Taking Chances (59 page)

He was laughing. ‘Well, I’m sure glad to hear that,’ he told her, ‘because there’s not much doubt it saved my life and I wouldn’t want you to be regretting that.’

Her eyes were sparkling as she looked up at him, then, giving in to the urge, she hugged him again. ‘Are you hungry?’ she said. ‘Olivia’s got some soup on the go, and guess who baked bread this morning?’

‘No!’ he said incredulously.

‘Well, I had to do something, I was so nervous about seeing you,’ and letting go of his hand she skipped on ahead to open the door.

‘They’re looking forward to seeing you,’ she said, turning back. ‘Colin’s threatening to bring out one of his best wines for dinner tonight – if you’re staying.’

His eyes were dancing, but before he could reply the door opened and Olivia came out. ‘Tom Chambers!’ she cried, pulling him into her plump embrace. ‘It’s been far too long, and what have you been up to in Colombia, we want to know. Oh, look at you, you gorgeous thing, if Colin knew what you did to my heart he’d never let you over the threshold.’

‘There’s no fool like an old fool, is there?’ Colin remarked, standing his wife aside so that he could shake Tom’s hand. ‘Welcome, my friend,’ he said, looking warmly into Tom’s eyes. ‘It’s good to see you.’

Tom was laughing. ‘I’ve got to tell you, it’s good to see you too, but after the Colombian and Californian sunshine I’m freezing my whatsits off here.’

‘It’s you, Colin, blocking the way,’ Olivia scolded, shoving him aside so that Sandy and Tom could go through.

‘Do you have any luggage?’ Colin asked.

‘Nothing to speak of,’ Tom answered.

Though Sandy’s smile remained, her spirits sank. He obviously wasn’t planning to stay.

‘I hope you’re hungry,’ Olivia said. ‘We’ve all been preparing for your arrival. And if you can bear to tell us what happened in Colombia, Colin might be persuaded to dig out one of his better vintages right away to help us along. On the other hand, you two might not want any company,’ she added, looking at Sandy.

Tom looked at Sandy too.

‘Oh no,’ she said, colouring, ‘let’s all eat together. Then maybe you and I can go for a walk later,’ she said to Tom.

‘Sounds good to me,’ he said, putting an arm around her. ‘So where’s this soup? I’m starving.’

*

Though the sun was bright it was still bitterly cold as they climbed over the huge grey boulders that cluttered the path, high above the loudly gushing river, and way below the soaring mountain peaks. Sandy, complete with earmuffs and woollen gloves, was zipped snugly inside a down-filled jacket, while Tom considered himself pretty cool in Colin’s snazzy old deerstalker and fur-lined duffel. Since he’d tied the earflaps under his chin and buttoned the coat right to his neck, Sandy couldn’t look at him without laughing. Nor could she properly hear him as he shouted directions above the roar of the water. But it didn’t matter, she knew the way to the cave, she’d walked there many times with Colin or Olivia.

When at last they reached it, it provided a welcome relief from the biting wind and partially muted the deafening rush of the river. The view from the cave’s entrance was stupendous, for it looked right down over the fir-studded valley which rose again in the distance to yet more snow-capped mountains and a stunningly azure sky. There was nothing, in all those wondrous miles, that showed a single touch of human creation, and as they gazed at the beauty Sandy couldn’t help being aware of its timelessness, and felt a quiet exhilaration moving through her – an exhilaration that was gently weighted with awe.

‘You know,’ Tom said, slipping an arm round her shoulders, ‘this is one of my favourite places in the world.’

‘Mmm,’ she responded, resting her head on his shoulder. ‘I can understand why.’ She paused, then spoke again. ‘Standing here like this makes you realize how small and irrelevant we are, don’t you think? Or how briefly we’re here, while these mountains, this landscape go on for ever, seeing everything there is to see and enduring everything there is to endure.’

He smiled and hugged her. ‘Do you want to sit down?’ he said after a while. He was already taking a
blanket
from his backpack, and the flask of coffee Olivia had made.

‘Here, I’ll pour,’ Sandy said, taking the flask.

They were soon huddled cosily up against a rock, steaming mugs of coffee cupped in their hands, the walls of the cave curving round them like a huge protective shell. Outside the elements were battering the world, while inside the air was dank and earthy and soothingly still.

‘You know, I don’t want anyone else in the world to be here,’ she said, watching the birds soar and dive on the speeding currents of air, ‘but I wish there were some kind of magical camera that would swoop down now to take a picture of us like this.’ She turned to look at him, and started to laugh. ‘We, at least
you
, look so ridiculous.’

He grinned widely and drank some more coffee.

She did the same and settled back against the rock. ‘So tell me about Ellen,’ she said, after a while. ‘I know she’s home from the hospital, but how is she, you know, in herself?’

‘Good question,’ he answered, his eyes losing focus as he thought. ‘I didn’t realize how touch and go it was there for a while, until Michael told me, but she seems to be pulling through. At least physically she is, but I think they’ve still got some way to go on other fronts. Michael told me just before I left that she’s started getting bad dreams, you know, about the car going over, and losing the baby and Kris being dead. Apparently she’s not too keen on going out of the house either, at least not without Michael. Her parents are still there, but they’re leaving next week.’

‘What about Clodagh?’

‘She’s staying. She’s moving into the apartment attached to the house. I think the plan is, six months in England with her daughter and grandkids there, then six months in LA with Michael and Ellen – and my two godsons.’

Sandy turned to look at him.

He waggled his eyebrows and sipped his coffee.

‘Congratulations,’ she said. ‘I take it the other one is Robbie?’

He nodded. ‘Though I don’t think Michelle’s been consulted yet.’

‘Well, I can’t see her having a problem with it,’ Sandy remarked. ‘What did they call the baby, by the way?’

‘Connor. He’s a cute little thing. Doesn’t do much except cry and sleep, but he can produce a pretty mean fart when he’s up to it, much to Robbie’s delight.’

Sandy laughed. ‘I’m sorry to hear that Ellen’s having some problems,’ she sighed after a pause. ‘I suppose it was only to be expected though. I mean, it was a terrible thing to happen.’

He turned to look at her. ‘Michael tells me you saw it.’

She nodded. ‘Most of it.’ Her head went down. ‘It was horrible. I’ve never been so afraid in my life, so I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like for her. Just thank God she came out of it alive. And the baby, of course.’ Putting her cup down, she hugged her knees to her chest and gazed out at the hills. ‘I was wondering,’ she said. ‘How did you feel when you found out the baby wasn’t yours? Were you upset? I mean, did you want it to be?’

He laughed drily, and sucked in his lips. ‘The truth is, a part of me did, yes,’ he answered. ‘But I’m glad for Michael and Ellen that it wasn’t.’ He sighed. ‘I kind of figured that if I’m ever going to have one, then it might be better if it weren’t with another man’s wife.’

Sandy smiled, and moved her thoughts away from the dangerous ground they were approaching.

‘So what’s next for you?’ he asked, reaching for more coffee.

‘Me?’ she said, surprised. ‘Well, I’m going back to London on Friday, where I imagine there’s a mountain of work waiting for me, and where I need to be to get all my new plans in motion.’

‘Oh?’ he said, intrigued.

‘Tell me,’ she said, turning to him and resting a cheek on her knees, ‘have you and Michael made any decisions about the movie yet?’

‘Sure,’ he nodded. ‘He’s going to carry on.’ He laughed as she made an exaggerated collapse of relief.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘I know you don’t want it to be about money, but all the people who gave us so much …’

‘It’s OK,’ he said. ‘And it’s me who should be apologizing. I should have been more understanding.’

She smiled, then lowered her eyes.

‘Of course, there are a few minor complications that have to be sorted,’ he said, ‘like licking Ted Forgon into shape, and dealing with the stack of lawsuits the company’s facing. But Michael’s optimistic he can get it back on line.’ He paused, and waited for her eyes to come back to his. ‘I know what you did with the shares,’ he said softly. ‘How you gave them to Ellen so she could vote with Michael, so you could help save the kids and maybe still salvage something of your career. So I’ve got to tell you, I’m real sorry about the way I got mad at you for not coming right out with the commitment I wanted. I guess I just wasn’t being rational.’

Sandy’s lips flattened as she looked away. ‘And I wasn’t being so honourable,’ she confessed. She looked at him again. ‘I don’t expect Ellen told you about the condition attached to those shares?’

He frowned and shook his head.

‘The deal was that she told Michael the baby was his. In other words …’ She stopped, and dropped her eyes again. ‘Well, you know what I’m saying,’ she said.

Putting a finger under her chin, he lifted her head up. ‘Don’t be too hard on yourself,’ he said softly.

Feeling her heart turn over, she smiled and looked to one side. Then, wanting to get past her shame, she reached for her cup and held it out for more coffee.

‘So, did you find it helpful being here with Colin and
Olivia?’
he asked after he’d poured.

‘Helpful?’ she laughed. ‘I’m only feeling like a completely different person, and one I could even get to quite like. Though how long I’m going to be able to keep up all these good feelings and generosity of spirit once I get back to the cut and thrust of London, God only knows. I can see myself ending up coming back here for monthly, if not weekly fixes. I wonder if they do phoneins?’

He was laughing. ‘Believe me, a little bit of Colin and Olivia goes a very long way, so you’ll probably do a lot better than you think.’

She didn’t look convinced, but grinned when he poked her. She rested a cheek on her knees again and looked into his eyes as she wondered whether to broach the subject his comment had brought to her mind, that of Salvador Molina and the revenge Tom had sworn he would take. It seemed that not even Colin and Olivia had been able to dissuade him from that, and with Molina now dead and so many mixed reports coming out of the killing, she was curious to know what really had happened, and how troubled, or not, he might be.

He was quiet for a long time after she finally asked him, a wry, though thoughtful expression on his face as he assimilated the truth of his answer. ‘You know,’ he said, after a while, ‘I keep thinking I should feel bad about what I did, but I just can’t say I do. I shot the man’s balls off, I stood there and watched him bleed and twitch, and scream in agony, and I didn’t feel a single moment of remorse. And if I had it all to do over again?’ He shrugged. ‘I’d do exactly the same. Next time, I might even kill him.’

‘I’m glad you left that to somebody else,’ she said quietly. ‘I could be wrong, but I don’t think you’d find that so easy to live with.’

‘Maybe not,’ he agreed.

She wanted to ask him about Rachel, and if Molina’s
and
Galeano’s deaths had changed anything in the way he was dealing with that now, but guessing it was probably still too early for him to know, she decided to leave it. ‘So what’s next for you?’ she said. ‘You’re carrying on with the movie.’

He shook his head. ‘Not me,’ he answered. ‘I’ve left Ellen with all my notes so she can rewrite the end, which works for her, since it means she can be at home with the boys, and Michael’s bringing in another exec. producer to cover.’

‘So what are you going to do?’ she said, forcing the words past the dread of his answer.

‘Me? I guess you could say I’m shipping on out.’

Though her heart twisted, her eyes managed to show nothing but interest. ‘To where, and to do what?’ she asked, teasingly.

He inhaled deeply. ‘Well, I’m booked on a flight to Karachi tomorrow night,’ he answered. ‘Michelle and Cavan are still in the Afghan refugee camps in the north of the country, so I’m going to catch up with them there. Then I thought I’d give war and turmoil a rest for a while, and visit some exotic lands and curious cultures. The Indonesian or South Sea islands, maybe. I don’t know, I guess I’ll firm up a decision once I’m over that way.’

Though Sandy was still smiling, she didn’t, for the moment, trust herself to speak – she was too afraid that her voice might falter on the terrible loss that was already building inside her. But this was no more than she had expected, was precisely what she had feared, so she must just make herself accept it and move on.

‘So what are these plans you’ve got for when you return to London?’ he asked.

‘Ah, those,’ she said, allowing her eyes to shine. ‘I’ll need to talk to Michael first, but I’ve got to tell you, no matter how wonderful and considerate and forgiving being here has made me feel inside, I’m still not
anywhere
near a place where I can stomach Ted Forgon.’

He laughed. ‘So?’ he prompted.

‘So, I’ve been thinking about it and I reckon Michael and I can go one of two ways. We can either bounce the old sod around a bit, keep voting him down and kicking out all his suggestions, which, I’ve got to tell you, I favour, because it’ll provide me with the ongoing pleasure of watching him froth at the mouth and run round in circles of rage and frustration: or we can work on a way of throwing him out of World Wide altogether. For that, we’ll almost certainly need the support of the movie’s investors, but I don’t see too much of a problem there. We’ll have to speak to the company lawyers, obviously, but I’ve got the makings of something devastating worked out, I just need them to make it legal.’

He gave a shout of laughter. ‘You’re not a woman to be messed with, Sandy Paull,’ he told her.

‘And don’t you forget it,’ she warned darkly.