Secrets and Lies (23 page)

She held back a sob, momentarily longing for the warmth of her husband's arms around her, the closeness of his lips on hers and the sheer joy of making love to him, regardless of the fact that she was pregnant.

She
drew the curtains in the small living room and decided to treat herself to a Chinese takeaway. She dialled Panda Mama, their local restaurant, and ordered her usual chicken curry with special fried rice. She didn't bother ordering anything for Niall, he could make himself some cheese on toast or something else when he finally arrived home; that would be his punishment for being so late coming home and not even bothering to contact her.

She massaged her stomach which was feeling bloated and uncomfortab
le and went upstairs to the bathroom to run a bubble bath which was one of her favourite indulgences. She decanted a few drops of lavender oil into the warm water and the resulting scent was almost immediately wonderfully restful and soothing. She stripped off her clothes and left them on the floor where they fell. The Chinese wouldn't be delivered for another forty five minutes so she had just enough time to enjoy her bath before dinner. Surely Niall would be home by the time dinner arrived. It wasn't like him to be late and not let her know. She pushed the sliver of worry to the back of her mind. He'll call, she told herself. He always calls.

Hope slid into the delicious softness of the bubble bath and closed her eyes, luxuriating in its all-encompassing warmth. She closed her eyes and focused on breathing long, slow deep breaths. A few minutes later, feeling a little calmer, she opened her tired eyes and began massaging her aching legs. She slid lower into the water, feeling the tensions of the day slowly evaporating as she began to drift into sleep.

There was a ring at the door which startled her awake. It couldn't be Niall, he had a key. Maybe he mislaid them. She struggled out of the bath and wrapped her bathrobe around herself, hurrying to the door. Her face fell when she saw it was the Chinese delivery guy standing there. The tasty aroma of her dinner made her mouth water and she realised that she hadn't eaten anything all day. She took the food and tipped the delivery guy a few euro. Then she set the food down on the kitchen table and bustled about getting plates and cutlery. She poured herself a large glass of orange juice from the refrigerator and groaned when she saw a chilled bottle of white wine. How she longed for a glass of wine in that moment; something to momentarily relieve the stress and strain of the day. She lovingly picked up the bottle and reluctantly poured the golden liquid down the sink and sighed. A drink would have been wonderful right now.
Oh well
, she shrugged and carried her dinner on a tray into the living room where she settled down to watch one of her favourite chick flicks, Sex and the City. Niall hated her obsession with Sex and the City the show and the movies, but tonight she didn't care. She grinned to herself at the thought of seeing his face when he finally came home and knew that he'd be forced to watch it with her.

Hope awoke with a jolt. The movie was well and truly over and the place was in darkness except for the soft glow emanating from the televis
ion screen. She shivered and realised that she'd forgotten to switch on the heating again. Where was Niall? She was really worried now and decided to try his mobile once again but her call was diverted to his voicemail. She left a message this time, trying to keep the worry from her voice. She didn't want to even begin to imagine what might have happened to him.

A shudder ran through her. She grabbed the blanket from the couch and wrapped it tightly around herself. Her eyes alighted on their wedding photograph and she tried her best to blink back the tears that suddenly welled up in her eyes. They were smiling lovingly at each other and looked like they didn't have a care in the world. It truly had been the happiest day of her life. “Please, Niall, come home, just come home to me,” she whispered into the darkness, willing him with every fibre of her body to come home soon.

Hope sat bolt upright and felt around for her mobile phone. It was morning already and still there was no word from Niall. The frantic messages she'd left during the night had remained unanswered. She couldn't think of a single explanation that didn't involve Niall being in some sort of accident, because there was no way that he would ever deliberately ignore her calls and messages, was there? They hadn't had an argument and their last conversation had been perfectly pleasant as far as she could remember.

Maybe he'd been taken ill and been brought to hospital, but she doubted it. Niall was the healthiest person she knew. Deep down in her heart, she knew that she was only clutching at straws. Niall would have phoned her by now, unless something serious was actually preventing him from calling her. He always called when unexpected things cropped up, because in his business they often did and part of her was used to those delays.

She glanced at the remnants of last night's Chinese dinner as well as the half-eaten spring rolls that were cold and unappetising now. She closed the lids on the food and carried them into the kitchen, binning the leftovers and piling the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. Her heart was beating faster with the increasing fear that was slowly starting to take hold of her heart.

There's a perfectly good explanation
, she told herself, glancing at her phone for the millionth time. She wandered into the living room again and gazed out the window at the deserted street below. The streets were still quiet and a couple walked hand in hand as she peeped through the slatted blinds.

I'm getting worked up over nothing
. Niall was always teasing her about her tendency to get worked up over things. “You're my little worry wart,” he'd smile.

I'm feeling worse because of the pregnancy. Aren't pregnant women's emotions supposed to be heightened because of the hormones?
She rubbed her stomach which somehow seemed rounder since yesterday and couldn't help smiling at the tricks her mind was playing on her. Now that she knew she was pregnant it was almost like her stomach had suddenly become rounder overnight.

A terrible thought suddenly grabbed her and she raced upstairs, flinging open the doors of the wardrobe they shared. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Niall's clothes were still hanging neatly from their hangers and folded pristinely on their shelves. He hadn't deserted her and run off with another woman thankfully.

Hope couldn't help laughing at her own silliness. Niall would never leave her. He loved her and she loved him. From the first moment she'd met him she'd known he was someone that she could love; she'd sensed it immediately.

Their meeting had been completely accidental. She and Niall had literally bumped into each other one day whilst walking their dogs in the park. She'd been struck by his good looks, his strong face, dark wiry hair and warm green eyes. She could never quite explain it afterwards, how it was that she'd been instantly physically attracted by a man she'd only just met, so that almost as soon as she'd seen him she was wondering what he would be like in bed! The colour had immediately rushed into her usually quite pale cheeks.

She remembered the first night they'd made love. She'd never experienced anything like it. Afterwards, she'd known then that she was in love with him, that she would always be in love with him and that one day they'd be married.

Niall had said to her early on that he'd never felt so consumed by anyone else before he met her.

“Maybe it's because you're a little older than me,” she'd said, “but you seem to know what it is I want, even before I know myself. You're good with women, Niall.” She found it hard to believe that he'd never been married before her. He'd laughed and said that he'd never met the right woman until he'd met her.

Her daily alarm blasting from the radio by her bed shook her out of her pleasant reverie. It was time to face facts; there was something badly wrong. Niall should be home by now and he hadn't called, either because he didn't want to or because he wasn't able to, and regardless of the reason for his silence, it had to be bad news for her.

She took a deep breath, picked up her phone and dialled her mother's telephone number.

“Bonjour?” her mother's voice answered sleepily. She often lapsed into her native French when she was tired or distracted.

“Mama,” Hope whispered.

“What is it cherie?” Chantale was suddenly wide awake at her daughter's worried tone.

“It's Niall. He hasn't come home and he's not answering his phone.”

“His flight's probably been delayed and his battery may have died. I'm sure he'll call you as soon as he can. It's a long plane journey from Japan. Anything might have happened.”

“That's what I'm afraid of,” Hope said in a small voice.

“I'm coming over,” Chantale declared. “Give me twenty minutes to get dressed and make myelf look decent and I'll be right with you.”

“Thanks mama,” Hope put the phone down, feeling relieved at the thought of having some company.

Where was Niall? She asked herself for the millionth time. He always phoned her, that was the way their lives worked, and now, because he hadn't called she was scared that for the first time in their relationship something was seriously wrong.

Hope ran to answer the door the moment the bell rang. She swung the door open and her face fell when she saw her mother standing there.

“I thought you were Niall,” she greeted her mother despondently.

“He's not home yet?” Chantale asked.

“Obviously not, mother.”

“When was the last time you tried calling him?”

“I've called him a million times and left umpteen messages. His phone keeps going to voicemail.”

“Well, if something had happened to him we'd have heard by now, cherie,” Chantale tried to console her daughter. “Communication is instant these days. Somebody would have called you.”

“Maybe he's been kidnapped,” Hope suggested.

“Kidnapped?!” Chantale stared at her daughter as if she'd lost her mind.

“Stranger things have happened.”

“Why would anyone kidnap Niall?” Chantale tried to understand.

Niall being kidnapped made a lot more sense than his leaving her of his own volition. She wiped the tears that had suddenly sprung to her eyes.

“I'll make us a nice cup of tea,” Chantale suggested. She'd quickly adopted the Irish custom of making tea at the first sign of a crisis.

“Ok,” Hope sniffed, following her mother into the kitchen. “Where is he mama? I just want him to come home to me. Something terrible must have happened. He'd nev
er leave me worried like this!” Hope burst into uncontrollable sobs and her mother hugged her as tightly as she could, silently praying that Niall would return.

“I could get used to this life,” Kerry smiled contentedly at Conor and Saoirse as she helped herself to another plate of sushi.

“Me too,” Saoirse beamed. “I never thought that raw fish would be so delicious.”

Conor winked conspiratorially at Kerry, who was relieved that her daughter seemed to have regained her appetite.

“I'm just sorry that we have to go home tomorrow,” Kerry sighed wistfully.

“It's been the best holiday ever,” Saoirse mumbled, in between another mouthful of sushi. “It's a bit embarrassing going away on holidays with my parents, but the embarrassment has been more than worth it.”

“What's been your favourite part?” Conor asked.

“Oh, dad, it's difficult to choose just one. I loved the toy stores in Kyoto. Six floors of every conceivable toy! It thought I'd died and gone to heaven.”

“Aren't you too grown-up for toys?” Conor teased.

Saoirse stuck out her tongue and grinned sheepishly at him.

“What's been your favourite moment, dad?” she asked, quickly changing the subject.

“The view from the New York Bar in the Park Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo was absolutely spectacular,” Conor quickly replied, without pausing to think. “I've never seen a view like it in my entire life; seven hundred and fifty feet high in the sky, the immensity of Tokyo was breathtaking with the red blinking city lights that made it seem as if the city was alive and breathing.”

“It was mesmerising,” Kerry agreed, “especially when we could see the curvature of the Earth while drinking a cocktail at the same time; even if it was one of the most expensive cocktails I've ever had at twenty dollars.”

“What's been your best moment, mom?” Saoirse asked.

“Hmm, I liked the bullet trains and travelling at three hundred kilometres per hour,” Kerry answered, “but I think one of my favourite moments was the unexpected luxury of the public toilets. I have to admit that I broke my own rule of not sitting on public toilets.”

“Too much information, mom!” Saoirse tried to protest.

“The seats are so warm that I couldn't resist,” Kerry laughingly continued. “The comforting feeling a warm toilet seat provides is difficult to express. It's a lasting and fond memory that I'll always have of Japan. I loved the cherry blossom trees too. I've never seen so many together; they were gorgeous.”

“I was sure that your highlight would have been the sento,” Conor interjected.