Behind Every Cloud (70 page)

“
Yes, Mummy, that would be nice,
”
Jacob said solemnly
, his big brown eyes looking at her hopefully
.

“
Did you put them up to this?
”
Rachel demanded, looking accusingly at Carl.

“
I swear, Rach, I didn
’
t say a word
.”

She believed him.

She looked at her children
’
s pleading eyes and gave in.
She realised he must have been frozen
,
dragging around the zoo on such a freezing cold day
.

“
Okay, come in and warm up, just this once.
”

“
Thank you, Rach.
”
He looked at her gratefully.

Of course, it wasn
’
t
‘
just this once
’
. The children insisted that he come in every Sunday evening and it had very quickly become a ritual. She had to admit it was very pleasant, all four of them together, chatting and laughing just like – she was afraid to say it – any normal family.

Then the children started asking when was Daddy coming back? It was hard, trying to explain to them that he wasn
’
t coming back. That was when Becky started having nightmares.

Rachel had thought that the separation had not affected the children but now she saw that she was wrong. They were suffering, just as she and Carl were suffering. One Sunday evening, she decided to share her fears with Carl.

She set up a DVD for the kids to watch and joined Carl in the den.

“
I
’
m very worried about Becky,
”
she told him.
“
I think this whole business is affecting her badly.
”

“
Yes, it is. I
’
ve noticed that she
’
s got much more introverted lately and Jacob has changed too. He
’
s not the happy little boy he once was
.”

“
What can we do about it?
”
she asked, a worried frown creasing her brow.

“
We could be happy again, Rachel, I know we could
,
if you would give me another chance.
”
He moved over from his chair on to the sofa where she was sitting, his face earnest as he continued.
“
I know I screwed up, Rach, but I
’
m a different man now. I swear to you. I realise now just how much I love you and what I
’
ve lost.
”

He started to cry then and Rachel had to steel herself not to reach out to him.

“
Please, Rach, please, let
’
s try again. I promise you I
’
ll never do anything to hurt you again,
”
he said
,
through his tears.
“
I
’
ve learnt my lesson, believe me. For the sake of the children, if not for me, please let
’
s give it a try.
”

She sighed as she took his hand.
“
I don
’
t know, Carl. I could never go back to that life – being a politician
’
s wife, never seeing you, living in the public eye all the time. I hated it
.”
She shook her head.

He took a deep breath.
“
Rach, I
’
ll give up politics if that
’
s what it takes to get you back.
”

She looked into his eyes and saw that he meant it.

“
You
’
d give up politics?
”

“
Yes! I
’
ll resign tomorrow if I could have you and the kids back
.”

She couldn
’
t believe what she was hearing.
“
But what would you do?
”

“
Well, I have enough money never to have to work again but maybe we could do something together.
”
His e
yes brightened as he spoke.
“
Why not start an online party-
planning business, like Kate Middleton’s family. There
’
s an opening for that here in Ireland.
”

She looked at him amazed. The idea was exciting.
“
Are you really serious about resigning?
”

“
I swear. You do still love me, Rach, don
’
t you?
”
He took her hands in his, fear in his eyes as he waited for her reply.

“
Yes, Carl, I still love you,
”
she said, in a small voice, and then she was in his arms. She wanted desperately for him to take her to bed and make love to her but she knew they had to take things slowly. It would not be easy to put the past behind her but she knew she had to give it a try, if only for the children
’
s sake.

“
Why don
’
t we go away together next weekend?
”
he suggested,
“
and see how it goes
?”

“
Do you want to do that?
”

“
Oh, darling
,
I
’
d love that more than anything. And I meant what I said. I
’
ll resign my seat, if that
’
s what it takes to get you back
.”

Becky and Jacob came in just then, whooping as they saw their parents kiss and jumping on them for a group hug. Rachel smiled at Carl over the little blonde heads, hopeful that everything was going to work out alright. One could only wait and see and hope for the best.

Ronan was happy for Rachel when he heard that they were thinking of getting back together again. He
’
d always known that she
’
d never stopped loving Carl. He was happy now that he hadn
’
t made love to her that night when she was so distraught. What a mistake that would have been! She
’
d have regretted it and it probably would have ruined their friendship.

Business had quietened down in the shop after the New Year but they were still doing a steady business. He and Fiona were a great team and he had grown more and more fond of her as the weeks passed. She now worked every weeknight and he found himself with a spring in his step as he waited for her to come on duty.

He adored Oisín
,
who had inherited his mother
’
s sunny personality and
,
like her, was always smiling. Most Sundays he took
them both out for the day
,
either up the Wicklow Mountains or to Brittas Bay if the weather was fine.

The weather was particularly horrendous one night
as he and Fiona were closing up the shop. Thunder crashed and as the lightning flashed, Ronan could see that Fiona had gone terribly pale and was shaking.

“
I
’
m terrified of lightning,
”
she said, moving closer to him as the rain lashed against the windows.

“
Well, you can
’
t go anywhere in that storm,
”
Ronan said as he locked the door and switched off the lights.
“
Come on upstairs and wait it out.
”

Gratefully, she followed him and
,
just as they got into his apartment, the lights went out and they were plunged into darkness.

“
Damn!
”
he said and fumbled for the torch he kept on top of the bookshelf. Grateful now for the candles that Rachel had brought for his party, he moved around lighting them
,
one after the other.

Fiona was huddled on the sofa, her arms wrapped around her body. He poured each of them a whiskey and sat down beside her. She took hers in her shaking hands and took a big slug
,
almost spilling it all as another crash of thunder echoed around the room.

“
Oh my God
!”
she cried, edging closer to him.

He put his arm around her and she snuggled into his body. It felt good. Before he knew what was happening, he was kissing her and to his surprise, she was kissing him back. As the storm raged, unabated, they sat in the candlelight, holding each other.

“
I don
’
t know how this happened,
”
Ronan told her, his voice gentle.
He took her face in his hands.

“
Oh, Ronan, you ninny
!
Don
’
t you know I
’
ve been waiting for it to happen? I
’
ve loved you for ages,
”
she admitted, shyly.

Ronan was thunderstruck. She was right, he was a ninny not to have seen that or to realise that he had fallen in love with her too
.

“
Could you ring your mother and say that the storm is too bad for you to travel home tonight and that you have to stay here
?”

“
I already did. When you went to the loo a while ago,
”
she laughed.

“
Oh, you seductress!
”
he cried, pulling her down on the sofa.

She quieted him with her lips. He was lost!

80

Four Months Later

Rachel was busy preparing for her Midsummer
’
s Eve party but this was a very much smaller affair than the one the previous year. She had invited only eighteen people,
but they were eighteen good friends. Charlotte was coming from Italy with her new boyfriend and Naomi
would also be there with her husband, all the way from New York. Carl
’
s two brothers and their wives would be there along with his old friends, Mark and Steve and their partners, She had also invited her wine friends and was looking forward to meeting them all again.
In comparison to last year
’
s party it was small fry, but much more select, as she
’
d said laughingly to Ellie.

So much had happened to them all in the past twelve months.
“
If you put it in a book, nobody would believe it,
”
she
’
d remarked to Ronan, when she
’
d called to invite him to the party (no specially printed invitations this time), and it was true!

Firstly, there had been the awful Zita affair. Rachel still shuddered every time she thought of that woman and the narrow escape they
’
d had. She had tried very hard to put it all behind her but it hadn
’
t been easy. However, time is a great healer and she could now go days at a time without even thinking of the whole awful episode. It had certainly changed their lives and now it looked as though it was for the better. As her friends were so fond of saying,
“
Behind every cloud
,
there
’
s a silver lining
”
and it appeared that this was the case. She and Carl were in a much better place now than they had been when the whole Zita thing had imploded their lives.

Carl had been true to his word. He
’
d resigned from the Dáil
,
as he
’
d promised, which was something she still found hard to believe. He had loved politics so much that
,
when he gave them up for her, she realised that he did truly love her. They were closer now than they had ever been and the children were in a much happier, healthier environment than before.

Working together had helped. They had started the online party-planning company Carl had envisaged and to everyone
’
s surprise
,
it was taking off at a great rate
.
That was mainly thanks to Carl
’
s entrepreneurial skills. He was a brilliant marketing man and, as always, everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. It was not easy learning to trust him again and it was an ongoing work-in-progress but she felt she was getting there. He did seem to have changed and was much more relaxed and happy than before
.
Rachel felt hopeful for the future.