This fictional story starts off with Patrick but then his nephew, Ron, comes into it and emerges as the principal character.
Patrick is now retired and lives near Donabate while Ron had been working in Kuwait but is lured back home to Dublin by reports of the booming economy. They meet again in Paris and after Ron has returned to Dublin he gets a good job installing computers and acting as a consultant on that scene.
He becomes involved in relationships with various women but one by one these liaisons end in disappointment until eventually he meets Maura and although it does not seem a very promising situation, as she is the unmarried mother of five year old twins, it all works out well in the end.