Page 85 of Fling

‘THAT’S WORSE THAN CHEATING!’ she said, whacking the front wheel and causing it to fall over.

‘How is that worse than cheating?’

‘You went behind my back and did the one thing I asked you not to do. I made it clear that I wasn’t trying IVF again and that I didn’t want Celine’s help. What was your big plan, Colin? To harvest my eggs while I wasn’t looking?’ she asked.

‘I thought you might be open to it further down the line. I just wanted to be on the waiting list, in case you changed your mind,’ Colin said honestly.

Tara was finally starting to calm down.

‘That still doesn’t explain why you got a hotel room and why there were two champagne glasses on that porter’s trolley!’ Tara said.

‘What porter? Wait, how do you know that?’ Colin asked, confused. ‘Did you follow me?’

‘You’re damn right I followed you,’ she said unashamedly.

‘We’re supposed to trust each other, Tara!’

‘Oh please, I wouldn’t trust you as far as I’d throw you. And wasn’t I right to follow you in the end? I smelled a rat and I caught a rat.’

‘Tara, it was a stupid mistake and I’m sorry,’ he said, genuinely meaning it.

‘Oh please, men are only ever sorry they got caught. You wouldn’t be apologizing if I hadn’t seen you check in to the room,’ Tara said.

‘Well, maybe I wouldn’t have checked in to a hotel room if you hadn’t checked out of our marriage!’ Colin said defensively.

‘Don’t you dare pin this on me! I didn’t drive you into that tart’s arms. Well, when I find out who that tramp is, God help her,’ Tara said, glistening with rage. She dropped the golf club and began to walk inside.

‘Where are going?’ he asked.

‘I’m going to go find a real man and have an affair of my own!’ Tara said, slamming the back door behind her. She wasn’t actually leaving to go and have her own affair, of course. She was just trying to hurt Colin in the heat of the moment. As much as she would have liked to, she couldn’t just run into Jack’s arms. She didn’t know who he was. And she had stood him up for a second time. She had got a second chance she didn’t deserve and she had ruined it. There was no way Jack would give her a third chance. But it didn’t matter. Because Tara didn’t need a man to kiss her better. Tara needed the one person who could always heal her pain.

Tara needed her mother.

Chapter 28

Tara drove for almost three hours to Galway, singing ABBA heartbreak songs at the top of her lungs. When she finally arrived home to the cottage she grew up in, it was too dark to see the beautiful lush green fields that surrounded her. But as the light from the cottage kitchen window lit up her face, Tara knew she had made the right decision by coming home.

‘TARA!’ her mother Shannon screamed as she opened the door and saw her daughter. Shannon Fitzsimons was a psychic healer by trade and, although she was now seventy-five years old, she still had quite the reputation when it came to spiritual advice. Any medical doctor in the country would denounce her so-called cures as old wives’ tales, but nevertheless, people travelled from all over the country to seek her guidance. Now, for the first time in her life, Tara was about to ask for help. And if there was anyone who could help her, it was certainly her mam.

‘Hi Mam!’ Tara said, leaning in for a hug.

‘What a surprise!’ Shannon said, taken aback. ‘Come in, come in.’

Tara walked into the small cottage.

‘What are you doing here so late?’ Shannon asked, leading her into the kitchen. ‘Oh my God, don’t tell me. YOU’RE PREGNANT!’

Perhaps her psychic abilities weren’t what they used to be. ‘No, Mam. It’s not good news, I’m afraid,’ Tara said with tears in her eyes.

‘Oh God, pet, is everything OK?’

‘I can’t even find the words to say it,’ Tara said, embarrassed that Colin had betrayed her.

‘Sit down,’ Shannon said, pulling out a kitchen chair. ‘I’ll put the kettle on. Everything is always a bit easier with a warm mug of tea in your hands.’

As she sat down, Tara looked around at all the knick-knacks and trinkets that occupied the room. It had an inner chaos that made her feel so at home. It was noisy. Alive.

‘I know the house could use a bit of a clean,’ Shannon said, seeing Tara gawking around the room.

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