Strange Sally Diamond

‘Honestly, between therapy and yoga and learning to caress myself, I’ve enough on my plate.’

‘There’s a great choral group in Roscommon. It’s another way to meet people. Would you be afraid to sing in front of other people?’

‘No, I don’t think so. Easier to sing than talk about myself.’

‘Mention it to Tina, I bet she’d encourage it.’

‘I might.’

Sue reached across and squeezed my hand. ‘Your future is so exciting.’

I squeezed her hand back and we grinned at each other briefly before she focused her eyes on the road ahead.

The estate agent phoned. ‘Great news,’ he said. ‘We have had a lot of interest in your property, or as I suspected, in your site. Three main bidders at the moment: a developer, Morgan Homes, wants to build fifty townhouses. The pharmaceutical plant that’s moving into Mervyn Park want a lower density housing development for their executives and employees, and a German supermarket are also keen. You have an acre of road frontage. I haven’t had this much interest in Carricksheedy in my life!’

‘That’s good,’ I said.

‘Good? It’s absolutely brilliant,’ he said.

‘Right.’

‘Sorry if I seem over the top, but I don’t think you understand the money you can make.’

Building was going ahead on the cottage. All I wanted was enough to make it as nice as it could be.

‘But what will I do with it?’

‘The money? You can do anything. Start your own business? Invest in shares? Your future is secure. We have a few investment opportunities ourselves that might tickle your fancy.’

‘Do I get to choose which business buys the land?’

‘Sorry?’

‘I think a German supermarket would be a bad idea here. And a housing development? Will they all have gardens?’

There was a pause.

‘Normally, we sell to the highest bidder. That’s how it works.’

He tossed out some figures that frankly shocked me. The house would definitely be demolished, no matter who bought it.

‘I think I’d like to speak to the potential buyers.’

‘Why? I’m the estate agent. Between the solicitor and myself, we set it up so that you don’t have to talk to them.’

‘But what if I want to? Is that illegal?’

‘Miss Diamond, I don’t know what to say to you. It’s not illegal, but … look, why don’t you think about it? You shouldn’t delay. These are serious bidders.’

‘I’ll think about it. Would you email me the details of all the buyers and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can?’

He sighed deeply.

Angela said, ‘You’re dead right. A German supermarket would put the Gala out of business.’ I thought of Laura in the Gala and how she was now stocking root ginger, garam masala, curry leaves and fenugreek seeds, how she had gone out of her way to accommodate the new community that was joining our village. She had just applied for planning permission to extend the shop.

‘Well,’ said Angela, ‘you’re mad not to take the best price, but if you can afford ethics, you should definitely stand by them. I admire you for it.’

The exasperated estate agent had asked the three interested parties to pitch their development ideas to me. The last developer was the best. Morgan Homes’ plan was to build a mixture of social and affordable housing alongside private homes. They also had designs for a central green in the middle of the estate, on which there would be a children’s playground. A lot of Mervyn Park’s employees were on low wages, and the same could be true of the pharmaceutical plant, which was mid-construction.

The estate agent wasn’t too dismayed when I told him I would sell to Morgan Homes. The price was still way more than I’d imagined. I felt bad for our neighbour farmer, Ger McCarthy, who had put in a tiny bid in comparison, to use the land for cattle grazing, but I was able to negotiate for him to get the back field for a nominal sum, and he was grateful for that. Morgan Homes were relieved not to be responsible for it. The same stream that ran underneath my new cottage sprang up in that back field and Morgan Homes would have had to bury it in some way. It was useless to them, but of great benefit to Ger McCarthy.

Nadine was busy with the cottage. She sent me emails with colour schemes and tiles, kitchen units, bedroom sets, wardrobe fittings, floor coverings, three-piece suites, shutters and curtains, shelving units, doors and windows. Again, I was blinded by so much choice and, in the end, I asked her to choose everything. Their house was beautiful and I trusted her taste more than mine. I was finally on the move.

36 Peter, 1983