by Janey Rosen
The children come running out of the house across the gravel driveway and Joe throws his arms around Sebastian who sweeps him up and spins him around before tussling his hair.
“Hey big guy.” Sebastian looks down at Joe. “ You look after your old mum ok?”
“Not so much of the old,” I protest.
Sebastian turns to Bella who seems to have really taken to him, which is rare for my moody teenage daughter. He clutches her in a tight embrace and kisses her forehead affectionately and she blushes.
“Bella Belle,” he sighs tenderly. “Remember to watch that smart mouth of yours young lady and I hope to see you again really soon,” he says.
“Yeh, whatever,” she laughs and as she gets into the car she blows him a kiss and another for Scarlett who has joined Sebastian to say farewell.
“Drive safely darling,” he tells me. “Call me when you get home and I’ll try and drive up next week. Oh and happy New Year! I’m sure next year will be your year.” He kisses me again and after hugging Scarlett, I get into the car and we set off down the tree-lined drive.
I can see Scarlett and Sebastian waving and feel a twinge of jealousy at the closeness they share, the knot tightens in my stomach. I have a long journey ahead and enough time to dwell on this but also to consider how refreshingly different Sebastian is and how much I adore him already. Plus the sex is incredible; I had no idea what a whore I could be!
18
Bella is in a cantankerous mood today. She’s adamant that she does not want to go to stay with Alan at Mike’s house and I’m losing patience with her.
“You are going and that’s that!” I exclaim. “Remember, your father hasn’t seen you since before Christmas and try and give some thought for others Bella instead of yourself.”
“Get lost Mum. If he wasn’t such a bloody loser he’d still be living here!” I slap her face. She catches her breath and puts her hand to her reddening cheek, her eyes brimming with hot tears.
“I HATE you,” she screams as she runs out of the kitchen, taking the stairs two at a time. She slams her bedroom door behind her.
I switch on the kettle, still fuming but feeling guilty for striking her. I haven’t hit her since she was three, and that was a tap on the back of her legs when she threw a terracotta flowerpot at me. She’s always been feisty – takes after me, Alan always said.
Taking my steaming coffee into the lounge, I check Joe’s bag again to make sure he has enough clothes for his stay with Alan. I call up to him to bring down his trainers and another pair of socks and hear one of the children running down the stairs.
As I reach the door to the hallway I see Bella, coat on and bag slung over her shoulder, heading toward the front door.
“Where the hell are you going?” I demand.
“I’m going to stay with Chloe from school. It’s all arranged and you can’t stop me. I’ve got my phone and money and I’ll be back the day after tomorrow,” and she slams out of the front door before I can protest or stop her. I throw open the door but she’s sprinting up the road and disappears around the corner and I know I have to let her go. I text her immediately and tell her I am sorry for slapping her, I love her and ask her to text me when she gets to Chloe’s house which I recall is only half a mile away. She doesn’t reply.
Alan arrives thirty minutes late, and Joe is pacing the hall impatiently waiting for his father. Alan pushes past me and enters the house and I can smell whisky on his breath.
“Hello Alan. Did you have a nice Christmas?” I foolishly ask.
“Bloody great,” he replies sarcastically. “C’mon Joe, get your bag son. Where’s Bella?”
“She’s gone off to stay with Chloe, sorry but you know how she can be. You… you’ve been drinking Alan. I don’t think you should be driving, especially with Joe.”
He looks contemptuously at me, although I notice his eyes don’t focus on mine properly. How much has the man drunk? I feel panicky, sure now that I don’t want Joe in a car with him while he is clearly smashed.
“Look, I’ll make you a coffee. Stay and have a bite to eat and then leave a little later,” I suggest. His face is full of loathing and his speech is a little slurred I notice.
“Typical, so you’ve poishoned my daughter now. Get in the car Joe, itsh unlocked. Beth you have no bloody right to tchell me what I can and fucking can’t do so leave it…”
Joe looks from Alan to me and at Alan again, unsure which of his parents to obey. His brow creases as the volatility of the situation upsets him and his eyes brim with tears. He gauges his father’s anger to be more acute and decides to do as his father says rather than antagonise him more, and he picks up his bag and reaches up to kiss me goodbye.
“Joe, put your bag down and go to your room. Everything’s fine, your dad and I need to talk,” I order. Joe puts his bag down and, red faced with tears tumbling down his cheeks, turns to go upstairs but Alan grabs his arm.
“GET IN THE CAR NOW” he barks. Alan picks up Joe’s bag and I try to snatch it away from him. I’m overwhelmed with the sudden need to protect my son – mothers’ instinct screaming through every cell of my body. Alan shoves my chest and I stumble back falling against the hard edge of the stair bannister knocking the wind out of me.
“Alan FOR GOD’S SAKE!” I scream but he seems like a different person; a man I don’t know, not the man I’ve been married to for seventeen years. Joe is sobbing now and the next thirty seconds are a blur.
Alan pushes Joe through the open doorway and up the pathway, his bag clutched in Alan’s hand. I see them but am powerless to stop them. My desolate boy, shoulders heaving as he cries, being jostled into the passenger seat of Alan’s car and the screeching of tyres, as Alan speeds away. I’m sobbing too now, huge wracking sobs, which come from my core.
Hands shaking, I dial my mother’s number and when she answers I can barely speak. I have a terrible dark foreboding, which I can’t rationalise but my mother will understand. Only a mother can understand. My mother sooths me and tells me she is on her way to me.
Call twenty-seven. There’s still no answer - just Alan’s voicemail message.
“Hi you’ve reached the voicemail of Alan Dove. I’m sorry I can’t take your call but leave a message. Cheers.”
I try Mike’s mobile and landline numbers again and am about to hang up when he answers.
“Mike thank God,” I sigh. “Look, Alan picked Joe up nearly two hours ago and he was drunk… and I know he’s probably stopped off for something to eat… but I’m worried Mike. He was pissed again.”
“He’s not here Beth. Did you two fight?”
“Yes. But only because I wouldn’t let him drive Joe when he’d been drinking. He reeked of booze Mike. Look, can you call me the minute they get there please?” I end the call.
My mother calls the accident and emergency department at the local hospital but thankfully, they’ve had no traffic accident victims admitted this evening. I try Bella’s mobile number, wondering if Joe or Alan have been in touch with her but she curtly replies that she hasn’t seen or heard from Alan and doesn’t care if she never sees him again, ‘the dick’.
I waste no time admonishing her, instead I decide to drive to Mike’s house in case Alan and Joe have arrived there. As I grab my coat from the hook by the front door my mobile phone rings, it is Mike.
“Beth love, there’s been a terrible accident.”
19
Mum holds my hand as we sit in the family room of the Accident and Emergency Department, at The Lakes General Hospital. It’s a stark little room with peach walls, 1980’s floral border and pastel striped curtains.
Mum and I sit together on the hard green sofa. A plastic cup of water has been thoughtfully placed on the battered old teak coffee table in front of me, next to the obligatory box of tissues and untactful leaflets on becoming an organ donor. I take a tissue from the box and blow my nose, my cheeks hot with fresh tears.
It’s been forty minutes now and there is still no n
ews of Alan and Joe. All we know so far is that Alan’s car collided with a tree and it took the fire crew over an hour to cut Alan and Joe free, and paramedics a further twenty minutes to stabilise both prior to the journey to hospital. The emergency helicopter could not be diverted apparently due to it already attending a further accident near Dorchester. All this information serves to increase my sense of panic at the severity of their condition.
My phone pings and I look at the text message on the screen, it’s Sebastian wondering why I haven’t called him to say that I arrived home safely. I type a brief message back telling him about the accident, I will call him later. My phone immediately vibrates as Sebastian calls me and I stand and leave the room as I answer his call but a nurse shoots a disapproving look at me, so I exit through the automatic doors to the ambulance loading area and burst into tears when I hear Sebastian’s voice.
He has such a soothing, calming tone as he assures me that the doctors will be doing all they can to help my boy and that he’s sure that Joe will pull through, as he’s such a tough little guy. Sebastian sounds genuinely concerned and choked up too and I am so grateful for his support, suddenly longing to feel his strong protective arms around me. Just listening to his comforting voice makes me feel calmer and he tells me he is on his way to me.
“Beth!” My mother bursts through the automatic doors and grabs my arm. “The doctor is looking for you, come on!” she implores.
I cut the call without saying goodbye, thrust the phone in to my coat pocket and follow mum back in to the family room where a tall, wiry doctor dressed in blue scrubs and rubbing the back of his neck is waiting for me. He tells me to sit down and I want to scream… “Joe?” my voice is thready, and barely audible.
“Mrs. Dove. Beth. My name is Doctor David Sutherland. I’m the A&E registrar on duty, and I’ve been leading the team looking after your son and your husband. As you know, Joe and Alan were in a very bad way when they arrived here. Each had a Glasgow Coma Score of just three, Beth. This means that, in essence, their brains were not functioning. You must understand that they were both in the front seats of the car and both took the full force of the impact head on. I only say this so that you understand how difficult it has been to try and reverse the damage that was done. I have to tell you, Beth, with deep regret we have not been able to save either Joe or Alan.”
My mother wails from somewhere in this cold miserable little room.
My world falls apart. I can’t absorb what the doctor is saying to me. The room starts to spin and I hold on to my mother’s arm to steady myself.
“Immediate CT scans showed considerable fracturing of the skull in Joe, and unfortunately Alan sustained a ruptured aorta on impact. I have to say, that neither will have been in any pain, nor have known anything about the accident… Mrs. Dove… Beth… I and my team are so very sorry for your loss.”
Coming Soon …
March 2013
Sebastian – Dark Bonds
© Janey Rosen
www.janeyrosen.com
In the aftermath of the tragedy that befalls her, Elizabeth Dove heads for the tranquillity of Penmorrow with her daughter Bella, under the protective guardianship of the sultry and dominant Lord Sebastian De Montfort. However, his beautiful maid Scarlett is hiding a dark and foreboding secret. Elizabeth knows that Scarlett means to harm her, and yet Sebastian remains Scarlett’s protector too. Time is running out for Elizabeth as she succumbs to Sebastian’s sexual dominance, while Scarlett’s evil plans to rid Penmorrow of her adversary threaten Elizabeth’s very existence….
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
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2
3
4
5
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7
8
9
10
11
12
13
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18
19
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