Dreams, Memories & Keys

Chapter 37 - Dinner at the Gaffney's

Greg and his family arrived on the walk just outside his cousin's house at half past six on Thursday evening. It was the end of a very busy day, starting in London with their early morning flight to Dublin, followed by Greg's appearance on the Gary Gaffney Show, which included of course their first encounter with Mr. Dunham at the studio, then later at the shoe store. Now they were expected for dinner, and while everyone was looking forward to meeting more of the Irish Gaffneys, and Greg found himself wondering what more they could possibly add to this already very busy day. He was carrying a bottle of wine, picked up at a store near the hotel, prior to hailing a cab for the ride out to his cousin's house, somewhat away from the center of Dublin.

Gary Gaffney answered the door when Jessie rang the bell, grinning at his cousin and his family.

"Welcome. Please do come in, all of you," Gary invited, ushering his guests into the living space of his city home.

"Thank you," Greg told him.

"Yes, thank you very much," Susan echoed Greg's reply. "We appreciate the invitation."

"Non-sense," a woman slightly younger than Susan approached them, removing an apron as she came. "Welcome, all of you. We are all very pleased to have you over for dinner and for the chance to meet each of you properly."

"And not just on the radio, Daddy," a teenaged girl coming from the same direction as her mother scolded her father.

"I did invite Greg, and his family for dinner. And they were able to come, so no harm done, eh?" Gary asked the girl, who was obviously his daughter.

The girl smiled a fleeting smile of forgiveness towards her father, before turning her attention to Jessie.

"Perhaps you could make introductions?" Gary's wife prompted. "I'm Riona," she told their guests.

"And I'm Poppy," the girl added.

"I'm Jessie," Jessie told her. "This is Mama."

"My name is Susan," Susan introduced herself to Gary's wife and daughter. "I'm pleased to meet you, Riona. You too, Poppy."

"I am pleased to meet you, Susan, and Jessie, and of course your husband, Greg. Thank you for coming, and such short notice too. And you brought wine? How gracious of you," Riona told her.

"Thank you so much for having us," Greg told her sincerely. "We look forward to meeting more Gaffneys."

"Speaking of more Gaffneys, where are Alex and Greg G?" Gary asked his wife.

"Upstairs Dad." Poppy answered for her mother. "Shall I let them know Cousin Greg and his family are here?"

"Yes please," Riona told her.

"You want to come with me?" Poppy invited Jessie.

"Okay," Jessie agreed.

And the two girls disappeared up a relatively narrow set of stairs.

"How old is Jessie?" Riona asked Susan.

"Fifteen. How old is Poppy?" Susan asked.

"Sixteen. She'll be seventeen in September," Riona told her. "Alex will be fifteen later this month."

Susan smiled. "Then she and Jessie are nearly the same age. Her birthday is in April. How old is your son?"

"He turned thirteen on April 1st," Riona told her, studying both Greg and Susan, trying to determine if either of them picked up on the significance of that.

Greg studied his cousin's wife. "He was born the day of the airline accident we were in," Greg recognized.

"Yes, he was," Riona agreed.