Page 67 of Save You

Chapter 25

Xander

It’s dark now, and only the crackling bonfire is shedding any kind of light; there’s not even a moon tonight. Most of the guests left after offering me their condolences and sad looks of pity. Beth’s mom took Rosie back to their place a long while ago, looking desperate to get away from the sadness of saying goodbye to her only daughter. I won’t see my own daughter until tomorrow morning, which is probably a good thing. I’ve already had far too much to drink and don’t plan on stopping yet.

Mal is pretty much an older mirror image of me, slumped on his chair, staring out toward the fire with a lost expression. I don’t think we’ve said a single word to one another in the past hour or so. There’s nothing really left to say after a day like today. Every now and then, one of us will sigh and drink, but otherwise, we seem to both be comfortable in one another’s silent grief.

“Mal?” a voice I’ve never heard before calls out from behind us. The shock of it makes me turn around to see who it is; however, Mal remains lost in his own sad thoughts. I turn to see a well-dressed woman with dark, curly hair, and who is probably in her fifties or sixties, walking toward us with a sad smile.

“Mal?” she calls out again, but when he makes no attempt to respond, I end up nudging at his arm, snapping him out of it with a slight jump. When he finally looks at me with a questioning frown, I gesture to the woman.

At first, he squints his eyes at her, looking as though he has no idea who she is or what she’s doing here. He steps toward her and looks more closely as she laughs over his inability to recognize her.

“Sadie?” he gasps. “Jesus, is that you?!”

She laughs a little harder before stepping into his shadow and throwing her arms around his shoulders. He hugs her back and has a little disbelieving chuckle to himself.

“I haven’t seen you since I was ten, where have you been?!” He pulls back to look at her, still disbelieving what is clearly in front of him.

“Cillian and I moved to Ireland when Tom’s father died,” she explains, then gestures toward the seats where we were just sitting. “Did he not tell you?”

“No,” he replies a little sheepishly, before they both sit down. “He didn’t mention your name after you left.”

“It’s ok, Mal; I know he was angry with me for going, for choosing Cillian.” She smiles softly as she rubs his leg affectionately. “I heard about your daughter, Mal,” she says, turning her smile into a look of sympathy that has now spread all over her face. She then glances my way and gives me that same look of pity that everyone else has given me today. I don’t blame her for it; what else are you supposed to do with someone who has lost his everything?

“Yeah,” he whispers sadly and swigs back his bottle of warm beer. “She was quite something, Sadie. Did you know? Did you know about Mayfield?” He looks at her accusingly, and she nods guiltily before staring down at the sand. “I wish I had been told, Sadie! Maybe I could have saved her, got her away from all of this!”

“They were always going to catch up with you one day, Mal,” she sighs, “they caught up with Tom.”

“What do you mean?” Mal grabs hold of her arm, forcing her to look back at him.

“I found him, Mal; I know where he is!” she says with tears in her eyes while his mouth gapes open in shock.

“Where?” he asks, sounding low and quiet. “Where is my father?”

“He’s here, with me,” she says with a smile. “Well, actually, he’s at my hotel with Cillian. I came to pay my respects and take you to him. He’s desperate to see you, Mal!”

“Where the hell has he been? He left Mum; she’s in a care home, for Christ’s sake!” Mal leaps from his seat and looks as though he’s ready to kill someone with his bare hands.

“Where do you think he’s been?” she says, standing to face him. “They’vehad him, Mal! It’s taken over ten years to find him and get him out. It’s not pleasant, Mal, but you need to come and see him. Between you and I, I don’t think he has much fight left in him. He wants to see you, and he wants to see Rosalie; that’s all that matters to him right now.”

Mal looks more broken and confused than before, and I feel even worse for him. I watch him battle demons in his head, trying to work out what to do for the best. In the end, I pat him on the shoulder and offer him my own opinion, such that it is.

“Go, Mal; Beth is already gone. It sounds like you need to go and see your dad before he goes too.”

At first, he opens his mouth, looking like he’s going to argue and tell Sadie to leave him be. However, after a moment or two of what looks like indecision, he reluctantly nods his head and gestures for Sadie to show him the way. She looks beyond relieved, but just before she turns to leave, she puts her arms around me and pats me gently on the back. She doesn’t say anything, but we both know what the hug was for.

Beth

Oliver has been looking at his watch for the past hour, waiting impatiently for us to get away from everyone so he can finally have what he wants from me. I’ve played the dutiful new wife, smiled, and thanked people when they complimented me on my dress, my new husband, and the general aesthetics of the entire wedding. I’ve answered their questions about my past as much as I am allowed to, and I have danced with creepy old men, including Carl and my new father-in-law with his wandering hands and heavy breathing down my neck. But now I am waiting too, waiting for the part of the day I’ve been dreading the most.

When a familiar hand reaches for mine, the one with a new, even heavier ring on its finger, I shut my eyes and breathe out slowly, knowing that time is up. I don’t have a moment to think before he rounds on me and smiles suggestively at my panic-stricken face, then lifts my ring-clad hand to his lips.

“Time to go,” he whispers into my ear and begins marching us toward the door before I even have a chance to respond.

The moment we step outside onto a busy street in New York, the car is already waiting with a wide-open door, where armed guards surround our exit. My breath hitches in my throat, I feel dizzy, and have to lean on Oliver just to keep myself upright. He mistakes this for affection and laughs softly to himself before I manage to regain my composure. This is when I am going to feel like I truly have cheated on Xander, my real love, the man I should have married.

Just before we get to the car, Oliver’s parents and my grandfather catch hold of his arm, making him stop still with an irritated sigh. Oliver is clearly impatient about the hold-up but puts on a gratuitous smile while shaking their hands, as well as giving his mother a customary kiss on the cheek.