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Chapter 17: One Thing After Another
Rachel was left feeling as though hours had turned into years that evening, being tangled up with Eddie on the sofa doing little to suppress the images of Stuart every time she so much as blinked.
The police had kept schtum, Ralph Mellor mumbling something along the lines of an officer paying them a personal visit. As a result Rachel's mind continued to race, her irrationality left to connect the loose ends.
Eddie detected her body shudder beside him, as he prayed to anyone willing to listen that this nightmare was now over. Almost subconsciously, he tightened his grip on Rachel, dreading to conjure up the possibilities swirling around in her mind.
One of Eddie's hands smoothed up and down her spine, whilst the other played absently with the strands of hair available to him.
Jolting his movements somewhat dramatically was the doorbell, anticipation in the atmosphere escalating as the upcoming conversation loomed.
Eddie rose to be, sure enough, met with the presence of Ralph Mellor.
"Thought I'd pay the visit myself. Make things more… exclusive."
Oh, how he hated the bloke, Eddie pondered, unsure about just how much of that his facial expression had revealed. Weirdly, he found himself not caring all that much, instead reluctantly allowing Ralph entry into their home.
Rachel's stomach sank as Eddie came back into view, the chair of governors trailing close behind. Ralph was unreadable, she recognised. Eating away at Rachel was the unknown, the anticipation of finding out whether or not Stuart Hordley would be out of their lives for good.
"Well?" She sat up fully, glad when Eddie took a seat adjacent to her rather than Ralph.
The man himself grimaced, running his hands across his trousers as he eventually took a seat. Ralph was deliberately taunting them, dragging this out as much as possible. One look at Eddie told Rachel that his mind had ventured down the exact same thought process.
"Do you want the good news, or the bad news?"
Rachel wouldn't have been able to stop herself from gulping if she'd tried. What sort of a question was that?
"The… the good news, I guess."
Eddie found himself itching to reach out to Rachel as she stuttered over her words, recognising he was the only person to truly understand exactly how she must be feeling in that moment, yet equally querying just how much she'd appreciate a touch to the leg or hand with Ralph present. Probably not at all, Eddie imagined.
"Stuart Hordley has been charged. It's almost certain he'll go down for it. The gun...was on his person. It was an act of stupidity."
Rachel almost didn't believe it, almost had to get Ralph to repeat those all important words. Stuart Hordley has been charged. She glanced at Eddie, noting his slight twitch of the lips and the instant glint in his eye. Rachel was hard pressed not to burst out laughing with pure relief.
And then she remembered the bad news. Clearly this was going to be a tale of two halves.
Eddie seemed to read her mind somewhat, "and the bad news?"
Ralph shuffled in his seat slightly, his persona succeeding in making both Rachel and Eddie feel comfortable.
"If you're not careful, Rachel, we can easily re-enforce that vote of no confidence," Eddie went to but in, brought to a halt with a sharp glare from Ralph, "Stuart wasn't the only person to act with stupidity. What you did today was purely reckless. If it wasn't for you, Stuart wouldn't have turned up with that gun. So I'm starting to wonder if you're all that reliable as your deputy makes you out to be."
Stuart hadn't sucked all the fight from her, Rachel realised, "can we just rewind a moment Ralph? Yes, I should have realised the possibility of Stuart's involvement. But please, do not sit there and question the decision I made today. I acted in the moment Ralph. Fight or flight response. Did what I saw fit, to protect the pupils of my school."
It was the smile of pride projected in her direction from Eddie which had her stomach doing flips. There was never an occasion where he wasn't there, supporting her - whether that be silent, or defensive. Eddie was always by her side.
"Just think a bit more next time, about the welfare of your pupils. The possibility of a vote of no confidence still stands."
Despite her rekindled strength, Rachel was powerless to stop the shiver which passed through her as a result of Ralph's words. Eddie too was struggling to suppress his furiosity, more than sure that he would have grabbed the man by the shirt and shoved him out the door by now, had he not been their chair of governors.
He settled instead for a relatively light shove to the back as Ralph made his way out, disguising it as more of a guidance than an act of anger.
The knowing look in Ralph's eyes as he turned, had relief crashing through Eddie that he was showing him out, rather than Rachel. His expression now told all, this man was serious, one wrong move from Rachel and… Eddie didn't necessarily want to ponder on the repercussions.
"Fair and square that job was yours. Tell me why we've got Rachel Mason running the place when it could be you?"
Eddie felt his fingers twitch, willing himself to tone down the fury, "I wasn't about to kick her whilst she was down. As I've already said, Rachel Mason, is the best person to run Waterloo Road, and she will do so, until she decides otherwise."
"Let's just hope today's incident doesn't happen again."
Eddie opened his mouth to speak, words on the tip of his tongue, wanting nothing more in that moment than to get the very last word. Ralph was soon gone however, smirking as he shut the door behind him.
"He's right, isn't he?"
Rachel's voice caused Eddie to freeze, retreating towards where she leant against the door frame. He couldn't help but wonder and dwell over how much of that conversation she'd heard.
What Eddie did love though, was the freeness with which Rachel fell into his arms, albeit tinged with a devastation lingering with the day's events.
"Ralph Mellor is just spitting his dummy out because he didn't get what he wanted. Rachel… you're made to be headteacher of that school. You're brilliant at it. Don't let Stuart Hordley get in the way of that. He's out of our lives now, for good."
She couldn't deny how amazing that felt, Rachel pondered. Ralph Mellor and his concerns aside, the weight her shoulders were free of was somewhat incomparable. Stuart Hordley was out of their lives, and for the first time, Rachel truly believed that.
Running her hand through Eddie's hair absently, Rachel knew that she wouldn't rather be anywhere else than with him.
"I just fear it's… a case of one thing after another."
"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. What I said before the fire stood then and it stands now, anything that anyone throws at us, we tackle together."
Rachel's fingers trailed around from the back of Eddie's head to grasp his chin lightly, powerless to halt the surge of emotion which hit her smack bang in the face.
"I love you."
Eddie felt as though he couldn't breath, his heart almost beating out of his chest. They'd said it before, of course, he would never forget the way he'd called Rachel back in the midst of the fire. But this was the first time they'd said it since, the first time Rachel had said it first.
He pressed his lips to hers on instinct, ending up smiling against them as she tugged him closer.
"I love you too."
Even as thoughts of Ralph Mellor, the school's reaction to the day's events, not to mention the staff's concerns, spun around in her mind, Rachel couldn't deny the innate rightness which went hand in hand with being in Eddie's arms. Yes, Rachel thought, this was where she was meant to be.
….
Linking arms with Eddie and momentarily fixing his collar as they strolled out of a majorly empty school, did the trick with keeping thoughts of Ralph Mellor at bay. How could it not? Their conversation seemed a distant memory to Rachel as Eddie smiled down at her, looking like the happiest man on earth.
The relatively desolate atmosphere was why the pair were somewhat surprised to notice a figure hunched over at the bottom of the steps, who could very well be a student of Waterloo Road - that was if he didn't have an entirely different uniform on.
The boy in question rose, having heard upcoming footsteps, turning to meet their gazes.
Rachel took a step towards, leaving Eddie to look on in curiosity, "can I help you?"
"I erm… are you Rachel? Rachel Mason?"
She laughed somewhat nervously, briefly glancing backwards towards Eddie, "yes, that would be me."
His feet shuffled awkwardly at that response, lip twitching, "this is gonna sound… weird or whatever but, you're my auntie."
Oh. This had to be Philip, didn't it? All of a sudden Rachel felt like laughing, delighted that she had been seemingly handed this opportunity to get to know her nephew. Yet that was soon replaced with an uncertainty, the inconclusive creeping in as she began to wonder why he was here.
"Philip?"
"Yep. I… dunno if… mum, did she tell you about me or..."
Rachel saw Philip's eyes drift off behind her along with his words, and she too felt the presence of Eddie before she could respond.
"I'll wait at my car," he spoke with warmth, knowing how much this meant to Rachel, hoping it would lead to a relationship between the nephew and aunt.
Rachel herself nodded, not quite believing that Philip was truly there as she turned back to him, blinking to get her brain in order.
"Your mum did tell me. Just before the summer now actually."
"Right. It's just…"
Even as Rachel knew nothing about Philip, his quirks or personality traits, she could sense that something was wrong. She closed the slight gap between them, tilting her head as she did so.
"Is everything alright Philip?"
"Mum's not at home. I came back from school yesterday and she… well, wasn't there. So I thought I'd give her till now before I told anyone. And well, I don't really have…"
"It's okay," Rachel smiled gently even as mixed emotions coursed through her veins, "you don't need to explain. How about we head to your place? See if we can get hold of her somehow, or pick up a clue as to where she's gone."
Philip looked hesitant, chewing on his lip as he pondered on the matter. Here was his auntie, who he'd known for less than ten minutes, offering him more help than his own mother had in the past fortnight.
Rachel could almost envisage the cogs turning in the boys brain, but then he nodded, just once, and they were heading in the direction of Eddie to explain this developing situation.