The truth was that they had enjoyed their first night as man and wife but in between bouts of love making and hot and steamy sex including Tasha’s wish of being tied to the bed there had been sleep, sadly, not sound sleep for either of them.
Tasha had woken in a panic, calling out for Jim, coated in a sheen of sweat after waking from her new recurring dream of Mickie shooting herself. Jim had held her close, cuddled her and calmed her until she was able to doze back off. Unfortunately, her sleep had been fleeting when she’d stirred about forty minutes later feeling cold and alone. Waking, she’d discovered she was alone in bed. Throwing on Jim’s shirt as her cases were still packed, Tasha went in search of him and didn’t need to go far before she’d found him sitting on the sofa in the lounge area nursing a generous measure of something that looked like scotch.
Squeezing Jim’s hand back beneath the table a little more firmly, Tasha recalled how sad and forlorn he’d looked as she’d studied him before making her way to stand before him.
“Hey there, gorgeous husband,” she’d said with a half-smile.
“Hey yourself, beautiful wife,” he’d replied with a smile that never quite reached his eyes.
“James,” she whispered sadly as she placed herself in a straddle across his lap.
“Baby—”
“No, this is not your fault, what happened. It breaks my heart to see you looking so sad.”
“Tasha, honey.” He’d sighed as if unsure what else to say. “I know Mickie was responsible for her own actions, but I played a part in how it worked out. I can’t believe that a woman I knew for over twenty years was that unhinged and dangerous and I never once suspected the depths she was capable of sinking to. How the fuck did I miss it? We spent time together, jeez I had a relationship with her, and I missed it all. Surely there must have been signs I should have noticed?”
Gently cradling Jim’s head, Tasha tilted it so that he could no longer look down at his glass but had to look at her.
“I don’t know if she was always that way, maybe time and life, a lonely and unfulfilled life made her that way. But whatever it was it wasn’t your fault, not any part of it. Our home was more secure than government buildings but somehow she bypassed the security and was lucky enough to chance upon me, Juan and Lizzie. Nobody could have predicted any of that. She didn’t hurt any of us, not really, not badly and I have never wished another person dead in my life, nobody, and yet I am glad she’s dead. What you did, the set-up, was the right thing, the best thing because I’m unsure I would have remained cooped up in the house for much longer. I would have given security the slip or managed to find a way to have some freedom, we both know that and then she would have struck and without security and the police on hand she could have done anything she wanted.”
Jim nodded but still didn’t seem entirely convinced by her words meaning Tasha needed to do or say something more. Something that would make Jim see and believe that this was not down to him and that Mickie’s behaviour was out of control and the depths she would consider sinking to were beyond anything he might have imagined she was capable of.
“We agreed not to discuss everything all at once, but maybe you need to know this—something I thought it was best not to tell you.”
Jim looked up with a hint of concern reflected in his eyes. He knew there was so much more that he didn’t know about what had happened in Philip’s house but everything he had discovered had been bad and he had a horrible feeling this was going to be no different.
“Without your little sting with the police she would have got to me. We can probably both agree on that. She told me she’d thought of doing things differently, but I don’t think the trap was conducive to that.”
With the burn of tears and the feeling of fear at what Mickie could and would have done without Jim providing her with a chance to make asafemove, Tasha prepared to continue.
“Baby, I don’t understand.” Jim rested his hands on her hips and gently rubbed the skin there.
“She’d considered having some friends get to me. Big, male friends who wouldn’t have been gentle. She wanted to ruin me for you, to make it so you couldn’t look at me without seeing what they’d done and although she didn’t succeed in the way she’d planned, her actions are impacting on us right now.”
“Fucking hell, Tasha. I would have killed her, all of them…”
“Yeah, well you don’t have to. Mickie did it for us and as I say I’m glad, but not if it hurts you and I know you have Jon and Helen on your mind too, but I’m still glad she’s gone.”
Jim nodded and reached up to pull Tasha’s left hand to his lips. He kissed each of her fingers before tenderly placing his lips to her palm then pulled it over his heart.
“Me and you, baby.”
“Me and you,” Tasha had repeated.
“So, my very wise wife, what do we do now?”
“When things are tough, we help each other through it; I will tell you ‘til the day I die that this is not your fault and when I wake up crying there are nobody else’s arms I want to be held in. But right now, I think you need to ditch the whiskey and come back to bed with your wife.”
Jim released Tasha’s hand to pour her a drink while Lizzie leaned in and kissed Tasha on the cheek whispering, “Thank you.”
“Could you pass the salt please, Lizzie?” asked Abby tersely, making Tasha frown.
Lizzie passed her aunt the salt and attempted to make conversation but Abby seemed to cut her dead, earning herself a glare from Bobby.
Jim said nothing but Tasha knew he’d seen the exchange.
“Hey Tash, has Jim told you we’re staying over at yours for a few days when you get back?” asked Pippa.
