Dedicated to Soapiefan
Epilogue
As Jackson had concentrated on making his way through the busy midday traffic, Aaron had sat staring out the window, lost in his thoughts.
They were on their way back from the hospital, where he'd just had a postoperative check up. He'd been seen by the surgeon who had so skilfully saved his life. The doctor had been really pleased with his recovery and had been happy to give him the all clear to return to work, and he couldn't wait. Life was slowly starting to get back to some sort of normality, things were falling back into place, but there was one thing still unsettling them all... Maddy's fate! As things stood it was all still very much up in the air.
It was six weeks now since Maddy had stopped Reynolds from stabbing him for a second time; the doctors had been certain it would have proved fatal if he'd managed to succeed. They were still waiting for the Crown Prosecution Service to decide if there was a case against her, if she should be prosecuted for Reynolds death. That decision was hanging over them all like a black cloud. Life went on but it was difficult to look ahead, to make plans.
It would be next year before any court case could take place, and should that be what they were facing, then it would put a dampener on Christmas and the New Year celebrations, no matter how hard they tried not to let it. This would be his and Jackson's first Christmas together and they'd planned on making it memorable but for all the right reasons.
As he'd hoped, Maddy and Paddy had got back together and they seemed really happy. He knew though that they were both putting on a brave face, they were when around him anyway, they might not be quite so positive in private. He and Jackson weren't so positive at such times; they knew they had to be prepared for any eventuality. Paddy was really going to need them should the worst happen and Maddy be sent to prison.
Things had been a little awkward between him and her at first, his fault not Maddy's. He couldn't forget how he'd treated her, and at the same time worried she might find she didn't actually like him, especially when she'd got to know him better. The two of them needed to get on for Paddy's sake and he'd been scared they wouldn't for whatever reason.
But he'd slowly began to relax around her, to not worry about saying the wrong thing. He hated to admit it but he got his tactlessness and sometimes thoughtlessness from his mother! He'd found though that if he did slip up, Maddy would just ignore it much like Paddy did.
He liked how she fussed over Paddy, how well she got on with Jackson, he wished he was as comfortable with her as he was, that would come though, he was certain of that because he found himself liking Maddy more and more. She was warm kind and caring, a lot like Paddy in fact. He'd quickly realised he hadn't really known her at all; he only thought he had, just like Paddy and Jackson had said. He'd had an image of her in his mind, formed over two years ago, one of an unsmiling cheap and heartless slapper. But she'd come across that way because of Gary McFarlane, because of the way he'd treated her. The heavy makeup she'd wore back then had been plastered on to hide the bruises put there by him. Her remoteness due to apathy and lack of self-worth brought about by the abusive marriage she'd been trapped in.
He'd learnt a lot about her these last few weeks. She'd been happy to share her past with him, keeping nothing back. She'd had it tough growing up, much tougher than him. She'd looked for an escape only to one day find herself in an even darker place. She'd fought her way back though, eventually finding the courage to divorce McFarlane, getting enough money out of him through legal means to start her own business. He'd lost face and that alone made it easy for her to believe it was him making all the threats against her and Paddy. She'd never for one minute imagined Mark Reynolds had been lying, that it was him who was jealous and prepared to do anything to stop them seeing each other.
He'd been convinced of McFarlane's hand in it too. He'd been ready to hit back at him after Clyde's death. If Jackson hadn't stopped him, things might well have turned out even nastier than they had done. And if it had been McFarlane responsible for the intimidation then it would have just carried on, the nightmare would have been never ending.
At least that part was over with now. If only they could put it all behind them, it just needed Maddy to be cleared of any wrong doing. It just wouldn't be right sending someone like her to prison!
Maddy had been the one to give the puppy a name. The three of them hadn't been able to agree on one, Jackson favouring Jem, Paddy liking Ella. He didn't like either one but couldn't think of anything better so the nameless had remained so, answering to 'here girl' for well over a week until Maddy had suggested they call her Bonnie!
Bonnie! Why hadn't he thought of that? It provided a link to Clyde and he'd liked that, he'd liked that Maddy had been the one to think of it too, she'd obviously thought about it and that told him that she cared.
"Aaron!"
"What?" Jackson was impatiently calling his name, obviously not for the first time.
"Your phones ringing!"
It had been an anxious sounding Paddy telling him Maddy's solicitor had rung her, asking if they could be at his office for 1pm, he would have some news for them by then.
They made their way over to Congleton, meeting Paddy and a very pale looking Maddy in the car park. She looked ill but he'd put it down to nerves.
She'd had a bit more colour in her cheeks when they left the solicitors office. They'd had good news, the best. There were to be no charges made. It was finally over. They could get on with the business of living now and life was always throwing out surprises some more unexpected than others as he was soon to find out.
It was his first day back at work and he'd forgotten his phone, he'd sprinted home on his tea break expecting to find Smithy cottage empty. Maddy's car was outside and as he'd come out of his bedroom she'd been coming out of the bathroom. On seeing him she'd hidden something behind her back.
He hadn't really thought anything of it, but Maddy had obviously felt guilty because she stepped closer to him and held up her hand for him to see what she was holding.
"Do you know what this is?"
He thought he did but suddenly lost for words he could only nod.
"It's positive."
"Yeah!" This was going to take a while to sink in.
"Paddy's going to get the shock of his life but I think he'll be pleased."
He felt the need to reassure her and knowing Paddy as well as he did he could do just that, "I know he will be."
Maddy had smiled at him then before softly asking, "What about you Aaron? How do you feel about it?"
She looked and sounded concerned and he couldn't understand why, not until she'd gone on to say. "It's not going to change the way Paddy's feels about you."
"I know." It hadn't entered his head that it might, once it might have done, but not anymore.
The End
