Winner Takes It All (39 page)

She looked at his dopey
face and wished he’d go away.

‘
I’ll always
be a Cusack and I’m proud to be one too.’

The day wore on and
people left. The two old airmen had the offer of staying at Layton
House but they were driving down to Brighton for the weekend and it
made everyone chuckle to see that Captain Cavendish drove a snazzy
little MG like the one Ben had had when he was a boy. Tara insisted
Andrew stayed over. Even though it was only a short journey over to
his house in Summerset, it had been an awfully stressful day for
him and she felt it best he stayed put.

By evening, everyone was
gathered in the back drawing room which was rarely used. Lou used
to write her stories in here and after her death it remained
somewhat of a shrine. Above her desk was a sketch she’d done of
Sheppy the dog. On the floor in the corner was Bilbo’s old bed. He
was a beagle Lou had that had died just before Alex was born. Jack,
her last dog, a little Shitzu died two weeks before Lou did and
they’d put his ashes in her coffin. Lou was doggy mad and the room
was filled with various canine nik naks. Alex liked being in here -
it made her feel close to her grandmother.

Jemima put Antoine to bed
alongside Benny and Lucas and returned to the room which had
started to resemble a wake now. All the Cusack children and
grandchildren were in there, as well as Andrew who sat in the
corner nodding off and Tom, who sat with Tara, holding onto her
hand and chatting. Christian and Robin were deep in conversation,
and Alex took this as an opportunity to confront her brother, who
had remained silent practically all day.

‘
You’ve let
this family down so much,’ she hissed. ‘That man still has your
voting rights.’

‘
I’m sure when
he’s put away we’ll be able to get them back,’ Michael grouched.
‘I’m sorry okay?’

‘
You’ve really
got to do something about your drinking. Daddy can’t trust you
until you do.’

‘
I was going
to talk to dad…and you about something I’ve been thinking of
doing.’

‘
Yes.’

‘
Well I want
to go into rehab for a start. Get over my addictions.’

‘
That sounds
like a good idea.’

‘
And I was
wondering if I could oversee the building and eventually run the
museum in Chicago.’

‘
You want to
go to Chicago?’

‘
Yes. Get me
away from England and all my dodgy mates and the people I owe money
to, make a fresh start. What do you think?’

‘
But I thought
you wanted to run Sheridans.’

He laughed.

‘
Do you
honestly think I’m capable of that? I think the only reason I
started drinking and taking drugs in the first place was because I
couldn’t cope with the idea of one day being the head of the family
company. I haven’t got it in me Alex. You have. You’ve proved it
over these last few months. I want dad to hand it over to
you.’

Alex couldn’t help but
shed a tear, pulling her big brother into an embrace.

‘
Thank you
darling,’ she said. ‘I won’t let you down.’

‘
Well that’s a
sight I rarely see,’ Christian laughed. ‘You two
hugging.’

Alex pulled away and
looked at her father.

‘
Daddy,
Michael and I have come to an agreement about the running of
Sheridans. Can we discuss it tomorrow?’

‘
Of course we
can. It’s just nice to see you two getting on.’

The door opened and Mrs
Gentle walked in, a rather fraught look upon her face – it had been
a very stressful day and she wasn’t getting any younger.

‘
There’s a
lady here to see you,’ she said.

‘
A lady?’
Christian frowned. ‘Okay, show her in.’

Assuming it was a
villager or old friend of Ben’s come to pay their respects, no one
suspected anything. In fact when the old woman tottered into the
room, balancing on a stick, aided by a young, Spanish looking
nurse, the majority of the people in the room still didn’t think
anything until Tom gasped.

‘
Grandmother!’

A collective gasp went
around the room as everyone realised they were in the presence of
Sorcha Sheridan and Alex was sure it wasn’t her imagination that
the room suddenly went very cold, as if some evil spirit was
lurking amongst them.

‘
S-Sorcha,’
Andrew cried.

‘
Dear dear
Andy,’ she said, her voice every bit as horrible as Alex had
imagined. ‘Still hanging onto the coat tails of this
family.’

‘
Michael help
Sorcha into a chair,’ Christian ordered.

‘
Why?’ Michael
barked. ‘Let’s just chuck her out.’

‘
She’s old
enough to be your grandmother. No matter what she’s done, have some
respect.’

Michael got up and
fetched a high backed chair for Sorcha, leaving the maid alone to
help her into it. She was a hideous looking woman, and it was
difficult to believe she had once vied with Lou for title of most
beautiful girl in Summerset. Like a lot of rich women living in
America she’d relied too much on plastic surgery; the skin on her
face stretched and tightened. Her hair was teased to within an inch
of its life and she wore a black skirt suit and her shoes had an
obscenely high heel on them. She looked like a relic.

‘
Thomas,’ she
sighed, looking at her grandson. ‘Thomas why are you with these
people?’

‘
Because
they’re my family now,’ he said. ‘And I love Tara and want to be
with her.’

‘
My
grandchildren are such a disappointment to me,’ she crowed. ‘That
other boy’s a deviant and now you’ve been sucked into this evil
clan, after all I’ve done for you.’

‘
Why are you
here?’ Christian snapped, now she was seated.

‘
I’ve come to
pay my respects to Ben,’ she replied. ‘I’ve known him all my life
and I wanted to say goodbye. Is that a crime?’

‘
My father
hated you. Why would he want you at his funeral?’

‘
He didn’t
hate me until your mother and her poisonous lies turned him against
me.’

‘
Sorcha stop
lying,’ Andrew said. ‘There was never anything between you and Ben.
Lou had nothing to do with it.’

‘
Oh yes you
would stick up for her wouldn’t you?’ Sorcha crowed. ‘Your precious
Louisa.’

‘
Why don’t you
let your maid take you over to my house?’ Andrew suggested. ‘Tara
can drive me there later and we’ll catch up then.’

Sorcha laughed, clasping
her hands together.

‘
Ha ha, Andrew
I’m sure your grand-daughter has better things to do with her time
than ferry you around.’

This statement was met
with a stunned silence from everyone in the room. At that moment
Alex started to hate Tom again. He had obviously told his
grandmother of Michael’s suspicions.

‘
Why do you
all look so puzzled?’ Sorcha continued, clearly relishing in the
drama. ‘Let me tell you a few truths about Louisa O’Connell. She
had no interest in Ben when he first started wooing her. My sister
Bridget would write to me and tell me all about it. Ben was smitten
and yet Lou would brush him aside. But all the while, she spent
most of her time at Andrew and Briggy’s house, especially with
Andrew. Briggy even wrote and said how she thought Lou had a crush
on her husband because of the way she’d blush and try her hardest
to please him.’

‘
Just shut up
Sorcha!’ Andrew shouted. ‘Just shut up. This all happened sixty
years ago.’

Sorcha carried on
regardless.

‘
In July 1948,
my sister became ill with pneumonia and was taken to hospital.
Andrew wasn’t with her. Do you know where he was? He was in London,
with Lou. Ben was away and Briggy, in all innocence had suggested
he spend some time with his old friend. And do you know what
happened next? Within weeks, Lou suddenly decides she wants to
marry Ben. Overnight, just like that.’ She clicked her fingers.
‘Suddenly she’s in love with poor old Ben and nine months later in
April 1949 she gives birth to a daughter - Paula.’

Alex looked at her poor
aunt, head hung in shame. Not that she had anything to be ashamed
of. No one chooses their heritage.

‘
That lying,
scheming little bitch slept with her best friend’s husband, got
pregnant by him and then duped my poor, stupid Ben into marrying
her so she didn’t give birth to a bastard. That was the sort of
woman your precious Louisa was.’

Suddenly Hal stood
up.

‘
Tell us
something we didn’t already know,’ he said loudly.

Sorcha looked up at him,
furrowing her brow as much as her botox would allow.

‘
What are you
talking about?’

‘
Me, Christian
and Lucy all know Paula isn’t our full sister. When mother died she
gave Paula a book telling her all about it - everything. Paula
shared it with us as she thought we had a right to know but we
decided on not telling the children because to us it didn’t matter.
Father loved Paula as his own, as we love her as our sister. It
doesn’t matter what our mother…or Andrew did when they were young -
we all make mistakes. Our parents were married for nearly sixty
happy years and yes, Ben knew Paula wasn’t his child but he didn’t
care.’

Sorcha was rendered
speechless, gasping like a dying fish and clutching her
chest.

‘
My pill,’ was
all she managed to squeak. The nurse rushed to her, fetching a
tablet from the bottle in her pocket and laying in on her
tongue.

A little voice came from
the other side of the room.

‘
M-Mummy why
didn’t you tell me Andrew was my grandfather?’ Tara then looked at
the old man she loved so much. ‘A-Andrew did you know?’

‘
I’ve always
known you were my grand-daughter and Dan my grandson and I love you
both but Ben was your proper grandpa. He was the one who was a
father to Paula. Not me and I will regret that until the day I
die.’

‘
This is
fucking mental,’ Dan cried. ‘Mum you should have said
something.’

‘
And what
difference would that have made eh?’ Paula cried. ‘Would you have
loved Ben any the less?’

‘
No of course
not.’

‘
Don’t be
angry with Louisa,’ Andrew said. ‘I was to blame entirely. I was a
lowly teacher who’d never really achieved anything in life. Briggy
was lovely in her way, but when Lou came into my life well…’ He
smiled and shook his head. ‘I’d never met anyone like her. If I
hadn’t been married to Briggy I would have snapped her up and you
lot would be a brood of McDonalds, not Cusacks. I loved Lou
desperately but I could never give her the life she deserved; it
would have been like keeping a beautiful flower trapped inside a
bottle. She told me she was pregnant and I pushed her away. But I
knew she should be with Ben, he could take far better care of her
than I ever could. And don’t listen to this poisonous witch here.
Your grandmother adored Ben. I think she only wanted me because she
couldn’t have me. If we’d have ever got together I would have bored
her to death within a week! Lou was an innocent young girl and I
took advantage. If anyone is the villain of the piece it’s
me.’

The old man wiped a tear
away and looked at Tara.

‘
Will you
still want to know me now you know the truth?’

‘
Don’t be
silly,’ she smiled, reaching out and taking his hand. ‘You’re my
grandfather aren’t you? Grandpa Ben will be expecting me to look
after you.’

‘
Why don’t you
just leave Grandmother?’ Tom said. ‘You haven’t got what you set
out to achieve. The Cusacks are a lovely family, and your poisonous
lies aren’t going to change anything.’

‘
I’m very
tired,’ Sorcha gasped. ‘Please can I just stay the night? I’ll be
gone tomorrow and you’ll never hear from me again.’

‘
Don’t let
her,’ Tom said. ‘Make her go.’

‘
No she can
stay,’ said Christian, who had suddenly realised Layton House was
now his. He looked at the nurse. ‘But I want her gone first thing
tomorrow morning.’

The drama had been
draining for everyone and so they decided to turn in for the night.
Mercifully for Alex, Robin received a telephone call saying his
sister had gone into labour and he was wanted at the hospital. He
rushed off, asking Alex if she wanted to join him but she declined,
feeling it inappropriate to attend a birth after being at a funeral
all day. Glad of the solitude, she sat up in bed with her laptop
emailing Jack and telling him everything that had happened that
day, wishing he could be with her for real.

Alex had no idea what was
going to happen between her and Jack. In the days before Robin had
descended upon Layton House, they had lived as a couple; sleeping
in the little attic flat that had once belonged to Ben. Everyone
had been too wrapped up in their grief to notice Alex wasn’t
sleeping in her own bed.

She’d never envisaged
herself as someone’s mistress and now discovering Lou had been in
the same position, made it all the more poignant. Everyone said she
took after her grandmother and it seemed she’d inherited her
unfortunate choice of men too. Alex now understood what it was like
to love someone so passionately you would compromise everything in
your life to be with them. She also knew she couldn’t marry Robin
and was trying to find the courage to tell him.