Mrs R (Mrs R & Mr V #1) (2 page)

Weeks passed and Rachel’s despair
cloaked her every waking moment. She knew she was alienating those who cared
about her but she didn’t have the energy to care. She moped around the house
opening and closing cupboards full of Nate’s stuff knowing she would have to
clear it out at some stage but she was nowhere near ready to contemplate their
home without his presence.

Periodically she felt she was
going mad with grief and at these times she sought out the one place that
calmed her. Rachel would lock herself in Nate’s walk in wardrobe; strip naked
and slip into one of his exquisitely cut suit jackets. The material was crafted
to fit his beautifully defined physique and his unique scent still clung
faintly to the fabric.

Sometimes she allowed herself to
remember how he made her feel – breathlessly caressing herself imagining
him there with her – her hands were Nate’s hands smoothing their way up
her thighs, skimming across her clit; dipping between her legs, making her moan
at the memory of his long fingers pushing into her body through her wet heat..
With her other hand, Rachel would pinch her aching nipples through the fabric
of the jacket; arching her back and gasping as the sensitive nubs of her
breasts brushed against the material. Images of Nate would assault her mind as
her desperate thrusting and rubbing brought her to climax. With the remnants of
her orgasm pulsing through her body the pathetic reality of Rachel’s situation
soon brought her crashing back down to earth.

“Oh Nate, I miss you,” she would
whisper, “I miss you, I miss you…”

Then after, silent tears would
slide down her face as she wrapped his suit jacket tighter around her body and
rocked back and forth in the darkness, emptiness and sorrow claiming her once
more.

**********

“Again with the bloody phone!”
Rachel pulled her head out from underneath her pillow ready to give whoever had
disturbed her restless night a right mouthful, but her heart melted when she
saw caller display. “Jess?”

“Hi mum – how you doing
today? Lucy is here – hold on I’m going to put you on speaker.”

“Hi mummy.”

“Hello my babies. It’s good to
hear your voices.”

“You say that every day mum!”
Rachel grinned and the three of them chatted for a few minutes. This was the
happiest part of Rachel’s day and the only reason she was still breathing.

“Listen we have lectures now so
gotta go – but we’ll see you tomorrow. Can’t wait!”

“Ok – have a safe journey.
Drive carefully. Love you.”

“Bye mama – love you too.”
The silence was deafening but Rachel was somewhat mollified knowing they would
be together again very soon. With a gargantuan amount of effort she hauled
herself out of bed and into the shower. She needed to clean up the house a bit
and prepare the twins’ rooms – it was the most she had done for months
and once the chores had been done, Rachel collapsed back into bed where she
stayed until they arrived the next day.

Rachel and Nate’s twin daughters
made sure to call home regularly to check on Rachel. They knew their mum was
struggling but they at least had uni life to distract them. However their own
grief simmered close to the surface and it was a constant battle to keep their
emotions in check. To them Nate was their hero – a father all their
friends were jealous of. He was a warm, friendly man who welcomed visitors to
his home and made them feel comfortable from the off.
 
Lucy and Jess were truly the apples of
his eye and he spoilt them to death but they were gracious and beautiful and
never took him for granted – they loved him too much to disappoint him
and only wanted him to be proud of them.

At 20 years old and in their 2
^nd
year of uni – the girls caused quite a stir. Long, dark wavy hair framed
their oval faces and green eyes; they were tall like their father but they had
their mother’s slim physique, with lush breasts and silky smooth olive skin.
Neither had boyfriends currently, but male attention was not something they
were short of. Jess and Lucy didn’t need to make much effort – a touch of
make-up enhanced their naturally stunning features.

They loved university life.
Fortunately, they had no responsibilities and no money worries as Nate had paid
for their degrees in full not wanting them to have huge debts. They were both
quite bright and studied hard in their subjects. Jess, was reading English
Literature indulging her passion for the classics. It was her dream to go on
and become a secondary school teacher specialising in her chosen field. Lucy on
the other hand wanted to change the world. She was studying Politics and was
determined to make her mark in the world.

The twins decided to stick
together away from home and opted for University of Leeds. It was a city that
offered everything from designer shopping to plentiful clubbing. The buildings
where their lessons took place were majestic and the facilities second to none.
The friends they had made there would last a lifetime they were sure and Jess
and Lucy were very happy young ladies.

Many of the twins’ mates had been
keeping an eye out for them on their return to student life after the passing
of their father. Jess and Lucy had partied hard at first drowning out the pain
with far too much vodka on a regular basis, and although they still loved to
party – they felt like they were able to manage their loss a little
better with each passing day.

**********

CHAPTER 2

“Yay – home at last!” Jess
sighed as Lucy turned into their road.

“Hope Mum’s is ready for her
surprise.” Lucy pulled her Mini on to their driveway and hooted their arrival.
Both girls looked in the rear view mirror and smiled at their friend fast
asleep in the back.

“Wake up sleepy head we’re
here!”
 

Lucy and Jess were looking forward
to the comfort and security of home and their mother, and they were also very
excited to surprise their mum with a blast from the past. Banging on the front
door they were literally jumping up and down until Rachel opened the door. Both
twins gasped at Rachel’s dishevelled appearance – their mother was always
so well groomed, but they covered their shock quickly drawing her in to their
arms.

Hugging each other tightly, Jess
shouted, “Mummy it’s so good to be home. We brought you a surprise –
Luc’s come with us!” and both twins turned around and pointed at their friend.

“Who the hell is Luc?” barked
Rachel at the twins. She clocked the look of shock on their faces as they
rarely heard her ever get cross at them and immediately regretted her snappy
tone.

“Mum” admonished Jess, “You
remember Luc Vincent from when we were little. He was always over to play!”

Rachel thought for a moment and
dragged up a vague memory of a chubby blond haired boy with a big cheeky grin
who was always getting into mischief. She remembered that she had been friendly
with his mum for a bit when the twins were at primary school but then the
family moved away.

“Why is he here now though?”
Rachel asked looking puzzled.

“Mum, we told you we discovered
each other again at uni – you’ll love him he’s so cool. Anyway, we
invited him to come for Easter as his parents are away – we didn’t think
you’d mind.”

The twins actually thought it
would be good to have someone else in the house to distract their mum –
she was still so melancholy it worried them and they both thought Luc would be
a tonic with his crazy sense of humour and endless ability to make them laugh.
It was such a thrill to have him back as a friend – he was very
protective and often got them home safely after their clubbing nights ended in
a boozy haze.

Jess and Lucy had both flirted
like mad with him at first but he wouldn’t choose one over the other despite
their best efforts and so they settled for being best friends. No longer chubby
at 22, but still quite mischievous, Luc was never short of female attention and
happily screwed his way through the army of girls willing to give it up for a pretty
face. He never promised anything and made it clear he didn’t do second dates,
preferring the twins for company.
 
He’d enjoyed a gap year and was now studying for finals in Economics,
but he always made time for Lucy and Jess.

Rachel pulled the robe she had
hurriedly thrown on tightly around her and looked across the driveway where the
twins had abandoned Luc to sort out their luggage. Expecting to see an older
version of the boy she remembered, Rachel was rather taken aback to note that
the half of Luc not stuck in the boot of the twins’ cream Mini cooper was
certainly not chubby.

Cocking her head, she observed the
impossibly long, denim clad legs and nicely taut butt, and as he unfolded
himself upright her breath hitched as his white t shirt rode up slightly in the
front offering a tantalising glimpse of happy trail. Heaving the cases out of
the boot, Luc’s stomach muscles tightened and his biceps bulged – the
tight white t-shirt doing everything to define each fluid movement deliciously.
Without thinking Rachel began chewing on her bottom lip defying herself not to
look up, even ravaged in grief she could not deny herself the pure pleasure of
watching the boy-man-god striding towards her. She idly wondered how on earth
he had been comfortable in that little car all the way down from Leeds.

“Oh my god you have got to be
kidding” thought Rachel as he got nearer. Her pulse quickened and a slow flush
crept up her cheeks.

He had the most beautiful face she
had ever seen on a man. His chiselled jaw was lightly covered in blond stubble
matching the hair that flopped into his eyes as he moved. With a flick of his
gorgeous head his fringe shifted to reveal piercing blue eyes, but it was his
smile that completely undid her. Soft, full lips parted to show even white
teeth and the hint of a dimple in both cheeks.

Rooted to the spot Rachel just
gaped.

“Pleased to see you again, Mrs
Renton.”

She was sure Luc was speaking to
her but she couldn’t hear anything. She was totally distracted by his
appearance; at how very tall he was and how blue his eyes were up close. He
didn’t seem to mind that the veins in his arms were bulging under the weight of
the luggage he was holding stretching the sleeves of his t-shirt tight over his
biceps; clinging wickedly to his pecs. He looked like a modern day Achilles
carved out of marble for the viewing pleasure of the female population at
large.

“Holy shit!” Rachel cursed under
her breath, fisting her hands that suddenly itched to reach out and stroke his
golden skin.

Distress and humiliation slammed
through her causing her to turn on her heel and charge a retreat back up the
stairs to the safety of her bedroom. The guilt of betrayal made her feel
physically sick and she started to sob into her duvet in despair.

“How could I?” screamed Rachel in
her mind. How could one brief glance at another man make her forget what she
had with Nate and what she had lost so brutally? Rachel knew she was being hard
on herself – she was only human after all and Luc was undeniably gorgeous
but not only was she old enough to be his mother; she
knew
his mother;
and
she
was a grieving widow.

 
A loud banging broke through her torment.

“Mum! For fuck’s sake Mum…I’m
coming in…”

Jess stormed through the door and
over to the bed where Rachel snapped at her again.

“What were you thinking Jess,
bringing someone like that into our home. He’s, he’s…….I don’t want him here. I
don’t want anyone here. What I want is Daddy here.….I’m not ready for guests,
look at me I’m pathetic.”

Rachel realised to her horror that
she was rambling senselessly at her child. There was no reason for her to fear
Luc: she knew that. It was just having a man in her house felt odd now and
something about her visceral reaction to him unnerved her.