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CHAPTER: 1
LETS GO TO
PORTUGAL
Lindsey Corkhill was sitting at the kitchen table
absorbed in the task before her. It was
thirteen months now since Callum
Finnegan had proposed to her and for some odd reason which
Lindsey did not understand herself, the anniversary of that
evening had possessed her to start checking every inch of
the newspapers to see if there was any information on Callum
but every time she had checked there had been nothing, as
far as she knew he hadn't even been reported missing, not
even before she started checking had she heard anything.
Lindsey's concentration was suddenly broken by Jimmy's
voice. " What do you think Lindsey love? Do you fancy a
holiday in Portugal?" She didn't hear all of the question
just the last word 'Portugal'. Every time she heard the word
Portugal she was reminded of Callum and that night in the
warehouse. Portugal, the Algarve, that’s where he used to
live, there and Albert Dock. He had showed her photographs
of his house in the Algarve where he wanted her to go and
live with him, the house had been tempting, and his credit
card limit.
" Lindsey?" her dad again broke her thoughts. " Yeah"
Lindsey responded. " What do you think then? Do you fancy
Portugal or not?" 'Callum's dead' Lindsey thought to herself
'he's not going to appear and spoil your holiday, he's dead,
Dave killed him' " Yeah why not, I'm up for it" she closed
the newspaper. " You could bring Shelley along" Lindsey
looked at Jackie " Well there’s no need to hide away,
everyone knows, everyone’s known for a while" " Okay I'll
ask her" Lindsey smiled a little uneasily, but she knew this
was what she and Shelley needed, to get away for a while, to
get away from the stares and frowns of those who knew them.
But then again, Shelley and Jackie together was not
what Lindsey had wanted, Lindsey still asked herself how she
had ever managed to forgive either of them and how she could
ever still be in a relationship with Shelley now she knew
that Shelly had been in love with her Mother. But still she
had forgiven them and now she was about to ask Shelley to
come on holiday with them. Shelley agreed quite
enthusiastically when Lindsey offered her the chance to get
away, but wasn't too happy about Jimmy and Jackie been
there.
It had taken Lindsey an age to make to make her
realize that they weren't going to be there all the time and
Kylie wasn't going to be there at all, it was just going to
be adults. Poor Kylie, it wasn't that bad though, she had
told Lindsey that she liked staying with her cousin, Claire.
She had said that she preferred it to Portugal any day.
Lindsey had promised her a holiday next year, just the two
of them and maybe Shelley if they were still together,......
if.
Lindsey flopped onto her bed. She and Shelley had been
going downhill for a while, it wasn't the tender, loving
relationship Lindsey had been hoping it would be. Yet as she
tried to concentrate on what was going wrong with it, her
mind kept wandering to Callum and how he had acted the last
time she saw him. She thought about what he had said to her
and how he had said it. A smile softly spread across her
face and an almost sorry look in her eyes as she remembered
he seemed almost anxious as he tried to calm her down. " I
know this must all seem very strange" he said gently but
nervously it seemed. " Oh not for you" Lindsey snapped and
this made him worse. " I haven't gone about this the right
way at all have I?" he spoke, keeping the calm tone, but
coming close to stuttering in his anxiousness.
Lindsey jumped as someone knocked at her bedroom door.
" Who is it?" Lindsey called as she sat up briefly rubbing
her eyes. " Its me mum" Kylie called back through the door.
Lindsey sighed, she felt as though she had been ignoring
Kylie in the middle of all the confusion. " The doors open
sweetheart" Lindsey called rising anyway and walking towards
the door. Kylie opened the door slowly, almost timidly.
Lindsey looked down at her daughter and smiled briefly
before scooping her up into her arms. They lay a long time
talking. Kylie was asking questions about Portugal. " What
is Portugal like?" Kylie asked quietly after reassuring her
mother that she liked staying with Claire, her cousin. " I
don't really know Kylie, I've never been before" " Don't you
know anyone who has?" Lindsey was quiet for sometime before
answering. " No, no I don't honey, now you'd better get some
sleep"Jimmy watched them through the door, he knew why
Lindsey had gone quiet, he knew Callum had lived in Portugal
and he knew that Callum had asked her to go and live out
there with him.
Once Kylie was asleep Lindsey slipped out of the room
and crept downstairs. She was surprised to find Jimmy still
sitting at the kitchen table. His health had really improved
and things were pratically normal again, well as normal as
things could be for the Corkhill family. " How come you're
still up?" Lindsey asked as she approached the kettle. " How
come you are?" Jimmy asked back. " Couldn't sleep" she
replied switching the kettle on as she stared blankly at the
wall.
Jimmy was worried about his daughter he had been for
sometime. He hated to admit it, he knew Lindsey never would,
but she had been acting weird ever since Callum's proposal
and the betrayal of the two people closest to her had not
helped. Jimmy often found himself asking how and why he had
ever forgiven Jackie for what she had done, but then again
they had been together a long time and he didn’t know how he
would be able to get by without her. He loved her. But
Lindsey on the other hand didn’t seem so close to Shelley
and he wondered how they were still together. " Will you
make me one love?" He suddenly asked. " Sure" Lindsey
replied sounding distant. Jimmy wondered who was on her
mind, Shelley or Callum? He guessed that there was a good
chance that it could be either, the holiday to Portugal
wouldn’t do much to help her forget Callum. Then again he
had affected all of their lives and Jimmy doubted that any
of them would ever forget him.
It was silent until Lindsey joined him at the table
with two coffees. " I'm sorry Lindsey love" Jimmy sighed. "
What for?" Lindsey looked up but she already knew what he
meant and immediately regretted asking the question. She
looked down awaiting his reply. " Thats where he asked you
to go and live with him isn't it, his villa in Portugal"
Jimmy spoke slowly and carefully but nothing could make it
easy on Lindsey's ears.
Callum Finnegan had been a taboo subject in the
Corkhill house for a very long time now and Jimmy hated
hearing him mentioned. To most people it appeared that Jimmy
hated him more than anyone. " Yeah" Lindsey replied after
sometime. She rose, Jimmy said nothing and waited for her to
return. " A while ago I went back to the warehouse, I
think...." she stopped she decided not to tell him that it
was the ring she was looking for " I don't know what I was
looking for...but I took these" she handed him a pack of
photographs. " Jesus, is that his place over there?" Jimmy
exclaimed as he saw the first picture. " Yeah thats where I
could've been living" Lindsey replied before taking a drink
of her coffee. " Don't start thinking like that, anytime you
think like that just remember who you would've had to share
the place with. Callum Finnegan. I know I didn't think
before suggesting Portugal, but its what your mother
wanted....." Lindsey cut him short. " Dad really its fine,
I'm fine, he can't get to me anymore" " So he bloody well
shouldn't, he’s dead Lindsey, this time he really is and
that means that he’s not going to ruin our holiday now is
he?" " No Dad he’s not, no one is"
CHAPTER: 2 THE FLIGHT TO
PORTUGAL/CALLUM'S PROPOSAL
Lindsey slept after having left nearly all of the meal
on the plane. As she slept she dreamed, she dreamed of that
night in the warehouse, she dreamed of Callum's proposal. "
Lindsey, I hope the current competition is not too strong
because I think we would be very good together" This was the
point when Lindsey's mind began to race, she knew deep down
what he was about to say " as man and wife" He held the box
out with the ring in to show her. She had liked the ring,
she had liked it a lot, but would never admit it to anyone.
As he held the ring out to her, she didn't take it, she
thought if she reached out for it he would pull it away. She
waited for him to laugh, but he didn't, his face stayed
serious, he was serious.
The ring itself hung round her neck on a long silver
chain, she chose a silver chain as the ring was white gold
so the colours looked similar. She wished she could afford a
white gold chain, but she couldn't. The chain was long
though as the ring had to be hidden, she didn't want anyone
asking questions. It had been some time ago that she had
finally confronted Bev to get the ring back, Bev had
discovered that Dave had never really wanted and had been
devestated, she had been even more devestated when she
discovered where and how he actually got the ring, but
Lindsey had not cared, she had wanted what was rightfully
hers and the ring was hers.
In the dream she remembered their conversation so
clearly as if they'd only just had it. They had laughed
together, it was the only time Lindsey had really seen
Callum laugh. He had laughed when she made a joke about the
time she applied to be casino manager. He had said they were
mad for turning her down. He had said a few things that
complimented her that night. " Look! See Lindsey we spark,
we always have you have to admit it." Callum spoke as they
laughed together. " We tried to kill each other, now you're
proposing to me." It had been obvious by the way she spoke
that depsite it all she had found Callum's wanting to marry
her amusing. " You see that's what I mean!" Callum cried. "
You have always got an answer for me, you're not frightened
of me!" Lindsey turned serious as she stared at him hard,
her face said it all for her. " Aren't I?" Lindsey woke with
a start as the plane hit turbulence.
She looked at Shelley sitting next to her, she was
terrified. Suddenly she seized Lindsey's hand. " Its alright
Shelley, it'll be over in a minute" As she said this she
tried to push the dream away but it kept coming back to her,
the moment when he showed her the ring. She put her hand to
her chest, she could feel the ring through her top. It was
as though the thoughts were trying to tell her something,
show her something she had never noticed before. She sighed
and let her head fall back against the chair. The turbulence
didn't pass after a minute, it lasted for the final twenty
five minutes of the flight.
Lindsey wanted to laugh as she watched Shelley walk,
her legs had gone like jelly and she couldn't walk straight.
Lindsey didn't laugh though because she knew Shelley would
fly into a rage and start screaming at her, so she stayed
silent. As they walked she wondered to herself how Callum
would react if she had ever laughed at him once they were in
a relationship. She guessed that he would probably lose his
temper as well.
Continued Next
week.......
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