Beautifully Irresistible (52 page)

The room seemed to swell with love.

We were going to be so very happy. The famous five!

“I’m going to ring the twins. They will be over the moon when they see him!” Zack grinned widely, passing back our little bundle of joy.

His face was lit up with happiness. His features looked so young and carefree. It made my heart swell for my gorgeous husband.

“I love you, Zack,” I told him as he kissed me again.

“I love you too, Jennifer, and you were amazing. Maybe we should do it again!”

“Maybe we should! I would love a girl too!”

What the hell was I saying? It was agony but so worth it!

We both gazed down unbelievably happy with our beautiful baby son.

Our life together was complete perfection.

Chapter Seventy Six

Tuesday 27th September 2011

Zachary Cole sat at the beautiful desk in his study staring out into the immaculate garden.

His mind was in complete turmoil. He sighed deeply and rubbed his tired sapphire blue eyes. His glasses dug uncomfortably into the bridge of his nose.

A glossy black Labrador lay asleep at his feet, fidgeting whilst lost in energetic dreams.

The only sound in the room was from a grandfather clock ticking into the silence.

Taking another large gulp of whisky, he read the letter from his wife once again.

Zachary,

I have tried many, many times to talk to you but you are so cold and angry with me. Things have gone too far in our relationship now. There is no way back for us.

I am in love with someone else and I am leaving you.

I could have just disappeared but I feel that I owe you an explanation.

Where did it all go wrong for us?

I loved you so much once and I really wish that I still did.

You were my everything. You made my life so perfect.

Zachary, you were my soul mate and my best friend.

You are such a good and honourable man, Zachary, and you are a wonderful father but it’s just not enough for me anymore.

I feel so empty and miserable when I am not with my lover.

I love him and he makes me feel alive and cherished.

You made me feel that way once, Zachary.

I hope that you will feel happiness again with someone else as you really, really deserve it. I know you are sleeping with Olivia but you are far too good for her. She will bore you to tears eventually.

You have a big heart and I hope that you can share it with someone worthy of it.

I have no wish to take the twins from you. I have never bonded with either of them and I know that they will be better off with you. They will thrive without me in their life. I am too selfish to be a good mother.

You are a far better parent that I will ever be.

I am going to sign my share of Cole Enterprises over to my father. I have no interest in the business any more.

Tyler and I are planning on leaving next week. I can’t tell you where we are going but it is somewhere far away from here.

Please don’t try to stop me.

I know that you don’t love me anymore. You don’t look at me the way you used to when we first met.

You couldn’t get enough of me and we had some very good and special times together.

I won’t ever forget what a wonderful lover you were. The best I ever had. You made me feel like I was the only girl in the world.

We would make love anytime and anywhere we could and it was always so amazing. I remember losing entire weekends in bed with you.

I wish we still had that connection. I have never felt it with someone since nor do I expect to.

Perhaps we rushed in and had our family too young.

Who knows?

Please don't hate me as I could never hate you Zachary.

Phoebe.

Removing his glasses, he opened up his desk drawer and took out a lighter. Pulling the waste paper basket over, he held the letter over the bin and watched it burn away to nothing.

Just like his marriage.

He quickly pushed the chair back and stood up.

The black dog jumped up and followed him.

He felt light-headed as nausea rose in waves from his empty stomach. His legs moved quickly towards the French doors. He gulped the fresh air greedily. Zachary decided to walk down the garden towards the dense woodland.

The handsome dog followed in his wake.

A scruffy man in his late thirties appeared in front of him.

“That’s me finished for the day, Mr Cole,” he told him.

“Right, Alan, see you tomorrow.”

He continued down the path to the woods. They were so quiet and peaceful as he headed deeper and deeper into them. Zachary walked for some time lost in his tortured thoughts.

Suddenly he heard a loud commotion up ahead. He motioned to the dog to sit before he made a noise. Creeping closer, he saw his wife and son arguing.

Not knowing what to do, he watched the scene from his vantage point. His wife was on her horse Puzzle who was clearly getting upset by the raised voices. Puzzle’s head thrashed wildly from side to side as he paced around.

“Mum, you can’t leave us. We need you! Why do you have to go?” his son wailed desperately as tears ran down his young face.

Zachary’s chest tightened and heaved for him.

“Jasper, nothing you can say will make me stay. I don’t love your father any more. You will all be better off without me.”

“What sort of a mother are you, anyway?” he whispered.

“I’m not a good one at all, Jasper,” she told him sadly.

“What about Scarlett? She will be so devastated! Don’t you care at all?” Jasper screamed, moving closer to her.

Phoebe dismounted from her horse, tying him to a nearby tree. She gently patted the horse showing him more affection than she showed her distraught son.

“We are getting nowhere, Jasper. How long have we been out here?” She glanced absently at her watch.

Zachary had seen her going out about an hour ago just before he had found the letter from her on his study desk. He couldn’t work out why Jasper wasn’t at school but now wasn’t the time to reprimand him for bunking off.

“Mum, I love you! You must love me and Scarlett! Please don’t go!” Jasper sobbed loudly as his face crumpled.

Zachary’s fists clenched as he felt a stabbing feeling in his heart. How could she be so callous? He would lay down his life for his children. They were everything to him. Why did she feel so differently?

“I have written your father a letter explaining things. I’m sorry Jasper, but I am leaving next week.”

Phoebe showed Jasper no compassion as she told him her plans. Her dead and empty grey eyes stared at him.

Jasper looked at her silently pleading with her not to leave them. Huge sobs racked his young body.

After a few silent moments, he gathered himself up and lifted his face defiantly towards her. She watched him warily, suddenly uneasy in his presence.

“You are not going anywhere!” Jasper shouted as he aimed a gun at his mother.

His hand was shaking visibly. Tears blurred in his eyes.

“Jasper, what the hell are you doing? Put the gun down!” she screamed.

She started to walk towards him. Her gloved hands flailed around.

“Say you will stay then, Mother dearest!” he sneered.

His handsome face twisted into a grimace.

“Okay, Jasper, I promise you I will stay. Please put the gun down now. I beg you, sweetheart.”

She reached out a hand and gently touched his shoulder.

“Liar!” he spat.

His blue eyes were wild with hurt and anger.

Zachary quickly burst out of the trees and lunged towards him trying to grab the gun. The black dog barked loudly.

He was too late.

Jasper had squeezed the trigger twice. Shots echoed into the woods. He dropped the gun on the ground.

Puzzle reared up breaking his loose tether. He disappeared quickly into the dense woodland.

Zachary looked at his son, then at the lifeless body lying on the ground in front of them.

Blood oozed from a wound in her forehead. The first shot had missed. He raked a hand through his thick blond hair.

“Jasper, what have you done?” he whispered, staring down at Phoebe.

His stomach heaved as he leant on a tree and emptied its meagre contents onto the ground.

“Oh my god, Dad, I didn’t mean to! I just touched the trigger! I’m so sorry!” he cried, running towards Zachary.

His face was pale and drawn. Zachary wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and pulled his son into him, kissing the top of his head.

“Jasper, is that my gun?” he asked him quietly.

“Yes, I took it from your study. Dad, is she dead?”

“Fucking hell, Jasper, can’t you see that she is? I will fix this. Go back to the house now! Get in the shower, bag your clothes up and talk to no one! Stay in your room! We will never ever speak of this again! Do you understand?”

He grabbed Jasper by the shoulder and shook him gently. His blue eyes bored into his son.

“Yes, Dad, what will happen to me?” he whispered.

“Nothing will happen, just go. Run, Jasper! Go!” he barked.

After one last look at his mother’s body, Jasper melted into the woods, his footsteps fading quickly.

Zachary took his mobile phone from his pocket and speed dialled a number.

“David, yes it’s me. Please can you come to the house? Park in the lane at the side and I will meet you there in about twenty minutes. Okay, thank you, David.”

He ended the call and looked down at Phoebe’s body. She still looked stunningly beautiful. Even in death. Her riding helmet had rolled off her head revealing her lovely long blonde hair. It fanned serenely around her head.

A stray tear ran down his face. With a shaking hand, he closed her eyes and pressed his lips to hers. Zachary rolled her body under some thick bushes. He picked up the gun and put it into his jacket pocket. Jumping up, he ran back to the house.

After getting some spades, a tarpaulin and a wheelbarrow from his garage, he sprinted back to the body, dumping the equipment on the ground. He then quickly made his way to the lane to meet David. David was waiting patiently in his car.

“David, thank you so much for coming.”

“What’s going on, Zack? You look like shit!”

“I could really use your help, David. Please follow me.”

Zachary quickly led David to his wife’s body.

“Jesus, Zack! What happened?”

David’s face was white with shock. He clamped a hand over his mouth.

“I argued with her and accidentally shot her. It’s a complete fucking mess!” he told him.

He exhaled loudly hoping that David would swallow the lie.

“Jesus, Zack! I saw her at the office earlier. I argued with her in the conference room about the merger.”

“It doesn’t matter now. Please, David, will you help me bury her?”

“Of course I will, Zack.”

“About a mile from here there is an area where the earth has caved in to a deep recess. I have been meaning to fix it but it will be a perfect burial site. It’s this way, David. Come on.”

They quickly wrapped Phoebe’s body in the tarpaulin and put it into the wheel barrow. Zachary and David were sweating profusely as they trudged through the dense undergrowth.

“Here we are,” he announced, panting loudly as they reached an area of soft grass.

Grabbing a spade, Zachary disturbed the grass gently. It gave way and a small hole was revealed. With the help of David, he tipped the body out of the wheelbarrow and forced it down into the makeshift grave.

The body quickly disappeared from view as if it had been swallowed up. He then repositioned the grass carefully.

Standing back, he surveyed the area for signs of disturbance. He could see none and he felt satisfied that the body would not be easily located there.

“I will plant some dense shrubs to cover the area. Yes, that’s what I will do,” he said more to himself than his partner in crime.

“It will be okay, Zack. The worst is over now, my friend.”

Zachary turned and looked at him. His expression was thoughtful. He scratched his chin absently.

“Thank you, David, and I need to ask you something, but it’s a really big something.”