Winner Takes It All (13 page)

‘
You bastard,
why don’t you just piss off?’

She didn’t want to speak
to her brother any longer and instead took out her phone and called
Tim on his mobile.

‘
Tim I’m at
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital,’ she sniffed. ‘Daddy’s had a
stroke.’

‘
Oh my God. Is
he okay?’

‘
He’s
conscious.’

‘
Well keep me
posted yeah?’

‘
I thought you
could come here?’

‘
I can’t Alex,
Helena’s here discussing the project.’

‘
Well can’t
she come round tomorrow?’

‘
No. Look,
your dad doesn’t want me there, he’ll want his family. I’ll see you
when you get home.’

Alex ended the call and
slammed the phone into her handbag. She was so angry, she was
shaking. Tim was actually putting his ridiculous research project
before her. He knew what her father meant to her and how upsetting
all this would be for her. She needed some moral support and he was
choosing to reject her. This was the final straw. She made up her
mind that once Christian was better and things were on an even
keel, she was going to finish with Tim. Their relationship had
finally run its course.

Joanna arrived just
before midnight, by which time Christian was more awake but
sedated. Julie was falling asleep and Michael looked as if he
wanted to be anywhere but here and under different circumstances,
Alex would have punched him.

Knowing there wasn’t much
more she could do here, Alex decided to go home. She asked Julie if
she wanted to go with her and she accepted. Jo wanted to spend the
night at her father’s side and Alex didn’t give a damn what Michael
did. She went back to Barnes with her stepmother and spent the
night in her old room. She didn’t want to see Tim; if she did they
would no doubt argue and she didn’t have the emotional strength to
cope with that.

She flopped into her old
single bed, still fully dressed, exhausted and drained. Her mobile
bleeped, indicating she had a text message; Alex’s heart stopped,
hoping it wasn’t Jo with bad news. She looked at the screen and saw
it was from Jack. It read;

How’s your
dad? Let me know if there’s anything I can do.

Alex’s eyes filled with
tears. Jack was practically a stranger and yet he was showing her
more concern than the man she’d been in a relationship with for
eight years. She replied to Jack telling him that Christian was
awake and she hoped the hotel suite was to his satisfaction. She
promised to keep in touch, and once the message was sent, lay her
phone on the bedside cabinet, falling asleep instantly.

***

When they arrived at the
hospital the next morning, they found Christian sitting up
slightly; there were no wires or drips attached to him and all that
gave his suffering away was the droop to the left side of his face.
Alex kissed him and was a little disturbed to find he could only
hug her with his right arm.

‘
How are you
feeling?’ she asked, sitting down.

‘
Exhausted,’
he rasped. ‘I need to speak to you Alex.’

‘
Not now
daddy, just take it easy.’

‘
No Alex,
now.’

Julie could see her
husband wanted to talk to his daughter alone, and laid her hand
upon a very sleepy Jo’s shoulder.

‘
Come on Jo,’
she said. ‘Why don’t we go and get a cup of coffee and then I’ll
call a cab to take you home.’

‘
Where’s
Michael?’ Alex asked her sister.

‘
He left at
about two o’clock,’ she shrugged. ‘He said he was going home, but I
bet he was going off to see one of his tarts.’

The two women left and
Alex propped her father’s pillows up, asking if he wanted
water.

‘
I’m fine,’ he
whispered. ‘Just sit down.’

She did as she was told.
Wondering what he wanted to say; surely he hadn’t cancelled the
challenge and was handing the reigns to Michael?

‘
The doctors
say it will take months before I fully recovered,’ he said very
slowly and quietly. ‘I’m putting you in charge.’

‘
In charge of
what daddy?’

‘
Sheridans. I
want you to look after Sheridans for me.’

‘
B-But, I
can’t. I’m in the middle of buying hotels.’

‘
Exactly.
You’ve attacked my challenge with passion. Your brother has just
messed around. You can do it Alex, you’re a strong
woman.’

‘
But I don’t
know what to do.’

‘
Just take
care of things. Speak with Charlotte tomorrow, she’s got my diary.
Take it from there.’

‘
Michael will
go mad.’

‘
Until he
proves to me he can be trusted, I’m not letting him near my
company. It’ll only be for a short while Alex. Then I’ll be right
as rain, I promise.’

Eight

Nervous didn’t even begin
to describe how Tom felt. His first introduction to his extended
family was going to be at an extraordinary meeting of Sheridans at
their headquarters on the Embankment. He’d only been working as
Estate Manager for a week when he was told by Tara he had to attend
this meeting due to Christian Cusack suffering a stroke and handing
the reigns to his daughter Alex. He’d been hoping his first meeting
with them would be at a family party or the like, not under such
formal circumstances.

Tom wasn’t enjoying his
challenge as much as he’d anticipated. For the first time ever he
had a job he actually liked. Tara was such easy company that
sharing an office with her made every day a joy. Like him – the old
him, she was kooky and an outsider. They had the same taste in
films and music and would laugh about the same things. It galled
him to know he was secretly plotting her downfall. For the last two
nights he’d let Jackson’s calls go onto voicemail and had responded
via email instead of actually speaking to his cousin. Jackson, had
practically drooled on hearing about Christian’s stroke. He felt
this was the ideal opportunity for them to wheedle their way in.
With Sheridans in chaos, no one would notice a few other things
going wrong.

For the first time ever
Tom was in a quandary about what to wear. He had a wardrobe full of
designer suits and he wondered if he should go for the flashy
Armani or the understated D&G. He didn’t want to appear too
showy and monied, after all he was supposed to be the poor
relation. Sadie sat up in bed watching him, twiddling a lock of her
auburn hair and yawning theatrically.

‘
Come on Tom,’
she sighed. ‘If I wanted to be with someone who preened themselves
all day I’d have gone out with a girl. Come back to
bed.’

‘
I can’t,’ he
twittered. ‘I’m too nervous.’

‘
Well what am
I supposed to do here all day?’ she pouted. ‘This village has got
to be the most boring place in the world.’

‘
Drive down to
Brighton and do some shopping. I’ll be home later.’

After settling on a brown
Hermes suit chosen for him by Jackson, Tom dressed and was just in
time for Tara. She picked him up in her snazzy Ford Focus and they
set off for London, weaving their way through the Summerset and
Abbott’s Leigh hills. Tom saw his cousin had made no effort for the
meeting – she wore a rather tatty Smiths t-shirt, cardigan and
skinny jeans. Unable to stop himself, Tom kept glancing at her full
and perky breasts that were pushing out against the t-shirt. He
wondered what the rest of her body was like – it was hard to tell
because she was always covered up and so shy about looking remotely
attractive. Which Tom felt was a shame because underneath it all,
she was clearly quite beautiful.

‘
I’m so scared
your family are going to hate me,’ he said, finally managing to
divert his eyes away from Tara and looking out at Layton House, the
huge mansion in which her grandfather lived. Tom wanted to meet Ben
Cusack one day; discover what this old man possessed that made his
grandmother still love him so.

‘
They’re your
family too remember,’ Tara tried to reassure him. ‘Don’t forget,
our great great great grandfathers were brothers.

‘
I guess so.
So who’s going to be there? What can I expect?’

‘
Okay, well
Alex will be there obviously. She’s Uncle Christian’s oldest
daughter. She’s very pretty but can seem a bit prickly, but that’s
just her manner. Underneath she’s lovely. Everyone agrees in
personality she’s the most like Gran.’

‘
Louisa?’

‘
Um. Gran
could be terrifying at times. Well I say that but she was never
really snappy with mummy or me or Dan. It made me feel a bit guilty
at times, but it was just Gran’s way.’

‘
Why was that
then?’ Tom asked, feeling he was on the brink of uncovering a
family secret.

‘
I don’t know.
Perhaps it’s because my mother was her first child and so she was
her favourite. I’m not sure. Anyway, carrying on. I guess Michael
will be there. He’s Christian’s oldest child, and up until recently
he was due to take over Sheridans when Christian retires, but
Mike’s a terrible gambler and womaniser so that was why Christian
set the challenge for him and Alex to set up their own companies.
Mummy will be there; she owns ten percent of the shares of
Sheridans. Then there’ll be the board of directors and probably a
few regional managers. I thought afterwards we could pop to the
hospital and see Uncle Christian. I think grandfather’s going there
today, so you’ll be able to meet him too.’

Tom’s legs shook as they
entered the huge, modern glass building overlooking the Thames. He
thought back to what Sorcha had told him while he was in New York;
that Patrick, his great grandfather had run Sheridans from a small
study in Claremont Hall. How things had come on in fifty
years.

The board room was on the
top floor and the first thing that Tom noticed was the massive
table in the middle of it, around which a young woman with short
blonde hair was walking around placing pieces of paper.

‘
Hi
Charlotte,’ Tara said breezily. The young woman looked up, her
bright red lips breaking into a smile.

‘
Oh hello
Tara,’ she said. ‘Tea and coffee’s being served down
there.’

She indicated to the
other end of the room.

‘
Thanks.
Charlotte, this is Tom Montague, my cousin. He’s working as estate
manager down in Summerset. Tom, this is Charlotte, Uncle
Christian’s PA.’

They both nodded ‘nice to
meet you’s’ but Tom was too busy looking down the end of the room
where a gaggle of people were standing drinking tea out of pristine
white cups and saucers, chatting as if at a party. Tara led him
towards them and he almost walked back out when he spotted Maurice
Bannerman. He was going to have to pretend he didn’t know him and
he wasn’t sure how far he could stretch his acting
skills.

From out of the throng
came a girl with fluffy dark blonde wavy hair. She was a little
thing, no more than 5’3 but her generous curves filled out the dark
blue shift dress that matched her eyes. She was very sexy and Tom
wondered who she was.

‘
Hello Tara
darling,’ she smiled, her eyes immediately moving to Tom. ‘And you
must be the prodigal cousin?’

‘
Y-Yes,’ he
uttered.

‘
Alex, this is
Tom Montague. Tom, this is Alex, my cousin.’

They shook hands. Alex
was one of those women who gave out a vibe that she wasn’t to be
messed with and not in a provocative way like Sadie. She truly did
seem like someone who would bite your head off if you crossed her.
Scary seeing as that was exactly why he was here.

‘
Thanks for
coming today Tom,’ Alex said. ‘Please don’t feel uncomfortable or
unwelcome in any way. It’s not your fault you’re Sorcha’s grandson.
I understand you’ve never even met the old cow?’

‘
No,’ he
replied, slightly aggrieved by this. He doubted if Alex Cusack had
ever met Sorcha either, in which case she had little right to
criticise.

‘
So you can be
one of us,’ she laughed. ‘Come on, meet the others.’

Tom recognised Paula
straight away. She and Tara looked so alike it was scary, just that
Tara was coffee coloured where Paula was pale and Celtic looking;
and instead of curly dark hair, her brown and grey locks hung
limply over her shoulders. But they had that same model build,
angular face and gangly gait. He could see that once upon a time
Paula would have been a great beauty, but she was obviously one of
those women who weren’t prepared to fight ageing and was looking a
bit neglected.

‘
Mummy I want
you to meet Tom Montague,’ Tara said.

‘
Hello Tom,’
Paula said, shaking his hand. ‘You have my commiserations for being
Sorcha’s grandson.’

‘
That’s okay,’
he laughed, once again masking his annoyance.

‘
So you’ve
never met her?’

‘
Never. She
disowned my mum for getting pregnant by a Catholic.’

‘
That sounds
about right. Do you know she wanted my grandfather exhumed from the
grave in Donegal because she didn’t want Catholic blood
contaminating Sheridan soil? My mother fought her tooth and nail
and won thankfully.’