The Life You Left. Carmel Harrington

anguish. ‘Just a bit worried, as he’s not normally this late. I thought he might have popped into you on his way home. I’m sure he’ll walk in the door any minute.’

      She could hear Rita sigh with relief in response. ‘Course he will love. Sure, Paul has always been a workaholic. He’s probably on his way home right now.’

      Sarah doubted that. A feeling of foreboding overcame her and somehow or other she knew life was never going to be the same again.

       Chapter One

      ‘Time for the big finale,’ James thought to himself. With a dramatic sigh he put his hand over his face and said, ‘and as the sun set, I held her in my arms and she died. I just feel honoured that I was with her when she breathed her last breath. And maybe in some small way I gave her some comfort at the end.’

      He wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye and sneaked a peak at his date. Had he overdone it this time? Maybe the tears were too much. Nope, hang on; she had bought his story, hook, line and sinker.

      ‘God she is beautiful,’ James thought.

      She stifled back a sob and leaned in close to James. ‘Oh James,’ She whispered, ‘You were so brave.’ She then touched him on his leg and he knew he’d be getting lucky tonight. Result! The hero story never failed him.

      His date was clearly mesmerised by him. At 6′2 with blonde wavy hair, worn slightly long, James had always had plenty of attention. His blue eyes normally sparkled with mischief but sometimes would show hints of hidden depths that made women desperate to be the one to unlock their secrets. He was one of those lucky people that were born with a natural charisma that attracted both men and women. Men wanted to be his friend and women in the main had more than friendship on their minds when they met him.

      The sound of his mobile phone blaring out Eliza Doolittle’s Pack Up interrupted his daydream of how the night was likely to end. Glancing at the handset, he saw that it was Sarah. He ignored the phone and said to the blonde, ‘Let them leave a message, nothing is more important than this, right now, with you.’ She really seemed to like the cheesy lines. She was practically purring – some girls were just too easy to play.

      Momentarily he felt a wave of guilt assuage him. He knew that after a few dates he wouldn’t be interested in seeing her again. He just wanted some fun and had no intention of settling down with anyone, just yet. He’d grown up in a house with parents who at best were polite to each other, but on a daily basis made it quite obvious that whatever love had drawn them towards each other at the beginning had long since died. In his career as a private detective, he’d also seen more unfaithful marriages than he’d had chicken curries. From his experience there weren’t very many happy ever afters anymore, any excuse and one or the other of the couple was jumping into bed with someone else.

      And what about his sister, Sarah? Sure he’d watched her fall apart these past few weeks since Paul had done his vanishing act.

      What he wouldn’t give for five minutes with that man!

      A hand gently touching his shoulder brought him back to his present situation and the hot blonde seated in front of him. He brushed aside any guilt he may have felt; after all they were both adults and he never promised any of the girls he dated anything more than they got. He had a firm rule that he always detangled himself before the fourth date. In his experience it was after this dating milestone that most girls started humming the wedding march.

      He could see Sarah’s disapproving face in his mind’s eye and once again felt a slight twinge of guilt. But one look at his date’s long bronzed legs and that guilt disappeared. He was just about to make a suggestion of a nightcap back at his house when his phone beeped with a new text message. It was Sarah again. He clicked open the message on his phone. Two words glared back at him.

       Edward’s back.

      This was bad. Even though Sarah had not mentioned Edward in years, James knew immediately to whom she was referring. The aftermath of Edwardgate still left a mark on both of them.

      ‘Sorry, I’ve got to go.’ James leaned in with genuine regret and kissed the blonde on the cheek, slightly amused by the look of astonishment on her face.

      James could see his date beginning to panic at the sudden realisation that James really was leaving. He smiled at her with genuine regret, she did seem like a nice girl, but he was needed at Sarah’s and that came first.

      ‘What’s wrong?’ She asked.

      ‘Edward’s back.’ James replied.

      ‘Edward?’ She asked puzzled. ‘Who’s Edward?’

      ‘Trouble, that’s who Edward is, a whole lot of trouble.’ James replied and with that ran to his car, texting Sarah as he went that he was on his way.

       Chapter Two

      ‘OK kids, bedtime,’ Sarah said to her children. ‘You’ve already had an extra five minutes, Tommy, so don’t even think about asking for any more!’

      Tommy made a face; he had just been about to ask for more time, how did his mother do that? She always seemed to know what he was about to say before he opened his mouth. At 8 years old, Tommy was already a heartbreaker; big brown eyes with a mop of brown curly hair. He was the image of his Daddy, getting more like him every day. Her son was a bundle of mischief, with unlimited energy that always amazed his parents. He never sat still for even a second. Lately though, he was a lot quieter than normal. Sarah knew that he missed having his Daddy around; she could see the effect of Paul’s absence on Tommy’s face more than with her two girls.

      Ruffling his hair, she gently guided him to the door where Katie was already waiting for them, a mock stern frown on her little face as she confronted her big brother.

      ‘Come on Tommy. We did promise Mammy we’d go to bed in five minutes.’ This was said in a voice that sounded very like her own, Sarah realised with a smile. Her little girl had always been her shadow, mimicking her. She sometimes felt sorry for Tommy as he often had two Mammy’s to deal with, but he seemed amused rather than irritated by his sisters stance. At seven, one year younger than Tommy, Sarah marvelled at how grown up her little girl had become. If Tommy was the image of his Daddy, then Katie was a miniature version of her. Both Sarah and Katie had straight, thick sandy blonde hair, blue eyes and sallow skin. Sarah said a quick prayer that Katie wouldn’t inherit her big hips and thighs too. She’d always hoped that Paul’s fast metabolism and ability to never to put on an ounce of fat would be bestowed on all of her children, rather than her own ‘glance at an éclair and go up 2lbs’ one. Time would tell.

      ‘Teeth, face, hands, you know the drill,’ Sarah said gently to them both as they walked up to their bedroom. ‘I’ll be there in five minutes to read your bedtime story.’

      While Tommy and Katie got ready for bed, Sarah went to check on Ella, her eight month old baby daughter. She felt her heart contract with emotion as she gazed down at her little angel fast asleep. As normal, she had managed to do a full 180 degree spin and was at the bottom of the cot pressed right to the edge. Sarah gently moved her back to the middle, caressing her baby’s cheek as she whispered to her, ‘Mammy loves you Ella, always remember that.’ Ella was dark and looked just like Tommy did at that age, already with masses of dark curly hair framing perfect round little cheeks and a rose bud mouth. Not for the first time Sarah wondered how on earth Paul could stay away from his children? Surely, no matter what was going on with him, being with his family, his children should be the best place to be? How could he just leave this life behind? Creeping away carefully avoiding the creaky floorboard in the middle of the floor, she walked next door to read the children their bed time story.

      ‘Right, where