‘I’m due on shift now.’ He said trying one more time to dodge the bullet.
‘I’m happy to arrest you, Tony. You’re coming with me the easy or the hard way, you choose.’
Five minutes later they were on their way back to the station. James called Roger on the way and told him to meet him there.
‘I’ve had an anonymous tip off earlier this morning.’ He said to him when he arrived at the station. He quickly filled Roger in on the incident on Ballyaislinn beach.
Roger looked at him sceptically. ‘I’m not buying this tip off story. But I don’t really care how you found out about this O’Connor fella right now. I just want to get this case wrapped up.’
After taking a formal statement from Tony, Roger and Johnny walked into the interview room where Mal Wickham was sitting with his lawyer. She had arrived a few minutes ago and looked ready to do battle once again.
‘Just how much longer do you intend to hold my client?’ Elaine demanded. ‘This is an outrageous infringement on my client’s constitutional rights.’
Roger ignored her and turned to Mal saying, ‘Malcolm Wickham, I am arresting you on suspicion of murdering Rachel Finch on October 3rd 2012. You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so, but whatever you say will be taken down in writing and may be given in evidence.’
Mal slumped down on the table.
Chapter Thirty Six
12 months later
Christmas Day
Sarah stood in the door of her dining room and looked around at her family and friends who were gathered side by side, waiting to dig into the Christmas dinner that was before them. Rita and Joey, James and Ruby and Mary were all there, right beside the children. She heard murmurs of appreciation from the group as they took in the feast that was laid before them. The only thing missing was the turkey which was ready and waiting to be carried in.
Sarah’s eye drifted down to the bracelet she was wearing. One single charm hung from it, a small silver heart. She smiled as she remembered Art placing it on her wrist, his touch making the tiny hairs on her arm rise.
‘Every year, I will add a new charm and when there are no more links left, I’ll buy another bracelet and then another and another…’
‘You plan on sticking around?’ Sarah had teased.
‘I’m not going anywhere. This is where I want to be.’
Only a year ago, she’d thought she’d blown any chance of a future with Art. She figured that whatever they had tentatively began, had ended on that night that Tommy and Paul went missing.
But the day after Paul died, Art called to see her and as soon as he saw her ashen face, he reached for her. Sarah stepped back from his embrace; she knew that if they had any chance to move on, now was the time to be honest. No more hiding.
‘We have to talk. There are things I need to tell you.’ She told him.
Sitting at her kitchen table she shared with him her relationship with Edward, finally telling him about Paul’s death.
He said very little throughout it all, asking the odd question, understanding that he needed to let her speak and just listen. When she told him Paul had died, he pulled her towards him and held her as she cried.
‘This is becoming a habit.’ She whispered to him as she pointed to his shirt, now smudged with mascara.
She looked up to him earnestly, ‘I understand, you know, if you can’t get your head around all the Edward stuff.’
‘For someone who claims to be psychic, you’re not very good at seeing what’s right in front of you,’ he had replied gently. ‘I’ve been dying to ask you out for ages, have had a stupid crush on you since you called up to the office to see me all those months ago and ruined my shirt!’
Sarah was stunned. She had no idea he felt that way about her for so long.
‘I know that my timing is lousy but I need to tell you this. I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you Sarah.’
‘You love me?’ Sarah asked incredulous. ‘You don’t think I’m crazy?’
‘Yes and Yes! Well, maybe only a little crazy, but the kind of crazy I can live with. Not having you in my life, that’s something I can’t live with.’ He replied with a smile.
‘I can’t even think about another relationship right now though.’ Sarah said sadly. ‘I need to think about the children, they come first, they always will. And Paul… it’s complicated.’
‘I understand.’ He said. ‘But when the time is right, I just want you to know, that I’m claiming a date. I love you. In the meantime, I’m here for you, as your friend. And when you want to talk, I’m here to listen. I’d really like to learn more about Edward and you.’
And with that he turned on his heel and walked away. But he came back every few days to visit, texting her at odd times with silly things that made her smile.
So between Ruby, James and him, they got her and the children through the dark days that followed Paul’s funeral. And soon, they all began to move forward, small steps, but steps all the same.
Ruby and James insisted that they start a new tradition of going to Freddie’s every Thursday night for a drink. Rita and Joey would babysit and Sarah would amble to the pub excited to see everyone. Art seemed to always arrive about an hour after they got there and would saunter over with a tray of drinks. Pretty soon it was expected that he would join them and Sarah would find herself looking forward to his arrival.
Finally, as the winter turned to spring, Art whispered to her, ‘I know I said I’d wait, but Sarah, this is killing me! Would you please put me out of my misery and come to dinner?’
‘I thought you’d never ask.’ She answered, giving him a dazzling smile.
They went to Cistin Eile, a restaurant in Wexford town. The simple charm of the décor coupled with the amazing food was the perfect backdrop for a first date, allowing them to talk for hours about nothing and everything. And then as they waited for a taxi to take them home, Art leaned in and kissed her. Her body responded instantly to his touch and she whispered to him urgently, ‘Can we go to your place?’
So now, a year after Paul’s death, life was unrecognisable for them all. Last year on Christmas Day, it was a time filled with tears and sadness, but she was determined to make today far more memorable for them all.
Her reminiscing was interrupted as Art grabbed her by her waist and pulled her back into the kitchen, shouting, ‘Hey woman, there’s starving people out there! Are you going to serve that turkey or what?’ Then he pulled her in close.
‘The children!’ Sarah half protested.
‘Sshh.’ He whispered. ‘They are well used to us by now.’ He leaned down and kissed her, tentatively at first, then as she began to respond to him, more passionately.
Sarah marvelled at how Art could still make her feel like a teenager every single time he touched her. She felt desire bubbling inside of her in response to his hand moving down her spine.
They pulled apart, both flushed.
‘You’re killing me!’ Art joked, holding his chest.
‘You always say that.’ Sarah replied smiling at him. To feel desired by such a gorgeous man was a revelation for her. She had to keep pinching herself.
How had this happened? She thought her life was over but here she was on Christmas Day, feeling strong again, no longer drowning, no longer struggling to breathe.
‘Mammy, where’s the turkey? I’m starving!’ Tommy’s voice shouted.
‘Coming!’ Sarah shouted back. ‘You go on in; I’ll be there in a sec.’
She had no idea what the future would hold for her and Art, but that was ok, she was going to enjoy finding out.
She looked at the resplendent turkey, remembering Christmases for years where her father and then in turn Paul had carried it with great ceremony into the dining room. Always the man of the house taking the honour, she realised.
But this year she was doing it herself. Smiling, she walked into the dining room.
‘I’ve never seen the like of this feast in all my life
!’ Joey declared. He couldn’t believe that he was having a Christmas with people he loved. Benji was at his feet, happily waiting for a sneaky piece of meat.
‘It looks heavenly.’ Mary said eyeing up the roasted sweet potato.
‘One of those legs has my name written all over it!’ James said pointing to the turkey.
‘The other has Tommy on it!’ Tommy said, copying his uncle.
‘Where’s your name written?’ Katie said. She looked puzzled. ‘I don’t see any name written there.’ To which everyone laughed.
‘The table looks so pretty.’ Ruby complimented. ‘You’ve gone to so much trouble.’
‘I love the place names for everyone.’ Mary added.
‘I made those!’ Katie said with pride.
Their eyes were all drawn towards the place setting she had made for her Daddy. He may not be there, but he would never be forgotten. The children had both good and bad days now and she knew that they would still have many more tough times ahead as they got used to life without him. But she would be right by their sides, helping them deal with it all.
‘I have a joke about turkeys.’ Tommy said. ‘Why did the Gardaí arrest the turkey?’
He looked around the table as they all looked expectantly at him for the answer. ‘They suspected it of “fowl” play!’
Sarah smiled as she listened to everyone laughing at Tommy’s joke. At every battle she’d faced, these precious people were right by her side. They had all celebrated when Mal Wickham was finally convicted of murder and he was now serving a life sentence. Marie had sent James a Christmas card and seemed to be doing better. She was adamant that had Mal not been arrested when he was, she would be dead now. It felt good, that she had played a part in saving that life.
James and Ruby had surprised nobody when they got engaged during the summer and they were now planning their wedding. Sarah had never seen her brother look so happy; he never stopped smiling when they were together.
Angel Cupcakes had really taken off too and was a huge success. The demand had grown so much that Rita now worked with Sarah.
There was no denying that it had been a tough year, a year of change and loss, but also a year of wonderful new beginnings. She looked forward to the future and the many surprises that it had in store for her. Edward kept her on her toes, with premonitions coming at the oddest of times! But having acceptance from her loved ones, in turn helped her have peace about who she was for the first time in her life. It was also a lot more fun deciphering dreams, now that she had a gang of supporters who were all willing and able to help her and in turn help others. She knew that life would continue to offer up surprises to them all, but as long as she had the people in this room by her side, she’d muddle through it all.
She raised her glass to salute the people who kept her going this past year and whispered, ‘Happy Christmas.’
She looked to the door where she knew Edward would be standing, watching over her as always. She smiled and raised her glass to him too.
‘Mammy!’ Tommy said to her, tugging her arm to get attention. ‘I’m starving!’
‘Well then, we’d better eat!’ Sarah exclaimed.
The End
Turn the page for an exclusive look at Carmel’s bestselling debut, Beyond Grace’s Rainbow.
Beyond Grace’s Rainbow
Prologue
Friday 13th February 2012
Grace felt like she was floating up on the ceiling. Down below on the ground, she could see Dr Kennedy sitting in a battered old brown leather chair. He was leaning forward, earnestly, looking at somebody who looked very much like herself.
‘That reminds me, I must get my roots done,’ Grace thought as she looked down critically at herself. Sitting beside Grace was Sean, her friend. She knew that it was not possible to be in two places at once – she hadn’t lost her marbles – yet. But at this very moment here she was up on the ceiling, watching the scene below. Grace knew it had to be her sitting below because she could actually feel Sean’s hand gripping hers tightly. So the only logical explanation she could come up with was that she was having one of those ‘out of body’ experiences. The other possibility was that the shock of the news that had just been delivered stopped her heart and she had actually died.
Oh feck, that couldn’t be true. Surely you wouldn’t think about the state of your roots just after dying?
‘Do you understand what I’ve just told you Grace?’ Dr Kennedy’s voice jolted Grace back to reality with a bump and a crash. She felt like she’d fallen from the ceiling and landed unceremoniously into the uncomfortable chair. So she was not dead then, Grace thought wryly. For a second she felt like complaining about the terrible chairs the patients had to sit on, while doctors had lovely comfortable leather ones. The injustice of it seemed unbearable. But maybe this wasn’t the time.
‘I want to go back up there.’ Grace said instead, pointing to the ceiling.
‘Grace, honey, you’re not making any sense.’ Sean said to her, he looked really worried. She knew he was probably thinking she’d gone mad. Maybe she had.
‘Grace?’ Dr Kennedy said gently. ‘Do you understand what I’ve just told you?’
No more floating on the ceiling. No more analysis on the state of the chairs. She knew she had to answer him. She decided she’d have one more stab at dodging the truth.
‘No I don’t understand, Dr Kennedy. There’s been some kind of stupid mistake and I’ll be honest with you, it’s not on. I’ll be writing a strong letter to complain. I have a cold or maybe even proper flu. That’s why I’ve had this bad pain in my back. You always get aches and pains when you have proper flu.’ She turned triumphantly to Sean. As a GP himself he was always complaining about his patients coming in with the common cold saying they were in bits with the flu. As he often said, when you have the flu, you know it, you can’t move, your body is aching so much. Unfortunately Sean just looked away from her. He couldn’t look her in the eye. That wasn’t good.
Grace looked at both of them with growing desperation. She knew that at this stage she was clutching at straws.
Dr Kennedy tried again, this time his tone sharper. ‘Grace, you have a form of leukaemia, commonly known as AML – Acute Myelogenous Leukaemia. I know that it’s a lot to take in and you must have many questions for me. I’ll do my best to answer them as honestly as I can. But there’s no doubt I’m afraid.’
Grace felt a tear run down her cheek. She felt like a truck had literally smashed into her body and she could hardly breathe. Her son’s beautiful face popped into her head. His little voice was saying in his beautiful sing-song voice, ‘Mommy, I love you!’
And with that she knew she had to pull herself together. She knew she had to fight this with every core of her being, for Jack’s sake. So yes Dr Kennedy, she sure did have questions to ask. Thousands of questions started jumping into her head, so much so she thought it was going to explode.
But the only question she wasn’t aware she was even thinking was the one that she whispered to them.
‘Dr Kennedy, am I going to die?’
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About HarperImpulse
HarperImpulse is an exciting new range of romance fiction brought to you from the women’s fiction team at HarperCollins. Our aim is to break new talent from debut authors and import the hottest trends from the US, bringing you the very best in romance. Whether that is through short reads for your mobile phone or epic sagas that span the generations we want to proudly publish romance fiction that gets everybody talking.
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First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2014
Copyright © Carmel Harrington 2014
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Ebook Edition © June 2014
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Version 2014-06-05
The Life You Left Page 31
