Winner Takes It All (36 page)

Feeling the need to be
close to the spirits of her grandparents, Alex wrapped a shawl
around her shoulders and left the house. No one saw her leave as
she got into her car and drove to the foot of the hills. She
climbed the stone steps to the top and from here she could look
across to Summerset, and Claremont Hall standing grimly in the
distance. It had started to cloud over and at this altitude it was
extremely cold. Alex wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm
and walked across the hills, closing her eyes and trying to imagine
the teenage Louisa O’Connell and her little black and white
mongrel. She tried to summon up her great-grandfather Mick - the
handsome, noble Irishman who wasn’t scared of the Sheridans - the
family who had disowned his grandfather. It was all another
lifetime ago and yet the repercussions were still being felt
now.

She heard a
cry.

‘
Alex?’

She turned around to find
Jack standing about twenty feet away from her, his fair hair
blowing across his face from the force of the wind.

‘
I saw your
car parked down there,’ he called.

Alex ran to him, her legs
unable to carry her fast enough. When they met, he scooped her up
into his arms and held her close while she sobbed once
more.

‘
Thank you for
coming to me,’ she cried.

He eased her away,
cupping her face in his hands, wiping her tears away.

‘
I’m always
there for you Alex, you know that.’

‘
I love you,’
she sobbed, throwing her arms back around him. ‘I love you so
much.’

‘
And I love
you,’ he replied, kissing the top of her head. ‘What are we gonna
do Ali?’

He called her the same
name her father used to and this warmed her heart. She held on
tightly to him.

‘
Come home
with me,’ was all she said. But Jack knew exactly what those four
words meant. He’d been waiting for her to say them for so
long.

Overtaken by the madness
of grief, Alex sneaked Jack into the house and up to the East Wing,
where guests stayed. Tonight it would be full of Cusacks gathered
in preparation for the funeral but for now it was empty as everyone
was in the drawing room downstairs. She found a room and pulled
Jack into it, pushing him against the wall and standing on tip toe
to kiss him passionately. To her horror, he eased her away,
gripping her firmly by the shoulders.

‘
Alex you’re
grieving. I’m not going to take advantage of you.’

‘
I want you
to,’ she cried. ‘I want something to take the pain
away.’

He eased her over to the
large four poster bed and sat her down, sitting beside her. For a
split second Alex hated him. Why did he have to be such a gentleman
and so perfect? It quickly turned once more to love and for the
first time ever, she realised how much he was like her beloved
Grandpa. He radiated kindness and honesty and she adored
him.

‘
Why are you
staring at me?’ he laughed nervously.

‘
Because I
love you,’ she replied. She looked down. ‘I’ve never said it to
anyone and meant it before.’

He reached out and
stroked the back of her head, bunching that thick hair in his big
hand.

‘
What are we
going to do Ali?’ he asked.

Risking rejection once
more, Alex knelt on the bed and turned him to face her. She leant
forwards, nuzzling into his neck and kissing it. Jack moaned, and
pulled her to him. Her mouth moved blindly across his cheek and
once again they were kissing. He pushed her down onto the bed and
as he kissed her, his hand moved down her body, undoing the buttons
of her blouse. Alex had wanted this for so long, but while her body
reacted, her mind remained detached. Maybe it was grief, maybe it
was the knowledge she was committing adultery or perhaps it was
because she knew by making love with Jack there would be no turning
back. Whatever the future held for them, she had to end it with
Robin. It wasn’t fair on either of them and she decided as soon as
the funeral was over and things had returned to normal, she would
tell him. She would rather live alone for the rest of her life than
be with a man she didn’t love.

Twenty

It was just like the old
days for Tom - sitting on the sofa with Mo, watching
Hollyoaks
and eating a Pot Noodle. Why had he ever wanted to
swap this life of idleness for all that espionage and
back-stabbing? The only blight on his horizon was that Tara wasn’t
here to share it with him. He had become persona non grata to the
Cusacks now he’d lured Maurice Bannerman to them and he got the
feeling he would never hear from them again. He wondered how he
would be able to function as a normal person without Tara around; a
stupid question on reflection given that he’d lived for thirty two
years without her. But she had brought something to his life that
was missing when she wasn’t around. Somehow without her, his life
just seemed like an existence.

His phone started to
vibrate in his pocket and he dug it out, hoping it was her, saying
she wanted to see him. His blood ran cold when he saw it was
Maurice Bannerman. He would have spoken to the Cusacks by now and
if they told him everything, he would know Tom had switched
sides.

‘
What have you
done you fucking idiot?!’ Bannerman screamed down the
phone.

‘
I didn’t do
anything.’

‘
They know.
Alex and Christian Cusack got me there under false pretences so
they could confront me. Have you switched sides Tom? Are you
fucking that little wretch Tara and got yourself emotionally
involved? Because if you have, by God I will kill you.’

‘
I haven’t
done anything. How did they find out?’

‘
Natalie
Favreau is a friend of Alex and told her about seeing you and I
together in the hotel bar. They pieced it together from there. I
had to tell them everything about you and Jackson so don’t expect
to ever see your little girlfriend again, because the Cusacks
always close ranks and you won’t be allowed within ten feet of
her.’

‘
What are you
going to do?’

‘
I’m getting
out of the country. Don’t you see? I’ve been doing deals in the
name of Sheridans for years, embezzling money out of them to build
my little nest egg. If they find out what I’ve done I’ll go to
prison. With the funeral and everything, they won’t be thinking
about it, but once it’s over, Christian’s bound to get back on the
case.’

‘
Funeral? What
funeral?’

‘
Oh yes, I
didn’t tell you did I? On top of my humiliation, Ben Cusack also
dropped dead in front of me.’

‘
Ben’s dead,’
Tom uttered.

‘
Yes. He died
from a heart attack and that little bitch Alex launched herself at
me, somehow accusing me of killing him. I’m sick of the lot of them
and I’m going.’

‘
What about
Jackson?’

‘
You and
Jackson can sort yourselves out. This is the last time you’ll hear
from me Tom. I just hope you can do a good enough job of convincing
Jackson you didn’t consort with the Cusacks, because if he finds
out you did, he’ll have you killed.’

The line went dead and
Tom remained stunned, sitting staring at his phone.

‘
What was all
that about?’ Mo asked.

‘
It’s a long
story,’ was all he could say.

Feeling unusually
valiant, he knew what he was about to do was incredibly dangerous -
if Jackson found out, he would go ballistic. But Tom couldn’t help
himself. He called Tara’s mobile, wondering if she would even
answer it, seeing as it was him.

‘
What do you
want Tom?’ she asked, her voice croaky from crying.

‘
I’ve just
found out from Maurice Bannerman about Ben. I’m so sorry Tara. He
was such a lovely old man.’

‘
Yes he was,’
she whimpered. ‘Hold on.’

The line went quiet and
he guessed she was going somewhere the rest of the family couldn’t
hear her conversation. After all, Tom wasn’t exactly the Cusack’s
favourite person.

‘
I can’t let
Alex know I’m talking to you,’ she said. ‘She’s still furious with
you and doesn’t want you around.’

‘
I can
understand that but I want to see
you
Tara. Maurice
Bannerman reckons if Jackson finds out I’m consorting with the
Cusacks he’ll kill me, but you’re worth dying for.’

‘
Don’t be
silly,’ she sniffed. ‘I’m okay, I’ve got my family with
me.’

‘
I just want
to hold you Tara. I’m coming home to Summerset.’

‘
No, don’t.
Jackson might have spies out or something. Come to Andrew’s house.
I’ll meet you there.’

‘
When?’

‘
As soon as
you can get here. Be careful Tom, please.’

Tom drove all the way
back to Summerset faster than he had in a long time. By doing this
he was risking the wrath of both Jackson and the Cusacks, but he
didn’t care. He wanted to be with Tara in her darkest hour. She
adored Ben and his death would have devastated her. Driving along
the A23, Tom found himself crying, exhausted from all that had
happened and the knowledge Ben Cusack had died. He hoped the old
man had never discovered the truth about him - he didn’t like the
thought of him thinking bad of him. Ben was just the sort of
grandpa Tom had dreamt of having as a child. His grandfather Rupert
may have left him the money to buy a house, but it wasn’t the same
as having a big cuddly tummy to snuggle against.

By the time Tom reached
Andrew McDonald’s house it was dark. He parked his car behind
Tara’s and knocked on the door. His heart did a flip when she
opened it and he saw her standing there looking like the girl he’d
met all those months ago. The confidence had disappeared and she
looked about sixteen years old. Tom reached out and pulled her to
him.

‘
Oh Tara,’ he
sighed as she sobbed into his shoulder. Her emotion was so raw and
painful that hearing her made Tom cry too. Putting his arm around
her, he manoeuvred her into the house, shutting the door behind
them. He eased her away, gripping her face and wiping her tears.
She was shaking as still she sobbed.

‘
Andrew’s in
the living room,’ she said. ‘He’s very upset.’

Tom led Tara into the
living room where he found Andrew in the fireside chair, his
blanket wrapped tightly around his legs. With slightly shaking
hands he held a crystal tumbler and stared into the dead
fire.

‘
Andrew, Tom’s
here,’ Tara said.

He turned around and
smiled at them both.

‘
Hello,’ he
whispered. ‘Thank you for coming to look after my girl.’

‘
I wouldn’t
want to be anywhere else.’

Tom sat on the sofa and
Tara sat with him, still shuddering from her tears.

‘
Would you two
mind awfully if I went to bed?’ Andrew asked. ‘I’d like to be alone
with my thoughts.’

‘
Of course
not,’ Tara said, getting up. ‘I’ll help you in.’

Andrew found the stairs
difficult these days and so one of the back rooms had been
converted into a bedroom for him. Tara helped him along there and
while he put on his pyjamas she made him a cup of cocoa. Once he
was settled for the night, she returned to Tom.

‘
Will you stay
with me tonight?’ she asked. ‘I’ve just told Alex that I’m here to
keep an eye on Andrew because he’s taken Ben’s death
badly.’

‘
It must be
difficult for him losing Ben
and
Lou in such a short space
of time.’

‘
Yes. We
should have all known grandpa wouldn’t last very long without gran,
he loved her so much.’

‘
You know I’ll
stay here as long as you want me to.’

She looked at him,
furrowing her brow.

‘
You know you
won’t be allowed at the funeral don’t you?’

‘
Yes. Though
I’m stuck in no man’s land at the moment. No one wants
me.’

‘
That’s not
necessarily true. I wish I could stop loving you but I can’t. We’re
never going to be allowed to be together.’

‘
We’re adults
Tara, they can’t stop us.’

‘
They can. I
don’t want to be disowned by my family. I need them. I want you to
be accepted and for us to have a normal relationship and that isn’t
going to happen.’

‘
Then what are
we going to do?’

‘
I don’t know.
My head hurts too much to think now. Let’s just go to bed. I need
to sleep.’

Laying awake that night,
Tom thought hard about what he could do to prove to the Cusacks
that he meant business and had disowned his grandmother’s side of
the family. He considered setting Jackson up in some way, but
getting revenge wasn’t the Cusack style. He then remembered his
conversation with Maurice Bannerman - his confession that he’d been
embezzling the Cusacks for years and how he was escaping abroad. He
knew what he had to do.

The next morning, he left Tara
sleeping and went down to the kitchen. Mrs Ball was cooking
breakfast for Andrew and asked Tom if he wanted anything and he
declined. Andrew looked a little better this morning, sitting at
the table, reading
The Times
. He asked how Tara was and Tom
assured him she’d had a good night’s sleep and that he was only
going out for an hour and would be back soon.