Behind Every Cloud

by Lawless, Pauline

  On their last night Ellie invited Rachel for dinner in their favourite restaurant. They both agreed that it had been a wonderful holiday and they were sad to be leaving. She and Rachel had become very close – BFFs, Ellie said. Seeing Rachel’s puzzled look she then had to explain that it meant ‘Best Friends Forever’.

  Ellie ordered a bottle of champagne and Rachel toasted her. “To my BFF!” she said, laughing.

  Ellie raised her glass, smiling. “AAF!”

  “Now what does that mean?” Rachel asked frowning, thinking that she was definitely getting old.

  “Always And Forever,” Ellie explained laughing.

  They both enjoyed the superb food. Then, as the waiter placed their desserts in frontof them, Ellie had a feeling that someone was staring at her. Looking around she saw that it was a young man who had just arrived at another table with a big group of friends. His eyes were a very vibrant blue and, as she met his glance, he held her in his intense gaze. Throughout the rest of the meal she was aware of him and, every time she looked over, he was staring at her. His friends were laughing and talking loudly in Spanish but he didn’t seem to be taking part in the conversation. She felt her stomach flutter as she caught his gaze once more.He was very good-looking with dark curly hair and a square jaw-line but it was his eyes that were mesmerising. She felt as if they were the only two people in the room. Va-va-voom!

  Rachel noticed her discomfiture and looked around to see what was causing it.

  “Oh, goodness, he’s very handsome and he seems interested in you,” she said, grinning at Ellie who was blushing madly.

  “Yeah, well, what’s the point? I’m leaving tomorrow.”

  Soon afterwards, Rachel got up to ask for a taxi.

  Ellie stood up and slipped on her jacket. She looked over at the young man and saw a distraught look on his face. Next moment he was standing beside her. As she gazed at him, her heart almost stopping, he said something to her in Spanish.

  She shook her head. “Sorry, I don’t speak Spanish,” she said breathlessly.

  “Oh my God, you’re Irish!” he exclaimed, his blue eyes lighting up.

  From his accent she guessed that he was English.

  “I’m Robin,” he said. “Can’t you stay a little longer?”

  “Ellie, our taxi’s here!” Rachel called, beckoning to her.

  “Sorry, I have to go,” Ellie said.

  “So you’re Ellie. I have to meet you again. Please?”

  She felt like she was drowning in those blue eyes as she sadly shook her head.

  “Sorry, I have to go,” she told him, leaving quickly.

  She couldn’t get him out of her mind all that night and hardly slept at all. Looking out of the plane as it took off from Malaga the next day, she wondered where he was now and what he was doing. She closed her eyes and thought about those intense blue eyes that seemed to see into her soul. She sighed. If only she’d had one more day in Spain. Who knows what would have happened? Life was cruel!

  78

  David had given women a wide berth for a few months after his encounter with Sandrine. No matter what he said or did, Ellie was adamant that she would not return to him. Then, just when he finally accepted that he would not be able to win her back, he discovered online-dating. It was wonderful. You could have a long online courtship with a girl and then when you met her, if you didn’t like her, you could dump her. Definitely the way to go!

  Carl, meanwhile, was brooding on his situation. He had been slowly making up lost ground in his career but his life was empty. The only joy in his life was seeing his kids every Sunday. He’d lain very low where women were concerned after getting his fingers burned with Zita.You couldn’t be too careful! He wondered if he was getting paranoid.

  What bothered him most was that Rachel seemed to be blooming without him. She was looking more beautiful than ever and seemed to have found an inner contentment that eluded him. Her party-plan business was doing very well, he’d heard. She was a remarkable woman and he knew he’d been a stupid idiot to lose her. He realised that he still loved her but much good that would do him.Of course she was joined at the hip to that bloody wine crowd.Damn them! That was what had started all his problems in the first place.They had all seemingly passed their Higher Cert examand Rachel was talking of going on to study for her Diploma of Wine. Whatever next? She was full of surprises.

  He read in the Australianthat Zita’s case was going to trial the following week. He hoped that there would be no fallout for him from it. The media were like vultures. They picked up on every titbit of gossip they could find. He’d keep his fingers crossed.

  Now he should go for a run but he hadn’t got the energy. He had gained over a stone since Rachel had kicked him out. Comfort eating and drinking! He really would have to do something about it. All of his clothes were tight. It depressed him. Going to the fridge he took out the two doughnuts and tucked in.

  Rachel had worked hard to stay positive since that awful time when her whole world had been blown apart. It had been very difficult for her but, thanks to the support she’d received from her wine group, she was doing fine, all things considered.

  Jacob and Becky were fantastic and seemed not to have suffered too much as a result of the break-up. The fact that she spent much more time with them these days meant she had become much more involved with them on a day-to-day basis. Her party-plan business had taken off in leaps and bounds. She was now the ‘in’ party-planner and she was enjoying it enormously.

  She had also decided to pursue her wine studies and study along with Ronan and Ellie for her diploma. Sam had let them all know that it would be a big leap forward and that they would have to put in quite a few hours’ study every week but she loved it and this knowledge of wine was very useful for her party business.

  She still wasn’t able to meet Carl without her stomach clenching, but time is a great healer and it was getting easier. Now when he called for the children on a Sunday she could be quite civil, even friendly with him. He looked wretched and uncared for and it upset her to see him like that. After all, she couldn’t just erase all the happy years they’d had together as easily as that. She still cared for him despite everything he’d done.His swagger was gone now and he was quite humble. She much preferred him like this. Gone was the arrogant, cocky man she’d been married to.

  Once,he had started to suggest that they might try and give it another shot but she didn’t think that was an option. She would never go back to being a political wife. She wondered if he knew that Zita’s trial was due to start the next week. She’d been Googling the Australian. Well, she wasn’t about to tell him. Nor did she tell him that TV2 had been on to her to say they were going to run the documentary Zita had done on her the following Sunday. She couldn’t have stopped them anyway so she told them it was fine with her.

  The newspapers were full of the Zita story the following weekend and the whole story was dragged up once more. She wondered how Carl felt seeing his stupidity splashed all over the headlines again. He wasn’t able to take the children on Sunday so she and Ronan took them to the zoo.

  After they were fed and safely in bed, she and Ronan sat down to some wine and cheese before watching the programme. She’d put the answering machine on and turned off her mobile so the outside world could stay that way.

  As the titles rolled she found herself clenching her fists and Ronan reached over and took her hand in his.

  “It will be fine,” he reassured her. “It’s all in the past now.”

  At the start of the programme a presenter explained the circumstances and how Zita Williams, who had made the programme, would be standing trial for murder, in a couple of hours in Adelaide, Australia. It was meaty stuff and Ronan could feel the tension in Rachel’s body.

  The presenter continued: “It was an anonymous blog that Miss Williams was putting online which led to her discovery as the suspect in the gruesome murder, fifteen years previously. This blog was aimed at discrediting the TD for
Dublin North East, Mr Carl Dunne.”

  Rachel sucked in her breath and wondered if Carl was watching. She heard the phone ringing and thoughtit might be him.

  “Since this programme was made, Mr Dunne and his wife Rachel have separated. However, we feel that at this time of Miss Williams’ trial it will be of interest to our viewers.” She concluded by saying that the station had a reporter covering the trial in Adelaide and would be reporting each day’s events there in their newsbulletins.

  Rachel sat mesmerised, watching herself on screen, and it seemed like a lifetime ago. She remembered how excited she’d been, not realising that Zita, who was smiling and friendly with her, was cheating on her with her husband. She cringed when she saw the footage of Carl with herself and the children playing ‘happy families’. At that moment she hated him for ruining it all. When the programme finally ended, she felt drained. It was then she started to weep, softly at first and then it became a torrent. Ronan held her and rocked her, stroking her hair all the while. When she’d finally finished she was like a rag-doll and he helped her up the stairs to her bedroom. Fully clothed, she slipped between the sheets.

  “Stay with me for a while, Ronan,” she whispered.

  He lay down beside her on top of the covers. Stroking her face and brushing away her tears, he thought that she’d never looked more beautiful. She was deeply upset and in need of comfort and he knew that she would have made love to him if he had made a move. But he would never take advantage of her in her vulnerable state. Besides, it would surely change their relationship and he valued that too much.

  So he lay beside her and stroked her silky hair until he heard her steady breathing and knew she was asleep. Then he settled down on her sofa for the night, in case she would need him again.

  Ellie watched the programme on Rachel in Sam’s house and she’d cried, seeing what a great wife Rachel had been. She’d offered to be with Rachel for the screening but Ronan was going to be there so she wouldn’t be alone. During the commercial break, they’d tried calling her but couldn’t reach her, so Sam called Ronan. Ronan had been very quiet but had assured him that Rachel was okay.

  “She can’t talk to you right now but don’t worry. I’ll stay with her, if she wants me to,” he’d said.

  “Well, give her our love and, if we can do anything, anything at all, tell her we’re here for her.”

  “She knows that, Sam, thanks. I’ll take care of her.”

  Sam and Ellie wererelieved that she wasn’t alone.

  Zita was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Luckily for her there was no death penalty in Australia. The trial had been on the news every single night. Maybe now the furore would die down. Next week it would be old news.

  Since coming home from Marbella, Ellie hadn’t been able to get the young Englishman in Spain out of her mind. She had little interest in going out to parties although she was invited to many. She knew this was crazy but he had somehow got under her skin. Now it was Valentine’s night and Ellie couldn’t decide whether to stay in and watch Mama Mia again, or go to the party that one of Sam’s friends had invited her to. In the end Sam pressurised her to go as it was being held in the local rugby club and was close enough to walk to. He had said he’d call for her and they would walk together.

  She had just entered the packed hall and was calling out greetings to all the people she knew when she saw him. She gasped. Was it possible? Was that really Robin standing just twenty feet away from her? She’d given up all hope of ever meeting him again and for a moment she wondered if she’d conjured him up in her imagination.But no, he was here, talking to some friends, and she stood transfixed, unable to tear her eyes away. He must have felt her gaze on him because he looked up and those intense blue eyes that she remembered so well opened wide in shock. He said something to his friends who all looked towards her and then, within seconds, he was by her side.

  “Ellie!” he said breathlessly, taking her hand.

  “Robin!” she whispered, gazing into his eyes.

  “You two know each other?” Sam asked, amazed.

  They didn’t answer. They hadn’t even heard him as Robin took her hand and led her away.

  She soon discovered that he’d been as smitten with her as she’d been with him and that he’d thought of her constantly too. He told her that he was the manager of a big British wine chain which had opened in Ireland the previous year. He knew Sam well and was surprised to hear that she was working for him. The coincidence of finding each other again seemed incredible and was fate, he assured her. As he took her on to the dance floor for a slow number and pulled her close, Ellie felt an excitement that she’d never felt before. Va-va-voom!

  “I believe in love at first sight, do you?” he whispered in her ear.

  “I think I do now,” she whispered back.

  It certainly felt like it.

  “What did you say to your friends when you first saw me tonight?” she asked, curious.

  “I told them that the angel who had just walked in was the girl I was going to marry,” he admitted shyly.

  “Oh, Robin,” she said, kissing him right there on the dancefloor.

  “Well, I never!” was Sam’s reaction as he watched them.

  79

  Conor rang Ronan with some amazing news the following week.

  “Ronan, you won’t believe this. I met a guy I play golf with who is friendly with Louise’s new bloke and he told me that their relationship is going down the Swanee.” Conor’s voice was gleeful. “Seemingly, even though he’s fabulously wealthy, he’d like to stay that way and Louise is making serious inroads into his fortune. My friend says that they are constantly fighting, even in public. What do you think of that?” He could barely conceal his merriment.

  “Well, she’s made her bed,” Ronan said sadly. “We’re no longer a couple so it’s nothing to do with me.” He didn’t wish Louise any ill-will. She was just a selfish, spoilt woman.

  A couple of days later Louise rang him.

  “Hi, Ronan, how are you?” Her voice was sugary sweet. “I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately. I’d really like to see you again. I think maybe we’ve made a mistake, separating so quickly like that.”

  “No, Louise, and I didn’t make any mistake. I really don’t want to see you again.”

  “You bastard!” she yelled into the phone.

  Ronan hung up. He didn’t want to hear any more.

  It was Becky who started it. She had started waking in the night and calling for her daddy. Rachel was worried. The following Sunday Carl took the kids to the zoo even though it was a fiercely cold day. How ironic that he was taking them there regularly now whereas he had always refused to go before.

  “I want Daddy to come in for tea,” Becky had cried as Carl dropped them off. “Please, Mummy? He’s awfully cold from the zoo.” She grabbed Carl’s hand and tried to pull him into the house.

  “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 eyes 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.”