D Gourlay [Gourlay - For Life

For Life

D Gourlay

CONTENTS

True love stories never have endings

There are no end credits that role by, or forever afters that leave it just as that, unexplained. No, true love stories repeat themselves over and over again. True love stories are about loving, hurting, fighting, separating, meeting anew, and loving again; over and over and over again.

And some say that even the grave cant stop a true love story.

-Richard Bach

For Life Copyright 2019 by Dominique Gourlay. All Rights Reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Cover image credit Ruslan1117
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
D Gourlay
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First Printing: March 2019
ISBN- 9781796828061

Dedication

To everyone who has waited patiently for this book, thank you; and to the few who have waited impatiently, thank you also!

I cant begin to thank everyone enough for their support and love, and I hope you enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

If anyone ever tells you that you cant do something, or laughs at your dreams, turn around, slam the door in their face, and go and do it anyway!

Sarah and Tarin, thank you so much for proof reading. You've been superstars and I wouldn't have got this far without you.

Prologue

Two Macallan, neat please. Seb has finally managed to get the attention of the woman behind the bar, and she starts to pour our drinks. So hows Scott doing? He turns to ask me.

Hes great. Hes finally stepped up and is taking charge with the business a bit more, which means Suze is in a slightly better mood, well some of the time anyway. He laughs at me and takes our drinks from the blonde bartender, throwing a coy smile in her direction. She blushes softly and walks away. Youve not changed at all then I see? I laugh at him.

Hey, if theres a beautiful woman in front of me, Im obviously going to have a try. We cant all be emotionally dead inside like you! He winks at me as he lifts his glass, and I tap mine against his.

Its so good to see you. I say once I have taken a sip of my drink. I put my glass on the bar and absentmindedly run my fingers around the rim of the glass.

It has been a while hasnt it, and Im sorry for that, I really am. Gone is Sebs cheeky grin, his face suddenly falls and looks solemn.

Its hardly your fault. I try to smile at him, but the memories of how we are here come creeping back into my mind. We both sit in silence for a while.

I met someone. I finally say.

I know.

You know?

Of course I know, I know everything. Just because you cant see me doesnt mean Im not around. I have to keep an eye on my big brother to check he isnt getting himself into any trouble! He smiles at me.

So, what do you think of her? I ask nervously.

Shes amazing, fuck knows how you managed to land someone like her! He laughs and takes another sip of his whiskey. Even with all her drama, I reckon shes totally worth it.

She is. Totally worth it. I thought Mum had completely fucked up my chances of ever trusting any woman, but- I dont know. She is prefect. I turn to lift my drink to my lips while I remember every detail of Rachels face. Her beautiful smile, her swirling blue eyes.

If she is so perfect, then what are you doing here buddy? Sebs eyes are staring deep into mine, and I can feel the pain radiating from him. You can go back, you can fight. I never had this chance. My life was snatched away from me so suddenly, but you can fight this. You have to fight Taddy.

Im suddenly aware that everyone at the bar has disappeared. Its just Seb and I, and I cant get a handle on what Im feeling. Im back with my brother, Ive missed him so much, and Id give anything to spend more time with him. But I cant leave Rachel, I love her so much, and we have the rest of our lives together.

I dont want to lose you again. I whisper as tears start to flood my eyes.

You havent lost me. Im still there, always, okay, not always, nobody needs to see what you two kinky fuckers get up to in the bedroom! His laugh trickles through me and brings a smile to my face. But Im never going to leave you, I will wait for you until it is actually your time to join me here. And then I can laugh at you, because you will be all old and grey and wrinkly, and I will still be this young beautiful specimen of a man! We both laugh and he throws his arms around me. I pull him tight into me, and we embrace for a long while.

He pulls back, grabs my face in his hands and looks straight into me. You have to go back. Fight Tad, you can do this. Go and live your life, and live mine for me too. Do everything we said we would. Go and be a Dad, to Ami, and to the nephew I wont get to meet. Tell him about his amazing Uncle Seb, about all the adventures we got up to when we were kids. Love that woman until it hurts, and then love her some more. Live Tad. Live.

Chapter One

Rachel

T he coffee in the polystyrene cup in front of me is probably stone cold by now. Ive been waiting in this room for hours. I cant get the last few hours to stop repeating over and over in my head, the gun, the blood, the police and my Tad. My beautiful Tad laying on the floor, being worked on by four paramedics, before being whisked away in an ambulance.

Rachel, Im sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. DCI Robins suddenly walks through the door with another police officer and sits at the table in front of me. I lower my head and resume my stare at the table and I hear a click from somewhere in the room. Ive just got off the phone with the hospital. Mr. Turner was taken straight in for surgery. They have removed the bullet, but it perforated an intestine, which meant the contents leaked into him. They are cleaning him out, and have started him on high dose antibiotics to try to make sure he doesnt get an infection. He isnt out of the woods yet, but they are confident he should be out of surgery and recovering soon.

I hear what Robins is saying to me, but his words are met by numbness. I cant feel anything. I just know I need to get to that hospital. I need to be there for Tad.

Can we just do this quickly so I can go to him please? I say without looking up from the table.

Okay. I just want to run through what happened. Peters is in custody waiting to be questioned. Can you just tell me briefly what happened?

I was upstairs and heard a bang. I went down and heard talking from the kitchen, and when I walked into the kitchen I saw Theo, Ted, whatever the hell his name is pointing a gun at Tad. When he saw me, he turned the gun to me, and said something about wanting Tad to lose me like he had lost everything. Then Tad jumped in front of me just as Theo fired the gun. Tad got hit and fell on the floor. I went to try to help him but Theo started screaming at me to stay back, he tried to fire the gun again, but something must have gone wrong. He couldnt get it to work, so instead he just lunged at me. The words are tumbling out of my mouth as I remember what happened, but I dont recognise the voice coming out of me. He pulled me off of Tad and threw me to the floor, then he started trying to strangle me. I was trying but I couldnt get him off of me. I thought I was going to die. My voice stays completely monotone, emotionless. I cant feel a thing. Suddenly there was a bang, and Theo collapsed on top of me, then I saw Tad had managed to pull himself up and had hit him on the back of the head with a big pan. But then he collapsed again, thats when I called the ambulance.