Sins of Sarah

by Anne Styles

  'Is,' he repeated, as if to reassure himself. 'We were so lucky tonight, Sarah. He could easily have killed both of us, the state he was in. There was no way he would have left without you, and if you'd continued to say no to him - he would have killed you rather than leave you with me, I'm sure of that. And I couldn't have contemplated a life without you. I know that now.'

  'Thank goodness you came back that bit earlier, and didn't decide to stay in London overnight.'

  'I couldn't bear to, though I should have done.' Nick sighed heavily. His solicitor was locked in combat with Diana's solicitor over the huge new claims she was making, and the situation was deteriorating rapidly. 'Just be glad that Miriam decided to collect me, and not the chauffeur. He drives at snail's pace, something you could never accuse Miriam of doing.'

  Sarah shivered. 'Nick, do you think we'll ever be able to lead a normal life again?'

  'Yes, darling, I do.' He was adamant on that point. 'LA is used to the film business, and the people who work in it. We'll be able to live and do as we please. Seth and Bob are delighted with Emerald Isle, so once that's out you'll have plenty of offers if you want to do other work apart from mine. Maybe I'll retire and let you keep me,' he added teasingly, and she laughed.

  'That I doubt very much!' She knew Nick's capacity for work. 'But I'll make sure you stop working yourself into the ground from now on.'

  'I won't have a chance to! Since with a son - or two, I 'm going to need to find the time to play football, aren't I? And cricket - maybe even golf. I haven't played that for years.'

  'More likely baseball!'

  'Over my dead body! I think I'll put Sam down for Kings tomorrow!'

  'I'm not sending our son to boarding school,' Sarah protested. 'Especially if we're living in the States.'

  'By the time he's eight you may be glad to! My parents certainly were!' He cuddled her close to him. 'Wait till you've done the school run for a few years, with all the other Hollywood mums.'

  'You can do that too.' She giggled, distracted now as he peeled the nightdress from her shoulders.

  'Me?' He was appalled at the prospect.

  'You!' she said firmly. 'You already bath and change him - why not that?'

  'Nobody else sees me bathing and changing him,' he said, grinning in the dark. They both knew how much Nick enjoyed doing things for Sam. 'Or doing this, for that matter!' He caressed her breasts gently. 'Damn these doctors and their rules! I want you so much! Sarah, are you sure it's too early?'

  'It's supposed to be, but - I feel fine. Nick.' He was gentle, as she had known he would be; and afterwards, as Nick slept and she lay awake in his arms, blissfully contented, she knew. Everything was going to be all right.

  CHAPTER 27

  'Sarah! Sarah! Aren't you ready yet?' Charlotte bounced into the airy sun-filled room. 'Everybody's waiting!'

  'Yes, I'm ready.' Sarah turned from the window, from where she and Cress had been watching the wedding guests assemble in the beautiful gardens of the Palm Springs estate she and Nick loved so much. Of their three homes it was the only one they had chosen together, and it had been the automatic choice for their wedding when Nick's divorce had finally come through-after three weary years of battling with Diana over money.

  In those three years Nick and Seth had more than fulfilled their promise to Sarah. Chrysalis alone had made her a major box-office name, earning her an Oscar, as Nick had predicted from the outset of shooting. But despite her success, and the resultant attention from the media, as Nick had promised they persisted in living a normal family life.

  Not for them the phalanxes of bodyguards. Sarah shopped in Malibu, with Sam singing and shouting in his buggy, like any other young mother, and Nick was frequently seen with a baby seat in the back of his car as he drove them all between houses or on frequent outings. Sarah Campbell was renowned for her cool attitude to the Press, and adamant in her refusal to allow them any access to her precious son whatsoever.

  Isabelle had somehow stayed on with them. Devoted to Sam from the very start, she had happily accompanied them to California and was now being ardently wooed by a young cameraman. From the window Sarah could see her trying to control an over-excited three-year-old, and Cress and James's little daughter. They laughed with amusement as the two children rolled together like battling puppies under the feet of other guests. A sophisticated wedding it most certainly was not, she thought, as Madeleine laughingly stepped in to grab at one child as Isabelle lifted up the other.

  Despite her earlier suspicions, Sarah liked her. When Madeleine had fallen in love with Mark Winford, on the set of Chrysalis, Sarah had merrily promoted it - she and Nick helping it along by inviting them both back to Malibu, and then Palm Springs when they finally got it furnished. Madeleine was married to Mark now, and consequently travelled with him most of the time, but she still worked for Nick occasionally, and they both welcomed her. She was as efficient as Jane had been in London - though Jane was lost to the company now. Slowly, Sarah fumed over the card in her hand, and looked again at the message on it. Simple, but heartfelt, she knew.

  'With all our love on your wedding day, from Charles and Jane Hastings'.

  That Jane had long nursed an affection for Charles had come as a complete surprise to them all. That she had flown out to Nice and taken charge of the situation astonished them - Nick most of all. She had simply refused to let Charles die, and six months later she had married him - to Sarah's private and intense relief. She put the card down and smiled at Charlotte.

  'Is Nick OK?' she asked, reaching for the bouquet of delicate lilies that Cress held out to her.

  'Poor Daddy! He's shaking like a leaf. I've never seen him in such a state!' Charlotte giggled. 'I'm sure he thinks you're going to change your mind at the last minute!'

  'Since he and George dragged James out for eighteen holes of golf this morning, it's probably exhaustion!' Cress laughed. 'I know it's your wedding night, but I don't think you'll have much luck tonight, Sarah!'

  'Rubbish!' Sarah retorted. 'He plays golf at least twice a week now. I swear it was half the reason he was so keen to buy this place! Even if he did insist it was years since he played, he soon got back into it.'

  'Well, at least you know where he is on a golf course!' Cress joked.

  'I have no worries there, Cress.' Sarah smiled. 'I never have had, and I'm sure I never will.'

  'No, I don't think you will. I've never known a man as much in love with a woman as Nick is with you. I would never have believed it possible of him a few years ago. He's changed so much. I never thought he had the capacity to love anyone, yet to see him with Sam is a revelation!'

  'Well, that's hardly surprising, is it?' Charlotte put in. 'Sam can charm the birds off the trees, and he's only three!' She adored her baby brother, and was constantly nagging them to have more babies - something they had steadfastly held back on until they could marry. Within months of their moving to California Charlotte had demanded to join them for every school holiday, and now planned to commence a Film Studies course at UCLA in the autumn.

  'Well, we certainly know where he gets that from!' Cress said. 'He may be the image of Nick, but his personality is all Sarah.'

  'Apart from the odd flash of temper!' Sarah commented. 'Then he is pure Nicholas, I assure you! There - how do I look?'

  'Absolutely gorgeous! As usual!' Cress made a critical adjustment to the coronet of white lilies that sat on Sarah's long hair and then smoothed out the floating layers of the delicate cream silk dress she had designed for her. 'OK, Charlotte, tell George he can come in now.' Grinning broadly, George hugged his sister as she ran to him. At last he was free of Maggie grumbling about Sarah's appalling lack of morals. Down in the garden a beaming Maggie was fussing over Becky's bridesmaid dress.

  Cress had calmly handed her own hoyden of a daughter to Madeleine, and just prayed that Daisy had managed to keep her bridesmaid dress on - never mind clean! Her favourite trick was to strip at any opportunity, much to James's amuseme
nt. Daisy was doubly precious to them 'after months of IVF treatment - a process Cress was considering again, since it had been discovered it was the only way they could have children.

  Smiling now, she followed Sarah and George, scooping a hand from each little girl as George led Sarah forward to the flower-encrusted arbour erected on the terrace where an astonishingly nervous Nick waited with James grinning at his side. Charlotte was right. He had been terrified that Sarah would change her mind, and it hadn't helped being forced to spend the night away from the house at the Marriot, under James's care, and so being deprived of her overnight.

  He looked so handsome, Sarah thought dreamily as George led her along the flowery path towards him, his white dinner jacket enhancing his tan and the deep, dark sheen of his hair.

  He was smiling with relief as she reached him, but he said nothing, simply took her hand and lifted it to his lips in a silent gesture of his love. She barely heard the words of the service. All she was aware of was Nick beside her, his warmth and the light touch of his fingers on hers. He even laughingly needed to prompt her with her responses.

  'First time Sarah's forgotten her lines, and it has to be now!' James quipped irreverently as they exchanged their rings.

  Then the celebrant said, 'You may kiss the bride!' and she came alive, being swept into Nick's arms for a kiss that brought cheers from their audience for its length and fervour.

  'At last, darling!' he murmured. 'At long last you're really my wife! I love you, Mrs Grey.'

  'As I love you.' Sarah leant back in his arms and Nick lifted her up, spinning her round with sheer, exuberant joy.

  'Tonight . . .' he whispered as everyone thronged around them. 'Tonight. . . we'll set about making Charlotte's wishes for another brother a reality, shall we?'

  About Anne Styles

  Anne Styles started writing as a teenager - writing wicked stories starring her friends at school. She then stopped for years and grew up!

  A bet with her daughter that she couldn’t get a book published before a mutual acquaintance got her started again and The Sins of Sarah was the result.

  For many years she was a costume designer in TV and films so has naturally drawn on her background experience for her story and not a few of her characters.