Winner Takes It All (34 page)

‘
Andrew!
Michael reckons Andrew’s Paula’s father?’

‘
Yes.’

‘
Paula looks
like my great grandfather, look.’

Alex got up and rushed
over to the mantelpiece, from it she fetched a black and white
photo in a frame. Tom recognised The Cherry Tree straight away.
Outside it stood a tall, lean looking man with a cheeky twinkle in
his eye; he had his arm around a beautiful young girl with long
dark hair, wearing 1940s clothing. By her side stood a little white
dog with a black face. This was Lou as a very young girl, and the
man the infamous Michael O’Connell, the proud Fenian. Indeed Paula
did have a look of him, but her resemblance to McDonald was still
greater - but Tom knew it inappropriate to say this.

‘
I see what
you mean,’ was all he said.

‘
Who else has
Michael been saying this rubbish to?’

‘
No one I’d
imagine. Like I said, he was very drunk.’

‘
And have you
told anyone?’

Tom hung his head, unable
to reply.

‘
Have you any
idea how much it will hurt Paula to know these things are being
said about her? And what about my grandfather? It would devastate
him to think Lou was unfaithful to him. I could kill my
brother.’

Tom looked at her, hoping
she could find some mercy in her soul.

‘
Alex, I beg
you. I don’t care what you do to me. Death would be preferable to
how I feel right now, but Jackson threatened to murder someone I
loved if I told a soul of his plans. Could you please hide my
mother?’

‘
Do you think
he’d go through with it?’

‘
Yes. I’m
willing to take the bullet, I deserve it. But not my mother and not
Tara. Please, do all you can to make sure Bannerman doesn’t find
out she’s going to Chicago.’

‘
Call Fiona
and tell her what’s happened. I’ll get a driver to take her to
Layton House. The Morroccan stays here though, I don’t want my
grandpa breathing in all that smoke.’

‘
Thank you so
much Alex.’

‘
As for you.
You’re going to bring Maurice Bannerman to my father. Don’t tell
him the real reason he wants to see him, make something up, imply
daddy’s feeling the strain and needs his advice; that should play
right into his hands.’

‘
What’s going
to happen with Jackson?’

‘
I don’t know
yet and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.’

‘
Alex I swear
I’ll do whatever I can to help the Cusacks. I hate the other side
of my family and I can see why everyone else does.’

‘
If you say
so. Now why don’t you go away? I don’t want to see you for the rest
of the day - you disgust me.’

Suitably chastened, Tom
got up and left the room. Before Alex could stop him, he darted
upstairs, determined to speak to Tara. The upper floor was like a
maze, but it was easy to find Tara – her sobs could be heard
through the door of the furthest room in the corridor. Tom pushed
the door open to find her lying upon the bed in the brightly
decorated room. Like a child she was curled up in a foetal
position, crying and shaking. Tom sat upon the bed beside
her.

‘
I never
wanted to hurt you Tara,’ he said. ‘I know it’s a cliché but you
really are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.’

‘
I’m so
horrible,’ she whimpered. ‘The only way I can get a man to love me
is because he’s being threatened to do it.’

‘
No,’ he
cried, lying beside her, stroking that newly straight hair off her
frightened little face. ‘It’s quite the opposite. All those times I
pushed you away it was because I knew what Jackson and Bannerman
expected of me. I knew if I slept with you it would be like putting
the final nail in the coffin and there would be no way back. But in
Paris it was impossible to say no. My offer still stands Tara. I’d
run away with you right now if you said the word.’

‘
Until Jackson
told you to do something else.’

‘
Jackson can
go to hell. I don’t want to be associated with that side of the
family any more. I want to be an honorary Cusack.’

‘
Maybe we can
talk about it when I come back from America,’ she sniffed. ‘I just
want to be on my own at the moment.’

‘
Of course you
do,’ he said softly. ‘I’ll see you when you come back.’

He kissed her cheek and
left the room, only to find Alex standing at the bottom of the
stairs, arms folded, that stern look on her pretty little
face.

‘
I thought you
were going?’

‘
I am. I’m
sorry. I just wanted to talk to her.’

‘
You’ve said
enough. Now go. Phone your mother, then call me and I’ll make
arrangements. Then speak to Bannerman - Daddy wants to see him as
soon as possible.’

Tom couldn’t face going
back to that flat in Knightsbridge and Summerset seemed like a
hundred thousand miles away so he headed back to Fulham, to his old
house where his life had seemed so chaotic and meaningless. He
suddenly realised he would give anything to have that life back. At
least it wasn’t complicated. The house was empty but had that same
smell of body odour and stale food. Tom went into the living room
to find the TV had been left on and a beer can was stuffed down the
side of the sofa. It was all so familiar that it made him smile. He
sat down, getting out his phone and calling his mother. To his
embarrassment, on hearing her voice, he started to cry. He broke
down and explained everything to her.

‘
Tom why do
you do these things?’ she sighed. ‘Can’t you ever be content with
who you really are?’

‘
It’s taken
all this for me to realise I am,’ he sniffed. ‘But Jackson’s going
to kill me.’

‘
I’ll speak to
Abigail, see if she can talk some sense into him.’

‘
No! I don’t
want him finding out that they know yet. Please mum, just pack a
bag and Alex’s driver will come and take you to Layton
House.’

‘
Fancy that,’
Fiona laughed. ‘I’m finally making it to Layton House. If my mother
knew, she’d disown me all over again.’

‘
You’re not
going to disown me are you?’

‘
Don’t be
stupid, you’re my only son and I love you. I lost everything
because I was pregnant for you and refused to have an abortion, and
I’ve never regretted it. But you’ve got to be a man Tom; stop
chasing rainbows and impossible dreams and face up to reality. It
really isn’t that bad.’

‘
I know. I’m
sorry mum. I do love you. I know I don’t say it very often,
but…’

‘
Don’t get
slushy on me. Go on, phone Alex’s driver. I hope it’s a limo. It’s
years since I’ve been in one of those.’

With his mother sorted
out, Tom turned his attentions to Bannerman. He had no idea where
he was and called his mobile.

‘
What can I do
for you Thomas?’ he chirped, oblivious as to what was being planned
against him.

‘
I’ve just
been speaking to Alex. She’s at breaking point because she can’t
cope with everything that’s happening.’

‘
Glad to hear
it.’

‘
Added to
that, Christian isn’t recovering as quickly as they thought. He
keeps having setbacks. Alex is worried because apparently a
Japanese firm has expressed interest in Sheridans and Christian is
actually tempted.’

‘
A Japanese
firm?’ Bannerman sounded worried. ‘What firm?’

‘
I don’t know.
I thought it would look suspicious if I pried. I think Christian
just needs to offload it all.’

‘
I must talk
to him,’ Bannerman said, falling right into the trap. ‘I’ve got to
talk him out of selling to this Japanese firm. Tom, this could be
our chance.’

‘
I know. Isn’t
it great?’

‘
Fantastic.
Well done. It’s about time I went down to Abbott’s Leigh and saw
how my old chum’s getting on.

Nineteen

Alex was astonished at
just how much Maurice Bannerman begged Christian to allow him to
come and visit. It seemed the fictional Japanese company had really
aroused his curiosity and he was eager to stop them from beating
him to it. He didn’t admit this on the phone of course - his excuse
was that he hadn’t visited Christian since he had the stroke.
Christian accepted the offer, saying he was looking forward to
catching up with him.

With Fiona Montague well
hidden in the recesses of Layton House, Alex and Christian waited
for Bannerman’s arrival in the old study. Over the years it had
become an informal place for the Cusack children to swot up when
they were taking the exams they would inevitably fail and indeed
Alex had studied for her finals here, confident she would pass
because she had Tim to guide her. All that seemed a lifetime
ago.

It was a beautiful
summer’s day and the French doors were slightly open, letting a
cool breeze in. Lucy’s boys, Benny and Lucas were staying over and
were in the garden with their grandfather. Ben had squeezed himself
into his old cricket whites and was showing the two little boys how
to bowl. His batting consisted mainly of him leaning on the bat,
trying to keep steady and it was quite a sight to see. He kept
making the children laugh and it was a wonderful sound, reminding
Alex of her own childhood. She remembered the time Ben built her
and Michael a tree-house in the old garden and the three of them
got stuck in it. Lou had scolded him so badly for putting her
grandchildren at risk but as usual Ben laughed it all off, and in
the end, the four of them dissolved into fits of
giggles.

‘
I hope that
damn fool Tom hasn’t already warned Maurice of what we’re going to
do,’ said Christian, hobbling back to his chair on his stick after
getting himself a drink. Alex rushed to him, making sure he was
comfortable.

‘
I don’t know.
Mad as it seems, a part of me trusts Tom. I think he’ll keep
quiet.’

‘
I hope you’re
right darling. I don’t want Bannerman coming here with some excuse
already prepared.’

There was a knock on the
door and Christian told the person to come in. It was Mrs
Gentle.

‘
Mr
Bannerman’s here Mr Cusack,’ she said.

‘
Thanks Mrs
Gentle. Show him in.’

‘
Will you be
requiring tea?’

‘
No, we’re
fine, thank you.’

Mrs Gentle left the room
and Maurice Bannerman entered. Just seeing him made Alex’s skin
crawl. Thinking about it, he always did look like a used car
dealer. He was as dodgy as one too.

‘
Hello
Christian old chap,’ he gushed, rushing over and grasping his
friend’s hand. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘
A lot
better,’ Christian replied. ‘The doc reckons I’ll be fighting fit
by the end of the year. I need to get well; who else is going to
give my girl away at her wedding?’

‘
Oh yes,’ said
Bannerman, turning his attention to Alex. ‘Congratulations Alex. I
always thought Robin Lancaster was a lovely boy.’

‘
Thank you,’
she replied, not wishing to talk about Robin. ‘Can I get you a
drink Maurice?’

‘
A small
scotch would be nice, thanks Alex.’

While Alex poured the
drink, Bannerman seated himself on the small sofa in front of the
fire. Alex passed him his scotch and sat beside him, allowing her
father to begin the proceedings.

‘
Did you enjoy
your trip to Paris the other week?’ Christian asked.

‘
P-Paris,’
Bannerman stammered, his complexion paling a little. ‘Oh yes, I
took Christine there for a little break. It was our wedding
anniversary.’

‘
I thought
your wedding anniversary was in May.’

‘
Did I say
wedding anniversary? I meant it was the anniversary of when we met.
You know what women are like. Present company excepted
Alex.’

‘
Young Tom
Montague was over there at the same time, checking out a hotel
Alex’s friend was selling. Do you know the funniest thing old chap?
You were captured on CCTV meeting Tom in the bar.’

‘
Yes yes I did
see him. Christine needed the,’ he lowered his voice. ‘Bathroom,
and we stopped at the hotel. I just happened to bump into
him.’

‘
The CCTV
shows you entering the hotel alone,’ said Alex. ‘You waited in the
lobby for Tom whilst reading a newspaper, then the two of you went
into the bar. It’s all on film.’

‘
Oh.’

‘
Yes, oh,’
said Christian. ‘What are you up to Maurice?’

‘
I’m not up to
anything. I’m sorry to say it Christian but you’re being betrayed
by your own family. Tom came to me telling me the hotel was for
sale and wanted me to put a counter offer in so Alex wouldn’t get
it. He’s got this strange need for revenge. Ridiculous seeing as
everything happened before he was even born.’

‘
Why would Tom
go to you?’ Alex asked. ‘He must have thought you would be
interested in betraying us.’

‘
You need to
ask Tom that. I told him I wanted no part in it.’