Putting Out the Stars Read Online Free PDF Page A

later in Rome, where Laura and Donal went to get married.
    Laura phoned Breffni in San Francisco after she got engaged. ‘You’re bridesmaid, naturally.’
    ‘Naturally.’ Breffni might have been in the house down the road, her voice was so clear. ‘Laur, I’m thrilled. But it’s kinda quick, isn’t it? You
haven’t known him that long.’
    Laura thought of Donal and closed her eyes to relish the deep happiness that flooded through her. ‘Long enough to know that he’s the one.’
    ‘Gee, you sound so sure. Tell me again what he’s like.’
    ‘Gorgeous: you’d love him, dark hair like your Andy Garcia, beautiful smile, very funny. I’ll send a photo. And guess what – he’s a chef, so I’ll never have
to cook.’
    ‘Hmm – very important consideration when you’re choosing your life partner. And what do the folks think of him?’
    Laura groaned. ‘God, I was hoping you wouldn’t bring that up. Of course Dad is delighted, over the moon.
She
totally disapproves, thinks he’s too old.’
    ‘Oh yeah, I forgot about the age difference.’
    ‘It’s only fifteen years; it’s nothing.’
    ‘You’re right – that’s nothing; old enough to be interesting, not too old to be past it.’
    Laura closed her eyes again, smiling. ‘You can say that again; he knows what he’s at in that department.’
    Breffni laughed. ‘You lucky woman; hang on to him, don’t mind Mother. I’ve just met someone too actually; I was going to write and tell you.’
    ‘Hey Bref, that’s great; what’s he like?’
    ‘Lovely. No oil painting, but lovely and comfortable to be with, you know? His name’s Cian.’
    And Laura, who’d been about to ask Breffni if she’d be OK meeting Andrew at the wedding, decided to say nothing. She did wonder, though, if there would be any awkwardness when they
came face to face for the first time since the break-up. It was a few years ago, but still . . . was there a danger of something starting up again, being rekindled in the heady Roman air? Andrew
was unattached, as far as Laura knew; and it sounded like very early days with this new man, Cian. Could Breffni really be so foolish as to risk fresh heartbreak? Laura was fairly certain that
Cecily wouldn’t have changed her mind about Breffni’s suitability for her darling Andrew. She’d got rid of Breffni once before – she could certainly do it again.
    But Laura needn’t have worried; there seemed to be no awkwardness when Andrew and Breffni met in the hotel lobby, the evening before the wedding.
    ‘Hey you.’ Andrew gave Breffni a mock punch in the arm. ‘How’s the States treating you?’
    ‘Fine, just fine.’ Breffni beamed back at him. ‘And you? Still stuck behind a desk in boring old Limerick?’ She winked at Laura, looking totally relaxed.
    Andrew grinned. ‘Limerick suits me fine, thanks – no mosquitoes, no earthquakes . . . I’m quite happy.’
    ‘Hmmm . . . I’m not convinced.’ She jerked a thumb in Donal’s direction. ‘And what do you think of your future brother-in-law?’
    And then the elevator doors opened and Brian and Cecily appeared, and they had hardly any time to themselves after that. But it was enough to convince Laura that whatever had been there between
them was a thing of the past. Maybe this Cian was more important than Breffni had been letting on; Laura would find out later.
    After the wedding ceremony in a little Pallotine church in the Piazza San Silvestro, the small group had champagne and pasta in a chic little restaurant run by Polish nuns. Laura was radiant in
simple cream raw silk that stopped just above her ankles; Breffni turned heads in a short, deep-coral shift dress. Cecily was politely distant in pale blue linen. Donal the groom, Tom his best man,
Andrew, and Laura’s father Brian, who was to fall off a ladder and break his neck only two years later, all wore light grey suits. Apart from Tom, there were no guests on the groom’s
side: Donal’s parents hadn’t