A Life Worth Living

by Louise Guy

  She’d said something hadn’t made sense to her. The enormous changes in Eve’s personality since the accident hadn’t felt right. For starters, there was no way Eve would be caught dead in half of the outfits she’d seen Leah in since the funeral, and her make-up attempts were pitiful. When her tears had subsided, Nicola almost seemed relieved.

  She’d promised to pass the information of the memorial, or celebration of life, on to friends who Leah didn’t have contact details for.

  She had planned to speak to Ben over the phone, but because of how close Eve and Ben had been, she decided to pay him a visit.

  When she’d first arrived at his office, his eyes had lit up. He’d immediately taken her arm and led her to a private room.

  Leah had started out by telling him she’d regained her memory. She’d had to pull out of his embrace when he’d assumed this meant her feelings for him had returned.

  She’d very gently told him what’d happened, that Eve had been the one to die in the accident, not her.

  His shock and tears had brought tears to her eyes. If Eve hadn’t been happy in her marriage, she was at least glad she had found comfort in a man who obviously adored her.

  Leah invited him to attend the celebration for Eve, but suggested he do his best to stay right away from Sean.

  Her sister’s work colleagues had shown great compassion towards her. Peter had managed a small smile and said it did help explain Eve’s lack of performance since the accident. He suggested Leah either get qualified, or go back to journalism instead of real estate. He also promised to let their clients know about the celebration.

  Now, four months since her death, plans were put in motion to give Eve the send-off she deserved.

  The sun sank low over the beautiful gardens as the last of the guests gave their condolences and said their goodbyes.

  Leah’s idea to have the service and wake at The Gables, the same venue Sean and Eve had been married at, had been met with approval from both Sean and her parents.

  Her sister had spent hours planning every detail of her wedding and The Gables had been her first choice of venue. She’d insisted they marry in September to ensure the jasmine would be in flower, and the garden smelt sweet through the pre-dinner drinks and canapés. The weather had been perfect for the wedding and her twin had been equally stunning.

  ‘I think she would’ve liked this.’ Her father’s voice was low when they spoke after the service when drinks were being served in the garden. ‘It’s classy. Like Eve was. I think she would’ve preferred this to the funeral home.’

  Leah shuddered at the memory. She’d spent time chatting with Eve’s friends and watching the twins, ensuring Harriet didn’t take to climbing any of the trees.

  The wake in the garden definitely felt like a celebration. They’d paid for drinks and finger food for a three-hour period and Eve’s friends were making the most of it.

  It appeared she had many more friends, mainly through Nicola, who Sean hadn’t been aware of. She’d heard a number of anecdotal stories about her sister she’d never heard before.

  The story of Eve without a stitch of clothes on trying to find her hotel room in Las Vegas was one that had them all laughing.

  Sean took her arm. ‘Got a minute?’

  Leah nodded.

  ‘Who’s that guy over by the fountain? He came to your funeral. He’s a property developer. We were introduced but I forget his name. Said he was there for you when he assumed you were Eve. Is it, you know…him?’

  Leah’s stomach clenched at the sight of Ben.

  He was standing with a beer in hand looking into the fountain.

  For Sean’s sake, she shouldn’t have invited him.

  ‘Yes.’ She was beyond lying to him at this stage. ‘His name’s Ben Styles.’

  Sean’s eyes were fixed on the dark-haired man. ‘I’m going to go and have a word.’

  Before Leah could stop him, Sean went to Ben.

  Her sister’s lover immediately took a step backward, surprise registering on his face when Sean put his hand out.

  She couldn’t hear the actual exchange between them, but it was short and when Sean looked at her, he smiled.

  Ben turned back to the fountain, his shoulders hunched as he stared into the water.

  Leah waited until Sean had moved away and walked over to Ben. ‘Everything okay?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes, I’ll finish my beer and head off. I know it sounds silly, especially when she was cremated months ago and isn’t here, but I wanted to be close to her.’

  ‘What did Sean say to you?’

  Ben met her gaze. ‘He asked if I’d been sleeping with his wife.’

  Leah gasped. ‘He actually asked you that?’

  He nodded. ‘I said no. I said I’d wanted to, but she’d said she wouldn’t cheat on her husband. It wasn’t true, but I thought he’d probably been through enough. I also didn’t want to end up head first in the fountain.’

  ‘Thank you. I know Eve would appreciate you doing that.’

  ‘I loved her, Leah.’ Ben’s eyes glistened with tears. ‘We were good together. We never would’ve left our marriages, but what we had was special, very special. I don’t expect you or anyone else to understand, but it was real.’

  A small part of her felt sorry for him, she could see how much he was suffering, but another part didn’t. Infidelity was inexcusable. It didn’t matter which way you tried to spin it.

  Ben drank the last of his beer and placed the empty glass on a tray as one of the many waiters came past. ‘Time for me to leave. Thank you, Leah. It was generous of you to include me today.’

  He leaned forward and kissed Leah on the cheek before striding through the gardens of The Gables on his way to the car park.

  Sean gave both his daughters one last cuddle each as he and Leah tucked the girls into bed. ‘Sweet dreams,’ he said while they moved to the doorway to switch off the light.

  ‘Sweet dreams to you, too,’ the girls chorused.

  The twins had returned from the service and wake in different moods. Harriet had given them a running commentary about the differences of the two funerals all the way home to Brighton while Ava sat quietly, her face turned towards the window.

  ‘You okay, Aves?’ Leah asked.

  ‘I’m thinking about Mummy,’ she said. ‘Did you know on the night of the accident, when she couldn’t come out to dinner with us, she’d told us to have caramel sundaes? And she told us she loved us.’

  Sean smiled, pleased by Ava’s final memories of Eve.

  The conversation, driven by Harriet, quickly returned to the celebration for Eve and most importantly the drinks and food.

  The twins both agreed The Gables had better pink lemonade and the best sausage rolls they’d ever had.

  ‘I had seven,’ Harriet boasted. ‘One for each year I am.’

  Leah laughed. ‘Lucky you’re not eighty-eight then.’

  The atmosphere in the car had become joyous, a complete contrast to the first funeral.

  Sean assumed it was because they’d dealt with a lot of their shock and grief back then. Yes, they were saying goodbye to Eve, not Leah, but the girls were handling it a lot better. So was he.

  He reflected on his brief conversation with Ben Styles. The guy had lied straight to his face. Sean was a lawyer; he could read people well and could see the dishonesty in Ben’s eyes.

  All of Eve’s actions before the accident had indicated an affair, and both Nicola and Peggy had confirmed it when they thought it was Eve who was alive and pregnant by another man.

  While part of him would happily have punched Ben in the face, he’d not pursued it. Sean had the tiniest—tiniest—amount of respect for the man. He’d openly admitted he wanted Sean’s wife but said she was the one to put a stop to it. He’d been protecting Eve.

  He could see that. The person Eve had gone to instead of him actually cared about her, but it was up in the air whether or not that was a good thing.

  Sean was goi
ng to do his best to put it out of his mind. There was nothing he could do now to change anything that’d happened. All he could influence was what happened from now on.

  He pulled the door to the girls’ room shut and, with a hand on the small of her back, guided Leah down the stairs to the living room. ‘You must be exhausted. Today was a big day. A lot of emotion. The speech you gave for Eve was beautiful.’

  ‘The twins did an amazing job, too. Ava, in particular. And Mum and Dad. I didn’t think they’d get through that reading.’

  ‘They have incredible strength. They’d have to with what they’ve been put through the past few months.’

  ‘No thanks to me,’ Leah said as they both sat on the couch.

  ‘You’ll need to stop thinking like that,’ Sean said. ‘I think we both need to do our best to move on. Live in the moment, or at least not in the past. You did what you did with the very best of intentions, and that’s all that really matters.’ He smiled. ‘My guess is Eve would be having a good laugh right about now, about how spectacularly messed up everything got. I think she’d also be pretty happy with the send-off she got today, too. Her glamour squad was there. You’d have believed they were going to a fashion show, not a memorial service.’

  She laughed. ‘Yes, I can see now why Nicola was so suspicious of me. Eve actually dressed quite understated compared to most of them.’

  He moved closer and took her hand. ‘As messed up as this has all been, I have realised one thing. You mean a lot to me, Leah. You always have. I don’t want you to move out. I’d like you to stay, see what happens when it’s you and me. Not you pretending to be my wife. The girls love you and I–’ he hesitated. ‘I’d like the chance to spend time with you as Leah.’ Sean placed his hand gently on her stomach. ‘You’re going to need some help here, too when the baby’s born, and I’d like to be here for you through that.’

  ‘But this is someone else’s baby.’

  ‘I know. But it’s very unlikely Grant’s going to want anything to do with the baby. On top of that, it’s a lot easier to accept you and your baby than a baby that’s the result of my wife having an affair. I come with baggage, too, don’t forget. Twins to be exact.’

  ‘They’re family. That’s a bit different.’

  ‘Not to me,’ Sean said. ‘So, what do you say? Shall we at least give it a go? No pressure, no expectations, just see where it might lead? Eve got in the way of that opportunity fifteen years ago, and I think we deserve the chance to see how it might’ve played out.’

  Leah squeezed his hand. ‘I think we do, too.’

  Did You Enjoy the Story?

  I do hope you enjoyed A Life Worth Living. If you did, I would be very appreciative if you could take a few minutes to leave an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads. I’d love to hear your feedback too, so please get in touch at www.louiseguy.com.

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  More about Louise Guy

  Louise writes commercial women’s fiction for adults as well as adventure/fantasy stories for 6-12-year-olds. In May 2017 readers and reviewers warmly received her debut adult release, Everyday Lies, with AusRom Today stating: “A brilliant and compelling read that highlights Guy's superb storytelling abilities.” Louise has since received similar reviews for her second book for adults, Fortunate Friends, released in November 2017.

  In the children’s book arena, Louise is best known for her popular ten-book Minecraft-based series, The Crafters’ Club, which has been contracted by Scholastic for the US, Canadian and Philippine book club markets. Writing for children, Louise draws on inspiration from her own two boys. Their interest in Minecraft sparked the idea for The Crafters’ Club and her youngest son’s love of adventure, creating potions and exploring a world of fantasy led to the first two titles in The Secret World of Curly Jones series. In addition to writing her fourth book for adults, Louise is currently working on a standalone children’s title.

  Louise and her family live on Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast. When she’s not writing, Louise loves every opportunity she gets to switch on her kindle, press play on an audiobook or smell the crisp fresh pages of a new release from a favourite author.

  You’ll find Louise online at:

  www.louiseguy.com

  Acknowledgments

  My warmest thanks to the many people who helped me take A Life Worth Living from draft form to publication.

  To my early readers, Judy, Maggie, Ray, Robyn and Tracy, a huge thank you!

  Dr. Peter Garrett, thank you for sharing your knowledge and advice on the medical elements of the plot.

  Thank you to Chrissy Szarek for your editing brilliance. You helped move the story to an entirely new level.

  To Laila Miller. Thank you for the time you invested in proof-reading the final story.

  To Lana Pecherczyk of Bookcoverology. Another fantastic cover, thank you.

  And, as always, my love and thanks to my husband Ray and my mother Judy for everything they do to help me write each novel.

  Copyright © Louise Guy 2018

  First edition: 2018

  Printed by Go Direct Publishing Pty Ltd.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles.

  All enquiries should be forwarded to enquiries@godirectpublishing.com.

  All of the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  ISBN: 978-0-6480144-9-2

  uise Guy, A Life Worth Living