Between The Sheets (40 page)

'The man was sick in the head,' Gus declared.

Ed shuddered. 'I hate the thought that his blood flows through my veins. Sometimes I lie awake at night thinking about it. What if I've inherited some of his disgusting traits?'

'You haven't.' Dana's smile was tender. 'You're a sensitive and kind man. You're the complete opposite to him in every way.'

Gus grinned. 'Maybe your mum had a fling and he's not your father at all!'

Ed laughed. 'Oh, what a lovely thought. It would be nice to think that she had had some love in her life.'

'Why stay with him?' Gus mused.' She couldn't have been happy.'

'She wasn't,' Ed agreed. 'I should have come back sooner and persuaded her to leave him.'

Dana tore off another piece of kitchen roll and dried her face. 'I asked her to come to Dublin and live with me. But she said her place was with him. I shouldn't have taken no for an answer.'

Gus looked from one to the other. 'What is this, a contest to see who's the guiltiest? If so, then I can join in too. When I went to university in Belfast, my mother was always asking me to come home at the weekend. But there was always some party I wanted to go to or a girl to chase. And before I knew it, she was gone.'

Dana came and put her arms around him. 'You never told me that before.'

He shrugged. 'No, but I do think about it from time to time. We all have regrets. But you can't spend your life beating yourself up. There's nothing you can do for your mum now. But you've got each other. You need to concentrate on that.'

Ed looked at his sister. 'Gus is right. Let's look forward, not back. And let's agree that nothing or no one will ever come between us again.'

Dana hugged him. 'Agreed.' She pulled her husband into the embrace. 'And that goes for you too.'

Dana looked down the table and smiled at Gus. They were having dinner with their friends to celebrate the launch of her new book called
The Perfect Family.
There had been official launches in both Dublin and London, but Dana had wanted a more informal gathering, to show her friends and family her gratitude. And so she and Gus had invited a few people to their home in Cork and were delighted when everyone accepted.

Tom and Ashling were chatting across the table to Judy and her husband, Phil. Ed and Walter were in animated conversation with Angela Wiseman and her new partner. And Sylvie and Ian were quizzing Gus's sister, Annie, and partner, Greg, about New Zealand.

Gus tapped his glass with a knife and stood up. 'Excuse me, folks, I'd just like to say a few words.

The group quietened and looked up expectantly.

'Dana and I are thrilled that you could all make it this weekend. I'm especially pleased to welcome my sister, Annie, who finally decided to come home for a few weeks. It's great to have you here, sis.'

'Good to be here, Gus.' She smiled.

Gus looked around the faces at the table. 'I know some of you were surprised when we decided to make Bantry our permanent home. But -' he waved his hands at the huge window and the spectacular view beyond — 'you can see the attraction.'

There was a murmur of appreciation and nodding of heads.

'But you haven't got rid of us, I'm afraid. We'll be back on a regular basis. It's been an interesting couple of years for Dana and me.' He met his wife's eyes and smiled. 'And it hasn't always been easy. It's thanks to all of you, though, that we survived it. Your love and support have been truly humbling and we thank you for them. But that's enough from me. Pray silence for the author of
The Perfect Family.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my stunning and extremely talented wife, Dana.'

Tom wolf-whistled and everyone applauded as Dana struggled to her feet. 'What a marvellous introduction.' She grinned at her husband. 'Follow that. First, I'd like to echo everything Gus said. Thank you all for coming down this weekend. It's just wonderful to be surrounded by all the people we care most about in the world. Now this place really feels like home.' She paused, and looked around at their faces. 'This book only got published as a result of a lot of hard work and, this time, not all of it by me. A special thanks to Sylvie for all her help. And my apologies, Sylvie, I know I haven't been the easiest woman to work with.'

'She told us,' Ian said and everyone laughed.

Dana smiled. 'Also, my heartfelt thanks to Angela, who is the best and most understanding editor in the world. I wouldn't have been able to get through this without you, Angela.'

Her editor smiled and blew Dana a kiss.

'Of course, I can't forget my wonderful agent and dear, dear friend.' She smiled at Wally. 'I'm not sure why or how he's put up with me all these years—'

'For the money,' Wally retorted.

She ignored him. 'He pretends that he's tough but, believe me, he isn't. He got me my first contract all those years ago—'

'I was very young,' Wally assured them, smoothing back his hair.

Dana laughed. 'And he's stayed close by my side ever since. Sometimes I needed his professional guidance. Sometimes I needed a shoulder to cry on. Whatever I needed, though, Walter Grimes provided it. Thank you, my darling.'

He surreptitiously wiped his eye, and waved away her thanks with a shy smile.

Dana paused for a moment and took a sip of water.
'The Perfect Family
hasn't been easy to write.'

A hush fell on the room as Dana's voice dropped.

'It is a novel but, as you all know, it's been greatly influenced by my own experiences and, of course, my brother's. I want to thank Ed for giving this project his blessing and throwing himself into the publicity. Talking about any kind of abuse is hard, but talking about it with a journalist or in front of a camera or microphone is even harder. But when I asked Ed to do just that, he immediately said yes.' She looked at her brother and smiled. 'For your eternal selflessness, love and support, Ed, thank you.'

Ed inclined his head, his eyes bright with tears.

'The Perfect Family
has been number one in Ireland for two weeks now—'

Everyone whooped and cheered but Dana held up her hands for quiet.

'And we just got word yesterday that it's entered the UK chart at number forty-nine.'

The room erupted this time and there were hugs and kisses and a few tears too.

'It's too soon to talk about figures,' she said, when everyone finally calmed down. 'But let's hope we're going to make a lot of money for the ISPCC.'

'Hear, hear,' Gus called out.

Her eyes met his. 'And finally, I want to thank my wonderful husband for giving me another chance. He is the love of my life and I ir.tend to spend the rest of my time in this world making him happy.'

He came down to kiss her and Judy reached for a tissue as everyone cheered.

Walter was immediately on his feet. 'On behalf of us all, I'd like to say thank you for welcoming us to your beautiful home.' He turned to look out at the view. 'I can completely understand why you would want to live here, but don't forget us. You'll always be welcome in London and Dublin and,' he smiled shyly at Ed, 'Wexford.'

'Hear, hear.' Judy grinned.

Wally raised his glass. 'To our hosts, Gus and Dana.'

'To Gus and Dana.'

'Will you really come back to Wexford?' Judy asked later, when she and Dana were alone in the kitchen.

Dana kicked off her shoes and flexed her toes. 'I have to. Ed has made it his home.'

'It will be fine,' Judy reassured her. 'You'll hardly recognize the house. Ed has done an amazing job. Do you think Walter will move in with him?'

'No, Wally's life is in London. But I think he'll be spending a lot of time in Wexford too. Ed insists they're taking things slowly, but it's obvious they're mad about each other.'

Judy grinned. 'It is, isn't it? I think for Ed to end up living in the family home with his gay lover is the ultimate triumph over your father's homophobia.'

'I suppose it is. My mother would be so happy. Not only has Ed finally come home, but he's happy too.'

'And you, Dana?' Judy asked. 'Have you found peace?'

Dana put a hand down to caress her large bump and smiled. 'Oh, Judy, I've never been happier.'