Mrs R (Mrs R & Mr V #1)

MRS R

By

Jessie Courts

Mrs R

Copyright @ 2014 Jessie Courts

All rights reserved.

This book may not be reproduced, scanned, or
distributed in any printed or electronic form without the permission of the
author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted
materials in violation of the author’s rights.

All characters and storylines are the
property of the author and your support and respect is appreciated.

The characters and events portrayed in this
book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is
coincidental and not intended by the author.

With thanks to all the amazing Mrs R’s out
there who helped shape and form this book.

There’s a little of all of us in Rachel……

TABLE OF
CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

MRS R BY JESSIE COURTS

CHAPTER 1

Another grey morning filtered
through the blinds in Rachel’s bedroom. For a blissful few seconds Rachel woke
with a sense of calm but all too brutally reality descended; panic set in and she
pulled the duvet back over her head seeking relief in the smothering darkness.
Another day alone: another morning where one side of the bed remained
stubbornly, sadly empty; a harsh reminder of her devastating loss consuming her
every waking moment and seeping cruelly into her dreams every night. No respite
from the torment of finding herself a widow far too soon…

Eight whole months and Rachel
still missed Nate with every fibre of her being. Married for 21 years she no
longer remembered how to function without him and wasn’t yet ready to try. He
died and left her wishing she had been killed in the accident too. It was only
the thought of the pain it would cause for their two beautiful daughters that
held Rachel back from the brink of joining him on more than one occasion.

Rachel’s idyllic existence had
been abruptly shattered while away for a romantic anniversary weekend in Paris.
Nate accidentally stepped into the path of a speeding courier bike and Rachel
watched her strong rock of a man bleed out on the pavement before the
paramedics could reach him and as his life drained away so did Rachel’s happily
ever after.

Now she dragged through each day
feeling bitter, lonely, traumatised and bereft in varying degrees.

**********

Grief was a strange thing Rachel
learnt. Her friends and family stepped in and arranged the funeral and kept
watch over her; fearing she would just give up such was her state of mind.
Rachel’s GP visited her and prescribed Valium to help her cope through those
first terrible days. But through a false sense of guilt, she stopped taking
them preferring the pain to the numbness – a constant cruel reminder of
her loss. After continually refusing to see her friends and family, all but the
closest few went back to their lives and Rachel was left to fend for herself in
a seemingly endless spiral of memories and feelings torturing her daily
existence.

A shrill ringing penetrated the
fortress of bed covers and Rachel cursed the bloody phone disturbing the
numbing fog that had settled around her brain. Grabbing the handset she barked
at the caller,

“What?”

“And good morning to you too.”

Rachel groaned. “Karen, this isn’t
a good time.”

“Actually, this is the best time
and it will continue to be every time you hear my voice reminding you to GET
OUT OF BED!”

Rachel’s best friend Karen
continually harangued her to get into a routine. Apparently, this was a good
way to take stock of her life and ease her way back to normality. She knew
Karen would nag and nag and the woman was relentless. Karen had been shouted
at; had the phone slammed down on her many a time, and had put up with Rachel
sobbing for hours on end. On the occasions Karen actually got through the front
door to visit, she forced Rachel to shower, dress and eat until she was
satisfied Rachel could be trusted do it on her own.

“I hate you!” Rachel croaked down
the phone.

“I know but you love me more
honey. Get up or I’m coming over. Actually get up because I AM coming over.”

A small smile played at the corners
of Rachel’s mouth – she did indeed love her crazy friend and was grateful
for the few hours of respite her company would bring.

Later that night, however, lying
in the dark, the grief wove its way into her dreams wrapping around her like a
vine; moving and sliding across every part of her, conjuring up images of Nate;
flooding her with memories of his familiar hands caressing the contours of her
body. Over the years he had learnt every inch of her but always managed to keep
their lovemaking sensual and satisfying. In her dreams she relived his
exploration of her body and she of his.

Although he had a desk job, Nate
loved the outdoors and kept remarkably fit. He was an accomplished triathlete
and had the trophies to prove his triumphs – for Rachel’s part she was
happy to relish in the sight of his lean yet muscular body all just hers for
the taking. As familiar as they were to each other they still enjoyed an active
sex life and she missed his touch desperately. That she would never again hold
or be held by her first love; engulfed Rachel in a perpetual state of sorrow.

**********

Rachel & Nate married when she
was only just twenty-one; Nate was seven years older. They had planned for
Rachel to finish her Law Degree while supported by Nate who was already on the
career path to becoming a very successful corporate lawyer. They had met when
Rachel was on work experience in the City office of the legal firm where Nate
worked at the time. They fell into an easy friendship followed by deeper
feelings and then ultimately love and marriage. Rachel was supposed to finish
her studies and then a few years down the line they would think about starting
a family, but inevitably nature took its own view of things and Rachel fell
pregnant with twins in the first year they were married. It was terrible timing
but Nate was over the moon and managed to persuade his new wife to take a
hiatus from her studies to have their babies and look after them for a bit
– she could always go back to finish her degree a later date.

The twins arrived – two
beautiful baby girls and they consumed Rachel and Nate from the off. Jess and
Lucy became the sole centre of their universe and completed their family.
Rachel and Nate agreed they didn’t want any more children after the twins preferring
instead to devote their time and energy on creating a safe and secure
environment for them to grow up in. This meant Nate working long hours to
establish his position in the City, and Rachel resuming her studies part-time
so she could split her day between work and home. They managed with the
assistance of a fantastic nanny stroke housekeeper so that Rachel felt
confident the twins were not neglected when she was at Law School.

Raising children it seemed was
more taxing than either parent had considered and consequently, it was years
before Rachel was able to take her Law exams. Subsequently, when she finally
passed the bar she had given up all hopes of a glittering career in the City
and settled instead for working in a local family firm of solicitors.

Heath Associates had a reputation
for being fair and honest. Their clients, most of whom were working class
people who toiled long and hard for their living, were loyal and had been with
the practice for generations.
 
Some
of their work was pro bono and many clients were local charities – this
is what Rachel found herself doing mostly as it fitted in well with her hours.
She loved the fact that she could be of service to those who wouldn’t
necessarily be able to afford legal counsel and she had fully anticipated
working there for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, Heath Associates lost
a few major clients during the recession and had to cut costs. Inevitably, pro
bono had to stop and Rachel found herself out of a job.

At the time, Rachel had been terribly
disappointed especially as Nate was particularly busy around the same time.

He had just made partner in a
large firm of City Corporate Lawyers and was putting in extremely long hours.

“Don’t worry darling.” He’d
soothed, “This is perfect timing – I have masses you could help me with.”
Rachel loved how Nate always made her feel better and always seemed to have the
solution to everything.

He asked Rachel to help him out on
some of his cases and she ended up doing this for many years instead of finding
herself another permanent job. It kept her up to date with the Law and she
enjoyed the challenge of the work. Once they were financially secure, she was
able to cut her hours and enjoy being home for the kids. Rachel had lots of
friends nearby; did a lot of lunches; went to the gym and just enjoyed a very
comfortable lifestyle.

Just before his untimely death,
Nate had been working on an idea that had renewed his passion for the law and
it was infectious. He had shared his dream for the future of the firm with
Rachel and they had even toyed with the idea of her returning to work with him
once the twins had left for university. Nate had told her that things were
finally going to kick off and he feared he would be so busy over the coming
months that he had wanted to take a weekend away with her for some quality time
together before the madness took hold.

Sadly, Nate would never realise
his dream and at just 42 years old, Rachel was now a widow.

**********