Before the Storm

by Di Morrissey

  Ellie nodded.

  Patrick hesitated, as if searching for words, but seemed to change his mind. ‘Look, Seamus being back changes things,’ he said quietly. ‘I want to talk to him on his own about the caravan park lease before he joins the party. I know the timing isn’t great, but it’s urgent now and we might not get a chance later. I’ll go and find him. Will you be okay here?’

  ‘Yes, I’ll go and see Heather, she’s talking to Sally.’

  Ellie made her way to the front and sat down beside the two women. ‘This is unreal. No one will forget this party! Where’s Kathryn?’

  ‘Susan took her out to see Seamus once he’s in dry clothes. What a miracle he made it back in time!’ said Heather.

  There was another thunder crack and bolt of lightning, making everyone jump nervously.

  Guests who’d gone outside to help make sure the marquee and everything in it was safe in the gale returned, looking somewhat damp and windblown and brushing water from their jackets as food and drinks were passed around.

  Soon Seamus, accompanied by his daughter and sons, came back into the room, and Susan helped Kathryn back to her chair. Ellie couldn’t see her grandfather and wondered if Patrick had managed to talk to Seamus.

  Seamus picked up the microphone. ‘Sorry for my late arrival, everyone, but I wouldn’t have missed this occasion for anything, whether it be a storm in the Caribbean or one in our own backyard – or in this case, both!’ There was laughter from the crowd, then he turned to Kathryn. ‘Mother, you are an inspiration to us all. A very happy birthday to you.’

  Ronan leaned across, retrieved the mic from his father and said, ‘Let’s go on with our little ceremony. Grandy, please unveil the portrait.’

  Susan helped Kathryn to the easel, where she pulled the cord and the velvet covering slipped to the floor.

  There was an intake of breath and a loud burst of applause. Ellie snapped some photos of the moment and the crowd’s reaction. A minute or two later, a waiter walked up to the platform pushing a trolley table holding a magnificent three-tiered birthday cake, the candles alight.

  Patrick appeared beside Ellie and sat down, shaking his head. ‘No luck talking to Seamus. I’ll try to catch him when this is over,’ he whispered, and put his arm around her shoulders.

  Voices were almost drowned out by the pounding rain and rolling thunder as the guests sang ‘Happy Birthday’, and Kathryn blew out the candles arranged in the shape of the numbers nine and five. Then, beaming with happiness, Kathryn cut her cake with Seamus’s help as everyone applauded.

  The waiter wheeled the cake away again to be cut up and served on dainty plates, while other waiters moved the chairs aside so guests could mingle. Ellie could hear a few people discussing whether they should leave before the storm worsened, while others thought it safest to stay till it subsided. The rain was still torrential and the wind continued howling, although the lightning and thunder appeared to be moving away.

  Ellie watched as, across the room, Patrick managed to take Seamus to one side and talk to him. As Patrick spoke, she saw a look of shock and alarm spread across the other man’s face.

  Then Seamus marched over to Ronan and took his arm, indicating that he wanted his son to come with him out of the room. Ronan began shaking his head but Seamus snapped something back at him, his voice raised, and then both men strode towards the hallway. A few heads turned curiously. Seamus looked over his shoulder and gestured to Patrick. ‘Come and tell them what you told me,’ he said.

  Patrick hurried over and grabbed Ellie’s hand. ‘Come with me. You’re the one with the information from Russ.’

  She was about to say no, but seeing Patrick’s face she quietly followed the group, which now included Susan, and they walked down the hallway towards the library.

  It was quieter in there, but the constant thrumming of the rain and wind against the window panes was loud in their ears. Standing just inside the door, Ellie tried to be as unobtrusive as she could.

  ‘What’s this about, Dad?’ asked Ronan.

  Seamus gestured at Patrick. ‘I have just been informed, not by any member of my family but by Patrick here, that our lease to council for the caravan park is about to expire. It has not been renewed despite several reminder letters being sent, apparently – letters I have not seen. Which means the council will be able to acquire our land and sell it on, or do whatever they want with it, if we don’t renegotiate the lease. I don’t know what has been going on, but that land is not to leave this family. My father was definite about that, and so am I.’

  ‘Then why weren’t the documents signed?’ Patrick asked reasonably.

  ‘Well, Dad was away,’ Ronan said.

  ‘Ellie, can you please explain what you found out?’ said Patrick. Everyone looked at her.

  ‘What do you mean, “found out”,’ demanded Susan. ‘What is this – an inquisition?’

  Ellie took a breath. ‘I was told that three letters were sent to you, Mr O’Neill, in the past several months, reminding you that the lease on the caravan park was due to be renegotiated or the land would become council property,’ she said. ‘That was part of the conditions in the original lease signed by your father, apparently. But there was no response to any of the council’s letters.’

  ‘Where did you get such information?’ snapped Susan.

  ‘Is this true, Ellie?’ asked Seamus, ignoring Susan. ‘Are you sure about this information?’

  ‘I am not able to reveal a confidential source, but yes, I’m sure it’s accurate. If you contact the council, they’ll confirm what I’ve told you,’ she answered calmly. ‘One or perhaps even two of the letters were sent before you went away.’

  Though it was subtle, Ellie was certain she saw Ronan and Susan exchange an uneasy glance.

  ‘Patrick, since when was it your business to poke your nose into our family affairs?’ said Ronan.

  Patrick shrugged. ‘Ever since a concerned friend reported hearing a rumour about that land. And the town is naturally worried about the possibility of development on that site.’

  ‘What would they know?’ said Susan.

  ‘Well, if letters were sent to me, even before I went away, why didn’t I see them? Who opens the correspondence? Isn’t that your job, Susan?’ Seamus said, glancing at her, but without waiting for an answer, turning to Ronan. ‘Did you see those letters from the council, Ronan? You must have seen the one or two that arrived while I was away. You had power of attorney to run things in my absence. Why didn’t you re-sign the lease? You have always known your grandfather’s and my wishes for that land. It should have been a simple matter.’ Seamus glared at his son, whose face suddenly reddened, and then Ronan pointed to Susan.

  ‘Susan is in charge of the mail,’ he said quickly. ‘She should have dealt with it.’

  Susan took a step back, clearly surprised. ‘What? Don’t you dare try to lay the blame on me!’ she shouted at Ronan. ‘I brought that letter straight to you, and it was all your idea! You said it was an opportunity for us, that it was prime real estate going to waste! And it was you who brought in your mate the developer.’ She sounded panicky and Ronan had turned pale.

  ‘That’s enough,’ he said, pressing his lips tightly together and glancing at Seamus, but it was too late. Seamus looked horrified.

  ‘You opened my mail and didn’t notify me? Even before I left on my cruise?’ he said. ‘Am I to understand that my own son is trying to deprive me of our family land? And what’s this about a development?’

  Ronan lifted his hands as if to placate his father. ‘Look, Dad, you’re being too sentimental. I knew you would be. It’s just an old caravan park,’ he said. ‘You’ve no idea of the potential there. You haven’t seemed interested in the business much at all lately. I made a business decision.’

  Seamus was speechless with anger and hurt.

  Taking advantag
e of the silence, Ronan turned his attention to Susan. ‘I was trying to do a great thing for the town, you know. Not just make a buck, like some people.’

  Susan gasped. ‘I can’t believe what I’m hearing,’ she yelled. ‘You couldn’t care less about this town! You thought the whole idea was brilliant and would make us a fortune. You were in it for the money all along.’ She gave a bitter shrug. Ronan looked like he wanted to step over and make her stop talking, but it seemed Susan was on a roll. ‘You’re the one who decided to let the lease lapse and then buy the land cheaply from the council so your contacts could develop it and make us all big bucks. That was our agreement. And it would have been fine, too, if the media hadn’t started poking its nose in,’ she added, shooting a cold look at Patrick and Ellie.

  ‘They never had any facts,’ Ronan shot back at her icily. ‘It would have been all right except that you lost your head and went overboard with your crazy threats.’

  ‘I’m not the only one! It wasn’t me who “persuaded” certain councillors that they should sell us the land for a song and approve our development plans. Obviously we knew that goody-two-shoes mayor wouldn’t help once she found out what we wanted to do,’ added Susan.

  ‘Wait a minute,’ said Ellie slowly, as certain pieces of the puzzle fell into place in her mind. ‘Crazy threats . . . So it was you who decided to get rid of the mayor? You did the trolling? Spread the nasty rumours?’ she continued, staring at Susan and shaking her head. ‘I don’t know how you dug up Meredith’s history. Fortunately, that backfired on you.’

  Susan seemed to have realised she’d said too much and fell silent, but her face was still mutinous. A loud boom of thunder made them all jump, and the lights flickered again.

  ‘The councillors you “persuaded” to support your future plans,’ said Patrick, ‘was Councillor Lowe one of them?’

  ‘Lowe was keen,’ said Ronan. ‘It was a great opportunity for the town. Still is.’ He put his hands on his hips defiantly, but Ellie noticed the tension in his clenched jaw.

  ‘But you thought you had to steal your own family’s land to do it,’ said Seamus in an appalled voice.

  ‘And did your methods of “persuasion” include poisoning my dog?’ asked Patrick quietly. ‘Sam, my dog, is okay. Luckily. Ellie got to the bait first,’ he added.

  ‘What?’ Ronan turned to him. ‘I was never part of any plan to poison your dog.’

  ‘Poison!’ exclaimed Seamus. ‘That’s beyond the pale. Patrick, I’m so, so sorry.’

  Ellie broke in. ‘The vet said it was a chemical that’s now banned. He said there’s probably plenty still lying around in woolsheds as it was used to treat sheep.’

  Seamus looked at Ronan. ‘I thought we got rid of that stuff,’ he said tightly.

  Ronan was pale. ‘I thought so too. I asked Susan to take care of it.’

  There was a brief, shocked silence in the room as all eyes turned to the O’Neills’ assistant.

  ‘You were in this as a partner, all the way,’ hissed Susan. ‘Now that you’ve been caught out, you’re dumping me in it. What kind of a man are you?’

  ‘But why hurt our dog, Susan?’ Ellie said, her voice filled with anger and disbelief. ‘It was cruel and senseless.’ A thought occurred to her. ‘And I suppose it was you who put those posts against me up on social media. What have I ever done to you?’

  Susan glared at Ellie and snapped, ‘You came to Storm Harbour and acted as if you owned the place! What would you know about what’s good for this town?’

  Ellie found herself leaning back, trying to distance herself from this woman and her hurtful words.

  ‘I spoke to Keith, who owns the radio station,’ Susan continued. ‘He was happy to help me and put a stop to that smart-arse Sally’s investigation. I tried the same with the Chronicle, by offering a lot of advertising, but you were a loose cannon.’ Susan shook her fist at Ellie. ‘I had to stop you and your grandfather putting something in the paper that would have killed off our deal –’

  ‘Enough!’ Seamus raised his voice. ‘This is my mother’s birthday!’ He paused, shaking his head. ‘I just can’t believe any of this. Mother would never agree to parting with any of Boyd’s land. The very idea would kill her! Surely you both knew that?’

  ‘Susan made sure she never found out,’ Ronan started in a rush. ‘She was protecting Grandy. But I felt that when we showed her what we planned to do, and how good the new development would be for Storm Harbour, well, that she’d love it.’

  Everyone simply stared at him as the unlikelihood of this statement sank in.

  ‘Thank goodness I got home in time,’ said Seamus coldly.

  ‘They told us you have till Tuesday to re-sign the lease,’ said Patrick to Seamus.

  ‘That’s a relief. I’ll get my lawyer onto it over the weekend.’

  The library door opened and Cynthia stuck her head in. ‘Everyone is wondering where you all are.’ Her eyes wandered over the group and her expression hardened. ‘Am I interrupting something important?’

  ‘Come in, Cynthia dear, we’re attempting to resolve a family issue. Of course you’re welcome,’ said Seamus.

  ‘What about Linda and Ben? And Kathryn, for that matter? Why weren’t we included in this family discussion?’ she asked tightly.

  ‘It would appear that your husband and Susan have been trying to swindle me out of some valuable O’Neill land,’ said Seamus evenly.

  The well-bred Cynthia then stunned everyone by marching in and pointing a shaking finger at Susan.

  ‘I knew something was going on between you both, and it’s still going on.’ Then her face crumpled and she began to cry.

  As Seamus moved to calm his daughter-in-law, she turned to point at Ronan, tears running down her face. ‘I don’t know how long your affair with this woman has been going on, but you can have her. I can’t stand any more. It’s not fair on me or the children. I’m leaving you, Ronan.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ said Seamus, looking confused.

  Ronan reached out his hand. ‘Please, Cynthia, you’ve got it all wrong. For goodness’ sake, settle down. We can talk about this –’

  ‘Wrong? Am I? Am I? I’ve watched you spend hours in that woman’s house when you told me you were staying in Melbourne or working. And now I find out that she seems to have taken over the family business. She has her nose in everything, and you’ve let her.’

  Ellie exchanged a quick glance with Patrick. That explained why she’d seen Cynthia parked outside Susan’s house.

  Susan’s eyes had narrowed. ‘How would you know any of that, Cynthia? Have you been spying on us?’

  ‘I watched your place because I needed evidence of Ronan being there,’ said Cynthia in a cold but calmer voice. Turning back to Ronan, she continued, ‘So I have decided I’m leaving you and taking the children with me and moving back to my family in Queensland. The deceit and humiliation are too much to bear.’ She turned and made to leave the room.

  ‘Cynthia, please, wait,’ began Ronan, reaching towards his wife. ‘We need to talk. It wasn’t like that at all, it was business –’

  ‘Oh sure. As if!’ she spat.

  ‘No, you’ve got it all wrong,’ said Ronan.

  Susan snorted and snapped, ‘That’s not what you led me to believe, Ronan! So you never had any intention of keeping your promises to me? Were you just leading me on so I would help you get that land?’

  Ronan looked away, not answering as Cynthia turned on her heel, a disgusted look on her face, and hurried from the room, slamming the door behind her.

  Ronan turned quickly to Seamus. ‘Dad, let me explain and make it up to you. It was all Susan’s idea. It sounded good and she did everything –’ Ronan began, with growing panic in his voice.

  ‘Not quite everything, it would seem, Ronan,’ interrupted Seamus, barely controlling his anger. ‘
I really don’t know what to think. We will talk in private later. Don’t discuss these matters with anyone outside this room. Right now, I wish to go and celebrate my mother’s birthday. Patrick? Ellie, shall we?’

  Seamus strode out, Patrick behind him, but something made Ellie hesitate. Her mind had been racing as the revelations of the last few minutes had tumbled out. There was something she needed to do, she realised.

  Ignoring Ellie, Susan moved towards Ronan, who took an involuntary step backwards when he saw her furious face.

  Giving him a hard look, Susan said, ‘Did you really mean everything you just said? This is your last chance. Are you in or out?’

  Ronan and Susan seemed oblivious to Ellie as they glared at each other.

  ‘Out. I want out,’ said Ronan finally. ‘The whole thing is stuffed now anyway.’

  Ellie froze as Susan reached out and whipped her hand across Ronan’s face, snarling, ‘You used me and misled me. You’re a weak, pathetic arsehole, Ronan.’

  Ronan recoiled but said nothing, his hand on his cheek. Susan pushed past him to wrench open the door, pulling it shut so hard behind her it felt as if the house shuddered. But in the raging storm, it was not heard.

  Ellie and Ronan were left alone in the library.

  Ronan looked at her. ‘I’m sorry about the dog. I didn’t know.’

  Ellie stared back at him. What had been dawning on her, what she realised she should have seen long ago, was that the young man who’d had the world at his feet – good looks, wealth, position, fawning friends – someone who could surely have had any girl he fancied, was nothing more than a shallow, weak, cringing husk of a man, full of self-pity.

  He had briefly paid her attention. And she’d felt her dreams of love and romance were coming true as any love-struck seventeen-year-old would. That was until he’d plied her with strong drinks and tried to force himself on her, leaving her not only with a torn dress but physically hurt and emotionally damaged.

  Ellie now realised that Ronan’s attack had crippled her for so many years, and in so many ways. Because of him, she had locked herself in a fragile body, afraid to let go of her heart and emotions. She’d only allowed herself to go through the superficial motions of love, never believing she could truly engage emotionally or physically with a man again, not even Charlie, her husband. She could see it clearly now: what had happened with Ronan had contributed to the disintegration of her marriage. She’d kept Charlie at arm’s length, never fully giving him her heart or indeed, her body, emotionally rejecting him until he’d finally given up on ever breaking the barrier around Ellie’s heart. Trust had gone, and Ellie had felt foolish and at fault. For years she’d suffered because of this pathetic man standing across from her.