“Do you mind if I join you?”
Robert turned in surprise and found himself staring at a woman’s navel. Then he quickly looked up to see Rachel standing right next to him, shopping bags looped over both arms, and a large mug of hot chocolate in one hand. She was smiling. He stood up quickly.
“Of course you can join me! Sit down! Here, let me help you.” Robert helped her with her bags, and they both sat down together at the round table. They stared at each other in silence, and Rachel’s smile grew wider.
“Go on, then!” she demanded. “Tell me how well I look!”
Robert smiled weakly. “You do look well,” he said. “And happy. How long is it since I last saw you? Two months? Three?”
“Two and a half,” she replied. “You look awful.”
Robert laughed. “Thank you,” he said. “I guess I do.”
“What are you doing here?”
The smile faded from his lips. “You know why I’m here, Rachel,” he said, rather sadly.
“I meant, why are you still here rather than in America, dumbo! Not why are you in Debenhams!”
“Oh!” Robert shrugged. “I thought...never mind what I thought.” He sighed. “I just haven’t got around to buying my ticket, that’s all.”
“You could always stay,” Rachel said, taking a sip from her hot chocolate.
Robert shook his head. “Six months without being able to practice law is too long a holiday for me.”
“It could have been worse, you could have been in jail. Anyway, it’s not six months now, it’s only four and a half.”
“Yeah, so it is.” Robert paused, watching her for a moment. Then he said. “You know, I still can’t figure out why Alex dropped the charges against me. You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you?”
“Me?” Rachel put on her most innocent expression and stared at him over the rim of her glasses. “How could I have done such a thing?”
“Don’t kid with me! I know you went to see him that night! It was a damn fool thing to do, Rachel! I told you to go and see Brian Morgan, not have fist fights with Diana Williams!”
“She turned out to be a real nasty piece, didn’t she?” Rachel exclaimed. “She definitely earned her psychiatric evaluation!”
“Rachel!”
“Okay! So I went to see him. We didn’t talk for long. I told him what you told me, Diana hit me, then she hit him, then Helen hit her, and then we all went for a ride in ambulances. Simple. I don’t know why you didn’t do it yourself ages ago.”
Robert shook his head in exasperation. “You could have got yourself killed!”
Rachel laughed. “It was nothing compared to what my Mum did when she found out! I nearly needed a head transplant!”
“Is your mother with you?” Robert asked rather worriedly, looking quickly around the restaurant.
“No, she’s at home. I managed to persuade her that I needed at least one outing a week on my own.”
“I’m glad about that. There are too many sharp implements within easy reach in here!”
“Oh, don’t worry! She’s only a softy really! She forgave you ages ago! And she’s forgiven Helen Worthington, too. She met her in hospital while she was recovering. They got on quite well together.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
Rachel laughed. “My Mum kept saying how she wished she’d been there when that pan hit Diana’s face!”
“It’s not funny! It broke her nose, jaw and both cheek-bones,” Robert said, trying hard not to smile himself. “I think she lost some front teeth, too.”
Rachel laughed. “It was quite a whack!” Then she asked, “Is Helen still working for Alex?”
“Yes, and they seem to be getting on quite well.” Robert paused before adding, “I hear that Alex has consented to chemotherapy treatment at last, but I think it’s probably too late now.”
“I hope not,” Rachel replied sadly, and the happiness faded from her expression. The thought of Alex dying really upset her. “He isn’t a bad man you know,” she said. “You don’t still hate him do you? I even managed to persuade my Mum to forgive him once I had explained everything to her. And I’m sure he doesn’t still hate you.”
Robert didn’t reply at once. He shook his head. “No, I don’t hate him,” he said at last. “If anything, I’m jealous. He had more time with Sarah than me.”
Rachel looked even sadder than before. She just sat hunched over her hot chocolate. Robert decided to change the subject.
“Apparently,” he said. “Helen keeps that dented pan hanging on the wall in her office like a trophy.”
Rachel laughed, and Robert was pleased to see her smiling again. He realised that he liked her better that way. He sighed. And then he thought of a different question. “What are you doing here, Rachel? I know you’ve been shopping. But why come here? To this restaurant?”
This time it was Rachel’s turn to shrug her shoulders. “Why not?” she said defensively. “There are lots of people in here who have never met you or Sarah. And none of them probably recognise us, either. We’re old news, Robert. Relegated to wrapping up fish and chips and lining the bottom of budgie cages.” She paused thoughtfully before going on. “I’m sort of here by chance, really. This just happened to be my last port of call before I go home. But maybe sub-consciously I hoped you would be here, too. That’s my excuse. You don’t have one though, do you, Robert? I bet you’ve been here every day since the funeral, haven’t you?”
Robert looked away and didn’t reply. Rachel took another drink from her hot chocolate and thought for a moment. She looked at him, sitting there, avoiding her eyes, and decided to tell him.
“You know, when I first saw your picture, and I felt Sarah’s heart react, I automatically thought it was because she was so much in love with you, that she still wanted to be with you. But I know now that I was wrong.”
“Great,” Robert muttered. “Now you’re going to tell me that Sarah hated me? Is that supposed to make me feel better? Am I supposed to get over her more easily if I thought she didn’t really love me? Come on, Rachel! Who are you trying to kid?”
Rachel shook her head. “It’s not that at all! Let me finish, thick head! Look, you said it yourself, the last time we met. Sarah knew everything after she died, or at least her spirit, soul or whatever you want to call it, did. But she hadn’t heard it from you! My heart got agitated when I saw your picture because of one of two things. I’ll let you guess which one my Mum thinks it is. Either I just took a fancy to you, or it was because Sarah wanted to hear the truth from you. You told me yourself, you never had a chance to tell her the truth. Through me you did. All the rest of it, the feelings I had –you know, of always being restless and agitated– that was because Sarah also knew what Diana was up to, and she knew that Alex had her donor card. She just needed me to sort them out.”
Robert was sceptical. “And you really believe all that?” he said, eyebrows raised.
“Of course I do! It’s the only explanation!” Rachel replied, enthusiastically. “That was why I always felt like I had to get up and do something! I just didn’t realise what it was until you got arrested! Then I knew! I had to go and see Alex, not for me, but for Sarah! I think she wanted to give him a piece of her mind! You should have seen his face when he put his hand on my chest!”
Robert nearly had a fit. “You did the same...! You put his hand on...! Rachel!”
“It worked a treat!” Rachel said excitedly, leaning closer to him. “I even took off my glasses, too! You should have seen his face! It was like Sarah’s ghost had come out of the ground and grabbed him!”
“You shouldn’t have done that, Rachel! It’s not right to joke about such things!”
“But I’m not joking! It worked, I tell you! Maybe you didn’t feel anything because it wasn’t you she needed to talk to! She only had to listen to you! But Alex certainly felt something! One minute he was all angry-faced and stern, and the next he was asking for my forgiveness! That�
�s why he dropped the charges against you. And how do you think Davidson got hold of Sarah’s donor card?”
“I don’t believe this!”
“It’s true! Alex had it all the time, Robert! He gave it to me that night, and I gave it to Dr Jones! I’m telling you I didn’t imagine any of those feelings! It was Sarah! I don’t care what other people might think. It was her! And what I did that night were exactly the things she wanted me to do!” She counted them off on her fingers, “Get the truth out of you, nobble Diana, sort Alex out, get you off the hook, and finally, get her donor card back! I just didn’t understand at first, that’s all!”
“And you seriously expect me to believe all this? That Sarah’s ghost, or whatever you want to call it, has actually been urging you to do all these things?”
“Yes! Honestly, Robert! I do! I’m absolutely sure of it!”
Robert shook his head. “There has to be a more rational explanation, Rachel.”
“There is! I’ve got Sarah’s heart!”
“I told you, I don’t believe in ghosts!”
“Then what are you doing here, Robert? Sarah’s not coming. Not today, not ever! So who else are you waiting for? And why haven’t you gone back to America?”
“Stop it!” Robert’s voice was raised. A few people nearby looked across at their table. Robert lowered his voice again. “Just stop it, okay? You’re messing with my head!”
“Fine,” she said, standing up. “I’ll leave you to your empty table.”
“No!” Robert grabbed her arm. “Don’t go, Rachel! Look, just sit down, will you. I’m sorry, okay?”
Rachel sat down again. She just sat there, holding on to her half finished mug of chocolate with both hands, and staring down at the table.
Robert looked at her. Then he reached out and took her hand. “I’m sorry, Rachel,” he said again. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. I just can’t help it, okay? I guess it’ll take me a while to get over all this. But I could do with a friend right now. Especially one who, according to her mother, ‘fancies me,’ and also happens to be as pretty as you!” Rachel looked up at him and he gave her one of his best boyish grins.
“I’ve had my hair done,” she said in a quiet voice.
“You look beautiful!” he said quickly.
“You’re supposed to say that when you first see me, not after I tell you!” she complained.
“I haven’t seen you in two and a half months! How was I supposed to know it was a recent change?”
Rachel reached up and fluffed at her hair. “Okay, I’ll let you off!” she said, brightening up again. “Do you want to see what I’ve bought?”
Robert sighed. “Go on then,” he said. “Let’s see what you’ve spent all you’re ill-gotten gains on.”
“They’re not ill-gotten!” Rachel replied as she dug into one of her shopping bags. “Mum and I earned that money!”
“You only got it because Alex turned soft at the end and settled out of court. Brian was so disappointed at not getting his chance to thrash Sir Richard Hargreaves, I thought he was going to cry!”
“Alex didn’t turn soft! He just did what was right that’s all!” Rachel looked up from delving in one of her shopping bags. “How is Brian, anyway?”
“He’s got a bigger, better, and even more expensive office. He’s doing real fine.”
“Good! I liked Brian.” Rachel pulled an extremely short little blue dress out of one of her shopping bags and stood up, holding it against her body. “I got this first,” she said. “I just had to have it as soon as I saw it. What do you think?”
“It’s perfect.”
“It’s not too short is it?”
“No, just right.”
Rachel sat down again, put the dress away and pulled out a pair of high-heeled shoes. “And of course I had to get these,” she was saying enthusiastically.
“You’ll need a step-ladder,” Robert remarked.
“But you have to have high heels with a short dress, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“And then there’s the handbag…”
“Naturally.”
“And then in Kendals I saw this red suit –not getting bored are you?”
Robert shook his head and grinned at her. “Of course not!” he said. “I’m just looking forward to the underwear.”
Rachel pointed a finger at him sternly. “You were doing well up to then, Mr McCord!” she told him with mock severity. “I sentence you to another three shopping bags!”
Rachel then dived into the next colourful shopping bag, pulling out another new purchase for him to see. They went on like that for some time, with Rachel pulling out each new item, and Robert continuing to comment and agree on the perfection of her choice, and occasionally making her laugh. Most people in the restaurant hardly noticed them, or paid them much attention. They were just two ordinary people enjoying a pleasant afternoon in town together, and perhaps getting to know one another just a little bit better.
An Affair of the Heart Page 14
