One Last Chance (2 page)

She had be
en trying for the past six weeks to do the very same but she couldn’t. She couldn’t keep Gus out of her mind. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she missed him.

She had gone to the garage a few times to talk to him but each time she had chickened out. She was afraid to open herself up to being hurt again.

But she missed him more and more as the time passed, and was only realising just how important he really was to her. But the fear was crippling and nothing Pop, Sid or even Cole had said, and they had all said a lot, changed that. She knew she needed to do this in her own time. When she felt strong enough to face him.

She looked down at the picture in Cole
’s hand and thought about what Gus would think about his first grandchild. She quickly pushed those thoughts out of her mind and turned back to Cole.

She smiled at him and he gave her a sad smile that pulled at her heart.

“Why don’t you call her?” Ally said, squeezing his hand tighter. “Ask her to let you see him.”

“I can’t do that gorgeous girl,” he said with a sad smile and he kissed her once again. “I need to let him go. I have you and this little one to think about now.”

He released Ally’s hand and pressed his hand against her stomach.

“Cole, if you did,” Ally replied with a sad sigh. “It doesn’t mean you love us any less. It just means a little boy stole a tiny piece of your heart.”

Before he could reply, the car came to a stop outside Nan and Pop’s house. Cole looked out the window and immediately saw Nan appear at the door.

“We can talk about it when we get home,” Cole said with a smile. “But ri
ght now I want to go and show our baby off to its great-grandparents. And it looks like they are very excited to see it.”

Ally turned and
looked towards the door and saw that Pop had joined Nan at the front door, the excitement written clearly across both their faces. Ally smiled before she turned back to Cole.

“Okay,” she agreed. “But we need to talk about this when we get home.

Ally’s car door opened and she turned to get out of the car. She smiled at Nick as she stepped out. She liked having him here and they had become friends.

Cole had made arrangements for Nick to move over and work from Dublin instead of London a few days after the story broke that Cole was in fact not Ben’s father. The paparazzi were relentless. And Cole was no
w worried for Ally and the baby’s safety. So he asked Nick to come over and he did so without a moment’s hesitation.

Cole still had Liam drive him during the week when he was at work, leaving N
ick to watch over Ally, but he was the one who drove Cole and Ally when they were together. Cole trusted him with his life, and his life was now Ally and the baby.

“Thanks, Nick,” Ally said as she beamed up at Nick. “I wi
ll make sure I bring you some of Nan’s apple pie when I am leaving.”

“Thank
you, that would be very welcomed,” he said with his usual half smile before his face returned to the usual serious expression that was on it whenever Cole was around.

“We will be leaving
at about four,” Cole informed Nick as he stepped out of the car and straightened his suit jacket.

“Yes, Sir.” Nick replied with a nod before he closed the door behind Cole and returned to the driver’s seat.

“Okay,” Cole said, turning to Ally and giving her one of his usual breathtaking smiles. “Let’s go and let Nan and Pop see their new Great-grandchild.”

“Can’t wait,” Ally smiled back before she kissed him quickly the
n followed him up the pathway to her grandparents’ house.

Ally pushed Ben to the back of her mind
for now, but not out of it. This needed to be addressed and she was the one who was going to fix it for once and for all.

“Isn’t that just marvellous,” Pop said as he pressed play on the DVD player for the fourth time. He watched with amazement the grainy black and white picture on the screen.

“
So August 15
th
is when you are due?” Nan asked as she stared down at the photo in her hand.

“Yes
,” Ally nodded with a huge grin, “Two days after Cole’s birthday.” She turned to Cole and he smiled at her brightly. He looked so happy and contented. But Ally knew he was still thinking about Ben and this made her sad.

“So,”
Pop said as the DVD ended once again and he switched off the TV. “Everything all set for the wedding?”

“It is,” Cole nodded and his face lit up. The night Ally backed out
of her flight to London, Cole insisted on setting a date for the wedding. He said it needed it to be soon, before the baby was born. Ally was a little overwhelmed but she agreed. “Two weeks from tomorrow, my girl will become Mrs. Thomas and I will be the happiest man alive.”

“You sure everything will be ready,” Nan asked looking at Ally.

“Everything will be perfect,” Ally reassured her grandmother. “Isabelle, the wedding planner Cole hired, is fab. She has everything sorted. Just one more fitting for the dress and we will be all set.”

“Well
, I wouldn’t quite say everything was perfect,” Pop grumbled and Ally sighed. She knew exactly where this was going.

“
Pop, please,” Ally begged. “I don’t want to have this argument again.”

“I’m sorry Ally,”
Pop said in his “I am gonna say it and you will listen” tone of voice. “But Gus is your father, rightly or wrongly, he should be at the wedding. You need to stop this nonsense and talk to the man. He made a mistake, but he doesn’t deserve for you to keep punishing him like this.”

“I am not having this argument again,” Ally snapped angrily
as she was quickly on her feet. But before she could say another word. The door bell sounded and Pop instantly looked nervous. “What did you do?”

“I am doing what I should have done weeks ago,”
Pop replied as he stood up from his chair and went to answer the front door. Ally turned and looked at her grandmother as she could feel the panic rise inside her.

“Did you know he was coming?” S
he asked as her heart raced with dread. She was not ready for this. “Please tell me you are not part of this.”

“No,” Nan replied. “I didn’t know he was coming. But Ally, maybe it’s time you t
wo talked. At least hear him out.”

Ally looked at Cole but she knew she would not get him on her side for this. He and Ally had argued several times about this. Cole wanted her to talk to Gus too. And he didn’t hide the fact
that he thought she was handling the situation all wrong.

“Ally,” Cole said reaching out and taking her hand, and she knew immediately he was in on this too. “Just talk to him.”

“I can’t believe you did this,” Ally said as hot, salty tears stung her eyes. Before she could say another word, the living room door opened and Pop walked back in followed closely by a very nervous Gus.

“Good to see you again, Gus,” Cole said standing up and shaking his hand.

“And you,” Gus replied with a nervous smile as his eyes shot straight to Ally. “You too Ally, you are looking really great. How are you keeping?”

“I am fine,” Ally replied refusing to even look at him. She could feel her heart banging hard inside her chest.

“Please, everyone,” Nan said and Ally could hear the nervous edge in her voice. She hated that everyone was so on edge and it was because they didn’t know how she would react to him being here. Suddenly she felt like the villain of the piece and this angered her more. “I will go and get some tea.”

“I will go with you,” Ally said following her grandmother to the door but Nan turned and stopped her. “No pet, you st
ay here and relax. I have this.”

Ally turned and returned to her seat next to Cole on the sofa, sat down and stared at the floor. She suddenly felt Cole’s hand slip into her
s and squeeze it softly. She turned to him and he smiled at her. She wanted so much to be angry with him, in a way she was but she knew he was doing the only thing he thought he could do.

The truth was the situation with Gus was making her miserable. She missed him and the guys at the garage so much. She knew she needed to face this eventually but her heart had been through so much she wasn’t sure she was strong enough for this yet.

“Is this a picture of the baby?” Gus asked nervously as he reached down and picked the scan photo up off the coffee table where Nan had left it. Ally could feel her stomach heave.

“Yes,” Cole replied and held Ally’s hand tighter. “That is your grandchild.”

“Wow,” Gus croaked, trying to mask the emotion in his voice. “My first grandchild. I am going to be a granddad.”

Ally stood up. She couldn’t listen to anymore. She headed straight for the door and took the stair
s two at time and didn’t stop till she was in the safety of her old bedroom.

She sat on the end of the bed and unable to hold the tears back any longer, she buried her face in her hand
s and sobbed.

A few moments later there was a soft tap on the door. Ally quickly dried her eyes and looked up. She expected Cole
’s head to pop around the door but instead it was Gus. She stared at him unsure of what she should do. She debated whether she should tell him to go to hell, or sit there and listen to what he had to say. Before she could decide, he spoke.

“Please, Ally,” he
said nervously as he stepped further into her room. “Please talk to me. I know you are angry and you have every right to be. But if you just hear me out, hear how things were back then for me. Well, then maybe you might understand. And if you don’t and you still hate me. I promise you I will leave you in peace.”

Ally stared at him for a moment and considered his request. She knew sooner or later she would have to hear him out.

“Okay,” Ally sighed knowing she couldn’t put this off any longer.

“Thank you
,” he replied nervously as he walked towards the bed and sat down next to Ally. Instinctively, Ally edged further along the bed putting a little more distance between her and Gus.

“I know you are mad at me,” he began as he looked sideways at her before he dropped his eyes back to the floor and contin
ued. “When I met your mom, I fell in love with her in an instant. But she was already engaged to Fitzmaurice, so I tried to put her out of my mind. Then I met Laura. I loved Laura but my heart belonged to Rachel. We both got married.”

He stopped for a moment and quickly glanced up at Ally before he continued.

“Laura and I began to try for a baby,” he sighed. “She got pregnant but lost the baby. We were both devastated. Four months later it happened again. The doctor said her having a baby might not be an option as they didn’t think she would carry a baby to term. We were both heart broken. I came to talk to Pops. I thought I should have a vasectomy because I didn’t want to keep putting Laura through this. She wanted to try again.”

Ally turned and looked at Gus, as angry as she was with him, her heart went out to
him as she thought about what it must have been like for him to loose not just one but two babies he desperately wanted back then.

“When I got to the house, Nan and Pop were out,” he continued. “But Rachel was her
e and she had been crying. She and Fitzmaurice had been fighting. She told me how unhappy she was but how he had told her if she left him, he would destroy her life. He would never be humiliated by a woman like that. I told her about the situation with Laura. We both cried. Each one of us lost in our grief and one thing lead to another.”

“I don’t ne
ed details” Ally said not wanting a blow by blow of her mother and father’s sordid affair. 

“We tried to stop,” Gus said, blushing a little. “But we were in love. Then Rachel fell pregnant. She knew you were mine and not Fitzmaurice
’s. We were going to tell Laura and Fitzmaurice the truth. We wanted to be together. The night I went home to tell Laura I was leaving she told me she was pregnant with Nicole. She was twelve weeks. The longest she had ever carried a baby. She had been afraid to tell me until she was sure it would be ok.”

“So you picked that baby
over me,” Ally said trying to hide the hurt from her voice but failing.

“Far from it,” Gus replied quickly. “No I wanted your mom and you. But I was afraid if I told Laura she would lose the baby and she would be left with nothing while I would have my dream come true. I told Rachel
I needed to wait and she understood at first. But then about four weeks later she came to see me.”

He closed his eyes as if the memories of what happened back then were so raw and fresh
to him still. When he opened his eyes once again, Ally was surprised to see tears dancing in them.

“Rachel said she couldn’t go through with it,” Gus said, his voice hoarse with unshed tears.
“She said she could never leave Sean because he would destroy us. And he would destroy Pop too just because he knew how much Rachel loved her Dad. I didn’t know what had brought on this change of heart but I pleaded and begged her not to do it. But she refused. She promised she would let me always be part of your life but that she couldn’t give me what I wanted.”