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Chapter 24

It was early when Susan woke the next day. 6am to be exact. The previous day's discussion with Rachel and Eddie didn't exactly lend itself to a good night's sleep. That along with the anticipation of what the following day would hold. Susan knew that her daughter and Eddie were right, their only option was to reveal all to the police. That was the only way that they could move on as a family and get Graeme off their backs for the foreseeable future. Despite this, nothing could quash the trepidation evident in Susan's stomach at the thought of disobeying her husband's demands. Doing that had only resulted in abuse and heartbreak in the past, so Susan didn't see any likelihood of that changing course now.

Susan sighed as she swung her legs out of bed and stood up. She wasn't getting back to sleep now, not with the possibility of Graeme's next moves on her mind. As Susan emerged onto the landing, she noticed something unusual about Rachel's bedroom which was opposite her own. The door which was usually shut tight was currently wide open, leaving most of the room on display. Susan's subconscious straight away created a number of unlikely scenarios. It seemed that current events had tarnished her vision of reality. Still, her daughter's safety was a priority, and with Graeme's words ringing in her ears, Susan intended to find out where Rachel had gotten to.

Poking her head around Rachel's bedroom door as she approached it, Susan was met with the sight of a made bed, with no Rachel lying in it. She started to think more rationally then, maybe her daughter had simply fallen asleep downstairs on the sofa. Yesterday had been a tiresome day for every member of the family, especially for Rachel.

Just as Susan was about to make her way down the stairs, she heard the unmistakable noise of a bedroom door opening, and turned around to see Rachel coming out of one of her spare bedrooms. Eddie's spare bedroom. Everything began to fit into place for Susan now, and she couldn't help the slight smile which graced her own lips.

"Mum, is everything alright?" Rachel said in a hushed tone as she approached her mother.

"Yes, sorry, couldn't sleep. I didn't wake you did I?"

"No, no. Isabelle just needs a bottle, I'm heading to make it now."

Susan nodded at Rachel's explanation before following her down the stairs. All the while, she continuously wondered what the history was with her daughter and Eddie and what their current situation was. Reaching the kitchen, the elder woman made a mental note to find out. Sooner rather than later.

….

Once Rachel had returned to the bedroom with a bottle for Isabelle, she explained to Eddie of her mother's presence, and decided to go and be with her downstairs. After the events of yesterday, Rachel doubted that Susan was in a fit state to be sitting on her own, allowing her own mind to eat her alive. Rachel had fallen victim to that many times before.

"Hey," she said, smiling at Susan as she took a seat next to her on the sofa.

"Hi," her mother replied, "did you not want to go back to sleep for a bit?"

"No, I erm, doubt I'll be able to now. How're you feeling?"

"On edge, as you've probably gathered. But I'm glad to have the support of you and Eddie. And I do think he's right, about going to the police."

Rachel nodded, "It is for the best mum. Graeme isn't going to be able to hurt us once all is revealed."

Silence elapsed for a few moments and Susan found herself going over the wording of what she wanted to say. The way she put this across had to be right, she wanted Rachel to feel like she could open up to her. Even though Susan had spent a lot of Rachel's life without her, seeing her both these past few weeks and growing up, had confirmed that she didn't trust people easily. Susan cursed herself slightly upon realising that Graeme and her own inability to intervene were probably two significant factors towards this.

"So, you and Eddie?"

Rachel glanced down and blushed slightly at her mother's words. What was she trying to work out here? Or what did she already know?

"It's… complicated mum."

"From what I gather he was with Melissa?"

Susan watched as a hurt expression flashed across Rachel's features. Whether that be as a result of the mention of Melissa, or Eddie's previous relationship with her, Susan wasn't sure. Realistically, it was likely to be a mixture of the two.

"Erm, yes. They were engaged, roughly about this time last year now. Did… did she not mention anything to you? You and Graeme were in contact with her."

Susan again blamed herself. She should have stood up to Graeme all along and insisted that they met Rachel along with Melissa. She definitely still had a lot of making up to do.

"No er, not a word about him actually."

Rachel was unsure how to approach this with her mother. She was kind of torn. A part of her was willing to reveal all and explain the ins and outs of what had gone on. She was sure that after watching her emerge from Eddie's bedroom earlier, Susan's curiosity would have heightened. Nothing other than the kiss had happened, but her mother wouldn't know that. Besides, for Susan, the love that Eddie and Rachel have for one another in itself would be new knowledge.

"Eddie was my deputy, for a number of years. He was already at Waterloo Road when I started actually. We began to build up a great working relationship and friendship. But I think we both knew there was more to it than that. I shared things with him that I've never told anyone, but never about my past. And yet, when he did find out, we grew apart slightly, Eddie was on the brink of resigning. It eventually got resolved and Eddie discovered about this man called Stuart Hordley who was blackmailing me at the time, I won't go into the depths of that, but all in all, he was threatening to expose my past to the LEA and the rest of the school. It's one day in particular that sticks out in my mind though. Stuart was in my office, threatening me, when Eddie walked in. I remember Stuart making a comment which alluded to my past, and Eddie, well, he punched him."

Susan allowed herself to smile slightly as she met Rachel's eyes. She was glad to know that Eddie had always held a protective air when it came to her daughter. Susan was sure that he had been close to whacking Graeme one the previous day.

"Anyway erm, it got to the last day of term, and we hadn't heard anymore from Stuart, so I guess we presumed that was it. We were actually sadly mistaken. A spelling bee competition was being held and Stuart turned up, revealing everything to a hall full of students and parents."

"Oh, Rachel."

Rachel smiled at Susan slightly, wanting to reassure her that although these events were still extremely raw, they were in the past and she didn't want her worrying about them.

"The disaster of that day didn't end there. A fire broke out in the canteen, Eddie and I decided to go our separate ways and do one final sweep of the school, and that was when I found Stuart, lying in the rubble. Aside from everything that he had put me through mum, I couldn't just leave him lying there to die. I tried my utmost to get us both out of there, but my last conscious thought was of the ceiling collapsing in on us both. Stuart he, he didn't make it, and I was left with a scar across my chest."

As Rachel gestured towards where her scar lay and pulled her pyjama top down slightly, Susan shifted closer to her daughter.

Lifting a hand to brush some hair back from Rachel's face, Susan aimed to make her own opinions clear, "you're still beautiful Rachel. A scar isn't going to change that, believe me."

The brief yet genuine smile which graced her daughter's lips told Susan that perhaps Eddie had spent several conversations hoping to portray a similar message. It was true, Rachel was amazing, scar or no scar. Susan was sure that there was still more to this story, and she intended to listen to every word.

….

After an hour or so spent together on the sofa, Rachel had divulged all to Susan. The entire story had left the elder woman slightly speechless, it pained her to think that Rachel had spent some of the recent months alone, and that she had to put her head before her heart in order to push Eddie away. She was glad that now, her daughter and Eddie had decided to make a go of things once more, both of them deserved each other and everything which came with that. As Susan now watched Rachel and Eddie play with Isabelle together, she decided that she would show her own appreciation for Rachel and Eddie's support in recent weeks.

Ascending the stairs, Susan crossed the landing to Philip's bedroom, where he was currently still sleeping, at a guess. Reluctant to wake him, but knowing she was unlikely to get a better opportunity to speak to him alone, Susan knocked on her grandson's bedroom door.

"Come in," Philip spoke, and Susan was surprised to find his voice sounded more awake than what she had been expecting.

"Hi Phil. How are you doing?"

"Better. I think Rach was right about yesterday, it did help me to get my emotions together."

"That's good," Susan commented as she took a seat on the end of Philip's bed, "look, Rachel and Eddie, tell me what you know."

"Well… I lived with Rach when erm, her and Eddie were you know, dating if you like. They definitely loved each other, I mean, as far as I can see they still do. It's just whether or not Rachel would be ready to take that next step or not. They definitely should get back together though, they make eachother happy. And they both deserve that really."

"Agreed. And you're right they, they're still very much in love."

Philip nodded and smiled as his grandmother thought.

"How about you and I put a plan in place so that they can spend some proper time together. You know we could book a meal for them, we'll look after Isabelle. How about it?"

As Susan looked up at the boy, she found a thousand watt grin taking ownership of his lips, "genius."

….

Downstairs, Eddie and Rachel were rocking Isabelle back off to sleep after a particularly restless half an hour or so.

"I think she's finally gone," Rachel whispered, glancing down at her niece who was sprawled out in her arms.

"About time," Eddie chuckled whilst stifling a yawn, "she's been screaming for the past hour!"

"You must be exhausted, how about you go and lie down for an hour or so?"

"What, and miss out on spending some quality time with you before you head off to work?" Eddie asked as he made his way over to Rachel, wrapping his arms around her waist as much as possible given Isabelle's current position, "no chance."

"Charmer," she responded, planting a swift kiss to his lips.

Eddie couldn't stop himself from smiling slightly. He was amazed that Rachel could now so freely kiss him and he could wrap his arms around her lovingly whenever he felt like it. It was something Eddie would always be grateful for and longed to treasure Rachel forever.

"Do you think your mum is going to go to the police today?" Eddie didn't like to darken the current light and loving atmosphere, but it was a question he had to ask. He wanted Rachel to feel at ease about the day ahead, and he was willing to alleviate any concerns if necessary.

"I hope so. She has acknowledged that it's the best thing to do. So I'm going to… broach the subject with her before I leave and see where that gets me. I think she'll want to wait until I'm back, but I'm just hoping for a little bit of reassurance"

Eddie nodded as Rachel brought her head to rest on Eddie's shoulder.

"Whatever the outcome Rach, we will get through it together. That's the way it's going to be from now on."

Rachel raised her head once more to align her eyes with Eddie's, "together. I wouldn't have it any other way."

As Rachel once more brought her head down to rest on his chest, Eddie concluded that he agreed entirely with her statement. He wouldn't have it any other way either.