Emer was looking into his eyes and smiling, and Jack couldn’t resist leaning down and kissing her soft, willing mouth. Their tongues entwined, and she caressed his neck.
‘We could always skip dinner,’ breathed Jack. ‘I don’t need the oysters.’
He waltzed her to the bed and gently laid her down in the middle of it. Her auburn locks spread in glorious disarray on the pillows, and a light tug easily undid the knot in the towel. Emer placed her hands on his face and gently pulled him towards her. ‘We’ll call room service later,’ she breathed, and Jack soon forgot about anything other than this woman and this moment.
Jack tried to persuade himself to get out of bed. Emer was dozing peacefully in his arms. They’d made love again a short time ago, leisurely, still drowsy from sleep. Jack wished he could stop time and defer his return to Baronsmere and all the problems there. An impossible wish, but at least he could enjoy this day to the fullest, and make sure Emer did, too. At the end of the weekend, he wanted her to think of him as fun, caring, romantic, sensitive. And to decide she needed him in her life permanently.
He gently kissed her awake, stroking curls away from her forehead. ‘Time to get up,’ he said, rolling over and getting out of bed.
She looked at the clock, confused. ‘What? It’s still early. Come back to bed.’
‘I’ve planned a surprise for you,’ he said with a smile.
‘What kind of surprise?’
‘Not telling. But make sure you dress warmly.’
A faint light in the sky heralded the coming dawn. Nearby, Emer could hear water, see the ghostly glimmer of it running down the nearby cliff. This was Jack’s surprise. A private breakfast by Powerscourt Waterfall. An expensive breakfast because the place didn’t open to the public until after ten. He’d arranged it all without her knowing – gone to a lot of trouble and expense just for her. She hugged that knowledge close as she watched him open the bag the hotel receptionist had given him.
There were smoked salmon sandwiches, some boiled eggs, Danish pastries and two bright red apples. Even better, there was a Thermos flask of hot coffee. Jack sat next to Emer and draped a blanket round their shoulders. Then they waited.
When the first gleams of sunlight hit their spot, Emer grabbed Jack’s hand as they sat together watching nature’s daily miracle. Neither of them spoke; neither of them needed to. She would remember this forever.
‘Thank you,’ she murmured, when the sun had finally cleared the horizon.
He kissed her hand. ‘My pleasure, Emer. You’ve made me very happy, you know. Yesterday was wonderful – all of it.’
‘Yes, it was,’ she agreed, snuggling close.
He gently kissed the side of her head, and she heard him whisper, ‘I need to have you with me, Emer. I think I’ll need to have you with me always.’
Emer’s pulse raced. She was falling for this man in a big way, but she was still anxious. Was her heart ready for one more great love? Losing Michael had been devastating, and Colm’s betrayal still hurt. She’d not make a promise she couldn’t keep, but she’d have to give Jack some kind of an answer. ‘My grandmother had a saying – What’s for you will not pass by you. If we’re meant to be together, Jack, then we will be.’
He took her hand and pressed it to his mouth. They lingered on in that magical place, lulled by the music of the waterfall and the sun’s gentle rays.
‘Is this all yours?’ asked Jack, staring at the elegant façade of the four-storey Edwardian building in the Dublin suburb where Emer lived.
‘God, no! I’ve got the ground floor flat. It’s all I need.’
Jack followed her up the steps and into the spacious hallway. The late afternoon sun was shining through the stained glass above the door, casting squares of coloured light on the polished parquet floor. A vase of lilies on a small table filled the entrance area with a heady scent.
Emer unlocked the door on the right. ‘You’ll have to excuse the mess,’ she apologised, showing him into the living room. ‘I usually attempt a clean up at weekends. Sit yourself down and I’ll make us some tea.’
She headed for the kitchen, leaving Jack free to explore the spacious room. The walls were a soft buttery yellow and two large paintings commanded attention: a wild seascape, and an unusual canvas of a smiling young man casting his arms wide as if to gather the whole world to him. A bookcase near the window was filled with a mix of psychology textbooks, classics and popular novels. Framed photographs of freckled, red-haired children crowded the top of the bookshelf: Emer’s nieces, nephews, and godchildren, some of whom he’d met earlier at the christening. He’d liked Emer’s relatives. They’d easily accepted Jack and Emer as a couple and given him a warm welcome.
Jack sat down on a comfortable blue sofa and gazed through the tall windows at the massing clouds. He let his mind drift, hearing the clanking of china in the kitchen and voices followed by beeps – Emer checking her answering machine. A sudden tiredness washed over him. The early morning start was catching up with him. He dozed off.
Jack woke with a start, not sure where he was at first, stretched out on a sofa, still in his clothes. A table lamp gave out a soft light to combat the dusk. He sat up and saw Emer, resting in an armchair, watching him.
He smiled but she didn’t speak. She looked grim.
‘Sorry I drifted off … I didn’t mean to be rude …’
‘There was a message on my answering machine from Matt. You’d left my phone numbers with Maggie in case of emergency. Your mobile’s been switched off the whole time.’
‘Matt? What did the message say?’
‘I phoned him back in case it was urgent. He asked me to tell you he’s left home. He’s staying at Tony’s pub for now.’
‘What!’ Jack’s mind was racing. He was an idiot. Sneaking out of the house early so he wouldn’t have to face Matt after their argument. Now it had all gone belly up.
‘Why didn’t you tell me Luke had left home as well? Matt said he left because Luke did, and you didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to persuade him to come back.’ Emer’s voice was cool, her expression disapproving.
‘Now wait a minute!’ This was injustice on a grand scale. He was being blamed for something he hadn’t done. ‘That’s not true. I was going to speak to Luke.’
‘When?’
‘Tomorrow. I thought I’d give him time to calm down first.’
‘You must see how it looks, Jack. You come to spend the weekend with me while your sons are in crisis. And you leave your mobile switched off so no one can contact you.’
Jack stood up, paced in front of the windows. ‘A crisis that Luke caused. He’s supporting a protest against Stewart Enterprises. My father was furious. He saw it as a betrayal. That Luke was doing it for revenge.’
‘And you believe that, too?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe. My father thinks so.’
‘Never mind your father. What do you think? Be your own man, Jack. At least Luke has the courage of his convictions.’
‘So you’re siding with him?’
Emer threw up her hands in frustration. ‘Your parents are the ones wanting you to take sides, and that’s not good. Can’t you see that?’
‘All I see is you’re blaming me, and that’s not fair.’
‘You know what really bothers me about all this, Jack? That you never told me any of it.’
‘But why spoil our weekend? What would it have achieved? Anyway, I was—’
‘—going to tell me?’ Emer finished his sentence. ‘Like you were going to speak to Luke? Everything has to happen to your timetable.’ She shook her head, and his heart sank. ‘I thought we got so close this weekend – now I find you’re keeping things from me. That’s not what a relationship should be about.’
‘I’m sorry …’
‘Me too.�
��
Her words had a ring of finality, which startled Jack. ‘Emer, I understand what you’re saying – really I do, and I can see why you’re angry. But right now, it’s because of you – even just the thought of you – that I’m keeping everything together. Please – please – don’t pull away from me. Not now.’
Emer’s expression softened, but her look was pitying, not loving. ‘Jack, you need to sort out your life. And you need to think what kind of relationship you want. I want a partner who shares things with me, who doesn’t keep me in the dark. Right now, I can’t trust you, and that’s not something I can build on.’
Jack wasn’t angry now. Just sorry. He’d had something good within his grasp, and he’d screwed it up. He’d lost Matt and now Emer. Luke had never really been his to lose. ‘Do you want me to leave now? I could try to get a flight …’
‘Of course not. You can sleep on the sofa. I can order some food …’
‘I’m not hungry,’ said Jack.
‘Me neither,’ said Emer sadly.
They looked at each other like two survivors on separate life rafts, drifting slowly and inexorably away from each other.
Jack’s car inched through Manchester’s morning traffic. His flight from Dublin had been delayed, so he’d be late to work, but right now that seemed the least of his worries. All he could think about was Emer. How could they have got so close then ended up poles apart?
Rounding a corner, Jack saw a large crowd of people blocking the pavement in front of Stewart Enterprises. He scanned the placards, which read ‘Hands Off Woodlands’ and ‘Stewart Enterprises: Bullies ‘R’ Us’. Shit! This was all Richard’s fault.
As he drove slowly forward, Jack caught sight of Luke. And Kate was there too. His father had been right. Luke was pushing things too far. Jack’s car screeched past the security booth. He didn’t so much park it as abandon it in the reserved space. He marched toward the lift, stabbing angrily at a button once inside, and then fumed his way to the executive floor. He wasn’t looking forward to this. Nicholas would be raging, and the blame for everything would be laid at Jack’s door.
‘Better late than never,’ Nicholas snapped as Jack strode into his father’s office.
‘I suppose you’ve just run the gauntlet outside, as we all did,’ said Richard, clucking in mock sympathy.
Jack ignored him, focusing on his father. ‘So – what are we going to do?’
Richard spoke again. ‘You tell us, Jack, since your son appears to be one of the ringleaders.’
‘Richard, let me remind you, the Woodlands development was your idea. You pursued it against my advice …’
Now Nicholas cut Jack off. ‘And I gave the project final approval. I stand by that decision. Finger pointing isn’t going to solve this. I’m having lunch with Lou Jacobson from Redgate … Richard, you’d better talk to Keith Torr in Construction and set his mind at rest – he’s probably foaming at the mouth right now at the prospect of a delay. Circulate the press release as soon as it’s good to go. Heads of departments give out the message it’s business as usual, and if anyone so much as breathes near the press, they’ll be fired on the spot.’
Nicholas Stewart during a crisis was an impressive sight. Levelheaded and focused. Nerves of steel. Jack felt like a foot soldier in the shadow of a four-star general.
‘And I want regular updates from Legal and PR,’ instructed Nicholas. ‘Well, what are you waiting for, man? Get to it.’
It seemed like Richard just stopped short of saluting. He pushed past Jack with a face like thunder. When they were alone, Jack said to his father, ‘Seems like you’ve got everything under control. What do you want me to do?’
‘Talk to that boy, for God’s sake!’ snapped Nicholas, pushing abruptly up and out of his chair and glaring at Jack. ‘He’s out of control – a loose cannon. If the press get to know there’s one of our own fighting against us …’
‘One of our own?’ queried Jack. ‘You’ve changed your tune.’
‘That’s how the media will perceive it, Jack. Do something about him.’
‘He’s a grown man. And this is a free country. What exactly do you suggest?’
Nicholas leaned forward, his hands flat against the smooth wooden surface of the table. ‘I don’t care how you do it. Just sort this mess out. Lock him up, if you have to!’
‘That’d be a little difficult since he’s no longer living with me. You managed to achieve that with your appearance on Thursday.’
‘I said what needed to be said, Jack. I’m not going to apologise for that.’
His arrogance irritated Jack. Nicholas was the one who’d blown everything wide open. ‘For your information, Matt’s moved out, too.’ There was some satisfaction in seeing the shock on Nicholas’s face. ‘He’s staying at the Fox and Feathers for now. He’s angry at the way Luke is being treated.’
‘I don’t understand any of this,’ said Nicholas, throwing his hands up in exasperation. ‘Suddenly everything is in chaos. You should never have brought that boy here. He’s caused nothing but trouble. Have you talked to Matt?’
‘I haven’t had a chance yet. I was away this weekend.’ Jack felt a twinge of guilt. He really should have stayed home and sorted things out. ‘He just needs some time alone. He’ll come round.’
‘That sounds a bit cavalier. We need family unity at a time like this.’
‘Don’t preach to me about family unity, Dad,’ warned Jack. ‘You’re on thin ice there. I’ll deal with Matt in my own way.’
‘And Luke?’
‘We’ve got our planning permission. Enough of the Woodlands residents have signed. Construction starts in a couple of weeks. What can Luke do?’
As he spoke, Jack remembered the threat to tell the press that Nicholas Stewart tried to buy off Annie. He was about to raise the issue of the cheque when Nicholas spoke. ‘Why don’t you take the bull by the horns? Tell him you don’t want anything else to do with him. That you’ll run him out of town if he doesn’t stop this nonsense right now. Face up to your responsibilities, Jack.’
Jack stared at his father, this burly, aggressive bear of a man who had dominated his life, and felt intense dislike. Emer had told him to be his own man. Perhaps he should try that. ‘Making Luke a martyr is the worst thing we could do. You’re not thinking straight and that’s not like you.’
Nicholas seemed flustered. ‘Just get rid of him.’
‘I feel I don’t know you anymore, Dad. Maybe I never did.’
Nicholas shook his head and passed a hand over his face. ‘You just don’t want to hear what I’m saying – or admit you’ve made a big mistake.’
‘You need to deal with your own mistake, Dad. A mistake called Richard. If you don’t keep a tighter rein on him, he’ll sink us all. I warned you about that before.’
Jack turned away. It was something no one should do to Nicholas. Like not turning your back on royalty. A small protest, but a protest nonetheless. There was absolute silence behind him as Jack walked out of the office.
When Jack approached the driveway of his house, he saw a black Range Rover at the entrance, two men leaning casually against its side. At the sight of Jack’s car, one of the men started snapping pictures. The other tried to flag him down, but Jack veered the car and roared up to the house, where he swung the front door open with such force it banged against the wall.
‘Who is it?’ shouted Maggie, appearing in the kitchen doorway wielding a broom, which she lowered when she saw Jack. ‘I thought you might have been one of those reporters.’
‘Yes, I saw some at the gate,’ said Jack, taking off his coat. ‘What were you planning to do, Maggie – give them the brush off?’
Maggie didn’t respond. Not even the hint of a smile.
‘It’s going to get worse before it gets better,’ Jack told her. ‘Thank
s to Luke …’
‘Yes, blame Luke,’ she muttered.
A large suitcase was in the hall. Louis Vuitton, still in immaculate condition, though it had been a present from Jack to Maggie more than five years ago.
‘Going somewhere, Maggie?’ he asked.
She sniffed. ‘Yes. I’m going over to Baronswood to stay with my sister.’
‘How long for?’ asked Jack.
‘Not sure,’ she said evasively.
‘Is everything okay?’
She shook her head. ‘Of course it’s not okay. Both your sons have left home, and who knows if they’ll ever come back. You’ve made a right mess of things.’
‘I have? I’ve tried my best, Maggie, and it’s not been easy, let me tell you. A little support wouldn’t go amiss … and shouldn’t you be giving me notice of time off?’ He was just trying to make a point. They’d never had a typical employer–employee relationship.
Maggie’s jaw set, never a good sign. ‘I have to get ready – Maisie’s expecting me. There’s plenty of food in the fridge and freezer, and I believe you know how to operate the washing machine.’
‘Maggie, I’m sorry,’ said Jack, not wanting to part on bad terms.
‘It’s not me you need to apologise to, is it?’
She disappeared into the kitchen, leaving him alone in the hallway. Now he was truly at odds with everyone who was important to him.
A weak late-afternoon sun came out as Kate approached The Fox and Feathers pub. Perhaps a good omen for her mission.
Matt had been her best friend for as long as she could remember, but for the first time in her life Kate felt awkward at the prospect of seeing him. She loved him like a brother, but if she had to choose a side, it would be Luke’s. It was terrible that there was so much division between people who should be close, not wounding each other. Matt had been so thrilled to learn he had a brother, and it was obvious from Luke’s expression whenever Matt was mentioned that he longed for a reconciliation.
He was stubborn, though – so lacking in self-belief that he needed Matt to make the first move. Kate could sense that Luke thought being needy was a weakness. If she could just talk Matt round, then Luke would think it was all his brother’s idea. Matt would go along with it for sure, and anyway he should have been more understanding and supportive. He’d said so himself during their lunch last Friday in the pub. Taking a determined breath, she knocked on the door to the small flat Matt was renting from Tony Hayes.
Beneath an Irish Sky (Choc Lit) Page 28
