Behind Every Cloud (54 page)

“
Please, Rachel,
”
he begged, taking her hand
, “
don
’
t be so hard on me. I love you
!
Come on
,
have a glass of champagne or a glass of wine at least.
”
He beckoned to the waiter.

“
Sorry, I don
’
t want anything,
”
Rachel smilingly told the young man.

“
I
’
ll have another Jack Daniels, please,
”
Carl said
.

The waiter hurried off.

“
Why aren
’
t you drinking, Rachel,
”
he asked
,
perplexed.

“
Because I realise I
’
ve been drinking as a substitute for having you in my life. I
’
m not doing that any
more.
”

Although he wasn
’
t quite sober Carl heard what she was saying. In that moment he admired her greatly. She was one classy broad, his wife. In an instant he realised how much he would miss her if she should desert him. But he knew Rachel would never do that. She treasured the family too much. Still
,
she
’
d given him quite a scare. Life without Rachel – and the kids? Unthinkable! He knew, with his politician
’
s instinct
,
that it was time to eat humble pie. He
’
d make it up to her. He had a whole month in Cannes to woo her back. He felt confident that he could do it. Yes
,
siree. He could and he would!

Zita was miserable. She missed Carl desperately. She
’
d texted him almost every day but he hadn
’
t replied once. She was beginning to fear that he might have forgotten about her altogether as he sunned himself on the French Riviera. Her jealousy of Rachel knew no bounds and she found herself thinking of ways that she could wipe the smile off her smug face.

On top of that, the dreadful nightmares had returned and
,
as a result, fearful of sleeping, she was constantly tired during the day
.
More and more she found herself thinking of the past, the past she
’
d worked so hard to blot out. She had also lost her best friend as she and Marcus could not meet without rowing over Carl. The only positive in her life was her work and she threw herself into it with fervour.

While Rachel was sunning herself on the Côte d
’
Azur, Ellie was talking about taking a holiday with her mother in Bordeaux. They would have preferred not to go in high season but
,
as Ellie was hoping to start in Sam
’
s wine shop in September
,
they felt they had no choice. She
decided to talk to Sam about it
.

“
My mum and I were thinking about spending a few days in Bordeaux and I was wondering if I could finish up here a little early before I start in the wine shop.
”

“
Well, there
’
s a bit of a problem there,
”
he said slowly.
“
I
’
m restructuring the whole company and I
’
m not sure that the wine shop is quite right for you.
”

Ellie
’
s heart almost stopped. She felt as if he
’
d punched her in the stomach. Was she going to be out of a job again, so soon after the last one? Her face fell and she looked at him dejectedly
.

“
Why not?
”
she asked
,
wondering how she could change his mind.

Sam grinned mischievously. Ellie was starting to feel angry with him. It was no laughing matter.

“
Because I think you
’
re doing such a fantastic job here
,”
he said,
“
that you should stay on as my PA.
”

Relief flooded through her.
“
Are you serious?
”
she squealed.

“
Deadly,
”
he said, deadpan.

“
Oh Sam, Sam, I love you
!”
she shrieked, jumping up and down before running to hug him.

“
Put me down
,
woman
!”
he cried, laughing.

“
Sorry,
”
she said
,
releasing him.
“
Oh my God, this is just the most fantastic news. Oh my God!
”
She twirled around the floor.

“
I take it you
’
re pleased,
”
he remarked drily.

“
Pleased? I
’
m ecstatic! This is just the best news ever. I love the job.
”

He laughed at her enthusiasm.
“
Well, I really need you here and Sylvia has her hands full with the online business which is just about ready to roll. If you could postpone your trip to Bordeaux for a month or so, then I can see no problem with your taking some days off.
”

“
That suits us even better
!”
she cried.
“
We don
’
t really want to go in August anyway as it
’
s high season there
.”

“
I agree. It will be much nicer in September. I have to go myself then to meet with some producers. Maybe you could meet up with me there and I
’
ll introduce you to some of the producers you
’
ve been dealing with on the phone.
”

“
That would be brilliant! It
’
s always nice to have a face to put with the voice. Gosh, Mum will be delighted.
”

Marie-Noelle was indeed delighted and
set about checking flights for mid-September.

Ellie rang David with the good news that Sam was keeping her on as his PA
.

“
Well, thank goodness for that,
”
he said.
“
I didn
’
t like the idea of you being a shop girl at all.
”

“
Shop girl?
”

“
You know what I mean. A sales girl in an off-licence isn
’
t exactly the most prestigious of jobs. Most of the guys
’
wives here are either lawyers or accountants too – professionals at least
–”

Ellie stopped him dead.
“
I see nothing wrong with being a sales girl if it means I
’
m earning my own living.
”

“
Oh, Ellie, you know what I mean. I have a status to
keep up here. Having a PA for a wife is much more impressive
. Even you can see that!
”

Ellie was seething. How dare he! He was becoming a pompous prick. This new job of his had
truly gone to his head. She finished the call because she knew if she stayed on the line they would have another horrendous row. She sighed. That
’
s all they seemed to do nowadays. It seemed like David had turned into a different person since they
’
d become engaged. Maybe it was the stress of the wedding. She
’
d heard that it affected some people like that and that once they were married everything went back to normal. She certainly hoped that this would be the case.

57

Ronan was looking in the newspaper at
‘
apartments to let
’
w
hen his phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, his stomach did a somersault. It was the phone call he
’
d been expecting since Louise had left. He
’
d known she
’
d be in touch sooner or later. His heart was in his mouth as he answered.

“
Louise!
”

“
Hello, Ronan, how are you?
”

“
Fine, and you?
”

“
I
’
m great, just great.
”

“
To what do I owe the honour?
”

“
Well, I have some juicy gossip for you.
”

He took the phone away from his ear and looked at it. Was he hallucinating? She was calling to give him some gossip?

“
Louise, my life is too busy to be listening to gossip,
”
he retorted angrily.

“
Oh
,
you
’
ll have time for this,
”
she said gleefully.
“
Guess
who
’
s having an affair?
”

“
Louise,
”
he said coldly,
“
I have no time for this or for playing games.
”

“
Not even when your very dear friends are involved?
”

“
What do you mean?
”

“
It concerns your friend, Mrs Perfect Politican
’
s Wife
,
Rachel Dunne. Her husband is cheating on her
.”

Ronan was rocked back on his heels
. “
What do you mean?
”

“
I mean,
”
she said, obviously enjoying herself,
“
that Mr Carl Dunne is screwing around
.”

Ronan winced at her coarseness.
“
How do you know this?
”

“
I saw him with the lady in question
.”

“
Anyone we know?
”
he asked sarcastically.

“
Well, yes
,
actually.
”
Louise couldn
’
t keep the delight out of her voice.
“
Your other friend, the pseudo
-
lesbian, Zita Williams.
”

“
That means nothing. They were probably discussing business or perhaps a TV show.
”

“
No
,
they were most definitely discussing sex.
”

“
I don
’
t believe you!
”

“
No? Well, I have the photos to prove it
!”
she crowed triumphantly.

Ronan was speechless.
“
I
’
d like to see that evidence with my own eyes before believing it,
”
he finally said.

“
Certainly, I
’
ll text the photos to you. Maybe you
’
ll believe me then. Bye
!”

Ronan was incensed after he put the phone down. It couldn
’
t be true
,
could it? He hoped not
,
for Rachel
’
s sake. Still, at the back of his mind was the niggling feeling that maybe it was
.
He remembered Rachel saying how alone she felt and that she hardly ever saw Carl. Could it be possible? But with Zita of all people! That was the hard thing to believe. With a shock he remembered how Carl couldn
’
t be at the supper and that Zita had cried off too. Oh, God. Ronan had a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach.

Ronan looked at the first two photos that Louise had sent him and felt a shiver run down his spine. It was most definitely Carl who was with a woman who was most definitely not Rachel. The woman had her back to the camera as Carl firstly stroked her cheek, and in the second photo she reached across and kissed him on the lips
.