Harkett's Haven (3 page)

‘Rachel.....Rachel...’

Esme was shouting on her from downstairs.

‘Coming.’
She called back.

She made her way slowly to the door and down the stairs. Eric was in the ki
tchen and smiled at her as she made her way gingerly down the wooden steps.

‘
Esme. Look who turned up last night.’ He nodded to a basket in the corner of the room in which a small Jack Russell terrier was nestled, fast asleep.

‘Jack!’
Esme shouted ecstatically.

Eric smiled apologetically
at Rachel and shrugged, ‘Not the most original of names for a terrier, I know.’

The little
dog woke at the sound of Esme’s voice and danced and bounced around her legs. The girl was overwhelmed with emotion, picking up the little dog and hugging it tight, letting it lick her face.

‘How about s
ome egg and toast? Speciality in this house....’

‘Sounds great......
’

She noticed him glance up at her again as she walked down the stair, this time his eyes lingering on her breasts.
It was a brief but telling look which left Rachel with mixed feelings. She had vowed to not get involved with anyone after Tom but she felt the stirrings of attraction to Eric that was hard to ignore.

A bell rang.

Esme and Jack ran to the door.

‘I’ll get it Dad.’

Eric could not keep his eyes off Rachel, smiling at her as she made her way to the kitchen.

‘You look incredible Rachel. I mean.... considering what you went through yesterday.
Come and sit down.’

She sat down at one
of the chairs at the huge oak table.

‘Claire’s here Dad,
’ Esme called over.

Rachel turned to se
e the smartly dressed woman she had seen from the upstairs window.

The look of disgust
on the woman’s face when she saw Rachel was instant.

‘I came here to check you
were OK. I can see that you’re more than OK.’ Her voice rose, bitter and accusatory, and she choked back a sob.

Esme
n>
ran to Rachel’s side, oblivious to the charged, tense atmosphere.

‘
Look Claire. I plaited Rachel’s hair.’

Tears
started to stream down the woman’s face. She was a pretty blonde, late twenties to early thirties by Rachel’s estimation. She wore a dark trouser suit and heels.

‘For God’s
sake Claire......Meet Rachel. Esme nearly drowned yesterday. Rachel saved her life. She nearly drowned herself. She was hypothermic, lost a lot of blood. You know yourself that the roads were closed last night. She had to stay here.’

Claire raked in her bag
for something, fishing out a tissue and dabbing at her tears. Rachel could see that her presence here was causing Claire a great deal of distress.

‘
Eric. I’ll take Esme upstairs. She can show me her room..... Come on Esme.’

R
achel turned to Claire as she left, ‘Please. You’ve nothing to worry about. It’s just as Eric’s said. It’s the truth. I’ll be leaving shortly.’

Esme
was delighted and ran to the stairs to wait for her.

‘Rachel, there’s no need for you.....’
Eric’s voice was low and angry.

‘Really.
It’s OK.’ She smiled.

Esme
took her hand and guided her up the stairs. She could hear raised voices from below her.

‘
Esme. I need to pee. I’ll just be a minute.’

Esme
pointed to her bedroom door, ‘This is my room.’

‘I’ll remember. Don’t worry,’ Rachel laughed.

She closed the door to the huge bathroom, went to the sink and splashed her face. By some quirk of acoustics, the voices in the kitchen below could be heard clearly in the bathroom.

Rachel felt
guilty listening to this private conversation but couldn’t help overhear.

Eric’s voice was low and derisory.
‘Don’t ever come here claiming some kind of right to me. That woman saved my daughter yesterday and here you are, making unfounded accusations without thinking to check the facts.’

Rachel
could hear Claire sob and Eric pause briefly.

‘Let’s be clear about this....go over a few facts to make things clear between us. I told you from the start that I only wanted a physical relationship. I thought you understood that it was only ever sex for me Claire.
I was always straight with you about this.’

‘I thought
.....I thought I meant more to you that just a .....just a..fumble when you felt the urge.’

Rachel could hear her sob.

‘You’ve read more into our relationship than there was.’ His voice was angry and frustrated.

‘It’s all just sex for you isn’t it
Eric. Your last conquest warned me that’s all I was. I wish I’d bloody well listened to her. And now you’re moving on with that... that...... upstairs. I saw the way you looked at her.’

‘I think you should leave.
Your jealousy disgusts me.’ His voice was hard.

Rachel could hear her sob again.

‘I love you Eric.’

‘
You’ve got it wrong. I thought.....’

‘You
thought wrong.’ There was another pause. ‘I love you Eric.’

‘What a bloody mess
..... Do I have to spell it out? I don’t love you Claire. I have no feelings for you. None. Please...... please just leave.’ His voice was dismissive and angry.

Rachel found herself holding her breath and decided that she had already heard too much
. She splashed her face with water and found herself wondering about Eric. He intrigued her and she wanted to find out more about him. The man, the widower, the doctor, the father, the user. After all she had been through, her head told her that she should not enquire further, to leave Eric Harkett as soon as possible and not look back. And yet she was curious.

She went to
Esme’s room.

Rachel expected to see a blaze of pink but was surprised to find a tranquil white and pale blue colour scheme.
Paintings and pastel drawings of the sea hung on the walls; Esme was an accomplished artist for such a young girl. There was only one toy, a soft brown bear, on the bed.

‘Wow. This is a great room.’

Esme blushed and went back to sketching something in a little book.

Rachel walked over to
Esme’s bed and picked up the bear.

‘Who’s this then?’

‘My Mum gave him to me.’

‘Well, he’s a lovely bear.’

‘Mum’s dead.’

Esme
said this matter of factly, still concentrating on what she was sketching. Rachel’s heart went out to the small, motherless girl sitting on the bed.

‘
I’m so sorry Esme.’

‘I’m not. She wasn’t a nice lady.’

Rachel didn’t know what to say. She was shocked by the little girl’s statement.

She sat on the bed.

‘How are my girls doing?’ Eric had appeared by the door, leaning on the door post, watching them both.

‘We’re fine Dad.
Can we have breakfast now?’

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‘It’s ready. Come and get it.’<
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Esme bounded up and ran past her Dad. 

Eric walked towards Rachel and took her hand, pulling her gently up off the bed.

He stood very close to her.

‘You’
re very beautiful Rachel.’ He pushed a stray strand of hair back from her face.

‘I’m so hungry and toast
smells great.’ She smiled, walked past him and out of the room. Her heart was beating furiously, and she felt suddenly vulnerable and uncomfortable.

Rachel had come to this remote peninsula to escape.
She needed to get back to the simple life she had built for herself in the months since she had arrived. She needed to leave this beautiful house and Eric Harkett as soon as possible. The complications any kind of relationship with Eric and his daughter would bring would be too much to cope with at this vulnerable moment in her life.

2.

Rachel made her way back down the stairs and joined Esme at the kitchen table.

‘You had me worried yesterday kiddo,
’ she winked at Esme.

Esme
beamed at her and shuffled her chair closer to Rachel’s.

Eric plated up the food and brought it to them.

‘Ladies, please tuck in to the house special.’

He had stacked a
plate with thick, cut brown toast and eggs in cups. They all filled their plates and a comfortable silence ensued as they all ate. Esme slipped some toast off her plate trying to give Jack a secret treat as he begged for food under the table but Jack’s snapping jaws gave the game away and they all laughed.

Esme
shrugged apologetically,

‘He deserves a treat after yesterday.’

‘I can’t argue with that.’ Eric nudged her and winked.

‘So
Esme, how long have you had Jack?’ Rachel asked.

Esme
glanced at her father, who continued to eat, pointedly avoiding his daughter’s eyes.

‘We got Jack after Mum died.’

‘Esme, I’m sorry. I really don’t mean to keep bringing back memories of what must’ve been a really difficult time for you and your Dad.’

Rachel wished the ground would open up and swallow her.

Sensing her discomfort, Eric touched her arm. ‘It’s OK Rachel, really. You’re not to know what .....what  happened.’

Esme
slipped another piece of toast to Jack and the tension was broken by Jack’s snapping jaws. They all laughed again.

‘Do
you work in the locally Eric?’ Rachel asked, sure that she mr aust be on safer territory with this question.

‘Yes,
there’s just the three of us at the medical practice here and we service the peninsula and a lot of the smaller islands. It can get very...well...interesting  at times.’

‘I can imagine. You must have a great repertoire of after dinner stories to tell.’

He laughed and nodded, ‘That’s for sure.’

‘
So how long have you been at Ariskaig?’

Esme
chipped in, ‘Since Mum died. Two years ago.’

Rachel held her head in her hands and sighed.

‘I’m not doing so great here, am I?’ Lifting her head she smiled at Esme.

‘Well, I’ve eaten more that I should’ve and i
t’s time I made my way back home.’

She stood up from the table.

‘Please stay.’ There was an element of panic in Esme’s voice and she held on to Rachel’s hand.

Rachel sat down again, put her arms round the small girl and hugged her close.

‘We’ve had a real adventure, you and I. Haven’t we?’