Deep Blue Sea (41 page)

65

Diana drove down the long winding drive towards Hanley Park and parked the car – one of Julian’s favourites – outside the Doric pillars. She was welcomed into the house by Concepción, one of Ralph and Barbara Denver’s maids, who kissed her on the cheeks, talking excitedly about ‘baby’, and led her out to the back of the house, where the long green lawns disappeared to the horizon.

She could see Ralph in the distance, in a cream panama hat and a blue blazer with brass buttons, looking as if he were about to go and watch tennis or a regatta. Her father-in-law turned and waved, and then walked towards her slowly, with difficulty.

His face was tanned – she knew they had spent most of the time since the funeral in Provence – but it could not disguise his world-weariness. But as they embraced, Diana felt more warmth and feeling in his touch than she had ever done before.

‘Come and sit,’ he said, leading her to a wrought-iron table and chairs in a shady spot under the branches of an ancient oak tree. ‘How is Rachel?’ he asked quickly.

‘Having a long, well-deserved sleep,’ she smiled.

‘She’s one ballsy girl, your sister.’

‘We wouldn’t want her any other way.’

Ralph’s expression hardened. ‘You know, Greg Willets and Patty Reynolds are going to pay for what they did. I will make sure of that.’

She saw the steely ruthlessness in his eyes and she had no doubt in her mind that he would. Diana did not consider herself a vindictive person but she knew she was feeling her own maelstrom of emotions about Patty Reynolds and Greg Willets. She could see them now, running along the bank of the Beaulieu River away from the helicopter. Adam had called the police immediately and chased after them, and although they had disappeared into the woodland that adjoined the Reynolds’s property, they had been picked up by uniformed officers within the hour. Diana was sure she would never forget those few excruciating seconds before she opened the cabin door of the boat praying that she would not find her sister dead inside. But it hadn’t worked out that way. Not this time.

She took a minute before she spoke again. ‘I believe Denver Group is holding a selection committee meeting in a fortnight to formally appoint the new chief executive.’

She was up to speed with everything. Anne-Marie Carr was going to give her full daily reports on all the major events happening within the company, and Diana had been surprised at how interested she had been in her first missive.

‘I need to tell you something,’ she said slowly.

Coming over here, she had wrestled with what she was about to say.

‘It’s not easy to do this,’ she began. ‘But please believe that what I’m about to tell you is the truth. Believe me when I say that I want the right thing for your family. For you, for Charlie, for Julian.’

Ralph frowned. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘I know that Elizabeth is the favourite to take over the CEO job, and I don’t think that’s right.’

She couldn’t pause for breath, she couldn’t look him in the eye. Part of her felt traitorous saying this. Without Elizabeth she felt sure that her sister would not be tucked up soundly asleep; in fact she hated to think what might have happened to her. But she also felt quite strongly that people had to account for what they had done.

‘As you know, I got Rachel to look into Julian’s death. I did it because I had to know the truth. Rachel did her job, she did a great job, but she found out more than she’d bargained for, more than she wanted to know.’

She closed her eyes, knowing that what she was about to say could blow the Denvers even further apart. The words were right there, settling on her tongue. Elizabeth’s involvement with Susie McCormack. The plan to seduce Julian so that he would be irrevocably tarnished, so discredited that Elizabeth would get his job. But did she want to put his family through any more pain?

Tears were prickling at her eyes.

‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be telling you this,’ she whispered finally.

‘Don’t worry. We know what Elizabeth did.’ Ralph’s low baritone was so soft she could hardly hear it.

‘You do?’ she said incredulously.

He looked up and met her gaze directly. ‘Knowledge is power, Diana. How do you think I built such a successful business?’

He took off his panama hat and put it on the table.

‘After the scandal, we had that girl, Susie McCormack, investigated. Tracked, if you like. My team became aware of communication between Elizabeth and Susie, communication that suggested that they had been involved in the scheme together. If you ever wondered why our daughter didn’t get the CEO job on my retirement, then there is your answer. Sometimes you can be just too ambitious, too ruthless, and that leads to recklessness and mistakes. She is a brilliant executive but she will never get the top job. Not while I am alive anyway.’

‘Did you ever think she was involved in Julian’s death?’

‘Not for one moment,’ he said, his eyes burning a little more brightly, as if Diana had crossed a line. ‘As a parent, you know that your children will make mistakes. But there are some things that you just cannot accept them doing. Some things your mind, your instinct as a parent will not let you even countenance.’

Diana looked to her left and saw two tears running down Mr Denver’s crêpey cheeks, one slightly ahead of the other.

‘I had one motto when I ran the business. Learn from your mistakes, but always look forward. Never back. A new CEO will be appointed for the Denver Group, and for the first time ever, that person will not be a member of the Denver family.’ He gave Diana a small smile. ‘Perhaps it’s not a bad thing to have some fresh blood whilst we wait for the next generation.’

‘Next generation?’

‘You know how proud we all are of Charlie. He is growing up into a very fine young man indeed.’

He had stunned her into a relieved and happy silence.

‘You are still part of this family, Diana. If my daughter made you feel that you weren’t, then I apologise for that. I was angry when I heard what you had asked Rachel to do. Of course I wanted to know how my son died, but I was too scared to look myself. I didn’t
want
to look, because I knew that whatever we found, the blame would come back to me.’

‘Back to you?’

‘Did the stress of running the family business kill him? Was his depression some hereditary fault of mine? Did I not protect him enough, guide him enough? I was sending myself mad with those questions.’

‘It’s not your fault, Ralph. None of it.’

He looked sad, defeated. ‘Yes it is. That man. Greg Willets.’ He almost spat out the words. ‘I was taken in by Greg Willets as much as everyone else was. I gave him his first job. And then he killed my son.’

He puffed out his cheeks. His eyes were so misted Diana could barely see the pupils. She stood up and walked around to him, putting her hands lightly on his shoulders.

‘It’s okay. We’ll get through this. We’re family. Family stick together.’

66

Dot came out of the bakery kitchen holding an enormous six-tiered coconut cake. It was covered in frosting and sparkles and had one big candle protruding out of it like a rocket.

‘Are we all supposed to start singing “Happy Birthday”?’ grinned Charlie, slurping his vanilla lemonade.

‘I’m only going back to Thailand,’ grinned Rachel, feeling herself getting quite emotional. ‘What’s all this for?’

‘I want to remind you how fantastic Boughton is so you come back and see us all as often as possible,’ said Dot bossily.

‘Cake always works as a bribe for me,’ said Rachel, sticking a knife through the creamy stickiness.

‘A cake feels like a celebration and I don’t feel like celebrating,’ smiled Sylvia sadly, hooking an arm through Rachel’s. ‘My little girl is going halfway around the world again.’

‘Well, your big girl is loaded so there shouldn’t be any problem with you all getting plane tickets at least twice a year to come and see me.’

Rachel squeezed her mother’s arm and rested her head momentarily against her shoulder. She half expected Sylvia to pull away but when she did not Rachel almost laughed out loud with contentment. She wasn’t sure whether she’d ever have a close and unconditional bond with her mother but right now she at least felt as if Sylvia finally accepted and liked her youngest daughter for who she was. And it made Rachel feel unusually proud.

‘When are we going then, Mum?’ said Charlie. ‘Liam said that the best diving is about now. And I’m old enough to get my PADI certificate.’

‘How about next month, before school starts?’

‘Really?’

‘Truly,’ grinned Diana. ‘Who’s up for it?’

Everyone put their hand in the air.

‘Hang on. I’ve got a surprise for you,’ said Charlie. He retreated to a corner of the café, where he fiddled around with a laptop before calling Rachel over. ‘You’ve got a phone call,’ he said.

Rachel walked across hesitantly and almost stepped back in shock when she saw Ross’s face on the computer screen.

‘What the hell’s this?’

‘Skype, you idiot,’ grinned Charlie.

She put on a pair of headphones and sank into a chair, her fingers brushing the screen. Ross’s face was still bruised and scarred, but he was awake, propped up in bed, and the twinkle in his eyes told her that he was on the mend.

‘All right, Rach? What trouble have you been getting into this time? You see, I can’t turn my back for a minute.’

‘Ross . . .’ She was lost for words. ‘I’ve got you a job,’ she said finally. ‘A great one, actually. All sorted out by Elizabeth Denver, would you believe, but I’ll save it for non-alcoholic beers when I see you.’

‘Well I’m on a plane home tonight. Will you still be there?’

‘I think so, I hope so,’ she grinned.

‘Let’s talk later. I believe you’re having a party.’

Rachel was still smiling five minutes later. Diana put her arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle hug.

‘There’s something I want to do before I leave,’ said Rachel, turning to her sister. ‘Come with me.’

Rachel drove the Range Rover north. Even before they were on the road towards Hanley Park, Diana knew where they were going.

The church was quiet when they arrived. Somewhere in the village they could hear the sound of a lawn-mower, but other than that it was still. The two sisters linked arms as they walked up the path towards Julian’s gravestone.

Rachel crouched and laid a little bunch of purple and yellow freesias from Dot’s café on the soil.

‘I hope I didn’t let you down,’ she whispered.

‘You didn’t,’ said Diana, touching her shoulder.

They turned and walked back to the car. At the gate, Diana stopped and fished an envelope out of her handbag.

‘Open this when you get back to Thailand,’ she instructed.

Rachel looked at her and laughed. ‘You expect me to wait that long? You remember what I was like on Christmas Eve.’

Diana held back the envelope playfully. ‘Well I’m not giving it to you unless you can exercise some self-control.’

‘All right, on the plane then?’ she asked hopefully.

‘Nope,’ said Diana, remaining firm. ‘Do it when you’re with Liam.’

‘With Liam?’

‘No peeking. You promise?’

‘Tell me!’

‘No.’

‘All right, then, I promise.’

Diana handed over the envelope and gave her sister a squeeze.

‘I am going to miss you so much,’ she said, clutching her tightly.

‘I can stay.’

Diana shook her head as if she knew it was time for Rachel to move on.

‘I’m going to be busy here. I’ve got things to do.’

‘The café?’

‘That’s one thing. I’m going to get a lot more involved with Denver too, and I want to set up a foundation in Julian’s memory to help disadvantaged kids go to university. He paid for the son of one of his employees to study architecture, and I know he would have wanted to do more of that, so I thought I could roll it out to hundreds of kids who might benefit from our money.’

‘You’re one of the good ones, Di. Don’t ever forget that,’ said Rachel, feeling all warm inside.

‘Stop getting sentimental,’ Diana grinned, tapping her shoulder. ‘This isn’t goodbye. You’ve got us for a whole month in August, and believe me, you’re probably going to be sick of the sight of me by then.’

‘No I won’t,’ replied Rachel. ‘We won’t even have started making up for lost time.’

‘You’re right. We won’t,’ she grinned as they got in the car and headed back to Somerfold.

67

It was funny how things could seem so alien so quickly, thought Rachel, as she arrived outside the Giles-Miller Diving School. Six weeks ago this had felt like home. Now it felt like a postcard. A snapshot of someone’s honeymoon. The palm trees, the beach, the hot, shining sun were things she had forgotten. She hadn’t been joking when she had told Diana that she would stay in England. There were so many things about it she loved and it was not just her family. Liam had been right when he had predicted she would get sucked back into it. Life as a reporter was like that. It was seductive, exciting. It suited her and perhaps that was the secret to happiness – working out what fit.

Taking a deep breath, she bounded up the two steps into the ramshackle building, feeling nervous as she heard the sound of laughter coming from inside. Part of her wanted to turn back but she knew it was too late now. She saw Sheryl first, in shorts and a T-shirt, and tried to shut off the disappointment that Liam seemed to be having fun without her.

‘Rachel, you’re back!’ grinned the Australian girl, bounding over to hug her.

Caught in her grip, Rachel glanced over Sheryl’s shoulder, wondering if Liam had disappeared into the back room. But when someone came out, she was surprised to see that it was Jeff, who she had almost forgotten was now one of her employees.

‘Is Liam here?’ she asked, feeling apprehensive.

‘He’s at the boat, I think. Does he know you’re here?’

‘No.’ She smiled, willing her courage not to desert her. ‘No, he doesn’t.’

It was just a couple of minutes’ walk to the jetty, and she felt tongue-tied all the way there. She recognised him from a distance, his tall, muscular figure on deck cleaning the boat, his back still turned to her until she was standing right on the edge of the water.

Her dreams and nightmares had been full of boats for the past forty-eight hours, which wasn’t surprising after her experience at the Reynolds’s house. But watching their own boat bob gently in the water, backlit by a beautiful golden setting sun, she felt her resolve strengthen.

‘I wanted to know if you were taking any more divers out today,’ she said, trying to keep her voice as clear and steady as she could.

He spun round, and as she watched his face break into a wide smile, she felt her heart slowly melt.

‘You’re back. You used the ticket,’ he said, jumping on to the jetty.

‘You sound surprised?’ she said, feeling like a teenager.

‘I thought you’d want to stay longer.’

‘Well I couldn’t wait.’

‘For what?’ he asked hesitantly.

‘I need to tell you something.’

As she steeled herself, she could feel the line of her mouth growing firm and a crease appearing between her eyes. She must have looked really serious, because Liam’s own face became concerned.

‘What’s wrong?’

She took a breath, her speech prepared, her mind clear. She felt suddenly emotional. She was tired from the flight, but she knew she had to do this.

‘I know we kissed. And I know you turned me down. I tried to pretend that it didn’t matter, but I know now that it does matter. It really matters. Because I think we are just right together. Me and you. And if two people who are so right together
aren’t
together, then it makes me wonder who the hell should be.’

Liam opened his mouth to speak, but she held her hand up to stop him.

‘Let me finish, because if I don’t, I’m not sure I will ever say it. I loved being back in London but I love something else more. You make me so happy, Liam. You’re right, I was a snappy little crocodile when I came to Ko Tao, and then I wasn’t and that difference was you. I can’t bear the thought of losing you or of you not being in my life any more. And right now, just looking at you is making my heart beat so fast that I could fall off this jetty into the Gulf of Siam. And I know I don’t look like Diana or Sheryl or Alicia Dyer. I know I will never be posh or well-spoken like your friends in London. But we fit. And I just think that two people who fit together like us should be together. In life. In love . . .’

She had barely noticed that he had walked right up to her.

‘Just stop talking for one minute so I can kiss you.’

And the kiss was sweet. So sweet. As if it was nectar, as if she was coming home.

‘So you’ve changed your mind, then?’ she said eventually, her heart almost jumping out of her chest.

There was silence. All she could hear was the lapping of the tide against the hull of the boat.

‘Everything I do is because I love you,’ he said, holding her face between his hands. ‘I had that disgusting fifty-baht curry the first night we met because I didn’t want to let you get away. I set up a business with you because I came here to make my life better and I knew that if I spent every day with you in it, then I couldn’t not be happy. I’ve been single in Thailand for three years not because I’m mourning for Alicia or any other girl in London, but because I don’t want to be with anybody else but you. And when I turned you down on the beach that night, it was purely because I thought we wanted different things, not because I wasn’t hopelessly in love with you.’

‘You told me we should stay friends.’

‘You’d just heard about Julian.’

‘That didn’t change the way I feel about you.’

Liam shook his head, his blue eyes shining. ‘For three years I have listened to you dissing love, dissing marriage, keeping your distance from everyone, anyone, because you didn’t want to get hurt. When something happened between us, I didn’t think you wanted what I wanted, so I said that we should stay friends because I was protecting myself.’

‘What do you want?’ she said, hardly daring to breathe.

‘I want to be with you. In life. In love. Till we grow old. Forever.’

She melted into his arms and it was as if they would never be apart. She could taste salt water from the tears that were leaking down her face, but it didn’t matter because Liam kissed them off gently and wiped her eyes with his thumb. Then he cupped her face in his hands once more and kissed her again properly.

‘Marry me,’ he said finally.

She nodded. ‘It can be a family affair. Right here on the beach. Diana was thinking of coming out with Charlie this summer anyway for a month before the school holidays finish.’

‘Well let’s do it then,’ he grinned.

Her pulse was racing with excitement as she started to make plans.

‘Actually, Diana gave me something. She said I wasn’t allowed to open it until I was with you.’

‘Go on then, do it now.’

She opened the envelope. Inside was a key.

‘What is it?’

‘I’m not sure.’

There was also a card, which she handed to Liam to read out.

‘“Here are the keys to the Sunset Bungalows. The property is yours. I agree with you that it’s a very good business investment indeed. The title deeds will arrive separately. Your sleeping partner. Diana.”’

‘She’s bought the bungalows. For us.’

‘What a wedding present.’

‘What a sister,’ she smiled, as they walked hand in hand down the beach.