Harkett's Haven (17 page)

8.

Rachel woke up with the sun filtering through the blinds in her room and for a moment she thought about the work ahead for the day before events of the day before flooded her memory.

Excitement made her hurry to strip the bedclothes and tidy up before jumping into the shower. The
sunlight flooded into the cottage and as she stood drying her hair she watched the sparkle of the sun’s rays dance off the ocean. Doubts once again clouded her happiness. When it came down to it she was leaving here because she was being forced to leave, her arm twisted because of a short, lust-filled afflapair with the local doctor and the blackmail of his scorned lover.

She twisted her long dark, hair into a
plait and dressed in a black crossover top and a pair of jeans. She traced her black eye pencil quickly round her eyes, applied some mascara and a light lipstick and she was just about ready.

She felt too nervous to eat but she forced herself to drink a strong coffee. She clutched the hot drink in her hands, sipping slowly.

A sharp knock on the door made her jump and she raced to the door.

Turning the key she was almost knocked off her feet, stumbling back into the cottage
as Claire pushed her way in.

Rachel wa
s shocked by her appearance; face puffy and red, dark shadows under her eyes and rage contorting her pretty features.

‘You bitch.’ Her voice was hoarse and fierce.

‘Claire please....’ Rachel’s heart hammered against her ribs, terrified of what this woman meant to do.

‘I told you that he wasn’t to know what we discussed yesterday and guess what? He called me last night and told me that he knew what I planned to do.’

She moved towards her and Rachel stepped back, moving to put the sofa between them.

‘He told me that we were over.....was disgusted with me. Disgusted!’ she shouted.

Still Claire advanced towards her and Rachel started to panic.

‘Pl
ease Claire...’ she tried again, her voice small and shaky.

‘Shut the fuck up.’ she snarled.

Claire lunged for her and Rachel turned to run.

Claire raked her back, managing to grab
a handful of her top and pulled her to the ground.

Rachel landed hard on the floor, the impact taking her breath away and she felt Claire’s weight pin her down.

Her arm was twisted up behind her back and she gasped for breath.

Claire laughed.

‘You took him away from me. You should’ve been gone from our lives.’

She pinned Rachel’s head to the floor.

With her arm locked behind her back and her head held on the floor Rachel couldn’t move, her voice taken from her by her hard landing. Her mind raced feverishly. Claire was beyond reasoning. She tried to wriggle free but Claire’s grip tightened.

‘You’re leaving now.....and I never wa
nt to see you around here again or I’ll.....’

Suddenly Claire’s weight
was lifted off her and Rachel gasped for air.

Eric stood over her with Claire firmly in his grasp. His face was cold with fury. Rachel scuffled away from them to the window, as far away as possible from the two ex-lovers.

Claire visibly shrank from him as he Cromfar aw held her arms.

When he spoke, he spoke softly, a vein of steel in his words.

‘I think it’s lucky I arrived when I did.’

‘I just....I just wanted her to leave Eric. I wasn’t...’

‘I saw and heard exactly what was going on.’ His black eyes flamed. ‘I told you last night that what we had was over. But to come here and .....and...’

He glanced at Rachel huddled in the corner.

‘I should call the police but I don’t have time. Rachel and I are leaving.’

Rachel could tell by the shock on Claire’s face that Eric hadn’t told her this part of his plans.

‘No Eric.....no...please.’ She clutched at his arm, her determined expression dissolving into fear, fresh tears welling in her eyes.

‘I feel sorry for you Claire. I want you to leave here and get on with your life.’

He took her roughly by the arm and pulled her closer to him, so close his face was against hers. Claire looked terrified, her eyes wide and her face pale.

He whis
pered, ‘I never want to see you again.’

He pushed her away from him roughly and shouted, ‘Now get out!’

His voice was so loud that Rachel found herself instinctively pressing herself further into the wall underneath the window.

Claire burst in
to tears and turned and ran out the door sobbing.

Eric hurried
to Rachel and pulled her to her feet and into his arms. Rachel’s legs gave way underneath her, her shock turning her legs to jelly. Eric caught her as she fell and lifted her into his arms.

‘God Rachel.
I’m so sorry.’

He kissed the corner of her mouth, gently and tender.

‘Did she hurt you?’

Rachel shook her head, unable to
find her voice.

He held her tight and close, her head resting on his strong shoulder and quickly she regained her composure, feeling safe and secure in his arms.

‘I’m OK Eric. Really......please put me down.’

He placed her down gently.

Rachel smiled shakily at him, ‘ I sure am glad to see you.’

He laughed and leant forward to kiss h
er forehead, the tension broken.

‘Come. Let’s get out of here.’

And Rachel was glad to leave. Her little cottage now seemed cold and unwelcoming, Claire’s presence and malice seeping into the very fabric of the building. She knew that if she stayed, every knock, every whisper of the wind, would be Tom arriving. And that would be a short road to madness.

Eric lifted her bags out to his car,
<0">Esme waiting patiently, expectantly in the back seat.

Rachel took one last glance round her home and closed the door behind her. She posted the keys through the letter box and climbed into the car.

It was a curious feeling. She climbed into Eric’s 4 x 4 and said her hellos to Esme who was excited and delighted, wondering why Claire had been at her cottage. Full of questions. And it felt like she had known Eric and Esme for so much longer than the few days it had been.

As they left the beach and the house on the hill she wondered about fate. It seemed like everything she had been through was culminating in this moment, this magical, right moment.

Esme chatted in the back of the car and Eric sat beside her, content, smiling. His delight, his happiness evident in his relaxed posture, his easy conversation.

‘So
Esme. Your Dad’s dragging you out of school? And Jack’s gone for his holidays with Mrs Strachan?’ Rachel turned to smile at Esme.

‘I can’t wait to get to Canada. Dad says we might get lucky and see a whale from the house.
And Jack loves staying with Mrs Strachan much more than I do.’

‘Wow. That sounds just the best thing. Maybe we could persuade Dad to take us
out for a boat ride to get us a bit closer to the action?’

Rachel nudged Eric who smiled.

‘Please Dad. Please.’

‘A weather dependent yes for my two favourite girls.’

Rachel and
Esme high fived over the seats and smiled at each other conspiratorially.

‘I can see I’m going to have to watch myself with you two,’
he winked at Rachel, ‘I don’t stand much of a chance, do I?’

After the first hour of travel,
Esme’s excitement levelled off enough for her to put on her headphones and watch a DVD.

‘I can’t help think about what happened this morning. If I hadn’t arrived....if
.......’

Rachel put her hand over his
.

‘
I’ve been thinking the same thing......about fate......about my walk along the beach, about that storm that blew our lives together.’

Rachel stared out the window, lost in thought.

‘Rachel. For the first time in a very long time I feel truly alive. I feel ill when I’m not with you and it takes every ounce of strength I have to stop counting down the hours until I see you again.’

He wa
tched the road ahead, his profile elegant, classic, strong.

Rachel felt those familiar butterflies in her stomach,
his words sending surges of adrenaline spiralling through her veins.

‘I’m kind of long in the tooth to be falling head over heels for a younge C fo>
r woman. I’m a bloody doctor for Christ’s sake.’

He laughed.

He glanced over his shoulder to check
Esme wasn’t listening. Satisfied he continued,

‘You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever set eyes on Rachel and yet you seem totally unaware of the effect you have on men....on me.’

He paused, ‘I can almost sympathise with Tom Sullivan. There’s something so mesmeric about you that in another time, another world, I would think it was witchcraft.’

‘Jesus Eric....’ She was speechless,
his words washing over her, like a cold mountain stream. She shivered.

‘When we made love, I
wanted to fill you, possess you, love you.  I had to have you. You....you’re like a drug, some kind of opiate....and I’ll stop at nothing to protect you. You and Esme.’

The scenery outside passed in a
green blur, Rachel hardly able to breathe. His words astonished her. She knew this was a passionate, whirlwind romance, felt it in her very core, but his words took her by surprise.

He glanced at her as he drove and perhaps sensed the shock on her face.

‘Look Rachel. I don’t want to frighten you off....I know you’ve been through a terrible time and that those times....well...they’re still with you...but I need you to know that what I feel isn’t just lust, a short-lived obsession. I’ve fallen head over heels in love with you.’

He glanced back at
Esme again.

‘I hope in time that you will feel the same about me.’

She couldn’t admit to loving him but she felt the stirring of something that she knew, if nurtured, could grow into the love that he hoped she would reciprocate.

‘Eric...I
..’

‘
Shhhhh Rachel. You don’t have to explain. I know you don’t feel the same way about me.’

It was almost as if he
didn’t want to hear the truth from her, happy to cling to his hope that someday in the future he might have what he wanted from her.

They travelled on in silence for a few miles the bleak, beautiful countryside gradually being replaced with the start of urban sprawl.

‘Another half hour and we’ll be at the airport.’

He glanced at her again and she smiled at him.

Esme pulled off her headphones, sensing the changing landscape in her peripheral vision and realising that their journey was close to an end.

‘When will we be there Dad?’

‘Very soon.....’though we’re cutting it fine for check in. I’m hoping we have an easy run in to the airport’

‘Tell me more about your place in Halifax Eric.’

‘It’s a family home. I’ve not been out there since........well, C...l tsince I was a student. I’ve arranged to have the house prepared for our arrival ........you’ll both love it.’