have done it. Especially Mark because he introduced us.”
Ruairi didn’t comment. He just waited for her answer.
She frowned. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this but if you really want to know it was because he was boring…no, that’s not fair. He wasn’t boring but what he wanted was boring. I’m not ready to settle for a life five miles away from where I was born before I’ve had a chance to see a bit of the world, maybe work abroad for a while. Mum and Dad were too nervous to let me go backpacking when I was a student, so I want to travel now, before I settle for suburbia. The trouble is, nobody else in the family thinks it’s a good idea. They all consider it’s time I grew up and settled down. They think I’m being frivolous and irresponsible.”
“But you’re going to pack your bags and leave anyway?” Ruairi said.
“Like you did, you mean?”
He heard the sarcasm in her voice and smiled at her. “Oh Maggie! Don’t tell me you haven’t forgiven me yet. I was twenty-one and eager to take on the world. I couldn’t hang around for a twelve year old, even if she did have a crush on me.”
There it was. Out in the open. Not a hidden embarrassment any longer. Their eyes met and his were full of laughter, and then Maggie was laughing too as the years peeled away and Ruairi was just Ruairi, instead of a tall stranger with heart stopping looks.
“Thirteen! I was thirteen!” she said indignantly.
“So you were,” he chuckled.
“And I didn’t have a crush…well only a little one,” she conceded as his smile grew wider.
* * *
They shared the strawberries and Maggie forgot she was aiming for cool sophistication as they began to reminisce. Tears of laughter washed away her makeup and gave her a severe bout of hiccups when Ruairi reminded her of a particularly amusing incident from the past, and by the time a shout from Mark told them to come and listen to the speeches it was as if the intervening ten years had never been.
“It sounds as if we have to join the party.” Ruairi stood in one fluid movement, picked up Maggie’s glass of wine, and held out his free hand. She took it automatically and let him pull her to her feet. As her fingers curled into his he grinned down at her.
“You haven’t grown much have you?”
Letting go of his hand she bent down and scrabbled under the bench she’d been sitting on until she found the shoes she had kicked off when she started playing with her nephews and nieces.
“I can do tall,” she told him indignantly as she slipped her feet into them. Then she spoilt it by getting one of the four-inch spiky heels stuck in the soft turf of the lawn.
Ruairi roared with laughter as he slipped his arm around her waist and half carried her across the grass. He was still chuckling when he lowered her onto the stone terrace and then bent and rubbed the soil from her shoes.
“Thank you,” she said with as much dignity as she could muster.
“You’re welcome Maggie Silver. Now let me escort you inside.” He straightened up and, with a teasing smile, offered her his arm.
Maggie took it with an answering grin but as they made their way inside she was surprised to find herself suddenly feeling as bereft as she had ten years earlier. Worse in fact, because back then she had been sure, with the optimism of the very young, that he would come back for her. Now she knew such thoughts were mere fantasy and that Ruairi O’Connor would probably disappear from her life forever once the party was over.
Forty minutes later, toasts and speeches over, Maggie looked around for Ruairi. She saw him across the room talking to her brothers.
With the easy familiarity of the past he had kept her arm linked to his while they listened to the speeches. Not until she was needed for the obligatory family photo that would mark the occasion for posterity did they break away from one another. When they did Maggie was surprised at the reluctance she felt as she walked away from him. Even now her fingers carried the memory of the muscular strength of his arm beneath his light summer jacket, while her brain was imprinted with the warmth of his smile and those laughing hazel eyes.
She scowled. She was just being melodramatic. Sure he was attractive, any woman with a pulse could see that, but it didn’t mean she had to relive her childish crush. She was twenty-three year’s old for goodness sake, and she had plans for the future that didn’t include getting heartsick over a man, any man, for a very long time. If she was going to travel and work abroad then she needed to be flexible and fancy free.
Trust Ruairi O’Connor to disappear for ten years and then reappear just when he wasn’t wanted. If he was invading her thoughts like this after a couple of hours in his company, then the sooner he went away again the better as far as she was concerned.
“Maggie, over here!” Mark was beckoning to her.
She pasted a smile on her face and made her way across the room. “Isn’t it great that Ruairi’s here,” she said brightly when she reached him. “You must have so much to talk about.”
“Yeah, well that’s why I need to ask another favor.”
“You want me to take June and the children home so you can have a drink with him,” she could hear it coming.
He looked startled. “How did you know?”
“I just guessed.”
“Well you guessed right. Mum and Dad have decided to end the evening quietly with a few friends. It’s been a long day for them, for all of us, and it’s past the children’s bedtime. Pete and Andy are taking their families home on their way to Ruairi’s hotel but I don’t want to leave June alone after a day like this, especially as I might be late back.”
Maggie glanced across to where her sister-in-law was sitting. She looked wan and tired and far from able to cope with the two small children tumbling about in front of her.
“Of course I’ll stay with her. She looks all in. Just give me time to say hello to Mrs. O’Connor and then we can go.”
“Thanks sis, you’re an angel.”
“An irresponsible angel for refusing to get engaged to Graham, apparently.” She couldn’t resist the dig.
Mark looked uncomfortable. “Maybe I shouldn’t have given you such a hard time. It’s just that he’s a friend of mine and he fits in with the family so well. He had such a lot of plans for both of you too. We thought you were good together, thought you were both set for life, so it was a real shock to all of us when you turned him down. ”
Maggie wasn’t quite ready to let him off the hook. “I know it was and I’m sorry I upset him, but it’s his own fault because he never bothered to check out his plans with me. I kept telling him I wasn’t ready for a mortgage. I said I wanted to see the world for a bit before we settled down. I even tried to persuade him to do the same but he wouldn’t take me seriously. He just laughed and echoed what Mum and Dad and the rest of you keep telling me. He said I needed to grow up.”
“He did?” her brother was definitely squirming now.
“Yes! So I told him if that was really what he thought of me then he’d better find someone more mature to domesticate.”
“You didn’t exactly finish on good terms then?”
Maggie sighed. “Not really. You know me and my temper, but I’m sorry because I did like him and he was your friend.”
“Hey don’t worry about that. I guess I just didn’t realize how serious you are about travelling. Maybe you should ask Ruairi to help you plan a trip. There can’t be many places in the world he hasn’t visited.”
“Ask me what?” Ruairi broke away from the conversation he was having with her other two brothers and came to join them.
“I was just saying you’re probably the best person to help Maggie to organize a travel plan, seeing as how you’ve been everywhere and seen everything.”
Ruairi pulled a face. “I wish! It doesn’t matter which country I visit I still spend most of my time staring down a camera lens in the middle of nowhere.”
“That’s a no then?” Maggie teased as she turned away. She was going to ignore the memory of her ridiculous childhood crush and pretend that the last thing in the world she wanted to do was grab his arm again, just to feel him close to her.
“I didn’t say that,” he protested. “We can talk about it later.”
“Whatever,” she gave a casual wave as she looked around for his mother. She found her talking to an elderly couple who had once been her neighbors, but as soon as she saw Maggie approaching she made her excuses and opened her arms wide.
Maggie rushed straight into them knowing that Marie O’Connor was the one person in the world who wouldn’t criticize her for refusing to settle down. The older woman hugged her tightly for a long moment and then held her at arm’s length and smiled at her.
“I always said you’d turn into a real beauty and you have. Look at you! Although how you manage to have that wonderful Celtic coloring when the rest of your family has brown hair is a mystery to me.”
“You always said it was because the fairies put a spell of enchantment on me when I was a baby,” laughed Maggie. She still cherished the memories of the times Ruairi’s mother had invited her into her cozy kitchen and fed her rock cakes, warm from the oven, or Irish soda bread dripping with honey
“So I did,” Marie O’Connor’s warm Irish lilt had become more pronounced since she’d moved back to the country of her birth. “And maybe I was right because someone certainly bestowed the gift of beauty on you child.”
Maggie flushed with pleasure and then hugged her again. “How are you? It seems ages since I last saw you, and I’m so sorry I didn’t make it to Mr. O’Connor’s funeral but I was in the middle of my final exams so I couldn’t get away.”
“Bless you my dear, I didn’t expect you to come all the way to Ireland. The lovely condolence card you sent me was enough.”
She paused and thought for a moment and then she smiled. “And I’m fine. I didn’t think I was but I am, thanks to Ruairi. He bullied me into coming over for the party and it’s made me realize I’ve got to stop feeling sorry for myself and start to think about the future. In fact I might even move back here. Rural Ireland was a dream for Tom and me, but now I’m alone and so far from all my old friends, maybe it’s not such a good idea.”
“I know Mum would love it if you lived nearby again,” Maggie said. “In fact we all would. It’s not the same now you don’t live next door.”
“Well perhaps I’ll talk to Ruairi about it while we’re here. He’s insisted we stay on for a bit of a holiday although I’m not sure he can really spare the time. But you know Ruairi, always determined to have his own way. He was never any different even when he was a baby.”
“Every time I catch up with you Maggie Silver, the person you are with is talking about me!”
Too engrossed in their conversation, neither of them had noticed Ruairi approaching. Now he stood in front of them, a wry smile on his face.
“Would you look at him,” his mother’s smile was full of pride. “Such a waste to keep that face hidden behind a camera when he’s better looking than most film stars.”
Maggie grinned at Ruairi’s obvious embarrassment but before she could answer, Mrs. O’Connor continued. “You too my dear. You don’t want to hide your looks away either. I must say you’d make a lovely couple. Together you’d turn heads wherever you went.”
“Now there’s a thought,” Ruairi murmured. “Perhaps we can talk about it when we discuss your travel plans later on this evening.”
He had fully recovered from his own discomfiture and was enjoying the fact that Maggie’s face had turned scarlet.
Cursing her blushes Maggie shook her head as she gave a brisk response. “Sorry, no can do. I’m taking June home and helping her put the children to bed so that you men can get together for a drink. Mark doesn’t want to leave her alone after such a busy day.”
A frown creased his forehead. “I’m sorry about that Maggie. When Mark suggested we all meet up for a drink I thought you were coming too. It won’t be the same without you. Is there no one else who can stay with your sister-in-law?”
“’Fraid not! Her family lives in Australia, and anyway Saturday is not the best time to find a last minute babysitter. Besides you really don’t need to worry about tail end Maggie tagging along anymore Ruairi, because now she’s all grown up and can look after herself. ”
“If you say so.” Although he was smiling, the jut of his jaw made his irritation obvious. For a moment Maggie wondered if she had been a bit too flippant about his invitation, but as he turned to speak to his mother she dismissed the idea as ridiculous because he had never been someone to take offence over a triviality. Maybe he wasn’t just being polite. Maybe he really did want her to join him for a drink.
As she watched him Ruairi slipped his arm around his mother’s shoulders. “Cathy and Ian have invited you back to their house for the evening Mum. I’ve ordered a taxi to collect you at eleven but if you want to stay later just ask Ian to telephone the taxi firm. He has the number.”