Bella (12 page)

    I shouted for Lizzie and told her to come down stairs.
When I told her, she couldn't believe what Victoria had done. She offered to go
and pick Simon up from the airport. Meanwhile Ben asked me if I needed any help
preparing Violet
’
s birthday party. I
couldn
’
t remember the last
time that Ben and I
’
d had such a good
talk.

   
“
I used to be at your
house all the time and didn
’
t even know Ted was
my father, I never really had the chance to get to know him. I wonder how many
more secrets there are.
”
Ben said. 

  
“
I don
’
t know. I haven
’
t found the letter yet and I
’
m not even bothered about looking for it. Maybe
I will one day. I
’
m not sure.
”
I lied.

Ben sat down and looked serious and I certainly wasn't
expecting what he was about to say.

   
“
Obviously we know our
father isn't Simon and Lizzie
’
s. I shouldn't say
anything to you, but I have to. Victoria told me she knows something. She
thinks that you and Simon are in love.
”
My face went red.

   
“
What do you mean Ben?
”

  
“
All Victoria told me
was that she knows something about Simon and Lizzie and that he
’
s in love with you. I told her she was being
stupid.
” 

  
“
When did she tell you
this?
”
  I asked him
.

  
“
When they were here
for the wedding.
”
I could see he
wanted to tell me more; however we were interrupted by Lizzie
’
s car pulling up. I told Ben to forget about our
conversation and that it was a ridiculous thing for Victoria to say.

     When Simon walked in through the door he looked as
sexy as ever and I felt my heart skip a beat. We gave each other a hug; Ben was
watching our faces and I felt a little embarrassed, thinking about what must be
going through his mind and remembering Victoria
’
s hostility at Tammy and Roy's wedding.

    The day after, we all sat down and ate the food that
had been prepared for Violet
’
s party. Then we had
a few party games for violet, her birthday party went well and she received lot
of gifts. Violet was getting tired so I decided to put her to bed.

After we all played monopoly; it felt like old times once
again.

    The phone rang and it was Victoria
’
s mother to say she
’
d gone into labour. I told Simon; however, he told
me that she didn
’
t want him there.

How could I tell him he wasn
’
t the father.  I looked at Ben.

Simon noticed the glances and asked 

  
“
Am I missing
something here?
”
  I looked at him and
said.

  
“
Ben should tell you.
”

Ben took Simon into the garden and told him the news. Simon
’
s face was raging; how could she? He shouted.
 
I
’
d never seen Simon this angry.

He stormed out of the house slamming the door on his way
out. Ben told me to leave him alone and let him deal with the news in his own
way.

    The next day we were told Victoria had had a little boy
and called him Luke. I sent cards, it wasn
’
t the baby
’
s fault, but I was angry with Victoria.

Simon had taken the news very badly. I told him when he was
ready to talk that I would be there for him.

    We received news that Victoria would be returning home
to Light house Cove and Simon
’
s mood was thankfully
a little better.

Deciding to clean up and sort out all my personal things, I
realised the letter was missing.

When I first found it, I had put it in my bag and then
moved it to a box in my room, where I kept other personal papers and things. I
noticed that the padlock was missing, and the key had disappeared from my draw.
I must have searched everywhere, but I couldn't find it. Someone must have
taken  it, but whom?

Everything was going through my head, the missing letter,
my family, Victoria and particularly the attraction I had for Simon.

I loved Marco, but I knew I wasn
’
t in love with him and realised it might be
better to end our marriage.

I went over to speak to Tammy and Roy about how I was
feeling.

They asked me to think about what I was doing and not to be
so hasty. So I decided to give my marriage one last chance.

    The fact that Victoria was back in Lighthouse Cove
worried me a little, if she had an idea of the attraction I had for Simon, who
else would she tell. I decided it was better to confront her about the matter
and went to visit her and baby Luke.  I rang the bell and immediately regretted
it.. I turned to walk away, but it was too late and she answered the door..
Victoria glared at me and greeted me frostily.

  
“
We need to talk.
”
I quaked.

  
“
I know what it
’
s about Bella.
”
She barked.

We sat down at the kitchen table, the baby was lying in his
crib, he looked nothing like Simon. So I knew she was telling the truth about
Simon not being the father.

The baby had blonde hair and blue eyes.

I asked Victoria what she thought she knew.

  
“
I noticed the
attraction you and Simon had while we were in the restaurant when James and
Lizzie got engaged.
”
She miffed. I
explained that we were just very close, and with mother and father both dead,
we were just looking out for each other.

I could feel my face turning red, as I tried to hide how I
really felt. I told her not to say anything to anyone. I could see by the
expression on her face she knew more, but she
obviously
didn
’
t want to say
anything now. I left her house feeling more on edge than ever.

Three weeks later, I was walking along the beach, with
Violet in her buggy watching the sun go down, when Simon decided to join me. I
looked at him and melted. That was it, I couldn
’
t hold back anymore; everything came pouring
out, I just couldn
’
t control my feelings
any longer.

I told him I was longing for his touch and his kisses.
Simon looked down at his feet and cleared his throat.

  
“
Bella I
’
m in love with you too, but you
’
re my sister; you know we can
’
t be together.
”
He said with a heavy heart.

  
“
Then why does it feel
so right Simon?
”
  I spluttered.  I
couldn
’
t take any more. I
took violet and told Simon to leave me alone, hot tears stinging my eyes.

CHAPTER SIX

I
 went back to the guest house and put Violet to sleep. I
then lay on my bed and cried my heart out. I decided to have a hot bath to make
me feel better, but all I kept thinking about was Simon making love to me.
Whether it was right or wrong. I wanted it so much that it hurt. When I got out
of the bath I felt tired and decided to go to bed. Marco was still at the
restaurant and Lizzie was sleeping. 

As I drifted off to sleep, I heard my bedroom door open. I
felt the bed sheets pull back, and expected to see Marco when I turned over.
But it was Simon; my heart was racing and I knew I wanted him,
 
when his lips met mine, our kisses became long
and passionate, he kissed my neck
slowly
 
moving
 
towards my breasts, tingles were running through my body,
his hands exploring every inch of
 
me. We both knew how wrong this was but we didn't care and
we surrendered to each other and made love.
 
I had never felt such passion, and pleasure as
I felt at that moment.

    After, we lay in each other
’
s arms forgetting the world outside and anyone
else
’
s feelings. When
reality set in I knew we could never do this again and we must forget what we
had just done. We both realised that it was better to stay away from each other
for a while.

    A few weeks later, I started feeling sick and
light-headed. It suddenly dawned on me that I might be pregnant and there was a
possibility that my brother was the father. I knew I shouldn't keep this baby,
however, there was a slight chance that it could have been Marco
’
s.We hardly made love anymore, but we had once a
few days before I slept with Simon. I felt cheap and dirty not knowing who my
baby
’
s father was. What a
mess I had made of things.

I should have ended my marriage ages ago
. I thought. The only reason Marco and I had
made love was because I
’
d asked him for a
divorce. He was angry and seemed hurt and I felt sorry for him so we ended up
making love.

The only thing I could do was say nothing and let Marco
assume he was the father and try and make our marriage work.

 
Months later my pregnancy started showing, Marco
wasn
’
t really trying to
make our marriage work and became even more distant. The guest house had closed
for winter and I had time on my hands to prepare for my baby.

I couldn
’
t get Simon out of my
mind and I hadn
’
t even told him I was
pregnant. I missed him so much. I decided to go and visit him and went to his
apartment.The lights were on so I knew he was home. I rang the buzzer and
certainly hadn
’
t expected to see
Victoria answer the door. She had a smirk on her face when she opened it.
Quietly she said.

  
“
Simon and I have
decided to have another go at our relationship.
”
I could see Simon in the kitchen with the baby.
Feeling rather embarrassed, I made my excuses and left. I
’
d never felt such pain in my heart.

I gave birth on Christmas Day, to a beautiful baby boy, he
looked the image of Simon, he had big blue eyes, and auburn hair. I named him
Robert.

 
Marco didn
’
t seem to notice that he shared no resemblance
to him, so I was sure I could keep it a secret.
 
I hoped that Marco was the father, but deep in
my gut I knew differently. Anyway I could get away with Robert looking like
Simon, they were related after all.

    Weeks later being busy with a toddler and a new baby, I
didn't have time to breathe, let alone think. The guest house was soon to open
for spring and I had some things to get ready first. Robert was a very
demanding baby, he wasn
’
t like his sister and
he never stopped crying. Marco had become even more distant. Our marriage was
falling apart.

    Lizzie told me she had a new man in her life, she said
he was nothing like James. I asked her to invite him for dinner; and thought it
would be a good idea to have a big family gathering. I invited Tammy and Roy,
Simon and Victoria and I prepared a lovely stew.

    Lizzie was like a teenager again; all excited waiting
for Steven to arrive. I must admit when he came he was drop dead gorgeous. When
Simon and Victoria arrived, Victoria was really quiet and didn't speak much;
you could cut have cut the atmosphere with a knife. Simon held Robert in his
arms and I could see how alike they looked.
If only he knew that he was
holding his son
. Victoria
’
s baby looked just
like her, I felt a little envious that Simon was playing happy families with
her
and he was such a good father to her baby.