Harkett's Haven (16 page)
Authors: Ally Forbes
‘Jesus...’ he whispered, holding his head in his hands.
‘But why would she....?’
‘She did a bit of on-line detective work and wanted to confirm her findings by checking through my stuff. We arrived back early, surprised her.... and she hid in the bathroom.’
His face was stony.
‘I can’t believe it...’
‘Love can make y
ou do strange things...’
‘But breaking into someone’s house, hiding while....while......,’ he grimaced, the thought of his ex-lover hidden in the bathroom while he made love to Rachel leaving a sour taste in his mouth.
‘What did she say to you?’
‘She’s worked out who I
Eric
closed his eyes.
‘It’s important that you know this Eric. Claire wants me out of your life and she’
s told me that she’ll call Tom if I don’t leave by tomorrow.’
His eyes remained closed and he sighed.
‘Christ Rachel. What a mess. I’m so sorry.’
She shrugged
dejectedly, ‘I always knew I was taking a risk....you know.....getting involved with someone..’
‘Look, all this doesn’t
change what I’ve just asked you.’
Rachel smiled at him.
‘I would love to come with you, take a chance......but..... ‘
He stopped her.
‘That’s all I need to know Rachel. I’ll arrange the flights and do the rest. You just pack what you need and I’ll pick you up first thing tomorrow.’ He paused and stood up, his face stern, serious.
‘I don’t want you to think that we’re
running away from this. I want you to be sure of me and Esme ... to have some time together away from......all this. We’ll sort everything out once we get back.
He frowned, ‘
I need to let you know that I’m going to call Claire. I need to explain a few things to her.’
‘No Eric. No. Please don’t do that.......after this afternoon, I’m just not ready to face
her again. I don’t want to think about what’s coming.’
And she couldn’t. Rachel knew that the woman she faced this afternoon was bitter and crushed and would do anything to hurt her. A woman scorned....
He hushed her again.
‘It’s somet
hing I need to sort out.’
‘She’s h
urting Eric. Sometimes it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie..........’
‘For the first time I feel hope for the future and whatever the issues between Claire and me, she shouldn’t have done what she did this afternoon.’
He stared hard at the floor.
‘I thought she knew that what we had. I didn’t give her any reason to think it was more than it was. I......’
‘It was maybe what you didn’t say Eric.’
He turned from her. There was silence for a moment.
‘I’ll deal with Claire. It’s my mess. She won’t bother you again.’ His voice was authoritative and his tone made it clear that he expected no answer.
‘I have to get
Esme home. I’ll pick you up at about eight tomorrow morning./forow mor’
He turned back to her, his eyes devouring her as they swept down her body.
‘I want you Rachel. Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.’
That spark of electricity
set the air around them alight and for a moment time skipped its incessant beat.
He traced his finger down her shoulder, his eyes lingering on her full breasts.
He broke the spell and turned from her and went to Esme’s side. He stood watching Esme for a moment, the love for his daughter written clearly on his face. He scooped her effortlessly into his arms without waking her. Rachel opened the door for him and helped him place the sleeping girl onto the back seat of his car. Once she was secure and warm, he closed the door and pulled Rachel into his arms.
Rachel shivered against him in the cool night air but his arms enveloped her and he held her close.
His body was unyielding and strong; the sound of the waves rhythmic and timeless. Despite her misgivings and concern, she knew that if she walked out of their life now she would always regret it. She would always wonder what might have been.
He bent his head to kiss her, moving his hand up
under her top, his strong hands rough and cold on her warm skin. She shivered involuntarily.
‘I couldn’t bear it if I lost you now Rachel.’
She felt the warmth and his love envelop her and for a moment she was safe and happy, untroubled by the world and its cares.
Kissing her again he left without another word.
Rachel returned to her cottage, shutting the door on the cold darkness, the warm glow from his caress remaining on her skin. She continued to pack her belongings, self doubt creeping slowly back, pushing out the certainty that Eric had instilled in her.
She felt sure that Claire would make contact with Tom and she wondered what Tom would do. Would he take the first plane ov
er to confront her? Or would he play the waiting game, making her wonder and worry, perhaps watching from a distance, contact delayed for weeks, maybe months?
Rachel shuddered. That would be unbearable; the
‘not knowing’ scenario. Wondering if she was being watched. What if months passed and then he suddenly appeared?
As she packed, her hands automatically folding and tidying, she thought again about Tom.
She had been swept along by Tom, his attention unrelenting and she had not had the strength of character to reject him.
She had until then had a simple life, her course mapped out by her
surroundings; a love of the sea and of Scotland. It was a natural progression from a small island upbringing to the study of the sea and the creatures and plants it contained. Islanders in particular had an affinity with their surroundings and the sea that was in their DNA.
She had had a boyfriend on the island but it was an innocent, tender love they shared and they drifted apart when Rachel left the island to go to university. She didn’t have time for men at university; she enjoyed a g
er font>
reat social life and a few brief sexual encounters but there was no-one that interested her enough to make her want to become part of their life. After graduating with a first class degree she was offered the job she had always wanted.
And looking back, she
thought how naive she had been, what a sexual amateur she had been. Having enjoyed a wonderful, sheltered upbringing she had been totally unprepared for the sharks that circled in the deep waters of the world beyond her island.
Gradually and insidiously, Tom had taken control
of her life. He had taught her about sex and she had delighted in her new found skills and pleasures. He had been equally delighted to have been her teacher. He had arranged for her to come on a business trip with him, arranging time off with her employer, packing a case for her. He had collected her from the beach late one afternoon and taken her away, everything arranged, her passport in his hand. She had been furious and had refused to leave the car when they arrived at the airport. He had apologised and promised he would never do this again. She realised now that he would have said anything to get her into that plane. And of course she had relented and climbed into his private plane and into the world that he inhabited.
It had been the first of the trips he had arranged for her, trips filled with top hotels, chauffeurs, Michelin star dining.
Sex. Lots of great sex. She remembered her mobile phone had mysteriously gone missing on this trip. It was a small thing but she remembered it well; the search for the phone, not understanding how it could have gone missing from her zipped handbag. She was briefly suspicious of him and then told herself not to be so stupid. A man like Tom wouldn’t play at ‘hide-the-phone’. But she had been so wrong and it was the first small cut he made to the strings that tied her to her job and her family and her friends.
She had never be
en in love with Tom. She had enjoyed his company, had been flattered initially by the attention he lavished on her, flattered by his insatiable desire for her. She was seduced by his luxurious lifestyle. Very quickly he gave her little room to breathe, needed her to accompany him on the myriad business trips he made. She had felt stifled and unable to breathe. She had made moves to break the relationship.
Sensing what was coming Tom uppe
d his game. He told her a contact needed a marine biologist on the East Coast of America, a two year contract. And it had been so tempting. She had attended the interviews, accepted the position, rented a house.
He had flown her to America and mysteriously the job had fa
llen through, there had been an ‘error’ with the house lease and she had found herself with no job and nowhere to go.
And of course
Tom was there to pick up the pieces. He had taken her to his huge home in Connecticut and they had made love until the early hours. And it was then that he proposed. Rachel never said yes but more importantly, she didn’t say no and before she knew what was happening, a date had been set and she was a kept woman, thousands of miles from home.
From this distance, she could see what had happened and how easily Tom had manoeuvred her into position. He had bought her clothes, given her money, taken her travelling. He kept her so busy that she didn’t have time to think about what she needed bu
t gradually she felt the mundanity of her existence and the loss of control over her own destiny. She woke up each morning in the perfect house with the perfect man unable to breathe, yearning for her freedom. Even a solitary walk on the beach was attended by a security man at a discreet distance. Tom told her it was for her own safety but Rachel knew it was more to keep tabs on what she was doing and who she spoke to. Security was there when she went shopping. Tom never asked her what she had been doing during the day because he already knew.
She continued to
pack her belongings, her thoughts drifting from Tom back to Eric. He had an inner strength and an air of authority. He was someone Rachel thought she could trust implicitly and wouldn’t let her down. And a warmth and charisma that Rachel was drawn to like a moth to a light.
Th
e little cottage was now empty of all the things that had made it home and the very process of clearing her home had prepared her mentally for the transition from the settled life of employment, routine and relative certainty to a period where her day to life would be unpredictable, maybe difficult, where heartache was more than a real possibility.
She knew she was making the right decision to leave with Eric and
Esme because despite the difficulties she faced, her future uncertain, now she felt only excitement, butterflies whirling in her stomach.
Pulling the zips on her luggage, she
hauled her cases to the door and did a last check around the cottage. She needed to contact her employer and her landlord.
Starting to feel sleepy, Rachel open
ed her laptop and typed out the messages, trying to tie up loose ends.
When she could no longer focus on her work she closed her laptop and got ready for bed, satisfied that she had done all that could reasonably be done.
Before she went up the little ladder to her room she stood at the door in her pyjamas and watched the universe in the night sky, spread out in front of her little cottage like a diamond studded piece of black velvet. The sea was flat calm and the sky reflected on the inky black surface. The beauty of the place was indescribable and Rachel felt a stab of grief at leaving her home, for it had become just that over the last months. She breathed in the fresh, sharp air and turned from the stars spread at her feet feeling at peace with herself and her surroundings, feeling sure that one day she would return here.
Rachel went to her bed,
unaware of the woman who sobbed into her pillow, cursing her name and planning her revenge.
